Update From the Field - May 19, 2014

As of today, May 19, I have been in the DRC for one and a half months and things are still going well.

Its been a while since I’ve done a long update, and that is because I really wanted to do a longer post about my non-work things, but it kept getting put off because I kept having to do the weekly work post… but finally, here is a comprehensive update as to what’s been going on! Feel free to just peruse the pictures if you don’t want to read through all this :)

Bukavu seems to be a Town of surprising (and sometimes shocking) random practicality/convenience. This photo is actually from Rwanda, but you get the idea.

Its a little hard to read the sign, but the gist is that while it is sometimes difficult to find a vegetable anywhere, you can rest assured that you can get your liquor and wines 24/7 without having to leave the comfort of your vehicle.

"Gas stations" are also very easy to find in Bukavu, often manned by children unfortunately:

Traffic here is something else. Somewhat like Accra, except that the roads are 1000x worse so it just adds a whole new layer of insanity. Unfortunately, my photos do not do it justice.

We drive by this precipice every day to get to work. Apparently it isn’t at all rare for motorbike taxis to fall off the edge from time to time – passenger in tow. Don’t worry Denise and Mom, we do not take the motorbike taxis on this road.

I live in an old Belgian house near to Lake Kivu.  This is our house and our view of the lake from the porch

This is my room up on the very top floor of the house.

Just to give you an idea of how well I’ve been eating, here is a picture of the baking that one of the household staff, Joseph, did just last night:

Yep, that’s banana muffins, homemade tortillas, homemade cinnamon bagels, cinnamon rolls, a plain cake, ginger cookies, and some roasted salted peanuts.  He also regularly makes fresh naan, lentils, curry, guacamole, etc.

I share the house I live in with 4 other ladies who work with Panzi in different capacities.

Sarah is a consultant with Norwegian Church Aid and the Panzi Foundation.

Susanne heads up the programs/projects at Panzi Foundation from her office at Maison Dorcas and she also seems to be Dr. Mukwege’s right hand man.

Inge arrived about two weeks after I did. She is working as a volunteer Human Resources consultant for Panzi.

The 5 of us generally go to the hospital together either using one of those great all-terrain vehicles mentioned in an earlier post or else packed into the back of a taxi cab like so:

(reminds me so much of our family trips to New York ;)

We leave the house between 6:45 and 7:10am and the ride takes about 35-40, minutes, LARGELY depending on the traffic.

Sarah, Susanne and Inga have their offices at Maison Dorcas which we sometimes join them at in the afternoons (because they generally have an internet connection!)

This is Maison Dorcas. It is in construction now, but when it is finished, it will be a transition house and aftercare program area for survivors of sexual violence.

The parking at Maison Dorcas can be a little creative sometimes.

This is Panzi Hospital

Its designed a lot like the hospital I visited in Chitokoloki, Zambia with Christina last year, but its much bigger. Panzi Hospital is a tertiary care centre and a teaching hospital. There are several interns, residents, fellows, employees, patients, visitors, gawkers (outside the gates…), etc. here every day and a lot goes on here.

Every morning around 7am there is a prayer service which includes some beautiful singing, praying, and preaching led by a rotating group of leaders. The drum sits here conspicuously at all other times when not being used.

Dominique and I share this office space at Panzi with Georges and Muriel from Physicians for Human Rights.

Georges is a police and justice expert consultant and Muriel is a medical forensics expert consultant, so they’re pretty neat. I will look forward to talking to them more about the work they do with Panzi in supporting the sexual violence programs here. Here is a picture of an innovative "vagina box" that they use to teach the staff about recognizing signs of sexual violence and gathering evidence.

A lot of neat things go on at the Panzi hospital. There’s all the regular hospital type things, but then there is also all of the programs and services aimed at supporting women and children who have experienced sexual violence in the area.

Because Dr. Denis Mukwege is the chief of staff here, the place is often abuzz with high profile visitors and such. Last week we had the former Prime Minister of Ireland, Mary Robinson, visiting and I was able to take a few snapshots of her chatting with Dr. Mukwege and giving a word of encouragement to some of the survivors of sexual violence here.

(this ones for you JR and Alison :)

Dr. Mukwege is an ob/gyn who is world-renowned as a specialist in fistula repair. He is the visionary behind the Panzi Hospital and its provision of a full range of services for victims of sexual violence, including medical/forensic care and services for the survivors such as socioeconomic counseling, legal counseling, community advocacy, and psychological care.

Dr. Mukwege is a neat man to engage with. He’s been nominated at least twice for the Nobel Peace Prize in the past (word on the street is he is a good contender for it this year!) [See here for interesting discussion of Nobel Peace Prize nominees] for his fight for the dignity and rights of women in this country. In 2012 his work earned him a violent home invasion/assassination attempt during which his family was held hostage and his guard was killed. But he continues to press onwards despite the threat and is a hero for it.

This week I got to meet with him to try and help him and his team of lawyers try to find a way to preserve the vision of Panzi despite the negative pressure being put on the foundation by outside donors. It’s a complicated legal problem, but I’m honored to be a part of helping to create the solution in a way that makes legal sense and protects Panzi for the future.

Last week, we went along with Sarah, one of Panzi’s consultants as she learned about a new cookstove design.

The huge brick contraption to the right of the photographer (yours truly) is a traditional design for stoves.

Huge, inefficient, expensive, etc.  The little round thing on the floor is the new design. It can be made entirely out of widely available materials in the villages (i.e. straw and mud/clay) and is then fashioned in this shape so that a pot of food can be placed on top in the indentation and a small amount of wood can be burned underneath to heat the food. The smoke escapes out of a hole in the back and the design helps to insulate the pot and increase the efficiency. The stove is also “fired” from the inside out through the process of repeated cooking so it can last about 5 years and is (somewhat) portable. As such, people in the village can make them and then also sell them as a small business venture. Its pretty neat! But more information will be needed before Sarah and others working here can determine if this design will really be practical for the people here.

This is them putting one of the cookstoves into the back of a vehicle in order to take it to show others.

Earlier this week Sarah also met with another person with a different design for a stove which she replicated herself (with help) here. She says she prefers the first model. This is the one she built:

In other news, I have found a nice church to worship God and enjoy fellowship at. “Le Phare” is a very small but vibrant church run by a young pastor who is passionate about spreading the gospel in Bukavu and motivating the young people in his small congregation to learn what true faith in Christ really means and how to live that out practically in a daily ongoing walk with God. Its been really neat to spend time there and also a great way to practice my French!

Also, on Saturday evenings I head over to the Swedish/Norwegian mission about 25 minutes walk away from my house. The missionaries there have an English devotional/fellowship time each week and its been a real refreshment to be with them. They also have a piano so I get to play along with the singing, which is a great cathartic relief ;) God has really blessed me with both Le Phare and the Swedish mission to look forward to every week.

The power often goes out at the Swedish mission during the meeting. Here is a picture of us trying to read our Bibles together by flashlight.

Some of you have been specifically asking about the needs here at Channel Initiative for the work we are doing in South Kivu. Well, I FINALLY have a full list of the medical supplies that I am trying to source so if any of you know of any hospitals or pharmacies that might be willing to donate some of these supplies o us, I would very much like to hear from you! (Check out the list of supplies: https://www.dropbox.com/s/9gruoycgmfzonm5/Wishlist_MaterialsforPartners.xlsx) Also, please feel free to spread the word about our current rally to raise funds for Dr. Imani’s new maternal health clinic in Kavumu that we are trying to equip. We are raising funds to buy the equipment and medicines needed and also to send it in a container from North America to us here in Bukavu. You can read more about the rally here: https://rally.org/healthincongo  

I’ve had a chance to visit some of the areas where we are hoping to help with the healthcare situation and things are pretty dire. Here is a picture of the women waiting to give birth at the hospital in Mulamba. As I mentioned in an earlier post, they sit on the mattresses on the concrete floor sometimes for up to two months waiting until their due date.

The hospital can’t afford to feed them so they either have to bring their own food or arrange for family to bring them food each day. They cook it here in this group kitchen.

In Kavumu, the area where we are doing the rally to raise funds with Dr. Imani, they don’t have a clinic at all. Here is a picture of a group of pygmy people we spoke with in the Kavumu area who are hoping that we’ll be able to help them set up the clinic in the near future.

I will end there for now. Hopefully that gives you a bit of a better idea as to what life is like here day to day, as well as an idea of what the needs are here. Please keep praying for the people here in South Kivu and that the relative peace that we’re enjoying in the country right now would continue!

Til next time!