The chicken buildings wich SADR graciously has designated to be modified or used by us for this school project are in different states of ruin. The great advantage is that the floor is already cemented and the roof are nice and sturdy. One of the buildings, the last one in the row suffered a collapse during a short but very violent rain storm. The wind actually pushed the building over resulting in the roof and the rafters resting on the ground. Here you see Rambo pointing out where he was trying to find shelter from the storm. Thank God he was not hurt.

The next moring we found that 2 of the currogated roof sheets had already been stolen as they are a hot item here, so we proceeded to dismantle the whole thing so we can use the materials for other buildings.

Since the first building was finished, we started on the second one. This one is on our own property on the other side of the village. It's about half an hour walk from the first building and having no truck or jeep available, it was the women again who eagerly helped with transporting the bricks to the new location. There were also some men who participated with this, but they used bikes on which they piled about 20 bricks and that way they could make a nice income.

We used the wood from a hangar for making the rafters. Putting these up with just man-power was quite a feat, but it worked. The walls are now 11 bricks high. The next step is to make a "centuron" of iron bars and concrete around the building right above the windows and doors to give the building strenght.

In my last post I wrote "voila" a new building. Well it was not as smooth as that. We had some bricks that just needed baking, but after that we had to look for more argile (clay). There was a spot about 1 km away from the schoolbuilding. So first the brickmaker team was out there, digging up the clay, pressing it into blocks and then letting them dry. Then the women would come and transport the bricks to the school area where they would be baked. They'd carry 6 or 8 bricks at a time which for us would be quite hard but they are used to it, amazing.

Then we changed the strategy; the women would carry the argile, deposit it in a building near the school, so the brickmakers could work inside protected from the rain and the hot sun. Also guarding the bricks would be easier. They'd get some money for each brick or basket of argile so we had lots of women who were willing to do that, as there are many poor.

The kids themselves were happy to help with carrying water needed for the cement.

Here's a little update. So the last time we came to Mushapo was October 2012. Because the building we were supposed to have on our own property wasn't there yet, we opted for renovating one chicken house into 2 "new" school rooms. After supporting the roof, the mud walls were taken down and replaced with baked bricks. Then the temporary supports were removed and voila, a new building which the students have been enjoying now (June 2013) for a couple of months.

Tshikapa, Oct. 18, 2012

After arriving again in Kinshasa on the 20th of August and getting things organized on that side, we, that is Blandine, a local nurse and Sunday school teacher, and me, flew to Tshikapa. It was a calm flight of an hour and 15 minutes. One of the passengers had a story from the past when he flew this way. When they were almost at Tshikapa, lightning struck the airplane, the communication cable on the outside broke and all electronics went out. The Lord was a present help in trouble though and helped them to land safely. After hearing this story I said an extra prayer for protection.

Because the SADR farm closed and they took everything except the buildings, we needed some things. TG John had a whole room full of cupboards, some beds, household items etc., etc., stored from the former house they had rented, now we just needed a way to get it to Mushapo. Again TG, we met someone who regularly has trucks going to Tshikapa who offered to take our things too. Once Jean, the manager, arrives here, we're supposed to leave soon, probably coming Saturday, together with what things have arrived already. At 14:11 he sent an sms saying they were @ 60 km from here. We'll see how long that takes.

Here are 2 pics of the main street. Tshikapa has between 800.000 and 1 million inhabitants. Along the road are hundreds and hundreds of small stands, selling all kind of things, but mainly food.

As you can see there are very few cars here. Any jeeps and trucks are from some companies, like Denys, which is working on a very much needed public water treatment and distribution project.

Most transportation of people is done by motorcycle of which there are quite a few, driven by young guys. People do a lot of walking here.

The other night we had quite a rainstorm hitting the place we're staying almost horizontaly so that quite a bit of water came through the cracks in the windows and doors. Took me an hour scooping and mopping up water.