One of our friends brought up the idea of doing a bore well or two in Kikimi. At first, we thought it would not be possible, as per the studies that had been done about 7 years ago, that indicated the plateau where our project is located was too high to allow digging a bore well, and that the trucks needed for such a project would not be able to drive to the site. This conclusion was what had led us to opt for the rain water solution, which has worked very well, but has only provided a very small amount of drinking water. A French company, who offers green solutions throughout Africa, agreed to help us by finding local engineers who could perform a scientific field survey. The results have been very encouraging, revealing that our site is actually sitting on a lot of very accessible water. The survey was done both on the school site and in the village, with the agreement of the village chief and of the local population, who must walk very far to fetch water which ends up polluted by bathing and laundry. No wonder we have to treat to many cases of water-borne diseases at our medical center! (see video clip: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/yv4vp34m94unt7p/AAA-m2swCHTK1EAShxWnrhu7a/Kikimi%20Village%20Survey/MVI_3723.MOV?dl=0). Another positive note is that, according to the engineers who did the survey, it seems possible to carry the equipment needed to dig a bore well inside a trailer that can be pulled by a jeep, instead of using a large truck which would be unable to reach Kikimi. We are hoping the final proforma to do both wells (one for the village and one for our project) will be within our friend’s budget, and if not, that we will find an alternative to finance it, as it is such a huge need. Theo, having been trained in development, knows how to create and oversee a villagers committee to ensure the maintenance and the financial upkeep of the well.

Women and children at the water source in Kikimi village, hundreds of meter downhill.

Counseling with the engineers on our school site

Engineer doing the geo-electric testing during the field survey to determine the exact position of water.

We are very thankful that, in spite of the economic difficulties most companies are facing in Congo at the moment because of the lack of investments and the low income people receive, those who have been donating food for many years continue to do so, and several of them are even adding goodies for the kids each month, such as drinks and cookies, which may not be the healthiest so to speak, but for sure makes their day!

The kids are so thankful for the food donations

We had planned for the inauguration of the High School at the beginning of the month, but we had to postpone it because of the heavy rains and the perilous road condition. However, the director of the Rawji Foundation (who had sponsored the building of the High School) decided to come in person anyway alone in our jeep, to check things out (both our project which he had never seen as well as the road condition). It turns out that he had been Theo’s teacher at the Protestant University of Kinshasa. It must have been encouraging for him to see the fruit of his teaching so to speak, that is the project his former student is now running under our supervision. We will be reprogramming the actual inauguration at this year graduation ceremony at the beginning of July, when the dry season will make driving there hopefully a little less difficult.

Professor Mossai from the Rawji Foundation in front of the high school

While the finalization of the French version of the STEPS Program is in progress, we have been distributing a BETA copy of the program on DVDs to interested teachers in Kinshasa. This month, the Scripture Union organized a seminar for us to present this program to a large group of Sunday School teachers and directors from about 15 churches. After explaining how to use this program, we divided the participants into small groups and held workshops so each group could prepare a 10 mn class on a given topic which we had Xeroxed beforehand. It was great fun and a real success. Although the Scripture Union is making their photocopy machine available to all these teachers, we see the need to get this program printed once it’s all finalized, and will be looking for avenues of financing such a project.

Presentation of the STEPS Program

Presenting the STEPS Program to educators and Sunday School teachers

Workshops

Skit presentation from one of the groups on a given theme

Our school has been chosen to serve as an examination center for the TENAFEP (End of Primary Education Examination). We are eagerly waiting for the results and hope our kids did as well as the previous years, when they came out among the best students for the whole district.

TENAFEP examination

Construction: Still a work in progress, the tiling of the floors has been completed, and the metal gates have been installed. We still need to finish putting up floor tiles in the stairways, and wall tiles in the bathrooms, the maternity ward and the surgery room.

Tiling of the patients’ ward

Tiling of the balcony

Security gates

Metal railing

While the geo-electric survey was happening, Theo took some pictures of the local people, something we can never do ourselves because of past superstition. Here we can see how hard the women work, carrying heavy loads, to help support their families.

Village women carrying fire woods to sell

–          During the upcoming school holidays, we are planning to take care of all needed maintenance of the buildings, as well as make progress with the construction of the toilets for the secondary school.

–          We are also hoping the well project will get finalized so we can take advantage of the dry season to get it done. Please keep this very needed project in your prayers. Thank you so much!