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This week we were blessed to have visitors come through Kisangani. My boss Nate and HOPE’s President Peter came for a visit. The plan was for a quick one night stay and thanks to the wackiness of air travel here in Congo one night became two. I truly enjoy having guests and I am thankful that Peter and Nate came. Living in San Diego I had more house guests than I may ever have here. Nonetheless I enjoy welcoming visitors into my home and doing the best I can to accommodate them. Hospitality is a genuine Christian virtue and it can be effortful but it is not without reward. Trust relationships are built and blessings abound for both the giver and the receiver.

Peter brought some things that I’d ordered in the USA, little things that can enhance quality of life. He brought two ice trays allowing me to retire the one haggard ice tray that we’ve been using. It was a battle just getting some shattered cubes out of that thing. The new ones are working like butter. He brought a laptop surge protector that should prevent my computer from bursting into flames with the next sudden power surge. He brought a pillow since I failed to bring one when I moved out. You can probably get pillows just about everywhere in the world and you can get them here, but there’s more than meets the eye. Already my neck feels better. Lastly he brought some a tube of “Ant Killing System”. I never knew that there were so many types of ants: big, tiny, slow and lightning fast. Hopefully all of these species like the taste of the bait and take it back to their master.

One of our staff members was blessed with a new baby this week. Early Wednesday morning Willy’s wife went into labor and just before sunrise baby Beatrice was born. Beatrice is named after another of our staff members. It’s a close family at HOPE.

This week the weather has been nice in Kisangani. There have been several nights with prime sleeping weather around 77 degrees Fahrenheit. That means it’s too cold to sleep with a fan. We don’t have any blankets so if the air from the fan is too cold at night I have to climb out from under the mosquito net to fumble for the plug. Believe it or not, it’s better to sweat a bit while sleeping than to wake up chilly.

Last night we went to a party celebrating Cameroonian National Day. April 20 is the day that the divided colony of Cameroon (British and French control, respectively) was reunited in the 1970’s. My Cameroonian friend hosted the party and there was Cameroonian food, music and dance. They like to dance in a big circle and then pull people into the middle to show their stuff. (Yes, I was pulled into the middle. I can’t exactly brag on my dance moves.) It’s a little like many weddings in the USA when people make a circle except that these guys have some seriously flamboyant moves!

There at the party I met Father Matheus, a Brazilian priest who is teaching at the Catholic seminary here in town. Many of the students come from Cameroon. Here’s a guy who has been serving in Congo for over thirty years in many parts of the country. It was interesting learning from his perspectives and hearing about how they housed over 1000 people in their church compound during the six day long war in 2000. No one was hurt and they had enough food for everyone.

Today there was a parade of local health workers. They marched slowly past the building in neat formation. Most all of them were dressed in bright white as if they’d just come from the rounds at their clinics. The state of healthcare here in Congo is a major world concern. There’s a lot of well warranted press about the messy quandary in the Darfur region of Sudan right now and not much press on the crisis that is Congo. It’s recently been estimated that about 1,200 people are dying per day in this country for lack of basic medical care, disease prevention and nutrition. It’s a tough problem since 80% of the people live in isolated villages. I’m told that in the jungle many people are living by foraging and they aren’t in highly organized social groups. The health needs are great and there are a few organizations working on it.

I am feeling very good and we’re getting ready to start another week with the staff early tomorrow.

THANK YOU to the friends who have purchased calculators! I’m getting the word that they are arriving at our home office in Pennsylvania.