We were in the Katuba Stake
looking at a house where they
raise chickens, these were some
of the kids that live at the house.
They have never seen
Mormon Missionaries before.

This is a picture of the street
where the kids live, very muddy
as it had just rained.

This girl was getting water in
the Village of Lumata. This is
a hand dug well and they pull
the water out with a bucket on
a strap.

This is the same girl only close up,
this was the best smile we could get,
but when we had her look at her picture
in the camera she cracked up.

 .

This was probably the best picture from our trip to the Village of Lumata.
We had walked through the village and down the train
tracks to look at a water tower.  We were walking back to the
truck and noticed that Sister Bowers had about 50 of her
newest friends following her.  It must have been the game
she played with them, "heads, shoulders, knees and toes".



This is one of the goats in the village,
because the village is so far into the country
there is plenty of feed, we saw many goats.





We saw this little boy standing on a dirt
road, we would trying to find the farmer
outside of the village to get permission
to look on his property for water. 
Nice big smile!

This is one of the village pigs looking for food.



Here is a picture of the farmers land showing
the lake in distance.

This is more of the farmers land, he has about fifty head
of cattle, each hectare (about 15 acres) cost $700.00 USD.
He only spoke Swahili so we don't know how many
acres he owned, but we drove through his farm for about
3 miles trying to find a water source for the village.
Beautiful land with lake.

Here is what walking in the African bush looks like.
We found two springs feeding the lake, unfortunately
they are on the wrong side the hill to do the village any good.
Wendy walks ahead looking for snakes.

No this isn't Magic Johnson, just his number.

There is a basketball court in town, all the

players wear NBA type jersey's.

This is a rented Chapel that was being remodeled in
Kasumbelasawhich is the last town before
the Zambia Border.

This picture was taken while in Kasumbelasa, miles and miles
of trucks waiting to cross the Zambia Border.

These are the neighbors to the new Chapel in Kasumbelasa.

We were parking our truck next to a medical clinic
in the Village of Kanyaka and saw this turkey walking around,
very brave to do this just before Thanksgiving.



We have been asked what type of shoes we wear.  Wendy has her's  in brown, blue, black and tan.  Bob has black.  We have not suffered any foot problems, thank you SAS and New Balance.

Thanksgiving

We sent out our November letter today hope you all enjoyed it.  If you did not receive it and would like to please send us your email address.  Hugs to all   Bob and Wendy



Beautiful Sunset From Our Front Porch

We Had A Friendly Visitor Mr. Gecko



Starting Lunch

Now Lunch Is Served, Fish, Cassava Bread In Bowl and Sauce YUM!



Trying to find the last blade of grass, winter has started.

 

Ranch hand Ty Israelsen
with his trusty chicken feeding the steers.

Family Pictures From The Ranch

Snowing at the ranch, doesn't stop feeding time.

Nobody slows down at feeding time.

Kanyaka Village, Katanga Provience....Chief of Village, His Wife, Flavien and Sister Bowers

We have met the chief and his wife and we are in the village starting to work on a water and sanitation project.
When we first met the chief we met under a grass hut, he was sipping on a beer, half way through our meeting he sprinted to the latrine.....it must be nice to be the chief.

This is the chief's house, he is stacking bricks next to house to build a new home.

This is the chiefs shower, he was in it
showering when we first arrived.



This is the inside of the chiefs shower, lucky he is short.

This is the latrine, most hut's have their own! Notice what holds on the roof.

Some of the kids in the village hanging out.



Sunday in Africa

Well as you can tell it is amazing what you can do when you ask your IT man in the states how to get the pictures to download.  Thanks to Mike we are up and running... To day is Sunday and we are being entertained at this moment with the most amazing lightening and thunder show.  It is so loud at times we just look at each other and laugh.  Only in Africa can I laugh at lightening, but it is truly beautiful, as long as it stays next door and down the street and not in our yard.  Now the rain...  We have had three to four storms this week and it had cooled things down.. That is good for me, since I am always warm.  The area is getting very green and the streets very muddy.  We have had a truck the last two weeks and will have for another 2 until the couple returns that it belongs to.  After that it will be very hard to get into the villages without it, so the work may slow until we get our truck.  I guess once a truck is ordered it takes 3 months to get it to us so it could be after the first of the year before we get ours.  It is raining so very hard I do not believe I have ever seen it rain this hard.  Only in Africa. It is coming under the front door. Well, need to pause and get some rags....OK, have a mop and bucket ready for what force comes under the door.

In our neighborhood all the homes are behind large walls, some of the gates have art on them.

Flavien and Crystal

Our wonderful translator Flavien and his wife Crystal celebrating her birthday dinner at a Chinese restaurant in Lubumbashi.

New Friend

Trouble with Blog

We are having trouble with blog again and cannot download pictures.  We sent out an email on Sat. that we hope you all received.  If you did not receive it please let us know and we will forward or contact someone that you know got it.  Our email is bobwendydrcongo@gmail.com

Happy Haloween to All.

Hugs
Bob and Wendy

The corn here is white.  This is how they sell it to the middle man who makes it into flour or sells it like this.  You will find along the side of the road, stands selling popcorn.  Very small bags of it and not very appealing, but non the less popcorn.  We are excited that one picture downloaded, it has taken us all day to do this one.,  Will keep trying.

These two girls are sewing traditional African

dresses and skirts. They work outside their home, when they are finished with a few garments a woman picks up the clothing and places it in a large bowl on her head and walks up and down the street selling them.

Ag Project in the Katuba Stake

We are starting to work on an Ag Project in the Katuba Stake and were told that there was a ward member that was raising chickens.  Since chickens are part of the project we asked if we could see how he was raising them.  When we went to his house, we were taken into the bedroom and saw his fifty (50) chickens running around his bed.  Quite the sight and smell.

Our Adventures for our first full week

These are the most important men in my life for this week.  The men of Microcom.  They first arrived on Tuesday to connect us to internet.  It woked Tues.. nite and then gone... They came back on thurs. and took our antenna away.  Back on Friday and here we are.  I am so very very happy.  So keep emails coming, I can respond at night  when time permits, but promise to send a short message.

These are my new friends.  We are about 50 miles out of town.  We are looking for areas of need. This is a small village of 500.  They had 4 water pumps, but only this one is working.  We are learning the culutre.  We are not suspose to just drop in on a village.  We need to see the Chief before we speak to the people, so we will return and do it properly.  We also bring the chief a gift. Such as salt, sugar or something important.  We are learning daily.  They told us that it cost $200USD to get this foot pump well fixed and they have 3 others to fix.  It is a shame that the people that put in the pump did not give them a box of parts to keep it working.  These are things we can learn from.

Yes, they really carry everything on their head.  You would not believe the balance these women have. They can do this and they are beautiful.  Not just pretty, but beautiful.  High cheek bones, flawles skin and no wrinkles (none).  You can never guess how old they are.  These are the women I have seen in the city.  They women in the villages are beautiful just a little more worn.

Well on a personal note.  I lost a crown last Sunday... Just 4 days after arriving.  Went to the dentist on Tuesday.  He asked when we were doing back to the US and I told him 23 months and he said Oh, not good.  Not only did the crown fall out but a part of the tooth came with it.  He said he would try and glue it back in but no way will it hold for 23 months.  Then it would need a root canal and a new crown.  I don't think so!!!!  I know anything is possible and it could hold for exactly 23 months and fall out on the plane home, so I will keep praying for that.

Our flat has 17 stairs to the bedroom and each one is a different shape and size and level and height. We all know how much Bob loves stairs (not). Last time we had stairs he broke his ankle.  We are very careful and hold on to the rail and turn on all lights  that have power.  Otherwise he is doing well.
Food here is really really expensive.  My children know how little I spend at the store and would be shocked at the amount I have spent in 10 days.  No coupons here .. It was really bad last week when the refer was out for so long and we had to throw away so much, but solved that problem with a really really long extension cord so I move the refer plug with extension cord around until I find an outlet that works and we now have a running refer all the time.  It is amazing what we can make up. Oh, well had to create the extension cord!!!
I will close with  this picture for a laugh.

Love love you and miss you
Bob and Wendy

Update

Sunday 10-2:  Due to very poor bandwidth we can not post on blog at this time.  We will try sending updates by email to those that want it.  If you are not receiving the update info on your email please send us your address.  Please watch for update to arrive by Wednesay 10-5th.  If you do not have by then please let us know.

Much Love
Bob and Wendy

We Made It To Lubumbashi

First Week Finished at MTC

Staring at the left is our instructor Bro. Hepworth, next is Sister Washburn and Sis McHarque, they are going to the Philippines, Brother and Sister Whetman going to LA Mission Office, us and Sister and Brother Cater going to DFW Mission.

 

This is a peaceful picture of a hallway that is never empty. 

We just got lucky.The view is from the cafeteria to the front doors.

Our first week was spent in classes from 8AM to 8PM.  We finished the day with 2 hours of French. Our brains are on overload but so grateful for the opportunity.  We were able to take a small break Saturday afternoon and went out to lunch.  Oh, I have never appreciated having someone serve me and take away the dishes.  The enthusiasm of the instructors gets a little unnerving at about 3PM when I would have loved to take a power nap.  They are like energizing bunnies. They truly love their jobs and are a delight when you get over the energy problem.

We are very anxious for week two. We will be focusing on our specific assignment. We will have the opportunity to meet with trainers that have been in the Congo. We will update you next week.

Elder and Sister Bowers



The "Ready Room"....

Here are a couple of pictures that show our "ready room" prior to packing and leaving for the Missionary Training Center.

Think We Are Taking Enough Pill's?