Congo Part 3 - Last one

This is my final post about my Congo trip. After all the discouragement assessing the building, our last days were encouraging and gave us a glimpse of the work that is being done at UCBC. Enjoy.

On Saturday we attended the graduation ceremony for the university. It was a unique experience to see some of the fruit of what UCBC is doing and to get a glimpse of the transformation that is happening in Beni.
The graduation ceremony was long. It started at 9:30, only 1 hour late which isn’t too bad in Africa, and ended at 2:30, 5 hours. Even though it was long it was good. There were several speeches, by the rector, the mayor, the dean, the regional government representative, the chairman of the board, the student body president and several pastors. In Congolese culture the speaker must acknowledge the distinguished guests in attendance, including us. But it is not only the first speaker who must do this, but every speaker. So every time someone went up to talk, they began by addressing each of the distinguished guests. So you can begin to see why it took 5 hours. It was good to hear a common thread throughout the speeches. That theme was that UCBC is not only a place for education and technical training but it is also a place of transformation in the lives of the students and the community. This message was not only coming from the leadership of UCBC but also from the students and the mayor. It was encouraging to see the hope for a different future in a place where there has been little hope. There is a desire for change and people want to be part of it. They don’t want to wait for someone to come and change it for them. But they are going to be the change. UCBC is training up a generation of leaders who want to transform their community and their country. They want to put an end to the corruption and change the moral compass of the people. God is good, God is big and he is working in Congo.

The band leading the procession of graduates.

The graduates dancing as they go

Graduates and the community sitting under tents

The community gathered to watch

Eventually they began to hand out the degrees to the graduates. The first graduate set the atmosphere for the event. Once his name was called and he began to approach the stage, his family jumped up and cheered. Then they ran up to the stage started taking pictures as he shook hands with the 15 people on the stage. When he reached the other side of the stage and descended down the steps, he was greeted with flowers, wreaths, confetti, and hugs. It must have been a special experience for these graduates to see the love and support from their friends and family. Their community had come to celebrate with them.

Family members celebrating with a graduate

Community praying for the graduates

After the graduation ceremony was complete some of the UCBC leadership told us to come with them. There is an area on campus where individuals, ministries and partners of UCBC have planted trees as a remembrance that they have been there and have had an impact of the development of the university. They had a tree for David and I to plant complete with a sign to commemorate the visit of EMI, not just our trip but also the master planning trip that EMI did in early 2012.

There was a reception after the graduation where we talked with some of the students. We asked one of them, Jimmy, if he could summarize his experience at UCBC in one sentence. He said no but he would quickly tell us his story. He had been going to another university before attending UCBC. This was the best academic university in Congo. He said the difference between that university and UCBC was the focus. His previous focus was on getting an education so that he could get a job and make money to support himself. But after his experience at UCBC his goal is to do more than support himself but to support his community, to create jobs for others, and to be a light in the business community, standing against corruption. His life has been transformed and he wants to transform the lives of others. Sometimes working at EMI I don’t see the impact of what I am doing. I sometimes wonder how this is different than working back home. But this was a reminder of the impact. The ministries that we partner with are instruments of change where they have been called. I have been reminded lately that we are part of the body of Christ. Each member must do its own part. EMI’s part is to come alongside these ministries and provide technical advice and support so they can focus where God has called and gifted them to work.

At the end of the day we were invited to attend some celebration ceremonies for the graduates. The dean’s wife graduated and we went to their place for some speeches, a sermon, and a meal. It was a cool experience to see their community gather together to celebrate this event.

Dinner at the dean's to celebrate his wife's graduation

On Sunday we returned to Kampala. The trip was the reverse of our trip on Tuesday. The border going back into Uganda was much easier than going into DRC. The only eventful moment was as we were leaving Beni, there was a checkpoint at the edge of town. We were unsure who was in charge here, police or somebody ekse. But there was a rope across the road with some men guarding. We had to stop and they wanted to check our vehicle. We opened the trunk and they looked inside seeing a large plastic bin. They told us to take it out so they could check. All of this conversation was happening in French between the men and Kazito, our escort. In this bin we had some concrete cubes that were cast at the university. We were bringing them back to Kampala to test them to get some idea of the concrete strength. These guards were concerned that we had gold in the cubes and were trying to smuggle it out of the country. After five minutes of discussion, Kazito convinced them that it was only concrete and they let us on their way, a bit of excitement to start the day.

Overall it was a good trip. The building evaluation was challenging and discouraging at times, but it was encouraging to see the work that is being done at UCBC and capture some of the vision of that place. It was good to come away from Congo with a different perspective on what is happening in that country. There are many bad things happening there. There is still war going on. There is corruption and poverty. Congo is one of the poorest countries in the world. But even in that place there is hope. God is working and the gospel has power to change and transform that country. Thank you for your prayers while I was away.

I feel like I am settle here in Uganda. Returning from Congo I had a sense that I was coming home to something comfortable and familiar

Prayers:
Please pray for UCBC and Congo as there is much need there.

Pray for us as we process what we have seen and make recommendation about the safety of this building. We need wisdom to clearly communicate our concerns and advice in a way that the university will listen.

One of our recommendations will be that before construction continues someone with more experience is needed to supervise the construction. Pray that God would provide someone to do this.

Thank you and God bless,
Matt

Congo Part 2

After we entered Congo, I sent a text to someone at our office in Kampala letting them know we had made across the border. She had gone on the master planning trip to UCBC in 2012, so she responded asking if I had brought some motion sickness medication. I thought to myself how bad could it be. It was bad, probably the worst road I have driven on. Our 80km trip from the Kasindi to Beni took us two and a half hours. Once we crossed from Uganda to Congo the road changed from asphalt to dirt. It was so bumpy. Although this was a dirt road, it was also the major highway leading out of this area of eastern Congo. There was not a lot of traffic, but most of the traffic was large trucks. Some were transport trucks pulling two trailers. Most were large trucks packed full of stuff with about 50 people sitting on top of the stuff, and a bunch of water jugs tied to the back. Many of the vehicles we saw we stopped as they needed to reattached their cargo. One truck we saw was full of goats, there were two dead goats tied to the back. The truck was stopped as a goat had gotten loose and they were trying to catch it. Although it was a bumpy ride it was quite scenic. Congo is a beautiful and lush country. It was a clear day and we could see the Rwenzori mountains in the distance. Finally, 11 hours after we left Kampala, we arrived in Beni, Congo. Beni is a town of about 100,000 people in eastern Congo.

Congo countryside

Congo countryside

A herd of cows on the road

Congo countryside

Rwenzori Mountains

Large, overpacked truck on the dirt highway

We first went to UCBC to meet some of the staff and leadership. Then we took a quick look around the community center to get a feel for what was there. The building was in worse shape than we thought, and we would spend the next three days evaluating and recording what was there. We left from the university and went the guesthouse. While in Beni we stayed at the university’s guesthouse. It was much nicer than I thought it would be. It was a three storey house, I had my own room, there was running water, a shower but no hot water, electricity for about three hours each night, intermittent cell phone reception. Paul and Cullen were staying at the same guesthouse so it was interesting to hear more stories about UCBC and some of the history of that area of Congo.

UCBC's guesthouse where we stayed during our visit

On Wednesday we began our work of looking at the community center. This building has been under construction for a couple of years now as money has been available. There had been some issues with construction. Before continuing with construction they wanted us to come evaluate the building and give recommendation of how they should proceed. We took motorcycle taxis, motos in Congo or bodas in Uganda, to the university as the leadership team had to meet the mayor of Beni. Over the next three days we looked at the community center to see what had been built, what issues we could see with the construction, taking pictures to document the conditions. It was not very exciting work nor was it fun. In the back of our minds as we were looking through the building was how can they fix what is here and what needs to be done to complete the construction. There is no easy or clear answer which was a bit discouraging.

Community center building we came to inspect

Community center

Community center

UCBC's undeveloped land.

 Each day we ate lunch with the board members on their break from meetings. On Wednesday they invited some of the graduating students to come have lunch with us and share some of their experiences while at UCBC. It was encouraging to hear some of the stories of how attending UCBC has changed them. I could get a real sense from the students who got up and shared that after graduating they want to make a difference in their community and their country. They want to see change come to Congo and they want to be part of it. Lunch and sharing lasted for two hours, but it was good to get a glimpse of why we came to Congo. Not just to look at a building, but to partner with and organization and university that God is using to transform Congo.

Thursday was not too different from Wednesday. We spent most of the day evaluating the building. There was a huge storm, it rained hard for an hour and a half and it was hailing. We didn’t eat lunch until 3pm as they could bring the food from the kitchen because it was raining too hard.

Heavy rainstorm

On Friday we finished up the site portion of our evaluation. We still need to go back to the office to discuss with some colleagues and write a report summarizing our findings.

Congo Part 1

When you think of DR Congo, what comes to mind? War? Turmoil? Poverty? Kidnapping? Violence? Those are the things you hear about Congo. What about hope? Community? Transformation? Those are probably not ideas that you would associate with Congo. But that is what my experience was during my trip. Let me share with you a bit of that adventure.

The purpose of our trip to Congo was to do a structural assessment of a community center building at Universite Chretienne Bilingue du Congo (UCBC, Christian Bilingual University of Congo). The story of UCBC began after the war in Congo. Several Christian leaders gathered together to ask themselves three questions. What did this happen? Where was the church? What do we do now? In response to the third question they felt God leading them to do something to change the future of their country. They started UCBC to set themselves apart as different from the other agencies working in the area. Their vision is to train and develop strong, indigenous Christian leaders to transform their communities and their nation of the Democratic Republic of Congo. One of the mottos at UCBC is “being transformed to transform”. There is change happening in this place. For more details see http://www.congoinitiative.org and www.ucbc.org.

Our trip started on Tuesday morning at 6am. David, another structural engineer from EMI, and I got picked up by a driver to meet with Paul and Cullen, board members at UCBC from the US. We were travelling together from Kampala, Uganda to Beni, DRC. Tuesday was a holiday so traffic in Kampala was lighter than normal, a good thing at the beginning of our long drive west. The countryside in this part of the world is beautiful. The drive to the border was relatively uneventful. We arrive at the border at Mpondwe/Kasindi at 1:30. 

The border crossing was a bit of an adventure. Kazito, from UCBC, met us on the Uganda side of the border to take us across with the Congolese driver and vehicle to take us to Beni. There are no clear instructions at the border of where to go so it was necessary to have someone with us. First you need to stop at the Uganda police checkpoint to let them know you are leaving. There are two gates, one for cars and one for pedestrians, and a small hut where an officer in street clothing records some information and the date you are leaving. While we were talking with the police in the hut I saw many people and motorcycles passing through the pedestrian gate who haven’t stopped to check in with the police. There is no indication of who needs to stop here. After talking with the police we get into the car to go through the gate. The man at the gate asks to see the papers for the vehicle. Kazito explains to them that they have just come across to pick us up and go back. So they let us through. Apparently if you are going across the border and come right back you don’t need to go through immigration. 

Next we go to the Uganda immigration to get a departure stamp. Again this is a small building off to the side with a small sign. We go in, fill out the departure card, get our passports stamped and get back in the car. We go through the last gate in Uganda. Somewhere between the Uganda and Congo gates is the border. There is no clear indication of where the border is. There are so many people walking between the borders.

 

We get through the border at Congo and it feels like we are in. There is no one stopping us, checking if we are allowed to be here. It felt as if we could just go. But there is a building off to the left where we need to stop. Again there are no signs indicating we need to go here. The signs are now in French too. We stop in the immigration building where they look at our passports and ask us to sit down. Then we get led to an office in the back where the five of us crowd in. Fortunately Paul was born in Congo and lived there for many years so he was chatting with the immigration officer in Swahili, which I think changed the attitude of the officer. The immigration officer didn’t like that David and I had received our Congo visas in Uganda and not our home countries. I am not sure why this would matter, but he didn’t like it. Paul explained to him that we are residents in Uganda so that is where we must get our visas. They stamped our passports and we entered Congo. 

I have broken this post into three parts so it is not too much at once. I will let you know when I post the next part. Below are some pictures of the Ugandan countryside, it is a beautiful country.