Blogfamine

Oh dear! its been a little while since I found time to sit at a computer for recreational purposes to write a blog. Mea Culpa.

Now i am not sure where to start!

To quote Hedley Lamarr in Blazing Saddles (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blazing_Saddles), 'My mind is a swirling vortex of creative possibilities!'

Should I talk about the Gay wedding of the century in New Delhi in August, or the Celebrations of the New Millennium in September in Addis Abeba? and an epic road trip with my increasingly eccentric but also deeply lovable parents?

Or should I recount for you the frightening story of an Ebola epidemic in my back yard? or the tale of how an intrepid few did so much in such little time to help sick people get better in Congo?

No, i think i will tell you about the Buddha of Kampungu. Last week I traveled in a Cessna caravan, a twelve seater mono-prop cargo plane to a town about 300 Km from Kananga: Luebo. Luebo is a sleepy little place with an impressive bridge across the river Lulua (one of the few examples of good Belgian civil engineering in the Congo) and a string of mission stations; like their sisters in Ndemba, the nuns have had their funding source (Rome, Brussels, Canterbury) cut for a long while and now rely on selling cold beer and hospitality to anyone with the money to pay. The rambling religious buildings are impressive, but dilapidating, crying out for a little investment.... I have ideas of buying out the sisters and setting up an eco-retreat of my own!

We went to Luebo to carry out a distribution of essential non food items to the communities affected by the outbreak of Ebola Hemorrhagic Fever. To allay fears, I have to explain two things about this Epidemic. First of all, We visited the area in the aftermath of the the outbreak. It had been more than 21 days since the last death caused by Ebola, and 21 days is the maximum incubation period for Ebola; secondly whilst an outbreak of Ebola is no joke, of the 212 mortalities, only 25 were identified as having been caused by Ebola, the others perished of your regular endemic nasties in the Congo: Typhoid fever and dysentery.

We decided to go ourselves to the villages because we know how things work: all of the assistance donated for the victims of the outbreak was misappropriated by the authorities in Kananga. Maybe as a result of this, the Provincial Inspector of Health is now under house arrest and a replacement hastily installed.... but thats another blog altogether!

We arrived to distribute soap to school children along with some basic hygiene sensitization and to distribute mattresses and bicycles to the community health centers in the eleven most affected villages. Our hunch about misappropriation was confirmed when the Zonal chief for Health in Mweka (in the epicenter of the epidemic) thanked us saying:

"You are the only ones to have delivered assistance to us, as with the train crash [which happened in the same area], many organizations promised us support. But none ever arrived."

I am sure there is an element of flattery in his words, but I would not be genuinely surprised if he was speaking the truth. Corruption is a way of life in Congo; and until the government regularises the economy, pays peoples' salalries, then I am sure that Hedley Lamarr of Blazing Saddles would give the authorities the same accolades as he gave his band of felons in that great movie:

"...... rustlers, cut throats, murderers, bounty hunters, desperados, mugs, pugs, thugs, nitwits, halfwits, dimwits, vipers, snipers, con men, Indian agents, Mexican bandits, muggers, buggerers, bushwhackers, hornswogglers, horse thieves, bull dykes, train robbers, bank robbers, ass-kickers, shit-kickers and Methodists!"

One such upstanding servant of the state presented me with a sinister souvenir of my trip, a hoi-toi or a Chinese/Kasayan Buddha. My team begged me to leave him in Kampungu, but he has his uses... he now sits in the Kitchen in Kananga to observe my less than honest cook!
Truly a face from the heart of Darkness!

In other news the situation in Nord Kivu is a mess with five waring parties at the last count wreaking havoc on the civilization population... spare a thought and a prayer for Congo!

On a lighter note, I am soon to have a very important new Neighbor. How many times in ones life can you say that the President of Republic is about to be living across the wall. Well in two weeks time the His Excellence the Honorable Joseph Kabila Kabange is moving in. Hopefully this will be a good thing, guaranteeing 24/7 electricity and improved security. I am wondering how to react when he knocks on my door to ask to borrow a cup of sugar!