Blogs from Congo Democratic Republic, Africa - page 2

Monday night our PACE program closed with a joyful celebration in the assembly hall. Each student was presented with a certificate attesting to her completion of the program. As each came up to receive her certificate, there was much clapping and singing . . . and a bit of dancing! Then they presented the PACE teachers with lovely Congolese carvings. We had a lovely dinner right there in the hall, followed by word games, and lots of singing and dancing. Enjoy the photos of the Sisters with their certificates!... read more

Over the weekend we were on the road to Lemfu and Kisantu to visit the Sisters of Notre Dame and to see something of their ministries there. Kisantu is about 40km south of Kimwenza, our home base, and Lemfu is about 18km farther. Sister Marie Dominique, the education director for the Congo Province, was our guide. Gerard, our driver, navigated some very challenging roads to get us safely to our destinations. The SNDs have been at Lemfu since 1905. There are pre-primary, elementary and secondary schools there, as well as a hospital, including a maternity ward. The Lemfu mission is also one of the four sites in Congo for the photovoltaic project. We saw the inner workings of this project, which provides electricity and internet service to the whole compound. The Sisters also host a cyber-cafe ... read more

In the last eight days, I have learned many new uses for the humble bucket. "Bucket List" has taken on a new meaning for me. In our house here at Kimwenza, we are blessed to have running water -- cold, but not hot. Down the hall from my room, there is a hot water heater with a faucet. So every night and every morning, I take my bucket there to fill it with hot water. We have showers (with cold water), but not bathtubs. So the bucket filled with a mixture of hot and cold water provides a daily bath/shower. I'm getting good at dousing myself from my bucket! It's also great for washing clothing and carrying it out to the clothesline. And for soaking tired feet -- it can't be beat. Of course, the bucket ... read more

A few days ago we visited the farm that the Sisters have on the compound at Kimwenza. When Sister Claudine Dumbi was studying agriculture at the Jesuit college in Kimwenza, she needed to do a practicum. She requested some money from her community and bought 200 chickens. That was in 1999-2000. Twelve years later they now have 1500 chickens, 100 or so rabbits, a small flock of baby turkeys and lots of vegetables. The farm provides not only income for the Sisters but also jobs for local people.... read more

Communication is so important for an international religious congregation. The Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur live and work in 16 countries in Africa, Japan, Europe, North and South America and Europe. In the past it used to take up to two weeks for important communications from our generalate in Rome to reach the Congo. Now because of the Photovoltaic Project the Congolese Sisters have dependable electricity and internet access. In some of the more remote sections of the country, they share this capability with the people of the village in cybercafes. You can read all about this project on our congregational website. Just click on this link -- http://www.snddencongokin.org/photovoltaique.html. All of the Congolese Sisters in this summer program are taking a class in computer skills. They are learning First Class, a program which supports an ... read more