BrianJBecker.com

Work is busy these days.  I remember when I first arrived in Kisangani, Thursdays could run slow and I had time to visit with many more of our clients.  Now the organization is over three times the size and there’s a lot to do from loan fund projections to human resources to training the internal auditor I just promoted.  The people I work with are a treasure, even the electrician who insists on negotiating every job across my desk with a sneaky grin.  This morning as I left our morning prayer/announcements and passed him with his arms in the electrical service I called him Frère (Brother) Gilles without having to think about it.  That’s what he is, our electrically handy brother.

Our office is on the corner across from the Greek Community (Commaunité Hellenique, just in case you are reading V.S. Naipaul’s “A Bend in the River”) and just up the hill from the mighty Congo River.  She’s flowing full these days, even if most of the rain is falling into the river basin over on the other side of the equator.  A canoe tipped a couple of weeks ago, dropping some mothers and fathers into the river and their families into a grief that we see here simply too often.

Our street is a row of art deco houses from the 1950’s in various states of decay.  The Belgians clearly designated it an urban residential street though there’s an old cinema around the corner and we’re one block off of a main thoroughfare: Blvd. Mama Mobutu.  Now there are no zoning laws in force, which is good for us since we’re an office in a house.  The lack of zoning also has its drawbacks.  Our neighbors recently constructed several bamboo awnings in their front yard and opened a bar.  They play a Celine Dion CD over and over all afternoon most days.

Once last week and again this week I’ve come out of the office in the twilight to the sounds of church choir practice.  It’s a delightfully twangy and spirited hymn with a baroque flourish and it’s out of place after Celine but so much more nourishing to the soul.  As the voices waft out from under the bamboo bar roof and over the wall it’s an epilogue to another day, both fitting and free.

Today I stepped out under the sunset sky just as it was royal blue striped with broad swatches of pink.  There was no music, just cool calm air and an enormous flock of small birds flying overhead filling the sky from one end to the other like living confetti.  There had to be several thousands of them and in a minute they were gone.  A few minutes more and the sun went the way of the birds.  I climbed up into my high-rise jungle tree house for another night’s repose.