IDP Camps

Hope all is well with everyone! This weekend was an absolutely fantastic weekend for me! I met up with some ladies visiting from the states. They are here volunteering with ALARM. David and I went to the IDP Camps with this wonderful group of people. We had such a great time. All of the children and most of the adults wanted their picture taken and then would laugh and laugh when I showed them their picture on my camera. These people are all displaced from their homes because of the rebel fighting. The have seen unspeakable tragedies and are currently starving to death, yet they could laugh at their own picture and the strange muzungus! I laughed and I cried for these people all at the same time. They have been placed in a camp where they live in a mud hut not big enough for them to stand up in and barely long enough to sleep in. They have no place to go because they live so far out of the city it is too far to walk, they have no money because they have no skills except for gardening which they have no place for even a small garden. So they rely solely on aid and the aid has been cut in half now because of the food crisis in other places. So daily the mothers die of starvation, and yet the camps still have approximately 6 babies born a week. There are some where around 10,000 people in each camp and there are 5 camps located around Goma. All the people want to do is go home, and some try but never survive the journey back. It is all pure tragedy.

Sunday we attended church, and wow did we attend church! It lasted 5 hours, and because the American ladies were here they interpreted from Swahili to English. So hopefully next Sunday it won't be as long. But the music and the dancing was absolutely amazing never have I seen worship like this before. David and I were completely exhausted. After the service we were invited to Marie Jean's house. She is a Congolese woman in charge of the Women and Children ministries for ALARM. She in herself has her own tragic story. You see here in Congo if a woman can not bare children her husband disowns her and she is an outcast to society. (I am glad David and I are not Congolese!) So Marie Jean has been pregnant 5 times but has never carried a baby to full term. Currently she is 5 1/2 months pregnant. ALARM has paid for her to have special medical care. So hopefully now God will allow her pregnancy come to full term and allow her to have a healthy baby. Marie Jean's husband is a captain in the Army Intelligence Division. He too seems to be an amazing man. Even though I don't know his story yet, I find him absolutely fascinating. So the American women had a surprise baby shower for Marie Jean after we had this fabulous lunch. She was very embarrassed along with her husband. I am pretty sure she had never experienced anything quit like that before! So it was nice to be around some American women again and at the same really experience Congolese life. For me this was a much needed weekend that I have been craving for. Sunday I did have the opportunity to call my dad and wish him "Happy Father's Day!" Dad it was great to hear yours and Mom's voices! I miss you both! I hope everyone had the chance to speak to their fathers and let them know that you love them!
Amy

Andy I know you said I could cut and paste my pics around, but still can't figure it out! It took me 7 hours with the Internet just to get them loaded so I ran out of patience on organizing my pics!




This man yelled for about 20 mins just to get his picture taken. Then he was happy!
These ladies are cutting cabbage, but their store mainly sales cassava flour. ALARM provided micro financing for this lady to start her business. $50 was the amount of her loan.
These ladies are selling cassava flour.




The kids could not grasp the concept of keeping their hands down and letting me get farther away from them to take a picture of them.

David played ring-a-round- the- rosie with the kids. The kids found him fascinating. He was a big hairy white man. They especially liked his hairy arms. These kids were stinking and dirty and I was so proud of David for holding their hands and giving them hugs. I know it was all he could do because he is such a germ freak!


David carried around a water bottle that he spit in. All the kids thought the tobacco spit was medicine and they wanted it. Then he actually would spit in the bottle and all the kids were grossed out and would run! It was very funny!!!!
All the kids wanted to do was touch my hair and hold my hand.

This woman was saying give me money for my starving baby!
This child was carrying this baby on her back. I am not sure why they rubbed the dirt all over their face.
This is Lake Verde. A very green lake, I think it is part of the intricate volcano system.

This is the mud hut with the white tarp they live in.

Our Latest Update

The lava pit was very hard to see because of all the steam.

This is probably the best picture I got of the pit. My camera is not that great!
On the trail this was a great view.
This is my new friend, Suwanee. He lives a couple of houses down from us.

Walking on the lava rocks was like walking on marbles.

All over the side of the volcano there were these "steam holes."
This is our guide and security detail!

Another steam hole.

So finally I am at a place to update my blog. I hope everyone is doing well. I really miss all my friends and family back home! David is all checked out and flying a lot, and I well have not been doing too much. Yes, just the opposite from home, David is working hard, and I have been kicked back taking it easy. Unfortunately it is driving me crazy! I think I am finally coming to the realization of what exactly it is I need to be doing here that is as far as the management side of my job goes. You see they actually created a new position for me as a Base Manager, but I had no real direction or authority of actually running the base here in Goma. I am starting to see the changes that needed to take place in order for me to do my job. Hopefully soon I will be back hard at work and flying more. Just trying to figure out my place in this world has taken most of my time and I have done little flying.

What I have done a lot of is sleep and eat! I can't tell you how much I love the food here. I am probably one of the few people who will get fat in the Congo. When I am in Goma, every day for lunch I go to this place called "Mamas." It is great for $3 you can get as much rice, beans, boiled bananas, and some kind of weed that looks and taste a lot like spinach also some days you get these wonderful small (minnow size) fried fish. It is located about 100 meters from our office. It is a tin shack with a dirt floor and has 2 picnic tables in it, with chickens running around at your feet. These two ladies cook all the food on a fire pit just out side the shack. I absolutely love it! Someday I will have to take a picture of the place and post it. Also we have a cook at the house and for $4 every night you get more food than you could possibly eat . It is always a 4 course meal. I gotta start working out!!!!!!

The second Sunday I was in Congo, I found myself climbing a huge active volcano. Goma's elevation is 5000 feet, the top of the volcano is 11,500 feet. It took a lot out of me the first couple of days just walking around Goma at 5,000 ft! It took us almost 5 hours to get to the top. There are no switch backs going up, we were pretty much climbing straight up the whole time. I probably would not have made it if Greg, the guy I was climbing with, would not have given me some extra encouragement!!! Of course my pictures really lack how awesome the view really was from the rim. Greg and I were trying to think where else in the world you can climb an active volcano and look down into the pit of lava. We could not think of any. Unfortunately for security reasons we could not spend the night up there. I was kinda glad cause camping did not look real fun there. But I could only imagine how spectacular it would have been at night. You can see the volcano best at night glowing from the city.

Well this has all been a huge adjustment for me. This is definitely a far cry from having instant email on my phone, instant phone contact for that matter, your own car, your own house, and yes even my own Tempurpedic mattress (Shane I hope you are taking good care of my mattress!!!) to unstable internet access, phones that only work sometimes, a driver that may show up in 15 minutes or 2 hours, and don't even get me started on the beds!!!! But in the end it is all worth it because when you leave the confines of your living quarters you step out into a world that is so amazing and I think to myself this is why I am here!

Sorry my pictures are not in order. I am having a little trouble trying to get my layout the way I want it. I need my friend Andy to help me!!!!

Take Care!!!