lightening flash

Sunday was a beautiful day. I got up a little after 6, so that I could go to the 7am English service at church. April preached and frankly, it’d been since about November or December since I attended this service… Well it’s just so dang early! But it was good to go and reconnect with the people who attend the service and praise in English!

Anyway, April, Meredith and I went to church while the boys stayed at home sleeping / resting… When we got back around 9, they hadn’t cooked so I started preparing breakfast for all of us with Meredith. It was a hot morning – especially sitting in the sun cutting veggies for the eggs!

But then, in the early afternoon, I could see dark clouds coming closer and closer. At one point Justin said, “listen.” And we could hear the coming rain, on the leaves of the trees in the palm forest. Moments later, as the sky grew darker we saw a flash of lightening. And a split second later, a crack of thunder that was the loudest I’d heard since being in Congo. It was a sharp pop and crackle, probably striking a nearby tree! And it was so loud. A minute or so later, we saw another flash light up the afternoon sky – quickly followed by another loud electric thunder strike. Then the rain came… And it just poured1

It was a beautiful twist to the day…

Going to the market a few hours later was an adventure as well… Sliding around on the back of a moto in the streets of Beni was an experience. But thankfully, with the exception of a little mud on my legs – no problems!

Next, I need to learn to drive a moto on my own, buy one, so that I can do this on my own! ;) hahah

Beautiful Beni

Well... siku mingi (many days) since I last wrote...

But since writing, I read two articles about the DR Congo - one which Baraka suggested to me. It's titled, "There is No Congo," and it's really a surprising and difficult article to read.

There is another though, which was written a month later by another author - and I found it to be much more uplifting, encouraging and positive. It's also on ForeignPolicy.com and is called, "68 Million Congolese Can't Be Wrong." The article talks about why Congolese love their country - in spite of the challenges, difficulties and problems, outlined in the first article.

I hope you will read and reflect on these articles...

The DR Congo... Beni is worth fighting for. It should not be wiped off the map or disregarded. This land are her people deserve a chance to fight for themselves. What can we do to help?

I've finally uploaded some more photos... Enjoy!

With love
Bethany

the UN and a little moto ride

Greetings from Beni!

It's a hot, sunny day here today... At least 95 degrees, in my opinion!

This afternoon I went from town to UCBC... I'd been there in the morning, but had to spend some time in Beni and at the house... So around 2pm I got on a moto for a ride underneath the hot afternoon sun.

My taxi driver started asking me questions (in Swahili of course) about my experience here and I told him that I really like Congo... That I think it's a beautiful country. And asked him what he thought about his country. He told me that it's not good, especially because there is so much hunger... He said that is the big problem that Congo has - hunger. So I asked him what can he / we do to change that... And he said work hard...

A few moments later several different UN (MONUC) trucks passed us on the road... I then asked him what he thinks of MONUC. I asked, "What do they do? Do they help with hunger? Do they give food? What do they do?" He (of course) could not say he saw MONUC helping or making a difference... He even went on the say that MONUC is taking from the country, from the people, and making hunger even worse.

This is something I'm hearing more often, and find myself affirming it... What in the world is the UN doing in Congo?

These thoughts were fresh in my mind after I arrived at UCBC... I pulled up BBC News on my computer and read the following article, which had a good section about MONUC in Congo. The author says that "the international community lacks a strategy for fixing this failing state." I think that is crystal clear in Goma - where the streets are lined with UN Soldiers, NGO workers and cars from both that clog traffic and polute the air.

Here is the article.

I am not saying that the UN should leave Congo. And neither is this article. But it's discouraging to see a huge operation like the UN, in a country... And yet you have to ask, "what is the result? What are they doing? Why are they here, again?"

It's pretty sad, actually... We watch the millions (billions) of dollars that the UN has for this operation get tossed into the wind.

Ah, please pray for this country. And those who have their hands in it. I pray that the men, women, NGOs and whatever other organizations / interests involved, would develop / have morals and honor in the way they act...

with hope,
Bethany