Malaria, Misquitos, and Vitamin B

I have no bites. None. And it's not because I used my misquito net, because I didn't.

I attribute this success to my B Vitamins. I took B-1 and B-12 everyday. I will definitely do that again for other misquito-prone areas.

Last week, Cammie was sick and thought that it was probably Malaria. She doesn't take Malaria meds, just takes a 3-day cure whenever she gets Malaria.

And I looked up Malaria on Google. Apparently, it's a parasite. Not a bacteria. Not a virus.

Meet the team!

Okay... so I posted pictures in the beginning before I knew any of the folks. Now I am going to post some better pics for each member of the team! This is our fearless leader, Kevin, showing off some "takeout" the guys got on Saturday. While Lucy and I waited at the tailors, the guys were off swimming and having a grand time at the American school in Kinshasa. I hear it was lovely. Somehow the guys were all a lot cleaner after that! Kevin was a great leader, with just enough encouragement and just enough push to keep us on target. He had some great stories about other places he has been. In some ways, we had it pretty posh compared to some teams and in other ways, not as posh. This was an amazing team of people and I am sooooo glad I came!

This is Ric. There was nothing he wasn't willing to do. And get dirty? No problem. He's taking some soil samples in this pic with Akachi holding his feet and Tom looking at him. I should try to find some clearer pics of him to post. I promise there are some. He doesn't always take fuzzy pictures! He was our team lyricist and leader of silly songtime (an impromptu sing-along on the way to and from church). I will be writing some of these lyrics down in future postings.

This is Austin. Yes, he is drawing on the face of the cliff. The thing about our site is that it is almost pure sand from the very bottom to 200+ meters above. The team stopped here to add some "good" graffitti to the mix. If I'm remembering correctly, Austin drew a heart and a cross, I think meaning that Jesus loves or that Jesus is love... not sure but that's my interpretation for now! He works for a Christian architecture firm and they do meaningful projects at a lower cost for organizations that may need architectural skills but may not have a lot of money. He always had great ideas on how to make the project more sustainable using natural processes, passive solar, etc.

I have to show two pictures for Bumjoo because two things really stood out. He couldn't sleep on the plane on the way over so he was VERY VERY tired for the first couple of days. Otherwise, he was always willing to help out. He tromped through bushed helping Dave with the survey, carried water up from the spring with Alvin, etc.

This is Lucy. She's always ready to chat someone up or teach them something. She would help some of the kids with math (she has taught university-level), or teach how to knit. She and Tom brought lots of toys, crayons, and other fun things for the kids. The kids living in the houses nearby knew who would always have time for them. She also did the powerpoint and is helping to assemble the report. She really acted as our team mom and helped everyone to stay a little bit more tidy and fed.

These two guys are Akachi and Dave. Akachi always had a great smile and hearty laugh. He also had wise and thoughtful things to say. A great singing voice and always willing to lead us in a song or encourage us in our camp songs. A great man for numbers, he is helping to figure the cost of the project. If only we had someone like him on every project I do.
This is Dave. He was our surveyor and always up for meeting new folks or trying new experiences. You could always count on Dave to have great shots of people. Don't let the strong Canadian accent fool you. He's always the first to leap out and get something started and get things done. He really pushed to get the survey of the site done after a rough start. The bag of survey equipment didn't arrive until Monday so he had to get things done in a much shorter time frame... but he pushed through and did it!
This is Alvin. He has gotten a reputation for always being hungry. This picture was taken at Carnivore, a restaurant at Nairobi. Bumjoo, Alvin, Austin, and I left the airport during our 7+ hour layover in Kenya and went here to dinner... and yes, we all ate meat. I am going to blame the boys for that one! :) Oh, and Alvin was also our resident electrical engineer. You could always count on him (or David) to try rewiring the house anytime our power went strange. He is also the quintessential firstborn, taking responsibility for our money and telling me to eat things I shouldn't... Long story... but suffice to say, I shouldn't be so gullible! My plight as a lastborn. I trust older siblings. They speak with such authority!

This is Colin. He's always up for an adventure, like this time when he climbed the mango tree. He was one of our architects. He's in the middle of getting his Master of Architecture degree. He's from England and I keep hearing his accent run through my brain over and over and over again. It's like when you get off a boat but the world still feels like it's moving. Colin and I would practice saying things in the other's accent and now his voice is stuck in my head!

These two guys are Kevin, our fearless leader and Ric, our water/sewer expert! I would notice no matter where we would go, the engineers couldn't help but wander off and investigate the infrastructure. I found these guys poking into generators, fuse boxes, water lines, and anything else they could. Curiousity, thy name is engineer!

This is me, Colin, Austin, and Tom talking over the site plan. All the ginga' ninjas, and Tom, talking together. Tom is our structural engineer, helping to ensure that our buildings stay up. He was a great person to bounce ideas off. I would do some preliminary work on the site plan and then ask him all sorts of questions about how to make the placement of certain buildings possible on this slope. He is a vast storehouse of knowledge and is always willing to share it in abundance.

This is a picture of Tom and the Ginga' Ninjas. See if you can spot all four of us among the mangos!

Home at LAST!!!

After more than 40 hours in transit (truck, waiting at the airport, flying, waiting, flying, driving, etc) I am home!!!

I'm trying to keep myself awake at least until 8pm.

So, I shall post some photos!

First Sunday, Second Sunday!

First Sunday: The team dressed in our Sunday best visiting the site. Of course, since none of us got our luggage except for the few smart people that had carry-ons, don't look too closely or you might see the dirt! I am wearing my piece of cloth/skirt Cammie gave me. It seemed to get tighter and tighter as the day went on and harder to walk in. I was given compliments that it looked very African... so I'm glad I went for it rather than showing up in my grungy pants.

Second Sunday: Much more nicely dressed and much more rested! All the boys wearing their Congolese shirts and Lucy and I in our Congolese outfits. Apparently, the Congolese are known for dressing very well. They may be poor but they look great! I'll be saving my outfit for this year's work holiday parties.

Saturday

September 27, 2008

It’s shocking that today is Saturday. It seems so short and yet so much has happened. We just gave our presentation on the master plan, water and electricity supply options, and cost. It has been such a pleasure to work with architects and engineers. I have learned so much about building on a hill, building without electricity or air, bringing water in from a spring, and about working in a great multi-disciplinary team.

This afternoon, we are going to visit an orphanage. Ric suggested we bring rice and Alvin made the suggestion that we bring a goat. Cammie said, “sure!” so… we will be bringing them a goat! I had asked about getting a nanny goat to milk but looks like this one will be eaten. Apparently Alvin saw a few goats strapped to the roof of someone else’s vehicle and thought that would be cool. Poto said that it should cost around $70 to buy a goat so we will buy a goat AND a bag of rice! :)

This is probably the last blog entry before returning back to the States. It’s been an amazing week. I look forward to telling everyone about it.

We have a long layover in Nairobi, and a much shorter one in London.

Some more info

1. They take American dollars here almost as much or more than Congolese Francs.
2. I am getting an outfit made. Most of the boys got shirts made. I will have to post a picture of all of us with our Congolese clothing.
3. Rice and beans can be very, very tasty. I’m hoping my roommate will help me make some when I return. I realize how well you can exist on rice and beans… oh… and some junk food that folks brought over in their suitcases.
4. Tom and the ginga ninjas climbed a mango tree yesterday. Hopefully, I can upload a shot or two of us.
5. Papaya trees look a lot like palm trees and mango trees look a lot like avocados.

The Draft Master Plan

Phase 1: School, Staff Housing, Water Tower, Underground Water Storage, Shop/Mechanic's Garage, Pump, and Generator.
Phase 2: Community Center/Church, Administrative Offices, Baby House (for children under age 2), Guest House/Director's Home, One village pod (containing 4 homes and a central meeting area)
Phase 3: Main buildings in Ministry Traning Center (training parents and staff how to work with the children), Visitor's Dorm (for visiting teams like ours), Vocational School (to teach parents and older children trades), and second village pod.
Phase 4/Buildout: Visitor quarters/huts for the Ministry Training Center, Medical Clinic, additional village pods.

Pictures

This is the house we are staying in. Flush toilets, electricity! Even if they don't always work all the time...

Uploading pix takes too much time and we are only here for a few minutes... so more when I return to great internet connections!

September 25, 2008 (10am)

I’m in the van on the way to the radio station to get some wireless action. We’ve been hard at work getting the site plan and some initial building designs done. I found out that we don’t have to get everything done for this village. We will be doing the overall master plan but only the buildings for Phase 1. Phase 1 will include the school, the water tower and generator, and the staff housing.

On the country front… it’s been very interesting to experience life in a different way. Both our water and electricity is unreliable. Sometimes we have power, sometimes not. And I didn’t realize that electricity could flow more or less but now I know it can. We often have very dim lights and it takes a long time for the stove to work. We have been boiling our water to drink and yesterday came very close to running out. We have been drinking a lot of water to keep hydrated and boiling using one kettle/hot pot. Thankfully, yesterday afternoon, the power started running in strong. Our fans made gales, our lights were shining bright, and the kettle boiled in just a few minutes. It allowed us to catch up with our water needs. Hurrah!

We are all eating very differently than at home. Generally, we have cereal and dried milk for breakfast, beans and rice for lunch, and rolls with cheese or canned meat for dinner.
It makes me laugh to have the dried milk because I grew up on dried milk. I used to hate it. I don’t think I would drink it too much but it seems to be fine for making milk for cereal. I think their dried powder is different than I remember from childhood. My sister will laugh because she remembers how many times we wanted to chuck it before coming home again.

Tired after a long day so not much typing...

I was trying to remember whether I had taken my malaria pills and then recalled that today was Tuesday! Tomorrow I need to remember.

We have been working all day, brainstorming with each other. Tom and the “Ginga’ Ninjas”! And discussing over things with Cammie.

We cut out some shapes today and arranged them on the site. It’s looking promising.

See the Site!

Wow! Another amazing day. We spent more time up at the site today, walking the boundaries, visiting the water source at the bottom, and brainstorming ideas for the village. The site is challenging but the vision is so exciting. The steep slopes are very steep. Even though I saw the contour maps, it was impossible to understand how steep the site was until I was standing on it, hiking down it, and huffing and puffing back up it.

Working on a project with engineers and architects is amazing. It is so incredible to come up with an idea for a site, run it past the engineer and find out how to make it technically feasible. Or talk to the architects about the ideas of how to ventilate, daylight, and keep the buildings cool. Because the slope is so steep, terracing is vital. I had an idea today to group the homes around a central area, and have a walking path along the retaining wall. I showed it to one of the engineers, he drew a possible design for the retaining wall… and there you go! I had an even better idea and knew that it would be technically feasible!

Colin, Austin, and I have named ourselves the ginga’ ninjas… We are the design team. Colin is an architecture student, Austin is an architect, and I am the planner. And somehow, we all have some shade of red in our hair and freckles. We played two truths and a lie either yesterday or the day before and one of Colin’s truths was that he once had a “ginger afro”. He’s British… they say things like that! We are thinking through a lot of things. I wish I could share it all with you because it’s been fascinating. But, I don’t have enough time to go over everything that has happened today. I will try to get some of the ideas up here this week. I expect that we might be able to go to the radio station tomorrow and I will send this out… but I don’t know when the next time will be.

I have been so encouraged to hear of the stories of folks that are looking towards the future of Africa. Akachi is from Nigeria and he told us the story of how he came to work on this project. When he saw the video yesterday, he realized for the first time that he was helping out people in very similar situations to what he had grown up in. He told us about his father dying when he was two. He was the youngest of eight children and his mother had to find them a place to live and somehow support them. She really turned to the church for help. And now, 30 years later, he is in a position to help children and widows like he and his mother. It was an amazing story.

I am so happy to tell you that I have heard many encouraging things. I have often heard (and thought) that Africa had a lot of problems and that there was little we could do. It is so encouraging to hear from people living here what they are doing in Africa and even outside of Africa. Akachi would like to start a sister branch of EMI or something like that in West Africa so that he could bring these services to folks in his area as well. He has been looking for an opportunity for a while and this one seemed to fit what he wanted to do. So many of the stories I have heard from others on this trip just make me think we are here for a reason.

Yesterday, as Cammie told us more about the history of the project, she shared how Elikia Village acquired the land. She found it through contacts and because the project excited the person selling the land, the price went from $50,000 for the land to $4,000! Amazing!

Tonight Colin, Austin, Kevin, and I sat down with Cammie to ask her more about the programming for the site. We brainstormed on all the different activities, services, and facilities she would like to see on the site. I will, of course, let you know what the end result is but here is the list as it stands now:

School that can serve 400 children – we would build it for 200 but they will be able to do two different school times to accommodate all 400 children. We are looking at phasing the school in so that not all the classrooms have to be built at one time.
Community center that could also serve as a local church.
Vocational building/mechanics garage – This would be a place where people could learn how to fix autos/motor bikes and other mechanical equipment.
A home for babies – This would be a home to take in abandoned infants under the age of two and care for them until they are adopted out or placed with one of the mothers in Elikia Village.
Village homes – After discussion, we are hoping to group the homes in pods of four or five. They would face inwards to each other (somehow we are trying to make this happen with terraces) and share a common space in the middle of them. This common area could serve as a eating area or a place for the children to play or the women to come together and talk or work.
A guest house that would house the director of Elikia Village and a small number of visitors.
A visitor’s building – this would be a dorm-style guest house that could house larger teams. Possibly this would house future teams of volunteers interesting in helping the project.
A training institute – this would help to train the workers, house parents, and other staff in this site and hopefully, other project sites on how to best serve the children and other people coming to use the facilities.
Administrative building – this would hold offices for the director, social services worker, and would act as the front door to the site.
Agriculture – This would probably be done anywhere not yet built. They are trying to think of appropriate crops for the hillside. It is very steep and very sandy. If anyone has ideas for what would be most appropriate, or has resources, they can share, please let me know!

Okay, once again, it is time for bed. Some more design brainstorming tomorrow!!! Fun, fun, fun!

We should have a draft design concept by the end of the day. Oy!

Long Days!

Is it always true that the same type of people interested in serving overseas also care deeply about sustainable design?

Maybe so, maybe not. But I have been excited to hear from other members of my team their ideas for making this village an amazing place that responds to the people, the climate, the community, the neighborhood. I will try to write more about our ideas tomorrow.

I have had two amazing days here in the Congo. It’s hard to even write about what has been happening because there are so many things that have occurred already.

On Friday evening, I went to Heathrow airport to meet most of the EMI team. Colin lives in England so met us that night. There were ten of us on the flight. I sat next to Bumjoo, who is a South Korean student studying civil engineering in Canada. He is an intern with EMI and as part of his internship, is going on this trip.

He was on my right side and to my left was an amazing woman from England who was on her way to see gorillas in Africa. Turns out she had been to the DR Congo on a previous trip and had glowing praise of it. That was so helpful. It seems that everyone else I have mentioned the Congo to has been very hesitant and fearful about what I would face here. She was enthusiastic and open and very excited.

We arrived in Kenya. I got very little sleep on the plane (probably only a half hour). Alvin, Colin, and I wandered the Nairobi airport a little to stay awake as we waited for our next flight to board. Alvin tried to buy a bell for his girlfriend but was quoted the price of $17 dollars American. He decided that he would pass.

When we arrived in Kinshasa, we went through customs, which went smoothly. Cammie, the nonprofit director met us with a “protocol” man. We learned today that they had to grease the fittings in order for us to experience such a smooth passage through customs. Cammie said that her usual protocol man was unable to help and she had to rely on someone new. Thankfully, he was able to get us through for only $50. Apparently, it usually costs about $150 so it was a blessing in disguise!

If is always confusing to go to a new airport and try to find luggage, etc. This one was especially confusing as hardly any of us speak hardly any French. Why, why, why did I take German in school and not French!?

But, once again, it was helpful to have folks that were meeting us at the airport. We waited for a time… and our bags never came. Since there were about 100 people there with the same issue, I didn’t worry too much. There was confusion but in the end, we made a list of our bags, then waited in the car while the protocol man found out what had happened.

As we were waiting, we got to talk with each other and just hang out. It was hot, but not terribly so. When we landed, it was about 80 degrees Fahrenheit. Not bad at all. The humidity is pretty high but I don’t have a good grasp on that. Lucy, our volunteer/Math teacher (she’s married to Tom), said that the weather feels similar to South Carolina in the summer. So, not terribly out of the ordinary… if you’re used to the American South!

As we waited, people began to walk by the car and try to sell us food or beg. We ended up buying bottles of soda to drink as we waited. Dave gave his camera to Alvin to take a photo from the back of the van and was stopped by the police. They are fairly serious when it comes to picture taking. Dave almost lost his camera… but we sweet-talked/put the camera away/drove away not long after that. I will need to send you pictures of our van… and our team in it. It’s not very large but our entire team of 11 people, plus Cammie, the driver… and sometimes an extra person, fit into it with little problems. Well, the little problems might include poor air circulation, heat, and slightly uncomfortable seating arrangements, but who’s counting!?

And this is all before we even left the airport parking lot!

Well, we finally left… without our bags. Poto, Elikia Village’s jack-of-all-trades/our driver went back to the airport today while we were at church and picked up 8 of the 11 bags. Tomorrow, we hope and pray that the other three will be there. One of the bags holds all the surveying equipment and would be a big loss if it doesn’t come. Please pray!

Yesterday, we ran around… and waited in the van a LOT! We drove an hour plus from the airport to a Lebanese restaurant where thankfully we got water, water, and more water! I can’t tell you how vital it is to me. After sipping some of the soda at the airport, I was feeling sick and hoped that I wasn’t coming down with something. But after reaching the restaurant and drinking A LOT of water, I felt fantastic! I am trying to remember, not only for myself, but for everyone, to fill the water containers here at the house. The tap water is fairly clean, but we are boiling it for use as drinking water. I have taken it on as my task for the week… which reminds me, I should go boil a new batch right now!

We boil, then cool, then pour in large water jugs with spigots. I’m just hoping we can keep ahead of the water need! There are 12 of us living in two houses relying on this water.

So, we went to the restaurant, then to a market to be “tourists” for the afternoon. Cammie told us she was trying to keep us awake so that we could sleep at night. It worked. We shopped a little, then hung out in the van while she went to see her lawyer about the village property, and finally we went to the compound where we are staying. We are staying in two houses in a compound that houses a seminary. I am staying in one three bedroom home where I get my own room (I am the only single girl on the team). Cammie is in another room, and the married couple (Tom and Lucy) are in the other room. We have a kitchen, TWO bathrooms (with running water and a flush toilet), and a common area. All the guys are staying in the other house. I haven’t looked through it but I believe there are four bedrooms with two men in each room. As their space is larger, we have met over there for meals and meetings.

One of our neighbors cooked dinner for us last night. She made so much, it was lunch for us today, as well. She made delicious, amazing beans, and rice. The rice is much like Jasmine… it probably is Jasmine rice. Same texture, scent, and taste. We had some optional spicy stuff to put on top… which I enjoyed but should probably put on the side next time. I do miss having yogurt with my beans and rice, like I had in India, but I enjoyed the food mightily.

The power went out around 7:30pm last night, at which time everyone decided that getting ready for bed wasn’t a bad thing. I don’t think anyone, including Cammie, stayed up past 8:30pm last night!

Today, I woke up at 6am briefly, checked on my clothes that I had washed the night before, and then went back to sleep. At 7am, I woke to my alarm clock. Although I didn’t have any extra clothes because I hadn’t the forethought to keep them in my carry-on, Cammie was able to loan me something to sleep in, and give me some cloth to wear for church.

Many of the Congolese women wear beautiful, elegant garments. They also can wear cloth just tied around their waist. Often they are bright patterns, etc. I saw woman wearing what seemed to be cloth wound around her waist and tied. People at church tend to expect you to dress up and I was wearing Khaki pants yesterday. So, when Cammie offered the cloth, I accepted. I wrapped the cloth around twice and then tied it. I will have to put pictures up when I can get them. I felt elegant… although I was having difficulties getting into the van, stepping down stairs, or even just walking. I think I need to learn the trick of the Congolese cloth wrap. I’m hoping to get one outfit made while we’re here, but I don’t have high hopes. We have very little time and so much to do. It really has been non-stop. Though at the same time, things take longer to do (like heating lunch up over charcoal) so we have a lot of time spent sitting and waiting.

I guess that’s just part of the trip!

Church was a lot of fun. It was a French service and I didn’t recognize any tunes of the songs. But the pastor got one of the congregation to stand up front and translate the sermon. It was a really wonderful sermon about seeing ourselves the way that God sees us. He read the story of Gideon and how Gideon had said that he was from a poor family and that he was the smallest in his family. And that God used him and told Gideon that he would be a warrior and save his people from the Midianites. God thought more highly of Gideon than Gideon did and was willing to use him to bless his people.

There are mango trees everywhere! And there are fruit on every one of them. They are mostly green but Colin, Alvin, and I found a few under the trees at church, peeled, and ate them. They were not great… I think that they need a little bit more time but hopefully before we leave, I will get some fresh and lovely mango!

After lunch, we briefly went to a Christian radio station. Although Elikia Village is now its own NGO, it started as an off-shoot of the radio station. Cammie still has contacts there and we were able to visit and use their wireless internet. There is something very amusing about seeing all these people bring out their laptops and power up. I had a good blog entry going, complete with pictures, when it erased itself. Since we had such a short time, I was only able to put up a very little entry. As I promised, more later! Ric, Kevin, and Alvin amused me as they poked and prodded at the station’s generator. Cammie had said that electricity was unreliable and she wanted a generator, at least for the medical clinic… so like the engineers they are, they had to investigate. They looked at the water meter, tried to see the kW output of the generator, investigated the wiring, etc.

We visited the site for the first time today. It is an amazingly peaceful site with a powerful story. After coming back to the compound, we heard Cammie tell her story of how she got involved in this and more about her vison for the site.

A film student interning at the radio some months back made a video that I’m hoping to post as soon as I return to the US. It’s much to big to post up using the internet connection we have here. Before 1997 or so, the site was part of the property belonging to Congo’s dictator Mbotu (I’m not sure I’m spelling it correctly and since I’m writing this offline, I can’t check on Google). He was an evil man, and responsible for the deaths of millions. This site came up for sale and through connections, Elikia Village was able to purchase the site and begin to make plans for it. They really feel that through this project, and others like it, they can reclaim and redeem a property once used for evil and use it for something good and life-affirming. This story, and many others she told of the beginnings of Elikia Village, really gave me hope for what God is doing in the Congo. He has really moved hearts of people to serve others. Even the vice president of DR Congo has taken a personal interest in this project as well as other prominent people here, and throughout the world.

Cammie has a real heart for serving the orphans and widows here. And people are beginning to invest not only in this project, but in Kinshasa generally. Several people that she has come across really feel like the time for DR Congo is changing and that good things are on their way for the country. It is amazing and hopeful. I have heard so many sad things about Africa, so it is so wonderful to be part of something that seems part of a greater movement of good things. Maybe not the most eloquent way to phrase that… but I hope you understand.

I have so much to tell you and yet, I should go to sleep. I’m hoping to get out to the wireless internet and send this out… but I don’t know when that will be.

Here in Congo

I tried to post... but everything deleted! So... here is one picture with hopes of more... this is part of the team in the van we are all riding in.

I don't have much time on the internet and I just spent time writing a post that just died!

So far,

1. our luggage didn't show up when we did... but I now have mine.

2. I have had my first Conglese food of rice and beans... yummy

3. We almost had a camera confiscated when we were taking pictures at the Kinshasa airport.

4. Our power went out last night (it does that every night) so I took a quick bucket "shower" by candelight

5. We attended a church where someone translated for us.

6. Since I didn't have my luggage, I tied a big piece of cloth around my waist "congo-style" and wore it as a skirt. I will have pictures of that later.

7. The team is really nice. Love them.

More later.

Thoughts on London

My phone tells me I have walked almost 13 miles today. That beats yesterday’s 10+. Today I will take you on a pictoral tour of London. I start with a fire truck.

Now, you may ask "Why!? Why would you show a fire truck?"

This morning, I decided that I should go to the London office of EDAW (the building shown below).

When I got there, there were about 30 people standing around outside the sidewalk. I had been looking for the address (more about English address systems later) and finally came to the right building. I asked one of the people whether this was number 77 and was told yes and who was I looking for. I said EDAW, and I was told "I’m EDAW… and well, so is everyone else out here on the sidewalk. Apparently, they had a fire in the building this morning and it was still going when I showed up around noon. Many of the EDAW folks had been waiting to get into the building since 8:30 this morning. As I was talking to some of my English coworkers when they were told that they may as well go home because the fire hadn’t been put out yet.

Hence the fire truck.

My time in London has been fantastic. After walking around all day today and yesterday, it feels great to sit and write in the hostel.

Things I love.

1. The architecture. Everywhere I look are fabulous buildings, from the natural history museum to the block with the hostel.

2. The tube. I love the underground. I especially love that I know I can just keep walking and find a station when or if I want one. Plus, they always seem to be in great locations that I’ve only read about. Like: Piccadilly Circus, Covent Garden, and Green Park. The hostel is about 2 blocks away from a tube station and the station is on a great line that leads to all the museums, theatres, Buckingham Palace, and some great parks. I chose well and I didn’t even realize.

3. The parks. There are so many parks everywhere. Or maybe I should say "green spaces" since I loved the cemetery, too. In Hyde Park, except for a far-away building, you couldn’t even guess that you are close to civilization.

Things that make me go hmmm.

1. The signs on the street that tell you to look right… or left… in hopes that you won’t be run over.

2. The private gardens that give the roads their names and that are only accessible to a select few.
3. The addressing system – did I ever tell you how wonderful American addresses are!? They make sense. English addresses on the other hand are crazy! I was looking for London EDAW and I couldn’t find number 77. As I went up the block, the numbers went up. I reached the end of the street and I never saw number 77. So, I started looking on the other side of the street and this is what I found. The numbers on the other side started where the numbers on the first side had stopped. So, I had to walk all the way up one side and then all the way down the other.
And then, I walked back to the hostel. I got a little lost but then I saw the street name on a sign! I walked onto the street with the sign and kept going. After a block or so, I realized that this was not the right street. So, I turned back… and guess what I saw. The below picture shows the street name on TWO streets!!! Okay, I guess not on two streets… they labeled the block! So, I just had to stay on the block and I was fine. I made it back.

Other random cool things…

Motorcycle parking
Blue sky… yes, in London!
They still have telephone booths. I think because they are so cool looking. I didn’t try using one so I’m not sure if they actually work as well as look good.

First Leg!

Well, I arrived in London today. The first leg of my journey is over. I will be here for two nights before meeting up with the rest of the team and continuing on to the Congo. I'm staying in a youth hostel in a great neighborhood (see picture). So far, I love London. I think I could stay here.

I'm trying to get in contact with someone in our London office so I could tour tomorrow or Friday. I haven't been successful in my contacts so far. I may just show up and see if I can get someone to show me around.

I've been wandering the neighborhood today. Just taking it easy, relaxing, getting out in the fresh air, and keeping myself from falling asleep before it's time. I found a beautiful old cemetary. I ended up buying some food from a grocery store and coming here for lunch. It is fairly over grown, but really lovely and peaceful (though I guess it would be hard for a cemetary to NOT be peaceful).

Overall, I am really thankful I decided to take the extra two nights here in London. I didn't really sleep on the plane. I never can, even though I brought (and took) a sleeping pill. That's something I never do... but I was hoping it would work. I guess I just am not a plane sleeper! Good thing I will have 2 more nights of sleep before I have to miss another night of sleep on Friday.

Contacting me

I have done my research on my phone. Supposedly, it should work in both London and Kinshasa. I don't expect to need it much... if at all.

I may use it to send a text message or two as I try to meet up with my team. Some of them will be having a 6-hour layover in London. I may try to connect with them as they do their whirlwind tour of London. Who knows!?

Good news is... I can receive text messages for free (as long as my cell phone service works over there).

I probably won't send text messages as they are a bit costly. Cheaper than a phone call, though!

So, if you feel the urge, send me a text message. I may not reply but it will be good to hear from you!

Time! Time! Time!

I finally actually looked at my itinerary and investigated time zones. I don't want to have too much jet lag while I'm in Africa. I discovered something great today. London and Kinshasa are on the same time right now!

This is especially wonderful, considering the two nights I am spending in London on my way there. It will give me a chance to get used to the time zone difference between California and Africa.


The only thing now is the amount of time I will be spending in the air. These are my flights:

San Francisco to London - 10 hour flight - leaving on Tuesday, September 16th
London to Nairobi - 8.5 hour flight - leaving Friday, September 19th
Nairobi to Kinshasa - 3.5 hour flight - leaving Saturday, September 20th

A total number of hours of 22 hours in the air!

On the way back, I have 24 hours in the air and 10 hours in airports! Ohhh boy! :)

Advance pix

One of my coworkers went to Kinshasa in 2001. He was able to show me a few pictures from his trip.

This is a picture of Kinshasa from the roof of the place my coworker was staying.

This is the place that he stayed... looks pretty nice.


I got my misquito net today. Now I have everything... I just need to pack.

I hear that people are discouraged against taking pictures in public. A lot. No pictures of public buildings. Ask before taking pictures of people, etc.

The Team

The eleven of us have exchanged introductory emails and pictures. Kevin put all the pictures together and gave us a nice formatted sheet that shows the pictures of everyone so that we can recognize folks at the airport. So, here is the team.

How to be less edible

I seem to be one of the edible ones. One of those people that just attracts misquitos without even trying. For the last few weeks, I've been waking up with misquito bites in locations I didn't think were accessible by those nasty critters. Added to this, Kevin told us to pack a misquito net. So with my edibility and need for net in mind, I went to find some weapons to fight off the little buggers.

A friend and I went to Target to see what we could find. I just got home with my natural bug repellent and some Vitamin B12. No misquito nets and no B1. I can't stand any of the repellent with DEET in it. No use to poison myself while trying to keep me healthy. And the B vitamins hopefully will help make me less tasty to the bugs. I remember my mom giving me a B vitamin when I was younger and going to camp and it worked. I looked for more information on the properties of B vitamins in fighting off misquitos and "they" said it didn't work.

Well, I'm going with past experience and trying it anyway.

Any other weapons folks can suggest in my fight against the bite?

Funding update

Once again, thank you to everyone that has contributed so that I can go on this trip. I got an update from Kevin (the team leader) that I have received another $1,036 in funding, making for a total of $2,236 out of the $3,500. That is sooo exciting!

In a week I will be in the air

A week from now I will be on Virgin Atlantic Flight VS 20 from San Francisco to London!

I got a map from the project leader that I'm hoping is pretty accurate. It shows a proposed water system for the site. I tried to match the map to the Google image, but I'm not totally sure.

It looks fairly steep, ranging from 455 meters to 510 meters in just over 185 meters. This means the site has an average slope of almost 30 percent. To give you an idea of how steep this is, most cities have regulations prohibiting development on slopes over 15 percent and definitely not on 25 percent or higher slopes. This is also equal to saying it is a 17 degree slope.

We will be planning around the idea of terraces. I'm wondering how wide these will be and what it means for the plan. Will there be several narrow terraces or a few large ones? Narrow lines of homes on each terrace or homes together on one level?

Questions on village and house form. Please comment.

I had the opportunity to talk with a friend of one of my Toastmasters yesterday. He had lived in Mauritania for two years in the Peace Corps. It was one of the most helpful discussions so far. It made me think I need to be more proactive about talking to all the people I can before I go. On Friday, I found out that one of my coworkers had worked in DR Congo in 2001 for a short time.

My discussion yesterday brought up some interesting questions on village and home form. This village will consist of

1. 30-40 homes
2. a 400-child school
3. a community center
4. a medical clinic
5. 10 acres of agricultural land

Apparently, in Mauritania, folks tend to live in compounds with a central courtyard. Is this true in DR Congo?

The cinder block/metal roof is a sign of prestige. I heard from my conversation yesterday it is a very hot type of structure. Because of the holes in the cinder blocks, the structure doesn’t absorb enough of the heat, thereby heating the inside of the home. The metal roof is also problematic. Traditional roofs in Mauritania were thatch… much better at keeping the inside cool. But not as popular nowadays.

This is a picture of the security house already built on the site.

So this brings up several questions. Can you pack something into the cinder blocks to insulate the house better? If so, what would it be? Mud? Newspapers? Straw? Please comment with your thoughts or resources. Has anyone seen an article on insulating a cinder block home?

And the roof. One thing I saw in my investigations is a heat reflector. Could this be installed below the metal roof to keep the heat from reaching the living spaces? Is there another way to cool the roof structure?

Below is a picture of the roof of the security hut already built on the site.

They will have agricultural land to grow crops to serve their families and who knows, maybe even enough to sell to others. Can you irrigate with greywater? What kind of system can you create in a low-tech environment to collect the greywater from homes and transfer it to the field? What kind of guidelines would you need? I know that human wastewater should not be used to irrigate… what about soapy water? Any problems with that?

And how about that human waste? Will these homes have separate latrines? Will they be lined so that the human waste doesn’t get to the fields or the river or water table?

The project is on a hillside and if we want to use greywater to irrigate, it seems logical that the homes be higher than the fields. But if human waste would get into the water used for the fields it seems like the fields should be higher than the homes.

Any thoughts?

Twelve days and counting!

In just 12 days I will be leaving on my trip to the Democratic Republic of the Congo. I received my visa today which made it seem so real. Finally, this trip can be a reality. The visa wasn't quite as pretty as I would have expected. As you can see from the picture, it is just a stamp with some handwriting.

I am so grateful to all my friends, coworkers, and interested folks that have given me tips as well as funding! I couldn't hope to be able to do it without you!

The visa was really the final step. I have all my vaccines (Hep A, Hep B, Typhoid, Yellow Fever, etc), my prescription for malaria pills, and my itinerary.

I’ve been getting non-stop emails from the team leader (Kevin) for the last week. Among several this week was a “Dos and Don’ts” list. Here are a few of my favorites.

Here are a few Dos (or at least don't minds)
1. Blow your nose in public
2. Address people by their title
3. Discuss religion, politics, sex… oh… and the way you look

And a few Dont's (or you will be rude, illegal, etc)
1. Do not dance in the side streets (can I dance in the main streets!?)
2. Do not eat in public (I'm not sure I will be able to avoid that if they have food carts... do they have food carts?)
3. Do not brush your teeth in public (I think I can promise that)
4. Do not take pictures of people without their permission
5. Women wearing pants is “frowned upon”

I am still waiting on some more guidance on the clothes thing. If only I could bring some of my saris from India. I suppose I may be buying clothing in Kinshasa... I only have one or two skirts that seem like they would be appropriate. I'll have to assess. Though I wouldn't mind buying something there. I do love clothing!

We arrive in Kinshasa on September 20th. I'm taking a little extra time in London before meeting the rest of the team, which is why the days don't count up. Plus, these flights are brutal! I will be spending a lot of time on planes in the span of 2 weeks!

Our site is about 14 miles from the center of Kinshasa. Kinshasa is the capitol city of the DR Congo. As a city planner, it will be intriguing to see the city form and how folks live there. From the aerials on Google, it looks very suburban. And a lot of brown roofs. I've heard that they do a lot of metal roofs there so I'm guessing the brown is from rust. Is metal cooler in this climate? Or just available? Hmmm.

This is the site, as found on Google Earth. I realize it may be hard to read this so if you want to see it, use these coordinates: 4 30.329' S 15 13.839' E

Among the various emails I've been getting in the last week or so has been a bunch of "get-to-know-you" emails. Although most of us live in North America, we are a pretty diverse group

The team consists of 11 people:
3 Canadians (one of whom was born in Hong Kong)
5 Americans
1 Brit
1 Nigerian
1 South Korean

We range in ages from 22 to 62.

We have an architect, architecture student, agricultural and aerospace engineer (who works as a civil engineer), math teacher, several civil engineers, surveyor/electrical engineer, construction management engineer, and a civil engineering student.

Quite a crew! Should be fun.

I'm sure I will eventually post photos of all the peeps... with stories to go along with them.