As a visitor to Congo, I thought it fun to give you my perspective of life at Tandala. Most days you wake to a rooster crowing (and crowing and crowing) mix that in with the rhythmic sweeping of the dirt paths, baby goats bleating for their momma and footsteps of women walking to their gardens. I am overjoyed that I can walk the 1/4 mile to work instead of my 30 minute I-94 traffic jammed ride in my car. Along the way you may encounter chickens in your path, children walking to school or an occasional bicycle or two. I call out Mbote (hello) to everyone I see and the children practice saying Hellooooo ,hellooooo back to me.
Once at the lab, the pace is much slower , but I do miss the A/C. It is not uncommon for children to stop by the window and greet me and I say to them nsango nani ?(what’s up) and they answer nsango te (nothing). I have learned a few more phrases and words of Lingala this trip – it is fun to practice. One day a woman riding on the back of a bicycle was screaming something as it sped away from the hospital. I asked Mandaba (my translator) what she was saying and unfortunately it was “my son is dead, my son is dead” The reality is that death does happen here more often than in the USA for many reasons, especially to children.
Back to the house for the noon meal which usually happens between 1 and 3 pm J Our meal is cooked by Wille, Virginia and Michellene. They are beautiful ladies who work very hard every day to provide us with rice, meat, fish, pondu, spinach, fuku, plantains and Wilma’s favorite red sauce! I have to say the food this time was much better than my two previous trips to Congo.
Some nights we have electricity, which is a treat even though the light bulb in my bedroom was burnt out. Can’t stop by the local Ace to pick up another bulb, so you live without, which is part of the experience. Looking into the night sky, the stars are one hundred fold what they are at home, you can even see the hazy milky way – it is really unreal and beautiful beyond compare.
Life is not easy here, but for most it is the only life they know, so for them it is “normal”, For us pampered Americans, it is a drastic change from life we are used to. It is important to understand that our lifestyle is not necessarily the right way for the rest of the world to live. Living out of your comfort zone grows you in many ways and puts several things into a perspective you never could have imagined.
So yes, it is out of the ordinary in the USA to have a cow walk through your front yard lowing as she goes, a goat scratching an itch outside my lab window on the corner of the building and it being so dark at night I cannot see the hand in front of my face. But it is OK, this is Africa and it is supposed to be different, I am supposed to be a little out of my element and most important, I am supposed to be learning, observing and listening to God’s voice in my heart to love all of His creation.
