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)