August 30, 2015 - Shelley

August 30, 2015

I don’t quite know how to describe our week other than it has been a week of miracles!  It started a week ago when Clark went to Kasumbalesa.  He lost his wallet when he was dropping everyone off at various homes in the dark.  It did have money in it, but the most valuable things were his drivers’ license and a copy of his passport.  The police are notorious for stopping cars at random, especially when driven by foreigners – so it meant I had to do the driving!!!!  Not that I haven’t driven here, but it’s not something I usually do – and we do

a lot of driving each day.  This poor plant above shows how dusty things are at this time of the year, as we’ve had no rain since April.  Well, as you may have guessed – someone found his wallet – probably buried in dust on a road (most roads aren’t paved). They took the money, but recognized that the owner was LDS and threw his wallet over the fence into the compound of an LDS church building.  A church member who knows us saw it a few days later and returned it.  Truly a miracle in so many ways!  I like to think that the money in his wallet was the answer to someone else’s prayers.  Maybe there are children who will be able to start school next week because a parent found money for tuition.

We were invited to attend a convention of handicapped individuals last week.  We have had many dealings with the handicapped association and felt so sad to hear that their president had been found guilty of mishandling funds.  This convention was to vote on a new president.  The man in the tan suit – Beya – is the new president and the others are on his committee.  The man

next to him with glasses is blind and is a church member.  There were several types of disabilities represented, including the deaf community – and albinos.  We see quite a few albinos here, but had never thought of this condition as being a handicap.  Clearly it has its challenges, though, especially because of the sun.  We’ve noticed that there are several albino children who attend the blind school.  

Anyway, we’ve been so impressed with the handicapped community because they really band together to take care of each other.  War, disease, and lack of proper medical care have left this country with many disabled people.  In

the previous photo, you can barely see this beautiful woman, but she is also on the head committee.  We met her last November.  She’s a seamstress and was given a wheelchair from the church in 2012 at the last wheelchair campaign.  She told us that her chair is too large to fit in her home, but she uses it to go to town to buy fabric.  She wears her shoes on her hands and scoots on the ground.  Notice her own gorgeous dress – and her ever-present smile!

Well, a TRUE miracle occurred on Thursday!  The wheelchairs were finally released from customs!  The Readers Digest version is that Salt Lake told us that if the chairs weren’t in our hands by THURSDAY, our project would be cancelled!  I’m sure that Clark will tell all the details in his letter, but basically, we were required to pay a substantial fee to an agency to help us get the chairs through the customs process.  It was the only agency that the Ministry of Health recognizes.  SO – what we didn’t know was that this agency (C.E.T.A.) owes money to customs from a shipment of caskets for someone else in April – a lot of money!  Customs refused to release the wheelchairs until C.E.T.A.’s whole bill of $17,000 was paid!  The church should not, nor would not, pay this, of course!

After we had spent all of Wednesday at the customs office without any luck, we were walking out the door when this man appeared.  His name is Iluta and

he has some job in finances at the customs office.  Anyway, he told us to come back the next day – our very last possible day to salvage the project – and it would all be okay.

However, when we returned early Thursday morning, Iluta was nowhere to be found.  His boss – a very mean-spirited gal name Doudou – told us to forget it!  She would NEVER sign the release – which she said while she cracked her knuckles like a sailor – unless they were guaranteed full back payment from C.E.T.A.  We were stuck!

Just as we were once more dejectedly walking out the door – who should appear but Iluta!  (Here’s the truck which has been sitting here for 13 days!)

He sprang into action, worked Doudou over a little, had us wait for FOUR HOURS in his office while he hustled around – and “Voila!!!” – it was signed!!!

At 3:00 Thursday afternoon, we were pulling out of the customs parking lot when they told us we had to pay $120 for parking the truck there for 13 days.  After an hour, a C.E.T.A. guy showed up with the money and we were on our way!  ALMOST!  The ministry (who was supposed to have done ALL of this) called and said that their storage building was full and we’d have to make other arrangements! I’m not making this up!

Well, a storage area at Sendwe Hospital

became the resting spot for our 361 boxes.  Here is the last box being taken

out of the truck at 8:00 that night!  What a total relief!!!  Elder and Sister Dow were in Nairobi, Kenya, (they had just finished a project in Kinshasa) waiting to hear that we had the chairs before they came to Lubumbashi – otherwise, they would have flown back to the US.  Just a side note:  we talked to one truck driver who has been sitting with his truck full of computers in the customs parking lot for EIGHT MONTHS!!!!

So we picked up the Dows from the airport on Friday and spent Saturday getting 35 chairs to the training area and making final arrangements for the training of 28 technicians and clinicians from 14 area hospitals in how to properly fit a disabled person in an appropriate wheelchair.

John and Marcia Dow are short-term specialists in the area of wheelchairs from the church.  They are from San Diego, CA – and this has been their church calling for 8 years.  They travel to various countries in Africa and Brazil about every other month for a few weeks at a time – supervising humanitarian missionaries like us in wheelchair projects.

Well, enough of that except to say that almost as soon as the Dows leave next Thursday, we need to prepare for a vision training the very next week.  And, of course, it involves getting microscopes and other ophthalmology equipment through customs!!!!  Holy cow!!!!  Doudou will really be cracking those knuckles when she sees US again!

In case you are looking for a small vacation home with spacious windows and air conditioning – I found a deal for you.  It’s currently occupied, however.

And I always like to include pictures of the children.  This little cutie was at church last week.  It looked like she had just barely learned to walk.

We’re missing some birthdays this week – Mercedes, Ashley, and Chloe – Happy Special Day, gals!

Have a great week and eat a peach in our honor!!!  Happy Peach Days!

Love,  Mom/G-ma D./Soeur Davis

August 30, 2015 - Clark

Sunday, August 30, 2015

2 Nephi 28:6  “Behold, hearken ye unto my precept; if they shall say there is a miracle wrought by the hand of the Lord, believe it not; for this day he is not a God of miracles; he hath done his work.”

Let me just tell you I am a witness of miracles from this past week and the day of miracles has not passed.  I reported last week that I had lost my wallet.  I had to take 4 different passengers to their homes on backstreets in Lubumbashi last Saturday night after dark.  The roads are like dirt roads leading to Willard Peak.  My wallet could have been anywhere.  Long story short, on Monday a member of the church called our translator and said they had found it in their church compound.  I had lost it on a road near the Plateau Church Building.  All the money was gone, but my identification information was returned intact.  Someone had found it in the road, taken the money but was kind enough to recognize it belonged to a member of the church and had traveled a couple of blocks and thrown it over the security wall at the church complex where it was found the following day.  Miracle number 1.

We have been working since December 2014 trying to make all necessary arrangements to receive wheelchairs.  The customs process is intentionally difficult so as many people as possible can be employed to extort money every step of the way.  There are so many things that can go wrong and usually do.  We had struggled for over 8 months trying to get all the appropriate signatures for tax exemption and a waiver of the import fees.  The church was donating hundreds of thousands of dollars in wheelchairs and vision equipment, but it seemed we had to pay and pay often in order to make a gift.  John and Marcia Dow are the wheelchair short-term specialists and we have been in touch with them almost daily for the past two weeks.  They informed us on Monday that unless the wheelchairs were released by Thursday, the flight for the trainers from the US would be cancelled and the project would be cancelled or at least postponed until after we were released.

Needless to say we spent the entire week working to secure the wheelchair release from customs.  I have recorded a separate journal with all the details probably only of interest to someone who endured the lowest lows and the highest highs associated with this challenge.  People who were supposed to help us started falling like flies.  Dr. Kitopi, chief of the cabinet for the Minister of Health told us he had done all he could do and It was in the hands of the customs officials.  Dr. Eric Sompwe, the consignee said he was only the medical inspector and not responsible for the customs issues and referred us to Marcel Tambwe.  Marcel Tambwe took us to CETA, a customs accommodator where we had to pay for their services and we could never determine whether he was friend or foe.  In the end, it was his birthday this week and he was AWOL and sent us to the customs wolves to deal with them directly.  The semi-truck containing the wheelchairs had been at the customs port since Saturday, August 15th.  We were afraid the drivers might abandon their commitment to wait it out.  It wasn’t until Tuesday night that we had exhausted all these other options and decided on Wednesday to go to the customs office.  

This was a daunting task since we didn’t know the protocol, the people or the language.  We had a CETA representative, Bosco, assigned to “help” us.  The first day we spent in waiting rooms and visited with people who told us it would be no problem only to find out in the end that the problem was our customs accommodation service, CETA.  They were delinquent in their fees to the customs office and we and our wheelchairs were being held hostage for collection of the CETA delinquent payments.  By the end of day two of being told not only no but H no to the release request, we were totally devastated and were on our way out of the main customs building with our tail between our legs.  Our only hope was for CETA to pay their back fees of around $18,500 or to provide a personal guarantee by the owner of CETA that it would be paid.  This had to be accomplished by the end of the day; no chance.  Mind you that the timing had to be within seconds from a two day travesty.  While exiting the building we met Iluta, a finance officer who had befriended us the day before.  He asked how things were going and we literally cried on his shoulder.  He said come with me and I will help you.  He took us to his office where we spent the next 4 hours while he orchestrated every action and required signature to secure the release of the chairs.  He is our champion,, so if any of you are looking for good names for new children, consider Iluta.  This isn’t the end of the miracle, but the most important element.  The Ministry of Health was surprised we had been successful and they had to scramble to find a suitable storage location for 361 boxes that took over 3 hours to unload in the dark.  We had to rely on CETA paying for at least the parking fees for 13 days while our truck waited for clearance.  On and on but enough already, we had the 216 wheelchairs and the project had been saved.  We told the world or at least all of those associated with the training and the flights were not cancelled, the Dows arrived, we successfully transferred 35 specifically designated chairs to the training center on Saturday.  The examination beds that were custom built were picked up and delivered to the training center.  The caterer who had been offended by the church security guards and vowed to never work with the church again, softened and we are a go for the meals for the week.  I’m sure there is much more I could tell, but suffice it to say this was not our doing, but miracle number 2 for the week.  

Another tender mercy occurred today.  The 4 trainers for wheelchairs arrived this afternoon without their luggage.  We received a phone call an hour later that their bags had arrived but had been opened by customs who found new tools in 6 of the bags.  They were going to be assessed $70 per bag.  We called Justin  Mukuna who works in the mission office.  He agreed to go with us to the airport and meet with Tom and the customs agent to determine what could be done.  We had told Elder Dow that ordering tools in country would be easier and save complications to their travel.  He decided to save money by buying the tools over the internet and bringing 6 duffle bags from Salt Lake; BAD IDEA.  

We decided if we had to return to the airport we could seek help with our vision equipment.  There are two vision shipments: (1) a $34,000 microscope that was shipped from Australia and arrived on July 17th but they wouldn’t release it until the second shipment arrived from the US.  That shipment has been delayed until the very last minute and will arrive September 5th, this Saturday. We figured as much trouble as we have had with the wheelchairs, there was a snowball’s chance of being able to clear customs for two shipments in a single afternoon, especially a Saturday afternoon when the vision training was scheduled to start on Monday morning at 8:00, September 7th.  Not only did Justin negotiate a reduced customs charge for the 6 bags of tools ($170) but he also explained to the customs agent our dilemma.  We got his name and contact information and he will call Justin tomorrow with directions for us regarding the Saturday arrangements.  Justin also agreed to go with us this Saturday to secure the vision equipment.  Justin is a stake president and took much of the afternoon to help the humanitarian effort.  These people are wonderful and we had our 3rd miracle in a single week. “And because he hath done this, my beloved brethren, have miracles ceased?  Behold I say unto you, Nay; neither have angels ceased to minister unto the children of men” Moroni 7:29.  We don’t have the vision equipment yet, but I would have given $170 of my own money to make it happen.  

We had dinner with our trainers, Chris Christensen, Phil Arnold, Tyler Huish and Steve Clark.  Mom did a fabulous job with her sweet and sour chicken, rice, carrots and chocolate chip cookies.  She was amazing after another marathon day of attending stake conference, 2 airport runs, assembling 8 wheelchairs at the stake center and preparing dinner for 8 on a Sunday evening.  One disappointment was missing the Tabernacle Choir broadcast.  We love looking forward to seeing Emily each Sunday evening.  Phil Arnold’s wife is also a new member of the Choir. (1st soprano)  Sorry to get this letter out late, but it has been a whirlwind week.  

One additional tender mercy is that Steve Mutombo told us this week he received approval to attend the temple in Johannesburg the week of October 5th.  Not all the arrangements have been made but we are hopeful of attending the temple with Steve and Matilda.  We will wait until Steve has finalized his plans before setting the time for our return.  We have always told Steve that he continues to be one of our most important humanitarian projects.  Have I told you how wonderful these people are lately?  We will really miss the fellowship of the saints and the goodness of the people. We are making arrangements with Bishop Taylor of the 18th Ward and our homecoming meeting will be either the 18th or 25th of October.  

Love, Dad (Elder Davis)

August 23, 2015 - Shelley

August 23, 2015

Well, if your plans for New Year’s Eve in New York City fall through, I’ve got just the place for you!  It will be MUCH less crowded, too!  haha

We’ve been on an emotional roller coaster this week in trying to get every-

thing in place for the wheelchair project.  The Dows are coming from the US next Friday on the 28th.  Things that were promised from the government aren’t working out well – in fact, not at all.  Part of the problem is that the government is in transition because the Katanga Province where we live is being divided into four provinces.  Now no one knows who is in charge and some of their funding has been frozen until after October 1st, when the change becomes official.  I can’t quite imagine how this will all work out, but at least it will be over!!!!!!  (Bad attitude!) And hopefully, some very deserving people will get a wheelchair in the process.  It’s really the people who suffer the most when the government is ineffective – and people here have already suffered enough.  It’s so sad.

On a brighter note, the Regideso water project is well underway in three of the five neighborhoods.

There is always a crowd when there’s action going on.  My able companion

is a charmer with his camera.  Below is a

water station that is almost complete.  The residents now need to dig the trenches for the pipes leading to the station.  I’ve learned far more than I ever wanted to know about wells and water!!  I’m more of a “just turn on the tap” kind of gal, which is very telling about how spoiled I have always been!  I think the greatest blessing about these water sites will be decreasing the possibility of disease due to drinking dirty water.  About 18% of Congo’s children die before the age of five!

We made a visit to Katimel orphanage to check up on how the sewing lessons are going.  We’ve hired a married

couple to teach the older girls how to sew on the new machines the church gave them.  We found all of the girls still

learning how to handle a needle by embroidering their name.  This little cutie is too young to learn, but watched the older girls very intently.

Below is a sample of the paintings that decorate the walls of the orphanage.

A therapist comes to help the girls deal with the trauma they have experienced, and he uses painting as

a medium for them to express themselves.  Some of them are simply beautiful!

Although she doesn’t look too thrilled about this in the picture, this girl is

learning how to work the treadle on one of the machines.  My own experience with this is that it isn’t as easy as it looks!

We actually found the truck containing the wheelchairs.  It’s sitting in customs -

even though we have paid the customs fee!  GRRR!  The two drivers drove the chairs from the port in Tanzania to the DRC border where they sat for one week.  Now they have been here in Lubumbashi for one week – just waiting for clearance.  In the meantime, this

little “stove” is where they have been cooking their meals for two weeks!

We had planned that Kenneth Mofokeng would be here this weekend to look at potential water projects for 2016.  Kenneth is over all church water projects for Southeast Africa.  As happens all too often, he got to the airport in Johannesburg and had difficulties with his visa – so he postponed his trip until mid-September.  Well, we had arranged a trip to Kasumbelesa with the Regideso engineers to see the critical water situation there in hopes that it would be included in projects for 2016.

Clark felt like he needed to make the trip anyway just because Regideso was counting on it.  Kasumbelesa is about two hours away.  This isn’t my first rodeo and I can remember how LONG it can be between necessary breaks (if you know what I’m saying here) – no McDonald’s bathrooms or anything.  I would have been the only woman . . . and, well, I wimped out!  I stayed home and went shopping for fabric with Sister Cook and Sister Vance!

Lucky for me that I did!  They were gone for eleven hours!!!!!  No food (except for the picnic I had packed) and no potties!

Only 6% of the people in Kasumbelesa have drinkable water – it’s a city of 135,000!  It’s on the Zambia border.  Because of that, you can see miles and miles of trucks lined up waiting for customs clearance there.

It’s hard to see, but this lady’s bucket is full of baggies containing water.  She is selling them.  The only problem is that one doesn’t really know where she GOT the water.   Anyway, the situation there is critical and has the potential for many much-needed water solutions.

The health center in this picture only gets water once a week – and then

it’s only for 2 hours.  The three barrels are where they store that water to use during the week.  These gals look pretty

happy, though.  Generally speaking, we have found happy people wherever we go in spite of what we would consider to be terrible living conditions.

Our prayers are with Elder and Sister Draper who ended up having to go home to Canada after all.  Elder’s surgery went well and they hope to return here in a couple of weeks.

The Lord has blessed us in so many ways – in ways we couldn’t even have imagined.  We continue to try to do our best.  Much love,  Mom/G-ma/Soeur Davis

August 23, 2015 - Clark

Sunday, August 23, 2015

We had anticipated Kenneth Mofokeng coming for several weeks and this past week we spent the entire week lining up appointments and interviews where he could be introduced to decision makers.  The purpose of his trip was to assist in formulating the 2016 humanitarian budget for all of Southeast Africa.  Needless to say we were extremely disappointed on Friday morning when he called from the Johannesburg airport to report that he had failed to secure the proper visa documents and would not be coming.  We essentially followed the schedule we had set for him on both Friday and Saturday but everyone was deflated that Kenneth was a no show.

Regideso is the national public utility for water and we had worked with them for almost two months in prepping them for Kenneth’s visit.  Johannesburg had indicated a willingness to spend as much as $800,000 in the Lubumbashi area on joint projects with Regideso in the 2016 year.  We have worked with them in organizing fieldtrips and engineering estimates and drawings for potential projects to be marketed to Kenneth.  Saturday’s schedule included an all-day outing to Kasumbalesa; a border town with Zambia that is about 2 hours away.  It is always filled with 18 wheel semis carrying cargo in and out of the country, so it is a very dangerous drive.  Shelley couldn’t bear the thought of being with an all men’s group for an entire day without a bathroom stop, so I went alone with our translator, Marcel.  

We were supposed to leave at 9:00 in the morning but eventually left at 11:00.  We were to return around 15:00 but didn’t leave until 17:30 and finally arrived home at 20:00.  It was a long day but very educational.  Kasumbalesa has a population of 135,000 and only 6% of the population has access to clean drinking water.  Shallow hand-dug wells are the source of water but many water-borne diseases result from contaminated water.  We went with two engineers, Serge and Pierre, and their draftsman or mapping coordinator and their driver.  We met up with the Kasumbalesa office manager and the maintenance supervisor, Moise (Moses).  Moses knew everyone in town and everyone knew Moses.  He showed us around as we visited the existing single borehole and pump house that provides water for the 6 percent.  They are requesting upsizing the pump and increasing the pipe diameter to increase flow from the existing source.  This serves the population for a distance of about 1 kilometer circumference from the site.  These improvements would more than double their existing capacity and distance for their service area.  We marked the borders of the current and expanded service areas.

We visited the hospital on the edge of the inclusion area.  They said they only receive Regdieso water once a week and they have three 50- gallon drums that they fill up for storage.  They have 24 beds and 27 employees and use their hand-dug well for all other water needs.  We also visited some households in the non-inclusion area where they are considering expansion.  The Church has two branches in Kasumbalesa and the meeting house complex would be included in the newly expanded zone.  Following these visits for demarcation purposes, we visited the site of a second borehole that has been drilled but not developed.  The second phase of the proposed project would be to conduct a master planning study for long-term water development and delivery.  Included in that study would be an assessment of the capacity of this second borehole and potential development.  

They provided mapping and we had discussions that I requested they reduce to a written proposal in French that we could have translated into English.  My intent is to provide this report to Kenneth in preparing him for his rescheduled visit on September 11-15.  We have no word of a replacement humanitarian couple for Lubumbashi and I hope all of the efforts of Regideso are not for naught.   They intend to take us to a couple of more developed sites within Lubumbashi this coming week.  After a shopping trip to the border markets we headed back to Lubumbashi.  Most everything was much cheaper in Kasumbalesa.  For example all the fruit we buy was consistently half the price we pay and those on our trip bought dried fish, potatoes, beans and fruit.  Everyone seemed happy with their purchases and after I had delivered everyone to their homes, I arrived home shortly after 20:00, exhausted.  I had to show my passport at a stop along the way and I assisted others with their goods as I dropped them off.  Unfortunately I arrived home without my wallet.  It must have fallen out of my pocket during these deliveries.  At least it didn’t have all of my credit cards (no good in an all cash economy) but it did have my driver’s license and over $300.  

It seems we have continued to be pre-occupied with preparation for our wheelchair training project.  The chairs are here in Lubumbashi at the customs port but final paperwork is still not in order or at least someone else is attempting to extort additional money before they are released to the consignee.  The drivers of the semi had to wait for a week in Kasumbalesa after driving from the Dar es Salaam port in Tanzania only to arrive in Lubumbashi where they have had to spend another week waiting and they are not done yet.  Our latest estimate of release time is Tuesday or Wednesday.  The Dows show up on Friday to prepare for the training.  We’re keeping our fingers crossed and praying for a successful outcome from an extremely trying process.  We received another dose of wheelchair bad news this week when we were told that although we had a signed contract outlining the Ministry of Health obligations and a budget letter from the chief of the cabinet, that there is no money and no contract compliance.  This affects the planned participants in the training.  They are to come from 14 hospitals spread throughout the old Katanga Province.  There is no money to pay for transportation, food and lodging for those hospitals from outside Lubumbashi.  All of our preparations (tools, food, translators, supplies, etc.) are based on 14 hospitals participating.  We told Dr. Eric Sompwe that he could substitute other hospitals for those out of town if he wished; we’ll see.

I told you last week about the saga of the Drapers who need medical treatment for kidney stones.  As of last Sunday, we thought they would be staying in Johannesburg for their medical care.  It turns out that Dr. Switzer, Director of Medical Care World-wide for missionaries, decided to have them return to Canada for treatment.  They have returned, Elder Draper has received treatment for two stones and we hope their recovery will be short and they can return to us soon.  President and Sister Thomas returned home from a disastrous trip to Uvira and Bukavu.  They flew into Rwanda but after they crossed over the border into the DRC, they were not allowed to return to Rwanda.  There are still 6 missionaries in Uvira and several church members.  With the chaos in Burundi at present, it was felt that both members and missionaries needed reassurance from the mission president.  The trip was anything but reassuring and more than a bit frightening for the Thomases.  They were awaked at 2:00 in the morning at their hotel in Uvira by so called Police.  President Thomas did not open or unlock the door but it frightened them enough that they changed their intinerary and flew home on CAA from Bukavu.  

On Friday night we did console ourselves with a night out with all the senior missionaries and the Thomases.  We went to a Chinese restaurant named Xin Xin.  

Some of you have asked about timing for our return home.  There is an MLS missionary couple coming October 11th and without a replacement humanitarian couple, we are planning on leaving around the 8th of October.  Bishop Taylor asked about speaking in Church.  Since the 3rd Sunday is HC Sunday, we will either speak on the 11th or the 25th.  I suspect it will be on the 11th while many of our family are there.  We will probably be brain dead from the flight but that sounds better than the alternative of waiting.  We’re happy to be busy, the time passes much faster.  We do however seem to be in a time warp with the weather being almost constantly beautiful with no recognizable season changes other than rain or no rain.  

Shelley was reading about Elder Perry’s life this past week and shared one of his thoughts with me, ”Righteous government receives direction from the Lord” (1975)  Working as humanitarian missionaries in the poorest country in the world has its challenges, but the people’s suffering is multiplied by an unrighteous governmental system.  Although far from perfect, I am profoundly grateful for a governmental system is divinely inspired.

Love, Dad (Elder Davis)

August 16, 2015 - Shelley

August 16, 2015

What a difference a week can make!  We’ve had a major change in our mission staff as of the last few days.  Elder Draper has been suffering with a kidney stone – off and on – for about two weeks.  Medical treatment is a definite weakness here in Lubumbashi so the decision was made to send him to Johannesburg.  ** I’ve had to rewrite this part of my letter because the Drapers had been told in Johannesburg that they would have to return home to Canada for treatment.  He actually has 5 stones and she has one large one.  BUT as of a few minutes ago, the decision was changed and they get to have treatment in Johannesburg.  Canada has socialized medicine, and sometimes it takes months to get on a surgical schedule unless it’s an emergency, so the Drapers may not have been able to return to Africa.  Anyway, the rest of us are over-joyed because the Drapers are so valuable here.  He is the only senior missionary other than President Thomas who speaks French. President and Sister Thomas have gone to Uvira for 10 days, so “the kids are tending the store” so to speak -  and none of us speak the language!  We hope nothing big happens!!!!!  Haha  Anyway, we are all relieved for the Drapers and for us, too!

We began our week by returning to the villages where wells have recently been repaired using humanitarian funds.  It was gratifying to see them all being

used.  Immaculée is the gal from the Ministry of Health who is in charge of the cleansed village program.  She went

with us.  Even though the villages have started to collect money from people for getting clean water, the fee isn’t

enough to save for the next well repair.  She is trying to explain that in the photo above to the village chief (in blue).  For example, the village with the most saved money has $30 – and the repair we did of the well cost almost $1,000.  One village is charging 50 cents a MONTH to get clean water everyday.  It’s not enough, but it’s hard to understand.  They’ve never had to pay for water before, and dirty water from the river is free.  So far we have repaired 11 wells and have 6 more planned.

There is never an end to adorable children – and we are quite an attraction out in the villages where the kids don’t see white people often.  At least these cuties aren’t crying like they’ve seen a ghost, as sometimes happens.

Immaculée took the opportunity to do a little shopping while we were there.  Charbon, which is used as fuel for cooking, costs $18 a bag in the city, but sells for $4 a bag in the villages.  And

being the prudent shopper that she is, she loaded up.

Clark also talked this lady making sombe into letting him take a picture.

She is pounding the leaves into a sauce that will be eaten with foo foo.

Another day we awarded certificates to ladies in an alphabetization class.

This class, which teaches people how to read and write, is being taught at the church by Sister Mwinkeu.  Her husband is a counselor to President Thomas.

This little guy came along to support his mother when she got her award!

The last of our Days for Girls classes happened this week!  Now all three stakes have had the training.  As

in the other stakes, these ladies are sewing experts!  They are so good to

help each other and chatted it up like crazy all afternoon.  The other senior sisters have been really great to go with me and help out.

These two sister missionaries are from Madagascar.  Both speak a little English

so it’s fun to be able to get to know them a bit.  The sister on the left, Sister Randrianarina, remembers Ryan Forsyth when he was serving in Madagascar.

I don’t know if Helping Hands projects are supposed to be fun – but the project we helped with on Saturday wasn’t!  We suggested to Justin Mukuna, the Katuba Stake President who works in our office, that maybe their stake would be interested in a service project.  The Kamweneja

School, where we have spent humanitarian money putting on a new roof, needs to have the classrooms painted.  But before painting, the rooms need to be cleaned out.  The rooms were FULL of dirt and debris from the roof and ceiling repair.  Justin organized everything, and yesterday about 70 members from his stake showed up at the school to dive into this very difficult task!  These photos show some of the

stuff that was piled up in classrooms.

If I said that it was a dirty job, it wouldn’t quite describe it.  Sisters Cook and Vance helped out tremendously!

I’m not sure how old this lady is, but she

worked like a 20-year old!

Last night we hosted a party for Marcel,

Steve, Mwamba (translators), Mbidi Ilunga and their wives.  The other senior missionaries came, too, and it was really fun.  We served pizza, salad, and banana splits.  Then we played a few minute-to-win-it games.  The photo above was picking up noodles with spaghetti.  Below is Marcel with the

pantyhose elephant challenge.  And

Steve and Matilda with the cookie on the face trick.  (Don’t worry, David – no one can beat you at this!  ☺)

Happy SPECIAL birthday this week to our son Spencer!!!!  Love,  Mom/G-ma/Soeur Davis