Life in Congo

It is our third week in Bukavu now and life starts to become more normal as daily routines settle in. 

As strange and wrong as it sounds, it becomes normal to see women walking on the streets carrying big and heavy merchandise to sell and make a living out of it. 

It becomes normal to see beggers on the markets wounded from fights in the war and having them follow you for the next hundred meters.

It becomes normal to see sibblings walking around town with their yellow water containers trying to find running and clean water. 

It becomes normal to see people throwing their trash everywhere because there is no proper system to take care of it otherwise. 

It becomes normal to see a convoy of UN cars driving down the streets. 

It is one thing to adjust to those circumstances, yet another challenge to accept them and integrate them in your daily life. Yet in this process of learning, we experience God's heart and purpose for us and His people here in Congo. 

The picture on the left is from tuesday afternoon on the way back from Svenja's work. These two street kids urged us to take a picture with them. After they followed us the whole way and talked to us about their lives we bought some food and ate it with them. 

The project continues: 

On Monday, Pappy had another meeting with Pasteur Bulambo. Together they were able to work out a plan on how Pasteur Bulambo and his organization can practically partner with us for our project and schedule meetings to interview different people the coming weeks.

Furthermore we had a meeting with a colonel of the Congolese Armee, who is stationed in the outskirts of Bukavu. Currently he is negotiating with an armed rebel group who is fighting to take over the rich gold- and coltanmines in the region. He offered Pappy to organize a trip together with the UN to talk to the local population, soldiers of the Congolese armee and those working in the mines.

On Wednesday Pappy had the opportunity to travel, together with his family, to the village where he was born and grew up. He was able to reconnect with many childhood friends, family members and the locals living there and collect their stories. On the picture to right you see Pappy, the woman in the middle is his mom, the women on the right is Pappy's midwife who is still living in the village!

On Thursday we visited Bukavu's biggest market in Kadutu, where mostly women are selling food, second-hand clothes - basically everything that could possibly bring them some money to sustain their families. The place is crowded, dirty, loud - yet a place where women live and work day in day out.

Good news: Pappy found a room!

This morning we had an appointment with a befriended landlord who generously offered Pappy an apartment to rent for the next 4 months. He also agreed to rent out the apartment next to Pappy's for all of our friends and team members to stay while they are visiting us. The apartment is located in one of the safest areas in Bukavu - since war began it has never been attacked by any armed group.

As it has been a struggle to find a safe place to stay, we praise God for literally opening this door for us and our friends while we are here. 

Friends: you are more than welcome to come and join us here!