Blogs from Congo Democratic Republic, Africa - page 8

Something that hit me pretty hard recently: Last Sunday afternoon I was doing what I do most Sunday afternoons ... relaxing ... reading ... listening to music ... trying to prepare for the week ahead. I decided that my emails needed checking and started the decent to the office. It’s a well known fact here that if my computer is plugged into one of the outlets in the office all of our power cuts ... I stay away from that outlet ... usually. Sunday I had different plans ... like I said in my last entry that injection must have taken some of my memory ... because I went right ahead and plugged my computer into the “forbidden outlet”. Surprise surprise ... power cut ... however this time it was a bit more serious ... we ... read more

I would like to start by saying ... when I first came here to Likasi ... it wasn’t listed as a location on travelblog.org ... now it is ... I’ve got some pull. I last left you to prepare for our Toyota church leader’s training ... our first meeting with the pastors of Toyota was almost 2 weeks ago now and we’ve had 3 meetings since ... our 4th and final is this Saturday the 27th of February ... where we will present those in attendance with big certificates ... that have taken me almost a week of preparation. Other than the certificates the training has gone AMAZING! All the pastors have been super interested and receptive of what we/mostly Erick has to say ... and once again ... they are all from different churches and ... read more

OOOOOOOOOK Trip to Lubumbashi yesterday ... Where to start? The beginning ... obvious. The night of February 1st 2010 ... just finished a delightful conversation with my younger brother Thom ... set my alarm for 5:00am ... it’s after 11 when I finally put my head on the pillow. Wake up to the alarm ... what seems like seconds later ... snoooooze button saves lives ... or at least mornings. Finally drag myself out of my small bed ... with an outlet under it ... at about 5:30 ... make coffee ... spray on deodorant ... brush the teeth ... find a relatively clean shirt ... organize documents for travel ... and we’re off. As we begin our walk towards the bus stop the rain also decides to begin ... we duck into our favourite shop ... read more

2009 Trip to DRCongo and Rwanda If you are planning a trip to Africa I would like to suggest you consider taking full advantage of the airline's excess baggage allowance. The airlines will allow up to ten 50lb boxes of supplies for $150 each. This may seem like a lot but it's pretty easy to ask friends and family for donations to cover the expense. And you will not believe the deep gratification you will feel delivering these supplies anywhere you go. There are several non-profit organizations that will donate medical supplies, medicines, vitamins etc if you can prove that you will deliver them to places in the world where they are desperately needed. It's best to buy your ticket 2 months in advance and quickly contact these agencies to acquire the donated supplies. I took ... read more

A word or two from Congo Immediately arriving in the Congo you could feel the difference, see the difference. UN trucks, dozens and dozens, on every corner and prowling the streets swarmed us. We walked along the street and drew even more attention than we had in Tanzania or Rwanda. People stopped and talk to us - just to talk to us. Telling us that they were happy and proud to meet us. We wandered the streets, through the sweltering heat and pollution, hiding our fear and shocked by everything we saw. It was not long before we hit the city center - if you could call it that. And we were painfully aware that we could not easily stop and ask directions. We were lost. We could not find the restaurants we had looked up ... read more