Trying to play catch up. Potential Burundi Water Project

We are on the road to the first commune that we are looking at for a proposed water project. We have submitted the project covering two communes and about 20,000 beneficiaries.  We are waiting for approval at the Area Office in South Africa then it will be submitted to Salt Lake for approval.  Please send good thoughts and prayers for approval.



Can you find the boy in the picture.???



Does this look like a scene from "Lord of the Rings"  I so wanted a hobbit to appear....

Just look into those eyes.  What is she thinking?

We know what he is thinking.  Please do not let these white people take me away!!!



This is a very old church built by the Belgium back in 1930-1940.  It was lovely with beautiful stain glass windows.  It was on a hill and very nice to visit. 



This boat is a hallowed out log.  Did not ask how the fishing was going.

They just wanted to know what the White faces are doing in their Village.

She had that million dollar smile .

The woman in the middle is the leader of this first commune.  Sister Barlow is on the right.

These are two workers from Coped.  They are the potential partner for this water project.  Would you love to have the tall one on your basketball team?

Yes, along with being tall come the large feet!!

We are just getting ready to visit the second commune.  This one is high up at the top of the hills and had a great view.

OK, some of you know I love green bananas.  This is my ideal tree to have in my backyard.

In the second commune the leader has two guards that travel with him everywhere. Today he felt he only needed of them to travel with him.  I guess we did not look to threatening..

Elder and Sister Barlow.  They are the Short Term Water Specialists.  They are from Utah and so fun to have with us.  We want to develop more water projects so they will come back and see us.

I loved this woman.  I have no idea of her age, but you know there is a lot on her mind.

These are school children that if the project is approved will have clean water for the first times in their lives.  There are 800 students at this school in two shifts.  Along with clean water they will also receive latrines, also for the first time.  Oh, to be a part of this great work.  It is very humbling to play a minor role in such important work.

Stay tune for Zambia and "Helping Babies Breath".

BURUNDI WHEELCHAIR PROJECT

 

This is the government store room for the wheelchairs . We had to climb through them to find the ones we wanted for the training sessions. It was a hot job.

 

Two at a time. They weight about 35 lb. each and he does this will no problem. What a guy!



This is day one with all the technicians and clinicians.





This is Blake from the US training the techs, next to him is one of our translators. French is spoken in Burundi.





The man in blue is a MD named Jeff from the US and the blond is Lara also from the US. They volunteer their time to come and do the training. All four trainers from the US are from Utah.





All you constructions workers, look out, they may have something here.





Did you ever think you could have so much fun learning how to put together a wheelchair to fit a patient exactly. No more to big or too small, but just right.





More techs showing what they can do





Here the clinicians are learning the correct way to move a patient from the chair to another area in the proper way. This will be so valuable to limit injuries while moving your patient. Remember to ask if you can touch them!





The Techs are learning how their patients need to work their new chairs.





You can see Techs come in all sizes and their are boys and girls!!!





They are so proud of what they have learned. Love the smiles.





Look we are almost done with our first chair.





This young girl now has her very first chair. She was so happy and so was her mother.





This is an old trike wheelchair that this man made himself.





Some more proud Techs





I want to race, who is up for it?





This is Elder and Sister Barlow our most awesome Water Specialists




Closing ceremony. Lots of happy recipients. There will be about 250 just like these in the months to come.



This young man loved the TV attention. He wanted to know if a car would be next?

Well, you can see we had a wonderful time with the wheelchair Project.  Lots of tears and very tired feet, but well worth all the work that went into it.  Our deepest thanks to those that gave so freely of their time and talents with the reward for those efforts shown above.  Watch for the next addition about the potential Burundi Water Project.









We ARE ON A ROLL AND MOVING THE WORK FORWARD

I have become my Mother.  We sometimes only have one leg of power and when that happens you plug everything into that one outlet.  I used to die when my mother did this.  Oh, I never thought!

This is our lovely Bed and Breakfast in Burundi.  It was really a wonderful place to stay and we were treated so well by everyone. The food was excellent.

This is Burundi 2.   The gentlemen using his phone is Elder Burton. He and his wife are the only senior couple in Burundi and they speak wonderful French.  They are a wonderful couple and we are so glad we get to see them many times this year.

This is our friend at the local eatery  He and two or three others protect the bar area. 

This is the generator that runs the gas pumps when the power goes out. Don't you just love it???

My Hippo friend.  I only hope to see lots more before we leave.

A New Year In The DRC





This Blog will be dedicated to the Christmas Couples Conference we had.  All pictures are of the Senior Couples that serve in the Lubumbashi DR Congo Mission. Two couples, the Burton's and Frogley's serve in Burundi.  The Frogleys will be going home in April.  The Moores serve in Mbuji-Mayi. The rest, Wilson's, Bunkers, Evansons and Bowers serve in Lubumbashi.  The President and his lovely and wonderful wife (Packer) are here in Lubumbashi also.  I can not express how nice to talk with other couples that can share an laugh about the same things.  Honestly there are things we can not begin to express to our friends and family that would make any sense or not scare them to death.  It is just a different world here.  It has taken a good 4 months to just sit back and say " Only in the DRC".
We learned while in South Africa they say "Only in Africa" but that does not work here.  This is different than South Africa and we are learning daily to love every moment.

On the back row, Bowers, Evanson, Moore's, Burton's. Next row, Frogley, Packer and Wilson. Seated are Bunkers.  As I mentioned Frogley and Wilson will leave in April.  We have not heard about replacements yet, but praying that names will come soon.  Pres. and Sis. Packer leave 1st of July. Moores leave in August and so do Evanson's.  Bunker's in Nov., Burton's in Feb. 2013 and us in August. It will be strange to have a whole new group arrive in next 6 months along with a New Mission President.  This is considered a Hardship Mission so the President only serves for 2 years instead of the usual 3 years. This is our casual picture on Christmas Eve.  We had Ham.  Just to give you an idea of how expensive food is, it was a 25 lb. Ham and cost over $4 you can add the zeros.  It was a treat and to tell you the truth we are still eating the left overs !!



Elder and Sister Wilson (Utah)

This is taken on Christmas Day.  We had church at the mission home which was very special.  We had Christmas Dinner and then we all went to call our families.


Elder and Sister Bunker (Utah)






Elder and Sister Burton (Utah)



Elder and Sister Evanson (Canada)



Elder and Sister Frogley (Utah)



Elder and Sister Moore (Utah)




President and Sister Packer (Utah)

This is our DRC Family.  Sister Packer is holding her Christmas present.  It is a wooden purse and it is fabulous.  President Packer has a wonderful Zebra.  They found them at a craft store during the Holidays.  I will be looking for that purse all year long, just loved it.

This is the closing chapter to 2011.  It has been an eye opening year with lots of challenges and surprises. Thanks to all our support from home I am sure 2012 will also be an exceptional year with many wonderful experiences, new friends, projects and new sights.  We are off to Burundi in January, Zambia in February and South Africa in March.  Never in my wildest dreams would I have guessed this would be my where I am in 2012.

Love to All
Wendy and Bob