After a very restful weekend filled with all together too much food (Thanksgiving was really the part that said "hey, you're eating too much all the time") and reading and relaxing again, Monday brought work. I had spent part of the weekend translating a document on the internet Lyn left me about a study using Spirulina to help HIV patients. Spirulina is a blue-green algae with lots of toted health benefits, but I was supposed to read it and then pass it on to Dr. Vindu and discuss it with her and do something similar with Moringa. Yesterday I gave her the study and talked for a bit and I'm going back today at 2 to talk about it since she was supposed to read it last night. This will give us some guidelines on the moringa research with the HIV children, but I still don't know how it's going to work. I think moringa is a good plant, but as the only thing added to a child's diet, I'm not sure how much good it will actually do. That's what the study is to find out.
The major downside I see with the study is our lack of moringa powder. We only have 20kg and the dose recommendation by most people is 25g a day and that works out to 800 days worth of powder for children. Even using a fairly small sample size of 40 children that's only 20 days, which probably isn't enough time to notice a change. The moringa at Mawe Hai isn't producing yet either, so I'm not entirely sure what's going to happen. It is possible to maybe get some more moringa from Rwanda but will have to see what Dr. Vindu says. That dose though does provide a number of nutrients to the children when compared to the recommended daily requirements:
Protein – 20%
Calcium – 60-100%
Iron – 70%
Magnesium – 40-60%
Selenium – 75-100 %
Vitamin A – 100%
Vitamin E – 100%
With the ranges of nutrients, the younger kids have the higher percent and the older kids (like 6) have the lower percent. There are also other vitamins and minerals in smaller quantities but these are the major ones. Any reduction in dose will decrease these nutrients. There might be other health benefits though too. Moringa has been used for centuries as traditional medicine for many ailments and when children first start eating moringa many report expelling intestinal worms, so that is a benefit too. I'll have to wait and see what the value of moringa is.
We also need to plant the rest of the moringa seeds and since I'm meeting with Dr. Vindu we haven't done that yet. Maybe tomorrow or Thursday I can make it out there. I'm also in active discussion with Joe about getting transport more for me. I'm either going to be getting a car and I'll have to pay gas for it or a bicycle and can bike the back road to Mawe. Hopefully that'll all be figured out by the end of the week. Even though I live at his house it's often hard to find Joe as he's always busy and often doesn't get back until late, but we'll get it figured out.
Other than that, Dr. Christina left this morning. Eve left Sunday evening to meet her parents in Rwanda and will be back Thursday for a couple days before heading out for good. Christina is leaving on Thursday but will be back for Christmas. Melisa is leaving on the 5th or 6th of December. The ranks of young people are thinning and we need replacements... any takers?
Facebook also decided it likes my computer again so I added some pics around Maji to the Maji album (fancy that) and there are some flowers on there that I have no clue what they are and wouldn't mind someone helping me out with what they are.
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Friday, November 23, 2007
Thanksgiving
Some people have been asking what's happened at Maji for Thanksgiving, and unfortunately we did not have a turkey. I've seen them around, heading to Mawe Hai and other places, but they aren't really in the market. Lyn said she saw a man carrying one the other day, but before she could get to him the traffic started moving and he was gone. Oh well, there's always Christmas.
We have been looking for a pumpkin too without much luck. They are growing at Mawe Hai but there aren't any fruits yet. Thanksgiving day the girls came into the hospital, and there was Wilfrieda with a pumpkin. She had been out somewhere and got this pumpkin and they convinced her to give it to them, so we had pie (made by Christina) and pumpkin seeds.
A trip to the import store brought us apple sauce, apples, and canned corn. The apple sauce was done with just a little cinnamon and the canned corn was simple enough. The apples were expertly turned into a delicous apple crisp by Melisa.
The mamas made the chicken. It tasted delicous with the apple sauce. The stuffing was a combined effort and turned out pretty well considering we didn't have all the ingredients and were making one and a half the recipe and converting things like mad between metric and english units. I think it was a fair success.
The beans were sort of stir fried with almonds and some herbs and they were delicous too. Then we come to the mashed potatoes. When the mamas make mashed potatoes, it is like a lump of potatoes and that's it. It's really little more than cooked potatoes put together into one huge potato volcano. We made garlic mashed potatoes with a mixer found in the back room and they were delicous. Harper kept getting the one mama to taste everything and she had a wide range of expressions that I didn't fully get, but it was rather funny.
Dinner was upstairs in the girl's apartment and it was candlelight, and wine, and flowers, and food, and talk. It was great. We did the traditional Thanksgiving thing saying what we were thankful for, and sat for a long time talking. It was a really good night.
It took a bit longer too because none of the girls wanted to go to bed. Lyn is heading to Germany today and 4 of the ladies will be gone when she gets back. It's just going to be Harper and I for long term guests for a while. I hope everyone else's Thanksgiving was well and you had a lot to be thankful for.
We have been looking for a pumpkin too without much luck. They are growing at Mawe Hai but there aren't any fruits yet. Thanksgiving day the girls came into the hospital, and there was Wilfrieda with a pumpkin. She had been out somewhere and got this pumpkin and they convinced her to give it to them, so we had pie (made by Christina) and pumpkin seeds.
A trip to the import store brought us apple sauce, apples, and canned corn. The apple sauce was done with just a little cinnamon and the canned corn was simple enough. The apples were expertly turned into a delicous apple crisp by Melisa.
The mamas made the chicken. It tasted delicous with the apple sauce. The stuffing was a combined effort and turned out pretty well considering we didn't have all the ingredients and were making one and a half the recipe and converting things like mad between metric and english units. I think it was a fair success.
The beans were sort of stir fried with almonds and some herbs and they were delicous too. Then we come to the mashed potatoes. When the mamas make mashed potatoes, it is like a lump of potatoes and that's it. It's really little more than cooked potatoes put together into one huge potato volcano. We made garlic mashed potatoes with a mixer found in the back room and they were delicous. Harper kept getting the one mama to taste everything and she had a wide range of expressions that I didn't fully get, but it was rather funny.
Dinner was upstairs in the girl's apartment and it was candlelight, and wine, and flowers, and food, and talk. It was great. We did the traditional Thanksgiving thing saying what we were thankful for, and sat for a long time talking. It was a really good night.
It took a bit longer too because none of the girls wanted to go to bed. Lyn is heading to Germany today and 4 of the ladies will be gone when she gets back. It's just going to be Harper and I for long term guests for a while. I hope everyone else's Thanksgiving was well and you had a lot to be thankful for.
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
Surgery Backlog
There used to be a huge fistula surgery backlog, but that was before Dr. Christina came. Dr. Christina is a Dutch woman who's been working in Africa for 25 years and has been doing fistula surgeries almost exclusively since 2002. She is based in Kampala, Uganda, but travels in a circuit to different hospitals doing surgeries wherever they need her. She's been at HEAL for at least 3 weeks, maybe more (time kind of has a tendency to jumble together considering I don't even know what the date is without looking) and has been getting rid of our backlog.
She does 4 surgeries a day and she does the cases that have failed before, sometimes again and again. Some of the women she's treated have been at HEAL for over two years and have had 4 or 5 surgeries. One woman told one of the girls yesterday that she just had her 8th surgery. Some of these surgeries have been done at HEAL and others at other institutions, and all of varying quality. Some fistulas take a couple surgeries to fix, but there is a lot of makeshift surgery going on as well. Supposedly now all of the women at HEAL have either been operated on or are healing as I type. She's been doing 4 a day, and another surgeon here has been doing 2 a day along with other surgeries and then Dr. Christina checks if it is a hard operation or he isn't sure of something. So they've been doing 6 a day for at least 3 weeks, so that's a lot of women.
HEAL is blessed with Dr. Christina not only in the operating room, but at Maji as well. She's a bit quiet at first, but she opened up after a couple weeks, and since Lyn's been back there have been meals where she's been the center of attention. She has 25 years of experience to tap into and a sense of humor that sets us all laughing for minutes at a time. It's great to be working here when she is here and she'll be leaving soon, but should be coming back before I leave, and possibly might be here twice yet, so I'm looking forward to that.
She does 4 surgeries a day and she does the cases that have failed before, sometimes again and again. Some of the women she's treated have been at HEAL for over two years and have had 4 or 5 surgeries. One woman told one of the girls yesterday that she just had her 8th surgery. Some of these surgeries have been done at HEAL and others at other institutions, and all of varying quality. Some fistulas take a couple surgeries to fix, but there is a lot of makeshift surgery going on as well. Supposedly now all of the women at HEAL have either been operated on or are healing as I type. She's been doing 4 a day, and another surgeon here has been doing 2 a day along with other surgeries and then Dr. Christina checks if it is a hard operation or he isn't sure of something. So they've been doing 6 a day for at least 3 weeks, so that's a lot of women.
HEAL is blessed with Dr. Christina not only in the operating room, but at Maji as well. She's a bit quiet at first, but she opened up after a couple weeks, and since Lyn's been back there have been meals where she's been the center of attention. She has 25 years of experience to tap into and a sense of humor that sets us all laughing for minutes at a time. It's great to be working here when she is here and she'll be leaving soon, but should be coming back before I leave, and possibly might be here twice yet, so I'm looking forward to that.
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
The Dog
There's a dog at the guest house named Kallie. I'm not sure how it's supposed to be spelled, but it means "fierce" in Swahili, and it's a guy. All the Western guests who come always talk about what a nice dog she is. They are wrong on two accounts. First, it's a guy, and not a girl. Second, he's hardly nice. An example...
Nigel was here for a couple days this weekend. He went swimming as it was getting dark and after it was quite dark already comes knocking on my door.
"Josh, would you mind helping me with something?"
"Sure, what is it?"
"Well, I was swimming and I had. Do you have a good flashlight?"
"Yeah, I got two" (as I grab them and follow him out the door)
"I was swimming and I put my glasses on a rock where I thought Kallie couldn't get them, but she did and now they're gone. They might have just fell a bit, but I don't think they could have went into the lake, and I have these glasses (pointing to his face) but they aren't the right prescription and give me headaches." I knew that feeling, so I helped him look. After 5 minutes we got more people and Lyn found the glasses about 15 feet away from where he put them down, scratched and completely out of alignment as the dog ate the plastic ear caps and put sizeable dents into parts of the frames.
Memo to self to not put my glasses down on the steps on top of my sandels like I usually do.
Nigel was here for a couple days this weekend. He went swimming as it was getting dark and after it was quite dark already comes knocking on my door.
"Josh, would you mind helping me with something?"
"Sure, what is it?"
"Well, I was swimming and I had. Do you have a good flashlight?"
"Yeah, I got two" (as I grab them and follow him out the door)
"I was swimming and I put my glasses on a rock where I thought Kallie couldn't get them, but she did and now they're gone. They might have just fell a bit, but I don't think they could have went into the lake, and I have these glasses (pointing to his face) but they aren't the right prescription and give me headaches." I knew that feeling, so I helped him look. After 5 minutes we got more people and Lyn found the glasses about 15 feet away from where he put them down, scratched and completely out of alignment as the dog ate the plastic ear caps and put sizeable dents into parts of the frames.
Memo to self to not put my glasses down on the steps on top of my sandels like I usually do.
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Cell Phones
While cell phone companies in the states brag about having less dropped calls than their compettitors, we dont' really hear much about that here. Why? Well, given time every call here is dropped. If you keep your call to about a minute, you're usually pretty safe. This is in a culture though where people often get right to business, and no one really says good bye. People have a tendency just to hang up when they feel they've accomplished something. The quality of the conversations is usually very poor and people often don't talk into the phone or talk while distracted by something else, causing low quality input to an already low quality system. Needless to say it's no wonder plans go amiss sometimes.
This is compounded by my phones inability to text message people. I get them all right, but of the 7 I've sent so far, only 1 got through, and that was a text to Eve that said "I'M JUST SEEING IF THIS WORKS" (I usually text in all capitals out of habit and laziness). I don't really know what's up and I don't want to keep texting people if they aren't going to get them. The only problem is it's only half my phone's fault. Often text messages show up late, sometimes the next day, or just disappear all together. Oh well, I'll just have to stick to calling people until I figure out what's going on and rely on that 100% reliable process (if you actually believe this, read the previous paragraph).
Well, ranting aside, I put up some more pics on facebook. There's another album at http://wisc.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2310533&l=4449d&id=8626644 that is going to be just for Mawe Hai pics and here you can see the compost piles we've made so far. I also added mroe pictures to Album 2 at the side and those were mainly pics of the Jubilee Center and a couple of last night's sunset.
This is compounded by my phones inability to text message people. I get them all right, but of the 7 I've sent so far, only 1 got through, and that was a text to Eve that said "I'M JUST SEEING IF THIS WORKS" (I usually text in all capitals out of habit and laziness). I don't really know what's up and I don't want to keep texting people if they aren't going to get them. The only problem is it's only half my phone's fault. Often text messages show up late, sometimes the next day, or just disappear all together. Oh well, I'll just have to stick to calling people until I figure out what's going on and rely on that 100% reliable process (if you actually believe this, read the previous paragraph).
Well, ranting aside, I put up some more pics on facebook. There's another album at http://wisc.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2310533&l=4449d&id=8626644 that is going to be just for Mawe Hai pics and here you can see the compost piles we've made so far. I also added mroe pictures to Album 2 at the side and those were mainly pics of the Jubilee Center and a couple of last night's sunset.
Another Job
This morning as I was waiting for the car to come into the hospital, Joe walked up from the main guest house and asked how I was doing before giving me another job. He wants me to spearhead the beautification of the Jubilee Center's grounds. Now it is lava rock gravel, concrete, and fairly harsh. He also says that whatever I say will happen. He puts a lot of authority on me for good or bad. I don't think I mind, it's just not something I'm really used to. I'm still learning what's going on and definitely asking way more questions than anything else. At times it feels that I only ask questions, and I'm okay with that. My best days are when I'm doing something physical or learning a lot.
Joe and Lyn also got bicycles. Lyn said something about me being able to ride Joe's bike. I might take them up on that offer and head to Mawe Hai someday on bike. It is largely believed to be about 10km away (6 miles) and wouldn't be that bad of a ride. I could take a back way part of it which would avoid most of the heavy traffic, and people are so used to people on the sides of the roads, I think I'd be all right. I'll have to try it and see. I had thought biking might be a bit dangerous, but Joe and Lyn were planning on biking to Mawe Hai on Sundays, so if they can do it, I for sure could. That would be great though because then I could go more often because I could go on my own time. Now I have to wait until the car goes into the hospital and then take the car from there and we don't go to the hospital till 9. If I were biking and wanted to actually get work done at Mawe I could leave at 6 or 7 and get a couple hours of work in before I'd normally even get there. I think biking too would take as long or shorter than driving from the hospital. I don't know if I'll get brave enough to try, but I'm thinking it might be a really good option.
The next couple days should be good, interesting days. The funders for Mawe Hai are going to be staying at the guest house (I think 4 representatives are coming from the Netherlands) and it should be good to meet them. They are involved other places as well, so I'm hoping to be able to learn from them too.
Joe and Lyn also got bicycles. Lyn said something about me being able to ride Joe's bike. I might take them up on that offer and head to Mawe Hai someday on bike. It is largely believed to be about 10km away (6 miles) and wouldn't be that bad of a ride. I could take a back way part of it which would avoid most of the heavy traffic, and people are so used to people on the sides of the roads, I think I'd be all right. I'll have to try it and see. I had thought biking might be a bit dangerous, but Joe and Lyn were planning on biking to Mawe Hai on Sundays, so if they can do it, I for sure could. That would be great though because then I could go more often because I could go on my own time. Now I have to wait until the car goes into the hospital and then take the car from there and we don't go to the hospital till 9. If I were biking and wanted to actually get work done at Mawe I could leave at 6 or 7 and get a couple hours of work in before I'd normally even get there. I think biking too would take as long or shorter than driving from the hospital. I don't know if I'll get brave enough to try, but I'm thinking it might be a really good option.
The next couple days should be good, interesting days. The funders for Mawe Hai are going to be staying at the guest house (I think 4 representatives are coming from the Netherlands) and it should be good to meet them. They are involved other places as well, so I'm hoping to be able to learn from them too.
Saturday, November 10, 2007
Compost
The first ever compost pile at Mawe Hai was constructed yesterday (and possibly the first one in Goma, but probably not). We stacked grasses and plant matter in layers with rabbit manure and some dried grass and some compost from a pile of things that had been rotting for months and will let it ferment for a while. The plan is to turn it every three days and hopefully after three weeks or so there will be a nice pile of compost. If it works, everything at Mawe should be composted and I'm hoping the workers will see the value of it.
Other than that, the moringa project took another turn a couple days ago too. I think it was Tuesday night as I was talking to Lyn that she told me HEAL already had moringa powder.
What? That's right, at the same time they got the seeds they got a couple sacks of the powder as well. Ok, that would have been really nice to know a month and a half ago because we could have set up trials using the powder to increase nutrition then instead of waiting for 8 months for the moringa to mature like I was planning on doing. We could have been half way done because a lot fo the stuff I read say changes can be seen in less than two months. Running it for three months would be a for sure if there is going to be a difference. Now Dr. Vindu is gone until the end of the month so we won't get started until December, but it's still earlier than what I was originally thinking. I think I must know everything about the moringa and the resources HEAL has because I really can't think of anything else that could possibly have been left out.
I still dont' know what's up with any of the other projects I've thought of yet. Lyn hasn't looked at the budget yet for Mawe Hai so that's holding up a couple things, and the moringa project will probably get going with the planting of more seeds (planting thousands to account for the low germination rate) and doing other small things at Mawe Hai, specifically directing all organic wastes to the compost piles. I think I'll become the organic matter master as we gather it into areas and make compost. We also really want compost at Mawe Hai to make compost tea to fertilize seedlings. There are thousands of tree seedlings for a reforestation project that need fertilizer as they are getting big and using all the nutrients in their pots, but can't be planted yet because they are destined for the areas with the fighting and it's unsafe to travel there.House sitting
On Monday when Joe and I went to the house for second breakfast, they asked me if I wanted to house sit for them for 3 weeks while they were gone. I said why not? I moved in yesterday, and I might be moving out this afternoon...
Monday was the last I heard about it, but the guy said everything would be taken care of. On the plus side, it is only a 5 minute walk from the hospital, so it would be pretty easy to go back and forth. It sounds great. Yesterday I stopped by during the day to see if they were expecting me and they showed me around, where I was going to be staying, and everything. The papa there was really nice, and so was the guard at night.
Dinner yesterday was potatoes and fish and it was pretty good. I'm not sure what the fish was cooked in, but it kind of tasted like a tomato curry sauce of some kind. I studied a bit of Swahili read some, talked to Megan a bit on AIM, and in general had a good night.
I went to bed around 11:30 and woke up around 12:30 wide awake because I was really hot. I was covered up with the sheet over my head because I knew there were mosquitoes and there wasn't a mosquito net. I don't really care about malaria that much (maybe not the right attitude) but I can't sleep if I hear them buzzing. I got up and tried to figure out what I was going to do. I looked in the other rooms and the only mosquito net I saw was on a baby crib. I grabbed it and wedged the rod holding it up in between the mattress and the bed frame and that almost worked. My head was out and I was cooler, but kind of uncomfortable. I took a pillow and used it to prop the net up next to me so I had more space under the net and went back to bed.
Except I could still hear them! They were buzzing outside of the net and I knew they couldn't get in, but they were still annoying me. I finally kind of covered my ears with my arms and went back to sleep. That is a solvable problem though. I'll just go get my mosquito net from Maji and it'll all be good.
I woke up this morning and felt all right (although now I'm kind of tired) and after reading some Bible, went to study Swahili. The papa came out and told me there was no more food except for bread. That's no problem, that's what I usually have for breakfast and it was good. A guy named Patrick who works with the guy came and he knew English pretty well and I was talking to him for a while and he's pretty cool. I'll probably hang out with him sometimes as he's my age and is all right. The papa came back out and said there was no more food at all, and asked me what I was going to do. Hmmm... That's not cool at all.
So my house sitting stint is over I think. I'm probably going to go back to Maji because there is no food and it doesn't sound like they were going to get any more. I'm at the hospital now and will probably go back with someone to get my stuff and move out. On the plus side, I met Patrick and that might make it all worthwhile, so I'm not too disappointed.
Monday was the last I heard about it, but the guy said everything would be taken care of. On the plus side, it is only a 5 minute walk from the hospital, so it would be pretty easy to go back and forth. It sounds great. Yesterday I stopped by during the day to see if they were expecting me and they showed me around, where I was going to be staying, and everything. The papa there was really nice, and so was the guard at night.
Dinner yesterday was potatoes and fish and it was pretty good. I'm not sure what the fish was cooked in, but it kind of tasted like a tomato curry sauce of some kind. I studied a bit of Swahili read some, talked to Megan a bit on AIM, and in general had a good night.
I went to bed around 11:30 and woke up around 12:30 wide awake because I was really hot. I was covered up with the sheet over my head because I knew there were mosquitoes and there wasn't a mosquito net. I don't really care about malaria that much (maybe not the right attitude) but I can't sleep if I hear them buzzing. I got up and tried to figure out what I was going to do. I looked in the other rooms and the only mosquito net I saw was on a baby crib. I grabbed it and wedged the rod holding it up in between the mattress and the bed frame and that almost worked. My head was out and I was cooler, but kind of uncomfortable. I took a pillow and used it to prop the net up next to me so I had more space under the net and went back to bed.
Except I could still hear them! They were buzzing outside of the net and I knew they couldn't get in, but they were still annoying me. I finally kind of covered my ears with my arms and went back to sleep. That is a solvable problem though. I'll just go get my mosquito net from Maji and it'll all be good.
I woke up this morning and felt all right (although now I'm kind of tired) and after reading some Bible, went to study Swahili. The papa came out and told me there was no more food except for bread. That's no problem, that's what I usually have for breakfast and it was good. A guy named Patrick who works with the guy came and he knew English pretty well and I was talking to him for a while and he's pretty cool. I'll probably hang out with him sometimes as he's my age and is all right. The papa came back out and said there was no more food at all, and asked me what I was going to do. Hmmm... That's not cool at all.
So my house sitting stint is over I think. I'm probably going to go back to Maji because there is no food and it doesn't sound like they were going to get any more. I'm at the hospital now and will probably go back with someone to get my stuff and move out. On the plus side, I met Patrick and that might make it all worthwhile, so I'm not too disappointed.
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
Random stuff
The team from Minnesota is going to be leaving tomorrow morning. I must say overall it was pretty cool. There were some great people (some of them from Wisconsin, making them even better), we played cards, talked a bunch, and it's fun having other people around. We've been playing Uecker a lot, which is for sure a Wisconsin card game (I don't know how to spell it so I guessed), and it's been great. Saturday morning I canoed part of the lake with one of the ladies, and it was cool. It's been great laughing with (and at) them.
Joe and Lyn got back Sunday and that was cool. It finally feels like we're not intruding anymore, so that's good. While they were gone it was kind of like something wasn't up. They talked a bit about their trip, and it sounds like they had a good, restful time.
Yesterday I went to Mawe Hai with Joe and I can honestly say that the man is mental. Total and completely mental. So we are walking around and I'm showing him the moringa and what we have been doing, and we end up by the lake. There were people playing with the rocks near the shore, and Joe explained to me what was going on.
He had rocks brought in from the size of soft balls to the size of volleyballs and poured them on the shore. Then these guys were flattening it as much as possible taking high spots away and filling in low spots with more rocks. Why is this happening? Well, Joe wants a beach. Not just a place to hang out, a full-fledged, sand beach. He wants 15 meters of sand all along part of the shore at Mawe, then a pagoda kind of thing for eating, and bathrooms and stuff. In Goma, Joe is going to put a beach.
I was rather confused and wondering why all of this money would be going towards a beach and he says it will be a great place to come Sunday after church. It will be for young people to come and play, hang out, go swimming, and lay on the beach. Then while they are at Mawe, we can also show them the moringa and it will all be worth it. I sure hope he's right and that the beach will bring in people who might not normally come to Mawe Hai and that we would be able to use the opportunities to teach. Joe was serious too because the rocks were already there, they were filling in the holes, and maybe before the new year, there will be a beach. I'm not sure when it's supposed to be done, but someday there will be a beach at Mawe Hai.
On the plus side, it should be fun when it's done. Can you say "Frisbee?"
Something else cool happened yesterday too. Joe and I went to visit the house we ate at on Sunday with the embassy representative, and in the midst of their French talking they ask me "where are you staying?" Of course I replied "at Maji." "Would you like to stay here for the next three weeks?" Apparently they are going out of town and starting on Friday they want me to house sit for them, and I think I will. Joe thought it was a good idea and I will have a car, a guard, and a cook/maid, so that sounds pretty darn good to me. As long as Lyn agrees, that's where I'll be this weekend and the next 3 weeks. It should be fun.
Joe and Lyn got back Sunday and that was cool. It finally feels like we're not intruding anymore, so that's good. While they were gone it was kind of like something wasn't up. They talked a bit about their trip, and it sounds like they had a good, restful time.
Yesterday I went to Mawe Hai with Joe and I can honestly say that the man is mental. Total and completely mental. So we are walking around and I'm showing him the moringa and what we have been doing, and we end up by the lake. There were people playing with the rocks near the shore, and Joe explained to me what was going on.
He had rocks brought in from the size of soft balls to the size of volleyballs and poured them on the shore. Then these guys were flattening it as much as possible taking high spots away and filling in low spots with more rocks. Why is this happening? Well, Joe wants a beach. Not just a place to hang out, a full-fledged, sand beach. He wants 15 meters of sand all along part of the shore at Mawe, then a pagoda kind of thing for eating, and bathrooms and stuff. In Goma, Joe is going to put a beach.
I was rather confused and wondering why all of this money would be going towards a beach and he says it will be a great place to come Sunday after church. It will be for young people to come and play, hang out, go swimming, and lay on the beach. Then while they are at Mawe, we can also show them the moringa and it will all be worth it. I sure hope he's right and that the beach will bring in people who might not normally come to Mawe Hai and that we would be able to use the opportunities to teach. Joe was serious too because the rocks were already there, they were filling in the holes, and maybe before the new year, there will be a beach. I'm not sure when it's supposed to be done, but someday there will be a beach at Mawe Hai.
On the plus side, it should be fun when it's done. Can you say "Frisbee?"
Something else cool happened yesterday too. Joe and I went to visit the house we ate at on Sunday with the embassy representative, and in the midst of their French talking they ask me "where are you staying?" Of course I replied "at Maji." "Would you like to stay here for the next three weeks?" Apparently they are going out of town and starting on Friday they want me to house sit for them, and I think I will. Joe thought it was a good idea and I will have a car, a guard, and a cook/maid, so that sounds pretty darn good to me. As long as Lyn agrees, that's where I'll be this weekend and the next 3 weeks. It should be fun.
The US embassy representative
Sunday was a rather interesting day. After going to church we all headed over to the house of someone from the church for a barbeque. It is close to the hospital and almost on the lake (there is a road right next to the lake here) and right next door to the governor's house. We talked for a while and there was the team from Minnesota, the people staying at Maji, and a couple other Americans there, and then the food came out. Oh the food. It was so delicious and so varied. There were multiple kinds of meat and vegetables, rice, potatoes, and bananas, fish, salad, it was great.
About 10 minutes into everyone being at the table with their food two more people arrived. One was a young guy and the other an older guy with a "presence" about him. Before he sat down he said "Hey, my name is _____ and after we're done eating, I'll be introduced to all of you when it's time to mingle."
Um... ok. Someone else had come late too, but they hadn't felt the urge to say anything. Anyways, the food was good, I was talking with some people, and life is good.
Dinner's over and the dessert comes out and the guy with the "presence" says "how bout we all gather around a little bit closer as I want to hear who you are and what you're doing here." Um... ok. We gather around and then he goes "well first I should maybe introduce myself a bit more. I'm ______ from the US embassy in Kinshasa and I've been in the area for a bit with my partner here and we've been assessing the situation and in a little while I'll let you know what's been going on." Sweet, it's someone from the embassy and the US is doing something in North Kivu province and I couldn't wait to hear what it was.
We went around introducing ourselves, and I became more and more convinced that I really didn't want to be there, and I really didn't want to know what was going on. Well, I take that back, I wouldn't mind knowing what was going to be happening, just maybe not from him. After every person who introduced themselves, he had something to say, something "important" and "relevant" to what we were doing there, except it really wasn't helpful at all. We came to the conclusion that given the situation, he would be perfectly content in solitary confinement just talking to himself and hearing his own voice. Maybe we were a bit harsh on him, but it was pretty interesting. By the time we got to me and he had done agriculture in the peace corps and studied agriculture development, I had pretty much decided I really didn't want to talk to him any further than introducing myself, but I'll get more to that later.
So after we are introduced, he talks even more than he usually was and told what he had been doing, traveling around and seeing the area. He had been to different remote places under UN guard and talked to different people, and one of his favorite phrases was "but I really shouldn't tell you about that" and "I could tell you a name, but it wouldn't mean anything to you." He liked his secrets.
The gist of at least a half hour of inflated talk came down to "The US is going to have a presence in North Kivu stationed at Goma."
So for well over an hour he had been building up to this secret, this huge revelation, the answer to all the problems and it boiled down to someone was going to be staying at a hotel in Goma as a US representative. He could have said that in 3 minutes with all the explanation necessary.
After people were breaking up I decided to swallow my pride and talk to the guy. After all, he would probably have some really good advice. Nope, just kidding. He talked about a banana virus that he didn't know about, said he had researched the cassava mosaic virus but never told me anything about it, talked about what people usually ate in the villages which I knew, but didn't really have any suggestions on improving their diets, and it pretty much boiled down to him not really telling me anything of value even though he talked for a long time. It was an interesting day.
About 10 minutes into everyone being at the table with their food two more people arrived. One was a young guy and the other an older guy with a "presence" about him. Before he sat down he said "Hey, my name is _____ and after we're done eating, I'll be introduced to all of you when it's time to mingle."
Um... ok. Someone else had come late too, but they hadn't felt the urge to say anything. Anyways, the food was good, I was talking with some people, and life is good.
Dinner's over and the dessert comes out and the guy with the "presence" says "how bout we all gather around a little bit closer as I want to hear who you are and what you're doing here." Um... ok. We gather around and then he goes "well first I should maybe introduce myself a bit more. I'm ______ from the US embassy in Kinshasa and I've been in the area for a bit with my partner here and we've been assessing the situation and in a little while I'll let you know what's been going on." Sweet, it's someone from the embassy and the US is doing something in North Kivu province and I couldn't wait to hear what it was.
We went around introducing ourselves, and I became more and more convinced that I really didn't want to be there, and I really didn't want to know what was going on. Well, I take that back, I wouldn't mind knowing what was going to be happening, just maybe not from him. After every person who introduced themselves, he had something to say, something "important" and "relevant" to what we were doing there, except it really wasn't helpful at all. We came to the conclusion that given the situation, he would be perfectly content in solitary confinement just talking to himself and hearing his own voice. Maybe we were a bit harsh on him, but it was pretty interesting. By the time we got to me and he had done agriculture in the peace corps and studied agriculture development, I had pretty much decided I really didn't want to talk to him any further than introducing myself, but I'll get more to that later.
So after we are introduced, he talks even more than he usually was and told what he had been doing, traveling around and seeing the area. He had been to different remote places under UN guard and talked to different people, and one of his favorite phrases was "but I really shouldn't tell you about that" and "I could tell you a name, but it wouldn't mean anything to you." He liked his secrets.
The gist of at least a half hour of inflated talk came down to "The US is going to have a presence in North Kivu stationed at Goma."
So for well over an hour he had been building up to this secret, this huge revelation, the answer to all the problems and it boiled down to someone was going to be staying at a hotel in Goma as a US representative. He could have said that in 3 minutes with all the explanation necessary.
After people were breaking up I decided to swallow my pride and talk to the guy. After all, he would probably have some really good advice. Nope, just kidding. He talked about a banana virus that he didn't know about, said he had researched the cassava mosaic virus but never told me anything about it, talked about what people usually ate in the villages which I knew, but didn't really have any suggestions on improving their diets, and it pretty much boiled down to him not really telling me anything of value even though he talked for a long time. It was an interesting day.
The mob
Wow, it's been almost a week. I think what will follow are some short posts about various things that have happened in the last week.
Today on the way into the hospital the team and the rest of the young people stopped by a wood shop. They sell all sorts of wood carving kind of things, and the team was having a field day. The people in the shops were really happy, and so was the pick pocket. Or so he thought.
The one lady on the team had her purse open because she was going to pay for the stuff, and then her husband paid for it, and just then she felt a guy brush her shoulder. She quick looked and saw her wallet gone, but she had lots of stuff in her hands. Christina noticed she was distressed and started chasing the guy.
Soon a mob of 15-20 people formed, attacked the guy, and got the wallet back. Cars were stopping, and a police officer showed up. Out of the fray comes Christina with the wallet. 10 dollars to the mob satisfied them (well, they kept asking for more, but if you gave them 1000 dollars it wouldn't be enough) and all was well. We don't know what happened to the guy.
I didn't see any of this happen, I just heard about it as they were coming back from the mob. I was watching the guys in the back do the carving.
Today on the way into the hospital the team and the rest of the young people stopped by a wood shop. They sell all sorts of wood carving kind of things, and the team was having a field day. The people in the shops were really happy, and so was the pick pocket. Or so he thought.
The one lady on the team had her purse open because she was going to pay for the stuff, and then her husband paid for it, and just then she felt a guy brush her shoulder. She quick looked and saw her wallet gone, but she had lots of stuff in her hands. Christina noticed she was distressed and started chasing the guy.
Soon a mob of 15-20 people formed, attacked the guy, and got the wallet back. Cars were stopping, and a police officer showed up. Out of the fray comes Christina with the wallet. 10 dollars to the mob satisfied them (well, they kept asking for more, but if you gave them 1000 dollars it wouldn't be enough) and all was well. We don't know what happened to the guy.
I didn't see any of this happen, I just heard about it as they were coming back from the mob. I was watching the guys in the back do the carving.
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