Day Care - Congo style

Peter Elliott, journalist from the U.K. 3 weeks into a 4 week working visit to Kimbilio writes:-

Maybe it could be described as a typical day in Congo in that I’m not sure whether to feel depressed or elated. Day begins with a 7am start at the Cathedral Day Centre. After paying a small 500 franc Army roadblock toll (to enter a street we would pass several times during the day) Our team arrived wondering if the numbers of street children would be reduced from last week's boisterous group of 35. The question was short-lived as pretty soon 41 beautiful urchins bursts through the door - drum beating, laughter, shouting and singing transforms the normally serene structure into a cacophony of sound - just as well the Dean is onside. Amid chaos things are going to plan - boys wash and have sweet tea and bread before activities begin. Two boys seem reluctant to join in and both appear unwell, usually malaria. One boy takes off his trousers to reveal an injury to his leg and the revolting smell of putrid flesh fills the room and the back of your throat - seems impossible to be true - their isn't a current war, famine or natural disaster just a Congolese boy who has been living on the streets for too long. Other child very lethargic and medical attention deemed necessary. Garenganze Medical Centre assess and we need to await test results - both have malaria, one also has dysentery and worms. The youngest Mercy be is put on a drip and Sonny with the leg injuries cleaned up and told to come back the next day for further inspection - at least the foul aroma has lessened. Both also tested negative for HIV. Leaving a 12/13 year-old-child alone in hospital for 24hours seems wrong so staff member to visit and bring food - centre is superb and staff aware of project but there isn't a food trolley in sight. Sonny and this group represent a fraction of young boys on the streets but Kimbilio can't engage in additional outreach as staff and resources would be swamped. Already project leader Ian Harvey has to make the unenviable decision on cutting adrift some older daycentre members - a judgement I’m glad not to make. Mood picks up in the afternoon as we visit a child who was reconciled with his mother last week – even by Congo standards the narrow dusty road to their home is particularly bad and I catch myself looking at the roof of the land cruiser to asses its strength if rolled. Both son and mum seem very happy and we take him and his younger brother on an impromptu trip to the zoo. For me outing has dual purpose: 1- to show Jonathan that he is not missing out on fun living at home and that good things can happen. 2- To finally be able to tell my children I have seen some animals - the sole question asked on calls home! We pass the Army roadblock on route to zoo and are remembered so no additional 500 franc toll payment - the same amount of money given to a zoo keeper actually got a lion brought out of it's cage and us into the tiger pen - You can say many things about Congo but you wouldn’t get that kind of service for 40p at Chester Zoo! Dropped of boys and home for tea at 7pm - a full 12hour day which didn't turn out as expected and I'm still not sure whether day fun or fraught, laconic or life affirming but I guess it's all part of Lubumbashi life!

Waking up in the market...

It was an early start this morning, up and out by 4.45am! It was hard to go to sleep last night, a strange mixture of excitement and intrepidation about what we may find! We went out to Kenya market in Lubumbashi to meet street children waking up on the streets where they had spent the night and invited them to come to Kimbilio day centre tomorrow. I found the streets to be cleaner and brighter than usual possibly partly due to the fact it is dry season and therefore no mud and also there was electricity in the neighbourhood. We asked a number of guards from the local shops if they knew where the children were sleeping. He quickly pointed us in the direction of a covered stall, no bigger than a UK telephone box. There were 3 children sleeping inside. They were afraid but were told not to run as we had come baring tea and bread and were not going to beat them up. We were a team of 11 this morning and we encountered over 20 children in our small teams. The team included a number of visitors from the U.K. who are helping us at the project at the moment. These including three development students on placement at Kimbilio from Chester University. I was interested to hear their views as new comers to the country and such a situation. They all seemed to adapt with ease to some of challenging situations we encountered as well as what would have been a very new environment for them to experience. I have personally found it motivating and encouraging to have the imput of Dave, Peter, Greg, Dave, Howard and Alex who are full of ideas and energy to assist Kimbilio during their time in Lubumbashi... thanks chaps! We are really hoping and praying that the children we met this morning will come to Kimbilio tomorrow in order that we can build up positive relationships with them and help to bring some changes for the better in their lives.

Environmentally friendly power coming to Kimbilio!

The issue of how to get power to the Josue Manda House has been a complicated one. At present the mains electricity (subject to regular power cuts!) arrives approximatley 2 kilometres from the Maison Kimbilio site. Matthew Barber, a Keele University student who visited Kimbilio during 2011, has been successful in applying for funds via the Keele University Sustainability Hub to enable us to install solar panels onsite http://www.keele.ac.uk/keelehub/sustainabilityhubsupportscongoprojectstudent/ We are looking forward to a visit from Matthew later in the year when he will return with a small team from Keele University to assist with the instalation of the solar system. To this end we are readying ourselves for their visit by assembling a large metal pylon in the courtyard at the centre of Josue Manda House where the solar panels will be placed. The next task is to install the electric wires, plugs and light fittings!

Children's mural of hope

It is our aim to make Josue Manda House a comfortable and colourful home for children who have lost their own 'homes' and families for various reasons. As art has been such a big part of our work with the children at Kimbilio we asked them if they would like to paint a mural on one of the walls of their new living room/dining room area. They were really excited about this. Joel Kindindwe, the Congolese artist who has worked with them from the beginning was also keen to get involved. The photos below show the various stages of the mural's development from planning meeting with the children and artist, sanding the walls, the first brush strokes and the final article! The children made their own individual designs from their own ideas and the final piece is an amalgamation of all of their thoughts. The final piece is very colourful and hopeful with lots of positive images for the future, it really cheers up the new room and will hopefully be something the children can be proud of for many years to come!

Doctors on strike

Doctors are striking in state hospitals across D.R.C. demanding an increase in salary. This is resulting in deserted hospitals including Hospital Sendwe the largest state hospital in Lubumbashi. According to the Radio Okapi report below, this is also leading to a loss of confidence in state hospitals with the sick choosing private or Church hospitals instead.

http://radiookapi.net/actualite/2012/04/18/lubumbashi-greve-des-medecins-lhopital-general-de-reference-de-sendwe-se-vide/

Working on the road!

For those of you who have been to visit Maison Kimbilio you will probably remember the bad condition of the unmade roads particularly the last kilometre after you turn off the main road. I was always wondering if I would get stuck in the thick mud or slide off into the huge holes made by the torrential rain that we have here in the wet season. We have finally decided to improve the situation and so over the last few weeks got together a team of local people who were looking for work and set to fill in the holes with stones and broken bricks from the Kimbilio site and dig trenchs down the side of the road. These guys have worked really hard, digging through very hard soil and working in the heat of the day. The result is fantastic, it makes that last kilometre so much easier not having to worry about getting stuck anymore! Thank you Kimbilio road mending team!

Work in progress!

We are trying to work hard to get the Josue Manda House ship shape! We have had a number of people helping us over the last few weeks as well as the children from Kimbilio during their school Easter holidays. It is taking shape we hope to be able to hold our official opening in a few weeks. Here are some photos to give you an idea of what we've been up to! We would really welcome any financial support to make the house as comfortable as possible for the children we are supporting. We would like to buy new kitchen items, pans, plates etc as well as new mattresses and we would really like to purchase a table football for the centre which is something the children love and will be a positive form of entertainment for them during the evenings. If you are feel that you would like to support us in this way you can do so via Just Giving...
http://www.justgiving.com/Ian-Harvey5
Thanks so much to so many of you who have given so regularly to Kimbilio over the past few years, we couldn't do any of this without your support...