wheel chair for one (or one and a little one)

Some days just turn out to be the best ever. So, today we are out visiting schools with our friend and assistant manager of the Employment Resource Center, Bishop Russel Mbaya, when the phone rings. It is the Binghams, our Humanitarian Couple. Elder Bingham asks, "have you seen Bishop Mbays?" "He is sitting in the car with us right now," we responded. " Good, we have a wheelchair for the sister in his ward who needs it." said Elder Bingham. "Well, we can meet you at your office."

And, we did. They had two wheel chairs in the back of their truck. One for the sister in Bishop Mbaya's ward, and one for the son of the man who works as a janitor at the Church's Temporal Affairs building. When we arrived just before the Binghams, we were talking to the man. When the Binghams arrived and he saw the wheelchair, he ran to Elder Bingham and hugged him. (Elder Bingham is the 6'5' giant and this man is about 4'10", so it was a cool sight). His son is 50 years old and has been unable to get around for many years.

So, the Binghams told him we would be back for him. (Actually, I told him the Binghams would be back for him, as Elder Bingham does not speak French.)

Then we all loaded in the truck and went to find Bishop Mbaya's ward member. We went down the back roads and to her house. She was sitting in front of her house where she sells vegetables to the neighbors. When she saw us, she was beyond herself. He chair had broken some years ago and she could crawl to the street to sell her vegetables.

The pictures are of her, her new chair, and her bishop and the Binghams.

It was quite an event and the whole neighborhood turned out.

Note the little boy sitting on the front of the chair. He must be no more than two years old. As soon as she got into the chair, he scrambled up onto it and would not get off.

The children of the neighborhood thought it was a great sight. They all wanted to have their picture taken.

This is your welfare dollars at work. Please don't let anyone tell you that these funds are not necessary and urgent.

YOUNG SINGLE ADULTS

Most of our work involves the Young Single Adults. Last blog we showed you how we taught the Young Single Adults of the Mgaba (pronounced GABA) ward how to dance.

This Friday, we went back and danced some more with them. Then on Saturday, we attended a three stake Young Single Adult conference. Over 350 YSA in attendance. Suzanne played the piano for a couple of groups who sang. Can you imagine the power of 350 young single adults all living the gospel, happy, and loving life. It was incredible.

The young man in the blue shirt is Joseph, he is Suzanne's music buddy. He is very talented and engaging. He and Suzanne work together on musical numbers. He is also one of our new PEF students.

Our Ngaba Ward YSA kids showed off their dancing skills, much to the delight of the rest of the kids there. I am afraid that every ward will now call us to come and teach them. However, as part of our on-going sustainability program, we will have the kids who know how, teach the others.

The theme was "Eternal Marriage." The Area Institute Coordinator led a discussion on why get married in the Temple, then one of the stake presidents spoke on the subject. After that each stake did songs, poems, and a small play about marrying in the Temple.

It is a long standing tribal custom here that the bride must provide a dowry to the husband's family. It has become outrageous. The family members demand all sorts of monetary items from money to clothing, to televisions. Now, remember this is a poor country. Many are unable to marry until they satisfy the dowry.

The Church leaders are teaching that this is a practice that is not right.

For a young person to go to the Temple to be married is expensive. The nearest Temple is in South Africa. Most struggle to find money to go to South Africa to the Temple, and with the dowry requirement is becomes almost impossible.

The country requires a civil marriage, so most couples do a civil marriage then off to the Temple. At the civil marriage, the justice of the peace asks if the dowry has been satisfactorily paid. If not, no marriage is performed.

At the conference, many young people talked about their feelings and talked about how to overcome this tradition.

One young couple, a picture of them standing, recently married and worked hard with both sides of the family. (he is one of our PEF students) They paid a very very small dowry, got married civilly, and then flew immediately to South Africa for a Temple marriage. They are the example of the new Congo.

One very cute play was about a young couple who wanted to get married but the family demanded $35,000 in cash, new cars, TVs, etc. The bishop counselled them, they struggled, and finally, with the help of the bishop, the got agreement from the family to settle for $40 dollars in dowry. The kids did it with great humor and mocking of tradition. The entire audience was constantly in stitches. The point was made very strongly, by the kids, that there needs to be a new standard and this is the generation to change things.

We are constantly amazed be the understanding, commitment, and power of this young generation.

Also, we had our first completed classes of Planning for Success. The Mont Ngafula (pronounced moan gafoola) stake and the Kimbensake (pronounced Kim -ben-say-key) stake. The pictures are of the Mont Ngafula stake and their teacher - Bishop Haboko.

Also attached are pictures of the 2010 and 2011 classes of PEF Students from the Masina stake. This was taken with Elder Rendlund of the Seventy. Unfortunately, in this picture, he stepped behind a taller student. Also is a picture of Suzanne and me with Pepetho, our start student.

These kids are so much fun. We are so thankful to be here. AFRICA ROCKS!!!

THIS WEEKEND

This weekend started Friday night at the Ngaba Ward. The Young Single Adults (YSA) invited the Hatch's, they are the office couple, to teach them dances. (For John Standing - it is the obvious mistake, a white man teaching a black man to dance.) They are young for senior missionaries. They are from New Mexico and are really fun. They love to run, dance, and have a good time. What makes them more fun is that they do not speak a word of French, but communicate extremely well. They just use enthusiasm and speak loudly. Well, anyway, we all loaded up, the Hatch's, the Binghams, who are the humanitarian couple, and us, and off we went.

The kids loved it. We taught the Cotton Eyed Joe, The Virginia Real, and some weird cha cha dance that the Hatch's brought from New Mexico.

They asked us to come back next week and do it again. Actually, next weekend is the Masina stake YSA activity, so who knows. We are invited to that activity also. Suzanne is playing for a girl who will sing, and we may have to dance again.

Saturday am, we decided to go see a near by monkey reserve. On the way we stopped by a potential clean water well project. As we can see from the pictures they have an extraordinary farming project. With the hot weather, and the rain, the soil can grow crops if taken care of. This land was terraced and made available to the families in the area. They rent space, grow crops, and then use, trade, or sell what they can.

The crops are watered by a series of ground springs. It is these springs that the humanitarian couple have proposed for a six water site project. The people now draw their water from springs that are contaminated by the ground and surrounding environment. We saw women and children who walked several kilometers to collect water. Note: there are no pictures of the people or the springs as they asked us not to take their pictures.

Kasava is the main crop grown here, but there was also celery, chard, etc. Also, bananas, Papayas, coconuts, and pineapple. We purchased several of the fruits.

On down the road towards the monkey preserve, we passed the orphanage that the office staff has sort of adopted. We had to go there, Suzanne and I had not visited it. When we arrived, we met a woman we know who works with adoptions. She was there with a couple from Bend, Oregon who were picking up the little girl they had adopted. It was a rare occasion. The lady from Bend had brought dolls from home for each child, you will see them in the picture.

Mom and Sister Hatch sang with the children. About 30 children. It was very clean and well organized. Last week, the Hatch's and the mission presidents wife (Pam Headlee) took our some little tables and some small soccer balls. The play area is on a hill and the balls roll down onto a road below. So, next week we are going to build a fence around the play area to keep children and balls in play.

There was a new little child there who was ill - probably malaria. I have said before that we do not have the remitting/recurring type that you see in the Pacific area, but still the little guy was sick - probably taking him to the hospital tonight. Medication usually clears it up. Elder Bingham, the humanitarian Elder is about 6'5'' and a gentle giant. For you Greshamites, he is Lindsy Holmes' uncle. The little guy really took to him. Here is a tender photo of them.

Well, then we went on and found a quite pretty place and took some pictures.

We never got to the Monkey Retreat, it was too late, and we had to get back for Young Women and basketball with the young men, so we came home.

Tomorrow is stake conference at the Masina Stake, and we have been invited by the stake president, I hope that doesn't mean he will call on us to speak. That usually means me, since I am the only Francophone.

So, it is a pretty full weekend. Next weekend will be also. Then we start a series of Career Workshops on the next several Saturdays.

We love it here and are grateful to have been called to Africa.

FURNITURE SUPER STORE

We pass this place on our way to one of the stakes. We call it the Furniture Super Store. All the furniture here is made here. Pretty much out of doors. There is not electricity, hence, no power tools. Everything is done by hand. They make beds, chairs, couches, dressers, tables, etc. All by hand.

They even make rattan furniture here. a little man sits on a stump and whittles the branches of some tree, maybe the rattan tree, to the right size for weaving, then the next man weaves the furniture. The couch and chairs in our apartment here came from this place.

They do not joint or veneer it is all hard hard wood. Some of the work in very impressive.

They don't like you taking pictures, so I had to fake phone call on my iPod and snap what I could, so the quality is poor, but I thought that some of you wood workers might appreciate this.

FLOWERS

This is just a fun blog today. I have snapped several cool flowers and thought you might like them. Sorry, no philosophy or stuff today.

ANYONE NAMING ALL THE FLOWERS CORRECTLY IS ELIGIBLE TO WIN A FREE MONKEY.

PERPETUAL EDUCATION FUND

Pictures: Our favorite student Pepitho, a group of students at an orientation, the Mont Ngafula Stake President addressing the students in his stake.

Africa, as a continent, faces immense problems with hunger, unemployment, lack of water, and a general sense of hopelessness.

In the DR Congo, there is an overwhelming sense of hopelessness. We live in Kinshasa, a city who reports to have 8 million people, but common consent is that there are more like 15 million people living in the Kinshasa environs. The city is very large, it spreads over many miles. People are everywhere. They live in homes, apartments, hovels, and a great many on the street.

Unemployment is at 90 percent. Over 85% of the DR Congo and Africa in general are without clean drinking water, 80% of Congolese do not have electricity. Those who have electricity, only have it part time. Our apartment, is on US Government property and we have electricity provided by the power company or on generator 99% of the time. At our office, we have electricity about 50% of the time.

There is often a vacant hopeless look on peoples faces and in their eyes.

We have seen light come into those faces and eyes as we work here. When clean water wells are dug, there is true light and laughter in the eyes of those who will receive the blessing of fresh water.

The other light that comes into the lives of people from the blessings of the Living Water promised by Jesus Christ. Our young missionaries are valiant in their teaching of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. These young men and women (all African - it is far too dangerous for young white missionaries in the DR Congo) live in small apartments, without electricity or water. They cook on charcoal stove in there front yards. But they work tirelessly to bring to gospel to their neighbors. Each month this mission baptizes around 300 people. The Lubumbashi mission (the other half of the DR Congo) baptizes about the same number. When one accepts the Gospel of Jesus Christ, they find the light of Christ. They see beyond the immediate poverty and despair. They see eternity. (the last 12 months shows a 97% retention rate)

They have hope.

We are focused on these young men and women who return home after their missions. They have sacrificed much to serve the Lord. Now, they return home wanting to start their new lives, marry, raise a family, work, serve. But, they see at home the hopelessness of finding a job or earning a decent living. They would go to school, but that is expensive for them, so often they look elsewhere. They will leave for South Africa, or if they can find a way, for Europe. They leave their country in the hands of others.

Our mission is not just to help them find education, but to assist them to remain here in the Congo - to make it a better place.

There is here now a generation of men and women, who, when they finished their missions, committed to remaining here, building a life, and helping the Church grow. These are thirty year old bishops, and 40 year old stake presidents. They have struggled and overcome the odds to find work, raise families, lead the Church, and change their world.

They now see the next generation coming up, the young returned missionaries. They have asked for and prepared the way for the Perpetual Education Fund to come to DR Congo.

Suzanne and I are extremely blessed to be here at the beginning of this great work. The Perpetual Education Fund is a Priesthood led operation. We are simply putting the pieces in place.

We work with 5 wonderful Stake Presidents. Each of these Stake Presidents has hundreds of returned missionaries in their stakes who need employment. One of them, an incredible leader, asked Suzanne and I, with tears in his eyes, to "help me help all of my young people."

So, here is how the PEF works.

In the beginning, each stake president (4 stakes) chose twenty of his top returned missionaries to start the program. (Most of these stakes have 9 or 10 big wards in them), so each bishop could select 2 or so from their wards. Each young person was deemed to have three key elements before they could be chosen for the program: Worthiness - they need to live the commandments. Need - a real financial need. Ambition - An inward commitment and pattern of behavior that demonstrates eagerness to get ahead and work hard.

We then work within each stake with these 20 chosen kids. They must find a way to open a checking account with 10 dollars US (not much for most of us, but a lot for these kids), then commit to pay $5 per month while they are in school. At the completion of school and 8 months after graduation, their loan is amortized over 8 years. Then they are free. They feel free. They feel self-reliant and self-confident. Autonome in French.

We have three partners in the program. The Institute - the education arm of the Church. The Employment Resource Centers - the employment arm of the church. And the finance department of the Temporal Affairs office of the Church.

Once the potential student has been identified, they go through a four session course taught by the Institute Teachers. This course teaches them to dream. Dream about what they want to be. Then it assists them in identifying what their skills and talents are, and directs them towards a career. Then it helps them assess the schools in the area that could help them gain the appropriate education. Then they learn budgeting and finances (which most have never thought of before.)

The Employment Resource Center has additional Career Workshops to provide more help in selecting a field and a school, then, near graduation, they offer training and counselling on how to prepare for the job search, how to interview, how to win the job.

With this knowledge, they then apply for the PEF loan. The application is followed by the PEF couple (us), then reviewed by the employment services director to ensure that their plan will lead to employment and better income.

The Institute coordinator reviews the loan application to ensure that the individual has chosen well, can repay the loan, and continue to work hard.

Finally, we review it one more time, and it is sent to our area headquarters, then on to SLC for loan dispersal.

The average loan in about 2,000 dollars for a 3 year program. We encourage the kids to seek education and training that will lead quickly to employment. If they can do so with a nine month course, their loan will probably be a few hundred dollars. There are not a lot of PHD level jobs in the Congo. But there are plenty of skill level jobs that will earn them decent incomes. As we look out of our living room window, we watch a 30 story building being built. They will need skilled workers, electricians, air-conditioning specialists, plumbers, etc., to complete the building. Once it is complete, it will have retail, office, and residences in it.

The Congo is coming into the age of electronics. Many of our students are applying to a school that offer a Cisco International Certificate. This certificate will open doors to good jobs for them.

As a side note. Stakes are teaching entrepreneurial classes and with the help of a great leader at the Employment Services Center (Russel, who was featured in an earlier blog) micro loans have been secured to help these people improve their small business ventures.

One of our favorite students, a young man named Pepitho, is in the Cisco program. We recently visited the school, and the director identified Pepitho as their top student. He is a returned missionary who speaks good English and has a fire in his belly. He comes with us as we present orientation meetings for new candidates. He says, "I dreamed of becoming a software engineer. When I returned from my mission, I had no idea how to fulfill that dream. Then, my stake president came to me with an opportunity to receive a PEF loan. Now, I am half way through my program, I already have a job as a help desk person at the local cell phone company, upon graduation I will be advanced in the company as a software specialist, and will soon be able to get married and start my life." He leaves his house at 6:00 am. If he can catch a ride into the city, he can be to school by 9, and then to work until late. Then he does his church calling, teaches an English class, gets home at midnight, and then starts over again. And, he has a beautiful girl friend, whom he will take to the Temple to be married soon.

We can take Pepitho's story and times it by hundreds of lives of all these unbelievable kids we meet. Yesterday, at a school for finance and banking we visited, the director was giving us a tour, when we ran into one of our students. He came over to say hello, and the director told us that the young man was not only a great student, but he was mentoring other students. Payday for us every day....

So, we have started 4 stakes with 2o kids each. Now, the first stake to start is sending the next 20 through the process. We set schedules with the Institute teachers and stake presidents today for the Planning for Success courses to teach and enroll over two hundred more kids by the end of the year.

We met with the 5th stake today to start their preparation for coming on board.

Today, we also spoke with the Area Seventy who wants to take the program to the other three large cities in the Congo. Which means will will travel to the other parts of the Congo to begin. You have to fly, since there are no roads to travel in-land. For those political geographers, we will not travel to the northeast, where it is less safe.

We have establish three values for our efforts.

Integrity - because poverty yields corruption, we insist on absolute honesty. We require all schools to have bank accounts. (this may sound silly, but many don't, they just take the money and often overcharge and share the difference with the school, the teachers, and sometimes even with students). We will not allow that. All we do and all that takes place must be with integrity.

Compliance - We will ensure that we are compliant with Church policy and procedures. If we do it right the first time, the program will be well founded and correct.

Sustainability - Since the program is priesthood based, we work to ensure that the priesthood, namely the bishops and stake presidents own responsibility for the program. We will be gone in 18 months, but the program must remain. I have heard stories of the PEF being totally dependent upon the missionary couples, and falters when they leave. We aspire to leave and not have to be replaced. We believe this is possible. We tell the stake presidents up front, that it is their program and their responsibility. But then, they know that. It is their kids they are working for. And, the leadership has been incredible. The Institute teachers are eager and really get into teaching the kids. The Employment Resource Center is 100% behind the program.

Being a French speaking country poses its share of language problems. My French is coming back and I do OK. Suzanne is learning, but speaks the international language of caring. The French here is actually a very pure French. The accent is a little different, but the French is good. I am frequently asked if I am French or from France. I guess that is better than being told I speak like an American. I guess my French days still carry the French pronunciation and accent.

At the end of the day, we feel good that their is hope, dreams, and opportunity for success.

NEO-NATAL RESUSCITATION CLASS

This week we had a very unique experience. The Humanitarian Service Couple, the Bingham's from Eureka, California, coordinated a training event for nurses, doctors, and midwives in our area. The Doctors Ngoy, husband and wife, doctors lead the training.

The Ngoy's both practice medicine in Kinshasa. They give an extraordinary amount of their time to training others on neo-natal resuscitation. Hospital facilities are old and insufficient. Many babies die each day in countries like DR Congo because doctors, nurses, and midwives do not know the techniques of resuscitation or lack the simple tools with which to perform the procedure.

Each participant received a neo-natal resuscitation kit, furnished by the Church. There were about seventy people at the training, representing 40 hospitals and clinics.

The day before the training, Dr Ngoy (husband) delivered twelve babies. One of them would not breath. He performed the procedure he taught in the class and saved the baby' s life.

The last time the class was taught, the Humanitarian Couple who were here received a phone call the following day. A nurse in the middle of nowhere, who had attended the class, was yelling, laughing, and crying on the telephone. "We just saved our first baby, thank you, thank you, thank you."

The doctors presented classroom study, then broke up into small groups to practice the procedure on "dummy" babies. Each participant went away with new knowledge, new techniques, new tools, and new hope to save more babies.

Mom and the other sister missionaries made banana bread for snack. Lunch was fried chicken and french fries. Now, to you who have Kentucky Fried Chicken on every corner, that is not a big deal. Elder Bingham really looked and found the only fried chicken place in the Congo. And, it was actually chicken, not monkey disguised as chicken.

The Church rented the facility (an old Catholic Hospital build by the Belgians in the 50's) and paid for 3 hours per day for the generator, otherwise no electricity and no running water. The Church also furnished the manuals and the kits. And, of course paid for the lunch.

It was one of the most gratifying activities we have been part of.

The Church is assisting the Congolese on several fronts:

• Neo Natal Resuscitation
• Clean water wells
• Perpetual Education
• A new chapel building program that will employ returned missionaries and teach them skills
• English classes
• next week, the wheel chair specialists are coming from Salt Lake to help with a program to donate 2000 wheel chairs.
• Each stake has a sewing class for women, then they will attend an entrepreneur class

We continue to be thankful for our call to the DR Congo. We look around at the poverty, and the other problems, and sometimes think there is just too much to do.

I am reminded of the story I heard years ago of the man who walks to the beach only to find thousands and thousands of star fish washed ashore with the tide. He realizes that they will die if they are not helped back into the sea. He sees a young girl running up and down the beach throwing star fish back into the sea. He calls to her saying that she cannot possibly save them all. To which she replies, "But, I can save the ones I can touch." That is how we feel.