ENOS and Lubumbashi

We are now here in Lubumbashi, Democratic Republic of Congo after being in Bujumbura, Burundi for 5 months.  It has been a little like going from the Garden of Eden into mortality although it is kind of a beautiful semi-desert.  We do have to contend with a reddish dust that accumulates every day and covers everything.  We have been here almost two weeks already and have pretty well settled in.  I thought I would show you a few photos of our apartment and where we live.

Our apartment is situated behind an electronic store and cyber cafe. ENOS stands for Est (east) Nord (north) Ouest (west) Sud (south). In the photo you can see our truck and apartment at the end of the driveway in the back.

There is a bakery (the smell is heavenly) and small restaurant on the side of it that cater to the many people that wait to get on the trucks that stop here.

In front of our apartment is a truck stop and people climb on the truck loads to ride from town to town.  I am sure that it costs less than the bus.  We will try to get a picture of them on the trucks but you have to be very careful when you take pictures.  I was approached by the neighbourhood police after I took this picture and asked why I was taking pictures.  I had to show them the pictures I had taken.  He OK'd them.

As you enter our apartment, you are in our kitchen.

Looking at the kitchen towards the entry.  We do have doors on the cupboards under the sink unlike the open ones in Bujumbura.

From the kitchen you enter the living room and our office.  As you can see I can hardly wait to kick of my shoes.  You might think our apartment is on fire--but no, it's only our bright orangish-red drapes!!  Africans love color!!

A different view of the living room and also looking into our bedroom.  Don't be fooled by the TV---we don't have cable!!!

Our apartment has two bedrooms like this one with a bathroom and walk-in shower in each of them.  The window has a scenic view of a 2 storey cement wall.

Phyllis has commented on her spacious closet space.

The bathrooms are not too bad although they have a very small pedestal sink and almost no counter space or cupboards--nice big shower, though!!!

This is the view looking out from our living room.  We do live a little ways off of the street although the door opposite the truck is the cyber cafe and there is a steady stream of people who use it.  We do have full time guards.  If you look to the bottom right you will see the roof of the guard house.

This is the view from our kitchen entry door.  Notice the razor wire on the walls.
Somewhere in that yard is a goat that "bleats" continually.

This is looking down from our second floor porch-balcony.  We do have a electrical generator for when the electricity is off (very often) which is a blessing.  It is in the enclosed area.  You can also see the red dust on the leaves.  Rain in the wet season will wash it all off.

These next pictures were taken on our way to the mission home and office.  We are always amazed at the balancing of loads carried.  This is a fragile balancing act.  Maybe this could be a "Minute to Win It" trick.  "How high can you stack eggs without breaking any? --And then carry them on one hand?"

We pass many bicycle loads of charbon ( charcoal) used to fuel the small cooking stoves.
Making charcoal is causing much deforestation.

Motorcycle gas stations.

It always amazes me that these bicycles can carry such heavy loads.  In this picture you are able to see the source of all of the red dust.

This is the mission office.  We have a very nice office here at the back of the building.  It takes about 20 minutes to drive here from our apartment.  Elder and Sister Wilson live on the second floor and Elder and Sister Bunker have a small house behind.

This is the mission home of President and Sister Packer.  If you look very closely to the left of the grassy area, you can see the trunk and leaves of a palm tree imprinted in the cement.  It actually is very pretty.

Heads and Bikes

 This is going to be a very different blog.  While I drive, Phyllis takes pictures out of the window of the truck.  She has captured some unique snapshots of life here in Bujumbura that we see many times every day.  Because they are taken as we are driving, some of them are little out of focus but still catch the action.  We hope you enjoy these pictures as much as we love these people and their ingenuity.

How are they each of the pineapples tied on so they don't fall off after going over the many, many potholes?

 How would you like to try putting those on your bicycle?

 There was a strong crosswind blowing.  You'll have to guess how much longer they are'

It amazed me as to how much he was able to put on and hang on that little platform'

 We bought oranges from these three elegant ladies so they let us take their picture.

 There are thousands of motorbike taxis and it is amazing how much their passengers are able to carry and still hang on!!

This was an interesting load and we don't have any idea what it was.

 This appeared to be a very heavy load of rice/grain sacks.

Bungey cord heaven.

Uphill grind.

 Carefully bundled harvest.

 Banana's coming down from the mountains at about 30 mph headed for market.
(Note the map of Burundi in the background)

Couch and cushions

 Foam mattress's being taken to market.  We see this many times a week.

We didn't know what these reeds were going to be used for but the ladies under them were cute and all walking with perfect posture.

This was a classic action shot as the man had to duck to get by this unbelievable load of mattresses.  This is one of my favorites.

Very carefully organized and tied.

 Notice the green flip flops

Very carefully tied.

From harvest to market.

He needs a wide load sign.

Team work.

 I would like to see you ride this bike.

This is a bicycle taxi and we are always amazed at how they are able to balance side saddle.  Most of the passengers do not even hang on.

Congo River Crossing

We remember Brent and Barbara Neilson talking about crossing the Congo River between Kinshasa and Brazzaville and what a wild and exciting adventure it was.  We never thought at the time that we would ever in a million years every be able to say, "We have done it to!"  The first challenge is even taking photos as this is a Border Crossing so you even take a chance taking a photo.  The second challenge is getting through customs, a long wait while you get your border crossing visa, boat tickets and then just getting in the boat is challenging.

We considered it a real honor to be able to be escorted by Elder Kola (an Area Seventy and Brother Kubangila (Country Public Affairs Director).  They were wonderful and really paved the way for us.  They were experts in the crossing and we just kind of rode along hanging to their shirt tails.

The Congo river is about 7 kilometres wide and is a very deep and fast flowing river.  I can't even imagine crossing the river standing up in a narrow boat like this one.

The crossing leaving Kinshasa going to Brazzaville was in a quite nice boat.  The city of Kinshasa has a population of 10 million people and has 5 Stakes of Zion.  We were able to meet with a representative from each of them.

We stayed overnight in the Hotel de la Paix.  It was not too bad.  The event that we will remember is that this was the day of cleaning out the gutters.  They remove the cement covers that you can see in front of the garbage and shovel it onto the side.  A truck then come along and it is shovelled into the truck.  As you can imagine it has a very distinct odour.

Bishop Kelounou met us at the port and was our chauffeur.  Elder Kelounou was one of our missionaries in the Ivory Coast and served as my Assistant.  He was a wonderful missionary and now works for the Church as CES Coordinator.  It was so good to see him and the other missionaries that served with us.

It is the dry season in the Congo right now and the river is very low.  This is the regular dock that is used when the river is normal level.  They say that it will not be able to be used for another two months.  The river, as you can see Kinshasa in the distance, is very wide now it must be awesome in the wet season.

This is leaving Brazzaville.  This was a little more scary crossing as we were in a boat meant for 10 passengers and they packed about 20 - 25 in the boat.  At least we had life jackets.  The city of Brazzaville is has a population of about 1.5 million and has 1 Stake of Zion.  We met with a Counsellor in the Stake Presidency and two Public Affairs Council members.

We got a chuckle watching this cute little boy finally give up and go to sleep.  He definitely was not worried about the crossing.

We can, along with the Neilson's, say we have now crossed the mighty Congo River.  It was a unique experience and we lived through it.