2006 August Archive at BrianJBecker.com

Monthly Archive for August, 2006

Simple gifts

Published

on August 31, 2006

. 1 Comment

I had a nice visit last Saturday with my friend Clarice’s family. I was a little late getting there because I was baking cookies for the family. I spent some time talking with Papa Wembonyama about his career working on the roads that are now in disrepair and about his hopes for the future in Congo. At the end of our time together he very graciously gave me a huge basket of gifts. This week my beans have eggplant and carrot cooked in and tonight I made some fried rice with eggs that were still bright yellow yolked. Later this week I will have cucumber salad and I’ll make some fresh squeezed lemonade. It’s too much food for me and I could argue that they need it more than I do, but this gift was not given to be refused.
I’ve since learned that it’s not a good idea to keep a cracked coconut in the fridge. Right now everything in my little refrigerator has a hint of coconut flavoring!

The rains came down and the puddles filled up

Published

Brian

on August 25, 2006

in Africa and Congo

. 0 Comments

The rain started this morning at about 4:30 AM and continued until about 3:00 PM. And this was a serious cold rain. Brazil, Congo, and Indonesia are the three nations with vast dense biodiverse rainforest ecosystems. There’s a reason they put rain in the name. In San Diego most of the time we pretend like there are four seasons when in reality it’s just a slow sway from perfect to chilly with a couple of weeks of sticky-hot. People talk about rainy seasons and dry seasons here in Kisangani but we rarely ever go more than seven days without rain. When we get close to seven days, it starts to feel like a drought.

These forests are so unbelievably lush and yet the greenery can’t consume all of the water. There are hundreds of tributaries that flow into the Congo River as it flows north then east then south to the Atlantic. When the rains slow up a bit, the dry season if you will, the river does drop. Yesterday I noticed several taxi men washing their bicycles out on sandbars that stretch well into the riverbed. It seems that river traffic must be nearly impossible at the moment. I’ve heard that the Congo River is not an especially easy one to navigate and there are also as many as 20 points along the way where boats are stopped and taxed by officials and bandits of all stripes. No doubt when the water is low, there is a significant economic impact.

Now that the rains are back in force, we can expect intense storms at least three times a week. On days like today when the storms come during business hours, Congo’s pervasive informal economy briskly retreats. Imagine what widespread weather closures would do to the economy in Seattle, and that’s what we’re up against. We’re not trying to launch the next Starbucks mega-chain sensation, but just to see that communities are able to adequately shelter, clothe, feed, and educate themselves. We may not have to worry about drought induced famine, but the weather is certainly an economic impediment.

The rains also cause transportation shut downs. Imagine for a moment that you live in a city that has very few cars and horrible road conditions. Very few of the roads are paved. Paved or not, all of the roads are more pothole than anything else. You get around by walking or riding on a slice of foam mounted over the back wheel of a bicycle. If you are well-to-do you hire a motorcycle taxi. If you are still wealthier you might own a car. If you own a car it becomes very difficult not to splash everyone else when you are rolling over thousands of puddles. Pedestrians give the dirtiest of looks to any car that rolls past at over 5 mph when there are puddles (and there are so often puddles). Still, getting a few (hundred) dirty looks, and driving carefully of course, is far better than riding on the back of a bicycle in wet weather.

When the potholes are full it’s impossible to tell how deep they are. This morning one of our staff members was trying to get to work in the rain. After he was finally able to find an available bicycle taxi they set off for downtown. Before long they hit a deep puddle and they were both thrown into the mud. He had to walk home in the rain and start it all over again.

Election results are in, so are the crops

Published

Brian

on August 21, 2006

in Africa and Congo

. 3 Comments

Three weeks after the landmark elections in Congo, we have the first complete results. As expected, the country is largely divided down the middle with the eastern side supporting transitional president, Joseph Kabila and the western side, including the bustling capital Kinshasa, surging with support for a transitional V.P. Jean-Pierre Bemba. In the national count Kabila took 45% and Bemba came in a distant second with 20%. This means that we are heading to a run-off election planned for October 29. Even though they just pulled off a massively complicated election fairly successfully, holding another one in short order is still a logistical feat. They have been planning this second election for provincial offices anyhow, but initially it seems as though few preparations are in place and the electoral commission is calling on international donors to fill a 45+ million dollar budget overrun.

Since just before the results were announced last night there has been some violence in downtown Kinshasa. It appears that a mob of Bemba’s supporters and/or militia tried to prevent the election officials from going to the TV station to announce the results. The announcement was planned for 9:00 PM Kisangani time and wasn’t made until around 11:30 PM. The director of the electoral commission, Rev. Malu-Malu, made the announcement himself on TV surrounded by bodyguards. Today it appears there was more fighting outside of Bemba’s compound and some of the high-ranking diplomatic corps as well as William Swing, the American who directs the UN mission here, were caught in the crossfire. (I saw Mr. Swing a week ago at the UN air terminal in Kinshasa and he appears to be a friendly man. He was smiling and waving at us around 7 AM, the rest of us still sleepy, before boarding a small jet with some foreign dignitaries.) The troubles in Kinshasa may linger and I am concerned about my coworkers there. They are taking wise precautions and are not in harm’s way. I am in frequent contact with them.
The run-off election gives the political process more time and it allows all of the failed candidates and their associates to align themselves with either Mr. Kabila or Mr. Bemba. This could further polarize the country and set Congo up for more strife after the next round of elections. The general feeling around town is that we can all breathe a sigh of relief since Kabila didn’t win outright on the first try and the process will continue. Of course it doesn’t help that he proclaimed this first round “a great victory” on television.

So many of the Congolese people are fatigued by war, poverty, and political trouble in their country. Yet I am told that Kinshasa has mostly seen periodic wide-scale military looting and isolated skirmishes. Seven years ago Kisangani had a week of real war followed by foreign occupation. Some even told me today in Kisangani that they hoped that Kinshasa would have a 2-3 day war so they would know what it is like and stop agitating the political process. They say that in Kinshasa people don’t know the sound and fury of heavy artillery, missles and the like. Still I cannot agree with them that the solution to violent skirmishes is all out war.

Life is calm and normal in Kisangani. We are hundreds of miles from Kinshasa and well into Kabila country. I spent some time on the phone this evening to my grandparents. This is the second time that I have been in an African nation when election results were announced and Malawi was much more turbulent in 2004 than Kisangani is tonight. I talked about Italian food with my grandmother in Arizona and had a nice talk about my planned visit in April with my grandmother in Minnesota. I talked with Grandpa George about the weather and the crops and his jigsaw puzzles. I think everyone should have a retired Minnesota farmer for a grandpa. Then when you move to a rainforest climate in the middle of Africa you can talk about the crops in the jungle.

Gymnastique

Published

Brian

on August 17, 2006

in Africa

. 3 Comments

I was walking back from my lunch break today and I came across a small troop of kids near the gate to our office. Children often play with marbles in the shaded dirt next to our wall. One of them tends to stand a good six or eight feet back and then shoots the marble at the other marbles on the ground. It looks like a miniature version of the bocce game that we play at family gatherings and in the park with friends back home. But today the kids were all lined up facing a leader who had them doing some “Karate Kid” style moves with their arms and legs. It looked like a game of “simon says” in progress as I approached. When I knocked on our gate, it took awhile for the guard to come and as I stood there I decided to mimic their moves. Judging by their laughter, they got a big kick out of that. Even the serious looking leader was cracking up. I’m glad to know I’ve still got some good moves.

A Grand Circle Tour

Published

Brian

on August 15, 2006

in Africa, Congo and Uncategorized

. 2 Comments

I am sitting on the floor of the transit lounge in the makeshift UN terminal at Bukavu. I had no idea that I’d be sitting here today. I’m flying from Kinshasa in the west to Kisangani in the center of the country but today’s flight plan has me on a grand circle tour of the Congo. (Kinshasa – Kananga – Bukavu – Kisangani) The good news is that in a few hours I should be back in Kisangani settling back into my routine there.

I just spent the weekend in Kinshasa where I was able to have some helpful work conversations with my coworkers and get a haircut. A friend who works for the Red Cross did a great job cutting my hair nice and short. I feel like a new man. As of now the temperatures in Kisangani have eased a bit but the heat and humidity should be extra oppressive again very soon, so the haircut was important.

These days the weather in Kinshasa is calm and it’s a good thing since the election results are expected any day now. Hopefully the cool-ish weather will help to cool emotions. The main concern is in Kinshasa where Kabila is not favored. If he wins a national majority or plurality, the citizens of Kinshasa may protest violently. The opposition candidate that is favored has a colorful history and still has his own militia. He’s at once assuring everyone that the political process should be protected and he’s claiming victory before the results have been announced, trying to build a coalition of all of his major opponents, save Kabila and his close allies. It’s interesting to watch the engineering of political power and the sways of public opinion in a country where it’s less than subtle.

Up to now, I have been somewhat discouraged that the church has not been proclaiming peace and calling the faithful to keep any protests from turning violent and descending into burning and pillaging. The association of major Protestant churches in Kinshasa has recently issued a statement on television urging peaceful reactions to the election results and I am thankful for that. If there will be troubles, it’s more likely to be in Kinshasa than in Kisangani because of the political climate and strongly contested elections.

I have experienced multi cultural situations, but traveling with the UN is a unique situation. So far today I have seen personnel from India, Pakistan, Egypt, Malawi, Senegal, Kenya, Belgium, Zambia, South Africa, France, Bangladesh, Canada, Uruguay, Romania, Paraguay, Benin, China, and Congo. And those are just the ones that I could pick out by the flag on their shoulder.

There’s a little food service counter in the corner of this lounge but it’s mobbed with people, the prices are usually expensive and the service is quite slow. I paid $3 just now for a sandwich and it came very quickly. There were no beverages available at all, they’re sold out. The two men staffing the cafeteria are serving a crowd of people with about four coffee cups and three plates. I’m glad for them that the water in their sink is running in the middle of the dry season.

In the past four days I have received two joyful announcements of staff weddings that will be happening soon. I am excited to attend my first Congolese wedding in a few weeks. I have also heard about two untimely deaths. One death was the sister of a staff member in Kinshasa who required an emergency caesarean section and it went wrong. The other one is the year old daughter of a Nazarene pastor here. I don’t know yet know the nature of the illness that struck the small child in Kisangani. I got a call saying that she was sick just as I was heading to the plane to fly out for the weekend and then I got a call from her father on Monday saying that she’d died at 9AM on Sunday. I’m again reminded by this news that God is present in both the joys and sorrows of life.

Worth a thousand words

Published

Brian

on August 10, 2006

in Africa, Congo and Microfinance

. 0 Comments

All is well with me in Congo, here in the gap between Election Day and Results Day, it’s just another day. So far it’s been a pretty good one. After some wrangling with and by the UN office of Humanitarian Affairs, I am scheduled to fly to Kinshasa tomorrow to meet with my colleagues there, have my visa renewed, and hopefully get a haircut. I’m trying to get around to sending out an update e-mail which I will post here. If you happen to read this blog and you’d like to get my update e-mail, feel free to contact me here and I will add you to the list.

In the meantime, here are some recent photographs:

At left, a woman in one of our community banks is full of contagious joy. At right, our accountant Sylvain and his wife who stopped by the office recently. They are expecting their third child. He’s hoping for twins, she’s not.

At left, Loan Officer Mama Ruth with one of the calculators donated by my friends. At right, President Kabila crossed the river to campaign on the other side and many local fishermen and canoe taximen held a rally on the water to accompany him.

Continuity

Published

Brian

on August 3, 2006

in Africa, Congo and Microfinance

. 1 Comment

It’s just after 6:00 PM and the day has started its fade into night. One thing I like about living so close to the equator is that you always know the sun will come up just after 6:00 AM and it will go down just after 6:00 PM. It’s something highly reliable in a life that comes with frequent surprises.

Today I visited two community bank loan disbursals and they were both great. The second one was the community bank “Continuity”. The group is located in the part of town that’s known for violent gang activity. Things are a little heavier in this part of Mangobo. Ironically one of the main gangs is called “United States” and there’s also “Vatican” and something called “Kata-Moto”. They are sometimes connected politically and they are generally regarded as the greatest local security risk. But these mamas inside the bamboo church today, they were full of joy. I’m really enjoying making speeches of encouragement to our members. I like helping them laugh and smile and recognize the good things, the daily bread, that the Good Lord is providing in their lives.

I even got to hold a precious tiny baby wrapped up in blankets. Here’s an empirical truth for you: there are few things in life more wonderful than holding a sleeping baby. And fortunate for me, I did not wake him. Many small children here are horribly afraid of the big white guy that I am. I probably look like the abominable snow monster to them. Peter told me that, “A smile goes a long way here”. When people are frightened, curious or scowling at my presence, I often give them a huge grin. With upset little ones, that seems to multiply their distress.

Life in San Diego was more or less consistent, good weather, functional utilities, busy, busy, busy. Life here is generally less busy but also less consistent. I’ve joked with some of my coworkers that if I were to rank my days on a scale of 1 to 10, there are weeks where I’d be all over the map. There are some days when nothing seems to go well. But then the very next day will be full of joy. Earlier this week I was having about a 4 day and just as I was nearing my apartment I saw a lone boy on the side of the road. I gave him a grin and he returned the favor with a smile from ear to ear. That moment alone pushed the day to a 5 or 6.

The civil atmosphere is still calm though many people are again sporting their propaganda-wear. There is talk that this or that candidate has claimed victory – but no results have been announced. It’s going to be tenuous until results are officially announced and that date is unknown. It should be sometime in the next two weeks. Hopefully the official announcement will pass peacefully as Election Day did. International observers are beginning to head back home now. I heard one observer say, “I witnessed random outbreaks of joy… that’s about it!”