Chores, chores, chores!

Housework in Congo?!? For sure! 

Chores are a bit different though than they are here in the States... let's take a look friends :-)

The first chores in the morning were sweeping and mopping. Here's a photo of one of the girls mopping the patio outside- something that was also done again in the afternoon...

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Laundry- There's no throwing in the detergent and pressing "wash" in Congo! That's right, it's ALL done by hand... I eventually had to start wearing gloves because I was scrubbing until my knuckles bled. The girls were great, the always helped me - while teasing me of course ;-)

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Preparing the food- Yes- the girls got many laughs this summer and watching me try to grind food was just another reason to laugh. Let me just say that this is a GREAT upper body workout and also a great way to get out frustrations! (Thinking of ex-boyfriends while doing this really gets the job done!) Here's the before and after of what we were doing:  

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Nothing like making dinner over a campfire, right?!? Try every meal, every day, cooked outside on coal. While I was there the director did purchase a microwave... I tried to explain to the Mamas and girls how to use it- wonder how they did after I left... They did enjoy watching me use it!! 

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After cooking and eating there are many, many, many dishes to wash!! Here we find the girls having fun in the lean-to where the dishes were washed. Dishes are washed like clothing in some regards- start in one bucket with soap and keep rubbing, scrubbing and putting the items into the next bucket of clean water until everything is clean! Yes- I was usually a mess after helping with dishes and yes, often dropped clean dishes in the dirt and had to start over... 

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But wait- where does the water come from for cleaning, cooking and doing dishes if there isn't running water? Well... yup, that's where it comes from, the well! There's also a cistern and in the photo about you can see girls and some neighbors gathered at the cistern to get water. But wait- I know you're wondering- Rachel, what do you when the cistern is dry and the pump to the well breaks?!? Check out the photos below...

There were a few days in a row when the pump on our well broke so we walked to a local school and had to wait our turn to have our containers filled... It was so cold that day!!

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Now what was missing in these photos... oh yeah, babies!! Babies have to be taken care of while all the chores are being done- but "how?" you ask...

 

That's right! You strap those kiddos on your back and get to work!!

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Guess I should get a few things done around my place... I could vacuum after I toss my clothing in the washer and while my dinner warms in the microwave...

Love & Peace 

Drum Roll Please ----->

I'm going to Honduras with a team for two weeks at the end of February!!!!! YEAH! I can't wait :-D The group we're going with is Mercy Ships. I'm still waiting to hear the details but after talking to the coordinator today it looks like this will be our program (subject to change...):

"Children, children and more children … 95 plus and still counting! That is what you’ll find at the World Wide Heart to Heart Children’s Home in rural northwest Honduras. Since 2004, Mercy Ships has partnered with this ministry by bringing Work and Witness teams to the home and Medical Teams to the surrounding villages. Our teams also offer support and encouragement for the directors as they reach out to the community in evangelism and discipleship efforts. Heart to Heart directors, Oscar and Amy Serrano, provide a safe home, education, and health care for these beautiful children in a godly, loving environment. Facilities include a boys’ dorm, girls’ dorm, nursery, and vocational school. The school’s purpose is to prepare the children with practical life skills so they can support themselves when they grow up and leave the home. The Children’s Home offers many unique service opportunities in woodworking, building projects, cabinetry, assisting with homework, cleaning, cooking, laundry, maintenance, plumbing, or electrical work. But you or your team can provide so much more than physical labor! The smiles and laughter, the hands held, and the hugs given will last in your hearts and theirs for a lifetime." (Info is straight from Mercy Teams 2011 short term mission sheet)

I'm still here!!

Hi All,

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU for all your support, love and prayers this summer!! I've been back almost a month now and still have to finish unpacking, lol! :) I wanted to let you know that I do plan to start putting up some photos on here and stories to go with them... here's the first photo.

It was taken the morning I left... the story to go with it: I showed my parents this photo on my camera and my mom said "that looks like a white girl"- my reply "Mom, that's me!"

 

I miss every single person in that photo so very much!! Please pray for them!!

Love & Peace,

Rachel

 

ps- You know me, I can't sit around w/o making future plans so keep checking back b/c I plan to have an announcement soon!! (And fyi- NO, I'm not adopting, although if I could afford it, I would in a heartbeat!)

I'd like to thank the academy... :P

Less than one week left on this amazing adventure… although, once I get back to NoVA I think God will have another great adventure for me at home or abroad, plus I’m sure that just because I come home, doesn’t mean this adventure is ending! I must say that there are things I’m going to miss from Lubumbashi once I get home… but no running water and not having water at all (when the pump to the well breaks) won’t be one of those things!! :) I also won’t miss the constant power-outages… I’m sitting in the dark right now, was just lucky to have my laptop charged so I could get a few things done…

I’d like to thank the following companies for their assistance in getting me through the summer:

The Coca-Cola Company- for Dasani, Coke, Sprite and Fanta (yes- I have been drinking pop this summer- that’ll have to stop once I get back to the US)

REI- thank you to all the folks who purchased items from my registry to prepare for this trip! All items have been used and have been very helpful!!

Laughing Cow- for providing pre-packaged cheese that I could treat myself with (Julie- I’ve had very little cheese this summer, you can only guess how much I’ve missed it!!!)

OMO- This is the soap used for hand-washing clothing… I’ve gone through at least a handful of packages!

the makers of Pepto-Bismol, Tums, Cipro and Malerone- won’t get into an explanation on this one- but if you’ve traveled abroad you know that these products are your friends!

Cadbury- this seems to be the main chocolate here- again, another treat I would purchase when I made it to a store in town

VodaCom & Zain- for connecting me to new friends in Lubumbashi and family and friends back home

DEET- for keeping those nasty mosquitoes away (although- I did still get bit many times, but usually only when I forgot to put on the bug cream or bug spray)

USPS- for getting most of the packages that were mailed to Zambia where they were picked up and brought up to DRC – some more packages will probably arrive after I leave

Polyset- a company that makes many plastic products… I worked my upper body daily by carrying their buckets full of water to my room and used them a few times a week for washing my clothes

BBC- for keeping me up to date on world news

Many companies who make antibacterial hand gel, foam or wipes- for killing germs!

I’m sure I’ve probably forgotten some companies, my apologies! I thank you all for your support this summer and, to those of you who I supported b/c I purchased your product- You’ve very welcome!

Also- to share a quick story- you might think of this as a God thing or you might think it’s just a coincidence, that’s up to you, but here it is: I, very unintelligently, brought only one pair of cheapish flip-flops with me, the other shoes I brought were tennis shoes and a few nice pairs of sandals. As you can probably imagine, I wore the flip flops often, mainly around the center, because of the dirt, etc. The other day, those flip flops broke… I thought “well, I’m leaving in less than two weeks, I’ll survive.” Later that day I picked up a load of boxes that had been sent to me from the US… I was going through them and got to the box from my sister… in it was a pair of flip-flops (with a design from a TV show I like none-the-less!) How cool! I was close to tears. I called and left her a message to let her know how much those flip flops meant to me :) So that’s my DRC flip flop story!

Have a blessed day!
Peace & Love from DRC!
R

Many thanks to the folks who have been sending my mom money for me to purchase things here in Lubumbashi for the girls!! I haven’t spent it all yet but here’s a list of things I’ve purchased so far:

Chicken Legs/Drumsticks for lunch one day

DVD player (Sounds frivolous, I know, but you know you have one! Plus the store was going out of business so everything was on clearance. A new TV was purchased for the girls so they love their new set-up!)

An antenna for the new TV that was purchased (once again, sounds frivolous, but $10 that I hope was well spent)

Hot dogs (chicken) and bread (fyi- even in the Congo hot dogs come in packs of 10 and rolls come by the dozen!) I figured we’d have them for dinner one evening but sometimes things get lost in translation and I’ll give you one guess what breakfast was this morning… HOT DOGS! :-D

I plan to purchase more for them but would like to do it on my own or with friends who aren’t affiliated with the orphanage… I’m always with a girl, the driver, etc so I hope to find a way to shop w/o any of them, but we’ll see how that goes :) Anyone know where the local Wal-Mart or shopping mall is located? If you’d like to continue donating, please sent the money to my church… anything that’s in the account when I return (and what I have left from the trip) will be sent to the orphanage via the Advance to help with operating costs…

A donation was made by a previous volunteer and her husband to do something special with the girls… so thanks to Emily and Danny we’re all going to the zoo Saturday! While we’re there I’ll also get Coke’s for the girls… (and thanks to Ian for the use of a bus!) Can’t wait!!!!

The weather is getting a bit warmer now. It’s still very cool in the mornings and evenings but the sun makes sure to warm us up quickly. It snows here every day… okay, not really, but that’s what I call the black ash that floats around from all the fires. Trash is put in piles in folk’s yards and in the community and then burnt. There is a huge pile on the other side of the orphanage wall and when they burn it I can’t spend much time outside b/c the smoke and ash really get to me. The smell of the fish gets to me too… The other day the fire was going and the fish was being prepared so between the two I spent the morning in my room! However, the trash fires here in the compound are much smaller so they don’t really bother me.

I think it took me over a month and a half to settle in here… I have complained (to myself) about many things but have come to realize that my real issue it just being at the mercy of others… when I eat, what I eat, where I go, when I go, what time I wake up, etc… For someone who has been on her own for years, this is tough. But I appreciate SO MUCH all the girls and mamas have done/are doing for me! They are all wonderful! I can’t wait to share stories and photos when I return! I have less than four weeks left and then I’m off to London to meet up with my folks and recover a bit. I really miss my family and friends so much! If anyone is free in the next few weeks, come to Congo and visit!! :) I have made many new friends though through different outlets and I’m thankful for them all and the blessings they’ve been in my life!

There is a cool mini-safari park here called Muyambo Park. I’ve already gone twice! A few animals are in cages (like a zoo) but the larger ones are just wandering around and you’ve free to wander around with them, it’s very cool!!! (Got some amazing photos and a great workout!!)

Finally- Watch out boys! When I return home I might still be sporting some of the new “perfume” I’ve been wearing while I’m here… it’s called Eau de bug spray! :-D (Since it keeps the annoying bugs away, I’m thinking about trying to see whether it keeps the annoying boys away!)

God’s peace to all!!!
Love, Rachel