September 20, 2015 - Shelley

September 20, 2015

My first thought as I typed in the date on this letter was – 32 years ago today, I had a baby!!!  Happy Birthday, Matt!  You were then, and you continue to be a joy to me!

One of these days, our schedule is going to slow down a bit – but it didn’t happen this week!  I feel like we have had “company” for three solid weeks.  I guess it’s because we’ve had visitors (wheelchair and vision projects plus area office people) every day since August 28 - except for last Wednesday.  And it’s been wonderful!

Our week began with a visit to the city of Likasi.  Kenneth Mofokeng, the water specialist from the Southeast Africa Area Office was still with us.  Likasi is the nearest city to Lubumbashi – about 120 km away – and is accessible by car.  Likasi is the home to several mining operations – copper and diamond – and we’ve been told that the mining companies put in the road (not exactly I-15 by any stretch of the imagination, but it’s PAVED). ☺

When we had only been in Lubumbashi a week or two, we took a road trip to Likasi and Kolwesi (the next city after Likasi) with another senior missionary couple, the Clawsons.  Elder Clawson helped maintain missionary apartments and we went with them to check on a couple of apartments.  Our “eyes” were not yet accustomed to Africa – we were still in the “shock and awe” stage – and we totally didn’t appreciate what a beautiful oasis Likasi is!  But it’s absolutely lovely!  It’s located on rolling hills and the sidewalks have CURBS!  Apparently, it was once a thriving Belgian city and still has many of the original buildings in tact.   We saw several homes with swimming pools – with cracked cement, chipped paint, and no water.  About 43% of the population has access to clean water.  Kenneth went to assess the possibility of adding several new water stations in a partnership with Regideso there.

Kenneth left on Tuesday.  And – wonder of wonders – while we were dropping him off at the airport, we actually picked up the 13 boxes of vision equipment, which arrived a week after Dr. Hunsaker and Dr. Kilangalanga were supposed to use it in their training at the eye clinics.  We ended up paying $250 in “incentives”, but, who can complain?  At least we got the equipment.  Dr. Kilangalanga will return in a few weeks to do the training.

Wednesday was a glorious free day that we spent in the office writing reports, etc. ☺

Thursday we picked up Phillip Moatlhodi (Director of Southeast Area Humanitarian work) and Sharon Eubank (WORLDWIDE Director of all humanitarian work in the church).  We spent the next 24 hours with them – showing them what we’ve done in the last 17 months or so.  They are both so knowledgeable and easy to be with.  Phillip has been here before, and we correspond with him regularly – he lives in Johannesburg.  Sharon lives in North Salt Lake, is single, and has worked for the church for the last 17 years.  Her specialty is the Middle East, but she has never been to the DR Congo.  And yes, her dad and brother are the weather guys on KSL.  It was really an inspiration to be with both of them.

We were asked to bear our testimonies in the Katuba Stake Conference today.  It’s crazy to think that we are almost finished.  I cannot truthfully say that the time has flown by – it hasn’t’, and some things have been very hard.  But both of us recognize how much we’ve grown  - yet I don’t think I’m quite ready to say “good-bye”.  When we are this far from home, it feels very possible that this is “good-bye” until the next life.  Hopefully, the next life has plenty of WATER!!!! Haha

Well, it’s pretty boring to write a letter without pictures, so I’m going to quit for now.  But I can’t quit without wishing “Happy Birthday” to two of our darling grandchildren - Gray Davis and Annabelle Roche!  We’ll see you SOON!  Wahoo!!!!  Much love,  Mom/G-ma D./Soeur Davis

September 20, 2015 - Clark

Sunday, September 20, 2015

It was just last Sunday that we were watching the Tabernacle Choir broadcast with Kenneth and having him for dinner at our home.  Monday was spent in Likasi, a city of 400,000 located 120 kilometers from Lubumbashi.  Regideso engineer (Peter) was our tour guide.  Serge described this city as a Belgium city compared to Kasumbalesa which he called a Congolese city.  Likasi received the most beautiful city award for all of the Congo just a few years ago and Kasumbalesa is an armpit similar to Tijuana.  Likasi was very impressive with clean streets that were paved and sidewalks and curbs.  We had visited Likasi during the first month of our mission but we were still in the shock and awe stage where everything looked foreign and frightening.  Now is looked almost refined and so pleasant.  Regideso is proposing we help them with the addition of 12 new public water stations.  We visited almost every site as well as the source of water and two reservoirs.  The infrastructure is old but in the past, there was a lot of planning and thought that went into the development of this city as contrasted to Kasumbalesa where there seems to have been no thought given to any form of a development plan.  43% of the population in Likasi has access to clean drinking water compared to 4% for Kasumbalesa. (That number is 63% for Lubumbashi)

Tuesday we took Kenneth to the Regideso Director’s office for an exit interview.  The Director has never given us so much attention and time.  He had approved the travel plans for both Kasumbalesa and Likasi which committed his personnel and a vehicle for two full days; unheard of here.  After the interview, we took Kenneth to the airport for his flight and we had made arrangements to pick up the second vision equipment shipment that had arrived the day before.  We met Bosco from CETA and Andre from the Ministry of Health.  The warehousemen were prepared to make us pay before we ever realized our goal.  They look at cargo as a revenue source and everyone wants a piece of the action.  There are taxes, import fees, handling, storage, document preparation and those are only the one’s I could understand.  In the end we paid an additional $200 for handling and storage and Andre paid $50 for document preparation before we escaped with this precious cargo.  We took it directly to Sendwe Hospital where the director Andre Mwelwa met us with his staff who received and stored the 13 boxes safely on the surgical floor of the hospital with the microscope previously donated by the church.

Wednesday, we caught up on reporting and administrative matters in the office and prepared for Sharon Eubank and Phillip Moatlhodi’s visit.  They arrived at 12:00 on Thursday and left at 10:30 the next morning. We kept them as busy as time would allow.  Mom packed a lunch and we were off. Visits included:

• Quartier Congo where we met Serge who explained the Regideso project in 5 neighborhoods and also the background of Kasumbalesa and Likasi
• The market fire in Commune Kampemba where the construction crew from the church built two shelters for displaced vendors who had previously been located near the Lubumbashi Stake Center before their market was destroyed by fire
• Kamweneja School where we have provided materials for replacing the entire school’s roof and ceilings.  The project was almost a total restoration of a school that could have been bulldozed
• Katuba Regideso site where 3 public water fountains are being constructed.  The neighborhood had recently made major progress in digging their ditches for pipe installation.  
• Notre Dame School for Girls where we met with Therese, our Congolese Oprah.  She directs a school of 350 girls and teaches them homemaking skills (sewing and culinary arts) in addition to the regular curriculum.
• Kisanga General Hospital-we met with Delfin of Mukembe Building Services.  They have been our best contractor and they are just completing the water storage system where 20,000 liters of clean water storage will now be available 24 hours a day to support maternity and surgery.
• Katuba Bridge-our first project located near the Gecamine building.  The neighborhood still recognizes us and are always welcoming.
• GRAHPEE-a handicapped association-this is a failed project where we wanted to partner with them in improving their well.  They spent their match money on a 12 year anniversary party instead.
• Leadership meeting with 3 stake presidents and 2 relief society presidents and 2 bishops from each stake where Sharon conducted training.
• Finished at Lattelicious for dinner around 8:30

Friday we visited Sendwe Hospital to see the vision equipment and had another conference with the Regideso Director, came back to the mission home to introduce Sharon and then rushed off to the airport.  Sharon keeps this type of schedule on a regular basis, but we were wiped out.

Friday following the airport, we had arranged to meet Valentine, a journalist from the local TV station.  She and her cameraman have already completed two 30-minute TV segments on wheelchairs and vision and we wanted similar coverage for the Regideso project.  We visited all five neighborhoods and she developed human interest stories along the way by interviewing neighbors, health clinics, hospitals and taking film footage of children swimming in the local river.  Her father is a member of the church and she is definitely a friend of the church.  We capped the day off with a pizza party at the mission home with the other senior missionaries.

Saturday, Shelley spoke on leadership principles at the women’s leadership session of the Katuba Stake conference and in the evening we were invited to a “dinner for ten” a promotional dinner conducted by the Katuba Stake to develop better public relations.  They invited the principal of Kamweneja School and his wife as well as the female doctor in charge of Katuba General Hospital.  Today is their stake conference where we have been asked to bear our testimonies in a “farwell” capacity.  We were hoping to sneak out of town with no fanfare but Justin Mukuna wouldn’t allow it.

This week was the final week of our marathon finish.  We have been constantly on the go since mid-August with wheelchairs, vision, Kenneth, Sharon and Phillip.  We have enjoyed being totally consumed and “over-the-top” busy, but we have also looked forward to this time.   We found out this past week that the probability of Steve being able to attend the temple with our exact timing is remote due to all hoops he has to jump through.  We met with Justin, who works with church travel to schedule the travel.  We don’t have any confirmation yet but we said following Steve’s civil marriage on October 3rd, we would like to return home.  We’ll keep you posted with any news.  

Today mom and I were invited to speak in Katuba Stake Conference.  Mom talked about filling out our missionary papers and electing not to state a preference on location, language or assignment.  She said that she was happy that the Lord knows her better than she knows herself  because she could never have imagined such an assignment as Africa has provided.  Mom also taught a 30-minute leadership session to the presidencies of all women’s auxiliaries for the Katuba Stake yesterday.  Her talk became a 50-minute presentation and the audience grew from 30 at the beginning to over 90 at the conclusion.  She was famous today because all of the sisters congratulated her.  

I bore my simple testimony in French and then had President Thomas translate for me.  I told them some of the best advice I received from our first translator, Flavien Kot, was “when you’re in Africa, live in Africa”.  We have tried to do just that.  I shared two of the many things I have learned to love about the people:

1. I had President Thomas read D&C 25:12 and told them they have taught me to treasure that scripture.  We seldom know anything that is said in meetings but because of the music and their singing we always feel the spirit.  These members not only know the words to all the hymns, they have memorized the page numbers and can always tell me which page I need to look up.
2. I said I had learned service in a different light by examples from members of their stake.  When I look at Claudine, the choir director, I see her as a volunteer for the Operation Smile Obstetric Fistula Mission.  She didn’t volunteer for an hour, or a day or a week, but for six weeks.  I mentioned Marie who is the janitor at the seminary and institute building who spent her entire Saturday off volunteering at Kamweneja School cleaning all of the classrooms.  She worked so hard.  These people know the meaning of service and their efforts unparalleled in my limited experience.  I shared with them one of my favorite African sayings, “If you want to travel fast, go alone, if you want to travel far, go together”.  

We have enjoyed sharing our experiences with you throughout our mission.  Have a great week.

Love, Dad (Elder Davis)   

September 13, 2015 - Shelley

September 13, 2015

I don’t know if sometime in the future I will miss bouncing around in a truck full of men on dusty, bumpy, unpaved roads all day – but I don’t think so! Haha   I keep thinking that people at home buy 4-wheelers and actually do this for fun.  Alas, no 4-wheelers here!

Our last several days have been spent with Kenneth Mofokeng, who is the Church’s water specialist for Southeast Africa.  He arrived on Thursday to review our water projects – mainly the Regideso water extensions.  If we don’t get a replacement couple, I think Kenneth wants to be able to maintain this partnership and manage it from Johannesburg.  He gave us the bad news that no replacement couples will be coming for four countries in our area – Burundi, Ethiopia, Rwanda, and Gabon.  We know all of the couples who are currently serving in those places and know that they have all worked hard to make a difference.  (The VanWagoners, who were in Burundi, were taken out several months ago because of political unrest and have finished their mission in Kinshasa.)  I think the main reasons for not replacing them have been difficulties in dealing with the governments and also safety concerns.  Also, the young missionaries are being taken out of Uvira this week, also – it’s in a remote area of our mission.

Our projects have to be within 100 km of Lubumbashi.  Regideso identified two cities that fall within that range that are both in dire need of water – Kasumbalesa and Likasi.  So on Friday, we took Kenneth and drove to Kasumbalesa with the Regideso engineers.  This city of 180,000 is about 90 km away on the border of Zambia and only 4% of the people have clean water.  Regideso’s master plan is to raise that to 25%.  Right now in the dry season, the water situation is compounded even more because shallow, hand-dug wells are drying up – and rain isn’t expected for another six to eight weeks.  We visited the Regideso water pump, which is old and small and looks like it’s on its last leg.  We also spent several hours at a copper mining operation that hasn’t been in production since 1997 – but they have an old well that is still producing water for a small section of town.  Again, the enormity of what it would take to fix everything and bring water to this area is far beyond my comprehension.  In the meantime, people continue to die from water-borne disease because they are so desperate that they will drink water from anywhere they can find it.  

Tomorrow we travel with Kenneth to Likasi with the same purpose.

On a bit of a brighter note, the first part of our week was spent with Jesse and Diane Hunsaker from American Fork, Utah.  Jesse is the ophthalmologist in charge of our vision project.  He and Dr. Kilangalanga from Kinshasa assembled two large microscopes – one for Sendwe Hospital and one for the University Hospital – which have been donated by the Church to aid in cataract surgeries.  The plan was to do actual training of local doctors on the new equipment – but, once again, a new plan was required because the second shipment of equipment still hasn’t arrived.  We have all of the paperwork ready from customs, but somewhere along the way there was a delay.  So the new plan is for Dr. Kilangalanga to return and do the training by himself in a few weeks – hopefully, with the second shipment of equipment!!!

But the Hunsakers were fun and they enjoyed just following us around as we checked on other current projects.  They plan on going on a mission in a few years after Jesse retires.  Actually, they have been to Africa 8 times this year doing ophthalmology training – so it seems like they are missionaries already to me.

Sister Thomas, our Mission President’s wife writes a wonderful blog.  She doesn’t think it’s anything great – but it is!  For anyone who is interested, this is the site: 24monthsinlubumbashi.wordpress.com.  She has a fantastic, self-deprecating sense of humor and beautiful pictures!

Well, Friends and Family, I hate to admit that I’m getting trunky.  But I feel like a horse that has been on a long ride (by “horse” I mean a young filly – not an old nag!  ☺) – and I can see the barn ahead!  We’re still hanging in there, but we’re pretty anxious to be home.  Happy Birthday this week to our granddaughter Avery Davis and to our son Matthew!  We love you all!   Love,  Mom/G-ma D./Soeur Davis

p.s.  I think our “homecoming” will be Oct. 25 at 1:00 p.m. in the Brigham City 18th Ward.

September 13, 2015 - Clark

Sunday, September 13, 2015

Life has been busy here the past few weeks.  Since the last week of August preparing for the wheelchair project and then this past week we have worked with Elder and Sister Hunsaker on the vision project.  I have recounted these several times but allow me the recap the results of the vision project.  The Church is donating equipment and training to 3 local hospitals with ophthalmology clinics.  The equipment and supplies will be used for cataract surgery.  The equipment was to arrive in two shipments; one was two microscopes from Australia and the second was from the United States and included all of the consumables and supplies.  The first arrived and the second did not.  The second has yet to arrive and Salt Lake is livid about the lack of support from the shipper, but nonetheless we were without supplies and the things needed to conduct the official training.  There are supposed to be 6 physicians trained from each of the three hospitals and they are to treat 900 patients at each hospital during the next 6 months as their buy-in.

Dr. Kilangalanga from Kinshasa is the in-country champion and has worked together with Jesse Hunsaker for the past 8 years on projects in the DRC.  Dr. Kilanagalanga was super nice and very competent.  Everyone in the medical community knows him here and they really rolled out the red carpet for us wherever we went.  When the second shipment of vision supplies and equipment did not arrive, we adopted plan B.  That was to assemble the microscope at Sendwe Hospital on Monday and the microscope for University Hospital on Tuesday.  Dr. Kilangalanga will return to Lubumbashi next month after the second shipment has arrived and do the training.  This will eliminate the need for the Hunsakers to return to Africa for another trip and the locals will receive training from a champion they already love and recognize.  Jesse and Diane Hunsaker are both from Logan originally and now live in Alpine where he practices.  They have been serving as short-term specialist in vision for 8-9 years and they make 4-8 trips to Africa every year. When they go they spend anywhere from a week to three weeks away from his practice.  They were fun to be with and for the last day and a half they were here, they just followed us around to check on our projects and get a feel for what the work of humanitarian couples is like in the field.  They are planning on a full-time mission in another 3 years.  Diane is 60 and Jesse is 64.  Diane’s maiden name was Karen and we knew her brother Dale from USU.  Jesse is Hedy Eyre’s brother whom we also knew from USU.

Another fun fact from the vision training and luncheons we did have is that we asked for volunteers to say the blessing on the food and we were never disappointed.  Lattelicious provided the catering and did everything for half price and threw in the afternoon snacks.  They treated us very well.  Believe it or not, but Shelley and I are tired of eating out and want some alone time at home.  You see, the Hunsaker’s left on Thursday at the same time as Kenneth Mofokeng, the water specialist from Johannesburg showed up.  We have been chasing Regideso projects since his arrival.  

Thursday we visited neighborhoods in Quartier Congo and Katuba for the water-line extension program as well as the Kisanga General Hospital and a couple of schools.  Friday, we spent the entire day in Kasumbalesa, a border town near Zambia with a population of about 180,000.  We visited the mayor’s office, the local mining company and had a tour of the water source facilities.  Regideso is trying to persuade Kenneth into investing in their million dollar project there.  The general population lives without clean drinking water.  There is an estimated 4-6% of the population that has clean water access.  Hand dug wells and river water are the alternatives.  The drive is very frightening because this is the major semi-truck route from Zambia to Lubumbashi.  It’s a two lane road with far too much passing and driving at night is a nightmare because many cars do not have tail lights.  

Saturday we spent visiting the Kafubu Health Zone with Leon Senga who has supervised this project.  He said they call him prince Leon now when he comes to the villages where he has been instrumental in bring water.  There were 68 wells in the health zone that had been abandoned and we have worked together in repairing approximately 25 with the help of Leon and Immaculee from the Ministry of Health Cleansed Village program.  Many of these abandoned wells had been out of commission for 2-5 years because the village make no provision to save for future maintenance.  The emphasis of our program is to charge for clean water so they will accumulate funds for future repairs.  Sounds so simple but no one trust anyone else to keep their money, they chief often steals the money, or they fail to collect money for water thinking they are doing the people a favor by providing free-water.  We visited 8 wells as a sample and found them in all types of conditions, most were working, but the collection and saving process differed significantly.  We hope this is the first of other similar projects to follow.  It costs as much as $1,000 to repair a well effectively but $15,000 to $18,000 to drill a new borehole.

Perhaps the best thing that happened to us on the humanitarian side was something we had hot planned.  We stopped at Pizza inn by the new Hyper Psaro after our trip to the Kafubu Health Zone.  Nigel is the owner/operator of the Pizza Inns I Lubumbashi.  There are currently two locations.  He helped us with the catering for the wheelchair program.  Bruce, his assistant from Zimbabwe, we wonderful and always on time with hot food.  We complimented him on the service they had provided.  He gave us $50 in Pizza Inn gift certificates but the best thing, he asked us for a listing of candidates from our church to fill 40 new job openings he will have after construction of a new plaza in downtown Lubumbashi.  He said the construction should be completed in about 20 weeks.  We immediately called Mbidi Ilunga, who is the director of the self-reliance center.  Mbidi was just returning from Kinshasa and was on the road from the airport.  He stopped at the Pizza Inn; we introduced him to Nigel and they made arrangements to meet on Monday.  Jobs are very hard to come by here and any kind of job is a blessing.  

With Kenneth’s visit, we were saddened to hear that they are closing four countries to humanitarian service.  Rwanda, Burundi, Gabon, and Ehiopia.  They said that apparently these governments are difficult to deal with and they are concerned for the safety of the humanitarian couples with the instability of the governments.  We believe they are still looking for a replacement couple for Lubumbashi because we are considered a center of strength because of both the current membership of the church and the rate of new member growth.  Steve Mutumbo, our second translator, has been called as the in country coordinator and will assist with the transition.  We will work at qualifying others to serve as site monitors in an effort to provide continuity for our existing projects.  

This coming week we have Kenneth here until Tuesday and then Thursday and Friday Phillip Moatlhodi, our area welfare manager and Sharon Eubank, the worldwide director of LDS Charities will be here.  We are not wishing away the time because we welcome these visitors to showcase what good can be done in Lubumbashi and hope they will continue their commitment here, however, we will be breathing a little easier come Saturday.  

We are trying not to be too trunky and our work schedule has accommodated that.  We are still trying to determine if Steve will be allowed to travel to Johannesburg the first week of October.  He should let us know this week and we will inform you of our travel plans by next Sunday.  In an effort to accommodate those of our family wishing to attend our homecoming address, we will be asking Bishop Taylor to move our Sacrament meeting date from the 18th to the 25th of October.  Our block starts with Sacrament meeting at 1:00.  Naturally we would prefer to have our report date on October 11th directly following our return but with General Conference, this is fast Sunday.  

Sorry to communicate so many administration issues rather than ministering experiences.  It really is amazing how much LDS Charities does worldwide and we appreciate being a small part of that effort here in Lubumbashi.

Love, Dad (Elder Davis)

September 6, 2015 - Shelley

September 6, 2015

When we pray for patience, a good attitude, humility, etc., I’m sure that the Lord sends us opportunities to develop those qualities.  This last week makes me certain that this is true!  I thought about writing a list of high’s and low’s for the week – but after looking at the list, I decided that it probably wasn’t a good idea!   haha

There is one obvious change to the format of my letter this week, and that is that there are no pictures.  It’s too bad because I have some really great ones!  ☺  But that leads me to the #1 “less high” thing on my list – and that is that my computer was stolen.  I’m consigned to write on Clark’s Dell computer, which is quite unfamiliar to me – and it doesn’t have iphoto!  ☹  You’ll just have to slosh through my news in words only.

John and Marcia Dow from San Diego, CA, came for the long-awaited wheelchair project.  Before our mission, I was totally unaware that there are so many church members who are involved in international humanitarian projects.  But there are lots!  Many professionals travel to other countries to volunteer their services – doctors, dentists, physical therapists, etc.  And others have church callings as Short Term Specialists, such as the Dows, who come to supervise large projects that are organized by the in-country welfare missionaries (that’s us).  The Dows served in a position like ours in Mozambique.  Then they were called as STS’s in the area of wheelchairs.  Now they come to Africa about every other month.  Typically they will stay a couple of weeks and help in two or three countries for several days at a time.  They have been doing this for FIVE YEARS!  And there are several others who do the same thing in different types of projects and in different parts of the world.  The wheelchair training was held at the Seminary and Institute Building in the Lubumbashi Stake and lasted for four days.

The four trainers who came with the Dows are volunteers.  These men are all from Utah.  Two of them are retired, and two are men with families who take time off of work 3 or 4 times a year to help for a week or so in various parts of the world.  Steve Clark and Chris Christensen taught technicians from 14 local hospitals how to properly assemble and adjust wheelchairs.  Then they spent a day with 15 people from the handicapped community – showing them how to repair their own wheelchairs – possibly giving them a marketable skill to repair chairs for other people.

Phil Arnold and Tyler Huish are physiotherapists who spent this week with clinicians from those same hospitals showing them how to properly assess handicapped patients so that they can be given a prescription for a chair that fits their needs.  I had no idea that getting a wheelchair was such a complicated thing – but I learned that a poorly fitting chair can actually cause further damage to a person.  All of these men have been to Africa several times, as well as to other parts of the world.  We hired a translator for each of them.  It was so wonderful to see how they could not only communicate their skills, but be funny and cute with those who attended.

During the course of the week, 15 disabled people were fit for wheelchairs – most of them victims of polio.  It was more than humbling to see the handicapped people arriving – many of them crawling.  They had been chosen by the board from the disabled community that I described in last week’s letter.  But several others heard we were “giving away” free chairs and just showed up at the church building where the training was held.  You can imagine how difficult it was to tell those not on the list that they would have to go to a local hospital to be assessed starting next week in order to get a chair.  Travel is difficult for an able-bodied person here because very few people have cars and have to rely on public transportation.  But that difficulty is magnified a thousand times by someone who can’t walk and doesn’t have money for transport!

We hired a local TV station to cover the event.  It will be aired twice over the next few days.  One reason for doing this was to make disabled people aware that they can receive a chair by going to a local hospital – and that the chair is free, thus reducing the chance that they would be charged for the chair at the hospital.  The coverage was great, BUT yesterday we were downtown and were approached by two disabled people who had seen us on TV.  I think they wanted us to give them chairs on the spot, and it was hard for them to understand that we didn’t actually have wheelchairs in the back of our truck that we were just passing out like candy.  

Last week I told about storing the 360 boxes of wheelchairs at Sendwe Hospital.  Well, late Tuesday night (the day I lost my computer), we got a text from our translator that said he saw on the news that Sendwe Hospital was ON FIRE!  I just couldn’t imagine that one more thing could go wrong with that day.  Here’s where the lessons on humility come.  

We went to Sendwe Hospital the next morning to assess the damage.  The chairs had been stored in two rooms in a wing of about 5 rooms that is separated from the main building.  I sure wish I could show the pictures here, but the fire totally destroyed three of the five rooms – and stopped right before the rooms containing the chairs!  I’ve heard stories like this before, but I can personally testify of the truthfulness of this because I witnessed it with my own eyes!  There wasn’t even smoke or water damage in those rooms!  About 5% of the chairs were damaged because the boxes had been chucked out of the rooms with reckless abandon as the fire approached those rooms.  When we arrived, workers were sorting out the boxes and stacking them according to type.  Since that time, they have been sent to a different location for storage.  Even though the LDS Church bought the chairs, they were actually given to the partner organization (in our case, the Ministry of Health).  So thankfully it wasn’t our responsibility to figure out what to do.  But I am once again reminded and humbled to know that this is the Lord’s work.  We have seen miracles with this project, and our son Spencer reminded us that the miracles were for the Congolese handicapped community, and of course, he’s right.  It’s been our privilege to once again be a witness to it.

Now we are preparing for another STS who is coming this next week with a vision project.  Dr. Jesse Hunsaker (an ophthomologist from the US) and Dr. Kilangalanga from Kinshasa are coming to teach doctors from three local hospitals about cataract removal.  The LDS Church is donating more than $100,000 worth of equipment, also.  Well, more lessons to be learned.  We just returned from spending two days at the customs office AGAIN so that we had the proper signatures – only to find that the plane containing the equipment has been delayed in Kinshasa.  Possibly it will arrive Monday afternoon (AFTER the first day of training).  Patience, patience, PATIENCE!!!!

Well, I really didn’t mean to write a whiny letter.  I have to admit that it’s been a hard week, but my companion and I decided that we did everything we knew how to do, so we can’t feel too bad about that. We have absolutely learned that the Lord is in charge. I just want to comment on how much the prayers, emails, texts, etc.,that we receive from you helps us.  They give us strength to move on in spite of set-backs and remind us that we aren’t alone or forgotten.  Thank you so much!   Much love,  Mom/G-ma D./Soeur Davis

p.s.  Happy Birthday this week to Joseph, Jacob, and Maggie!  We love you all!

September 6, 2015 - Clark

Sunday, September 06, 2015

Updating news first.  Our sacrament meeting report will be October 18th and we need to check with Bishop Taylor on the current meeting schedule.  Steve is working on arrangements to attend the Johannesburg Temple before we leave.  He is trying to make arrangements for the week of October 5th.  If that happens, we will attend, but whatever happens we will be leaving no later than October 8th in order to clear out our home for the arrival of the Bennetts on the 11th.  Stay tuned for additional details next week.

This past week has been most exhausting with the wheelchair project.  The Dows (the short-term specialists who travel Africa and Brazil and South America on this assignment) arrived on the 28th and we have been going early and late every day through Friday the 4th.  We received 216 wheelchairs, placed 15 during the week.  There were 24 clinicians and technicians trained Monday thru Wednesday.  We had 4 additional trainers come from Utah: Steve Clark, Coleman Christensen, Tyler Huish, and Phil Arnold.  On Thursday they trained another 14 representatives from the handicapped association in wheelchair repair.  Each participant received their own set of tools at the end of the training.  

One of the low spots of our mission occurred on Tuesday, September 1st.  Shelley took her Apple computer to the stake center where the training was being conducted to work on the mission history.  During the day, her computer was stolen and with it all of our pictures, our photo documentation of our projects, our French audio of Le Livre De Mormon and our directory of contacts.  All gone and they don’t have the charging cord and they are not available in the DRC, so it will be of little value to the thief.  We were devastated but late that night we received another blow.   All of our wheelchairs were stored at Sendwe Hospital.  We received a text from Marcel that there was a fire at Sendwe and we needed to pray for the wheelchairs.  We went the next morning to find all of our wheelchairs had been thrown out of the storage rooms onto an open lawn area.  There was some damage from this treatment but none from the fire.   All in all no one was injured and things can be replaced, so we move on.

Shelley is preparing for a talk in the Katuba Stake Conference on September 19th.  I have enjoyed her sharing ideas for her talk.  One came from  Sharon Eubank, worldwide director of LDS Charities.  She starts with a famous quote from Joseph Smith, “Brethren, I’ve been energized by the testimonies that I’ve heard, but you no more understand the destiny of this Church than a little baby upon its mother’s lap.”   And I think that that’s true about us too.  But isn’t it exciting to live in a time when we are trying to understand and live our doctrine?  And interpret it and ask the questions?  Of course the Lord could just give it to us.  But I work in welfare, and welfare says you have got to be self-reliant.  You have to do the work yourself or you don’t value it, you are not ready for it.  The Lord is waiting for us to interact with each other and with our doctrine and find out new things.  And when we are ready for it, He will give it to us.”

This principle of self-reliance is difficult to teach.  We have learned this lesson as parents and here as humanitarian missionaries.  You know I have always believed the doctrine but this missionary experience has given me a chance to live it full-time.  Ownership comes from investing your own sweat equity in the project.  We have found those beneficiaries who do the work value the project and take ownership and pride in maintaining it.  Parenting is much the same.  In most instances we were not wealthy enough to give our children all we would have wished, but looking back if we made any mistakes it was to error on the side of giving too much rather than too little.  Enough philosophy;  back to the boring details of the week.

We have worked so hard on getting the vision equipment here.  The microscope for Sendwe Hospital came July 17th and the second shipment was postponed until Sept. 5th, less than 48 hours before the beginning of the training.  We visited the shipper, the customs offices downtown and at the airport, the consignee at the Minister of Health, the customs accommodator and multiple others several times in the past two weeks.  We have worked our tails off trying to make sure this all came together.  We took the customs clearance agent and the Ministry of Health Executive secretary with us to the airport yesterday to wait for the flight to arrive.  We waited for over 3 hours after spending 4 hours in the morning to obtain the final Director’s signature.  In the end the shipment did not come and the only explanation we received was “maybe on Monday”.  

By all accounts we should have been totally devastated, but it was so unusual because we both felt a great peace of mind, knowing we had done all within our power to make it happen and it didn’t.  We can live with temporary failure so long as we have given it our all.  David Chamberlain shared a thought from President Hinckley, “It will all work out in the end and if it doesn’t work out, it isn’t the end”  I remember Spencer’s homecoming talk where he compared his missionary experience to the man who had been asked to “push against the rock”.  He pushed against the rock day after day and the rock never moved but the man became stronger and was obedient.  We feel much the same, we’re becoming stronger and are trying to be obedient.  

We picked up Jesse and Diane Hunsaker from the airport today.  He is an ophthalmologist from American Fork who practices with one of the grandsons of my mission president, Orville Gunther.  Tomorrow they will assemble the microscope and do some training.   We are hopeful that the second vision shipment will come tomorrow, but if it doesn’t, Dr. Hunsaker will go to Kinshasa for the week and return next week in hopes that the shipment will arrive by then.  Keep us in your prayers.  

We have been in awe this week of volunteers who spend their vacation and free time to travel the world as volunteers to perform humanitarian service.  The wheelchair trainers and the specialist, the ophthalmologist and his wife who have made 8 trips to Africa this year while still running his own practice at home.  We had no idea of the breadth of the welfare or humanitarian program.  We’re happy to be a small part of it during this period of our lives and we have been happy to share these experiences with you, our dear family and friends.  Have a great week.  The adventure continues.

Love, Dad (Elder Davis)

September 2, 2015 - Wheelchairs

Family - Well, if there ever was a time when we need your prayers - it's now.  We're having a rough week.  The Dows are here with our wheelchair project.  Things were going well until my computer was stolen.  Then the hospital where 200 of the wheelchairs were being stored caught on fire.  I'll try sending you a picture from my phone.  Workers spent the night taking everything they could out of the storage rooms, which were next to the ones burning.  Almost all of the chairs were saved, but some are pretty banged up.

It took us 13 days to get the chairs out of customs.  Next week we have an eye doctor from Logan coming to  teach cataract surgery techniques - but his equipment isn't arriving until Saturday afternoon!!!  We have only about 2 HOURS