He Creates Chemistry
Miles is in the process of making bricks for his family’s home, as well as needing to make bricks for the many buildings we’ll be using in future projects.
Back in February, Miles traveled to Uganda and brought back a brick/block-making machine to Minembwe, something that, at least as far as we know, has never before been used in Minembwe.
The day the brickmaker arrived in Minembwe
Deciding which style of brickmaking is superior
New to brickmaking, Miles began experimenting with different mixes of soil, sand, cement, and moisture, as well as the best way to cure the bricks/blocks. Less than a week later, Lisa and I left Minembwe to head to Wenatchee, WA, for my prostate surgery.
On the way to Wenatchee, Lisa and I stopped in Los Angeles for a few days to see my mom, sister, and others. While dining at a restaurant owned by Brian, a school friend of mine from grades K through 12, Brian sat down with us and asked about what we were doing in Minembwe. Talking about our need to make good quality bricks, Brian said he would put us in touch with his niece who works for the chemical company BASF, whose motto is “We create chemistry.” Brian’s niece then hooked us up with a BASF scientist who knew dirt (mining/tunneling), who then pulled in another BASF scientist/chemical engineer into the mix who knows bricks. Four days after my surgery, these guys are on the phone with us providing all sorts of information, guidance, and inspiration, which we immediately relayed back to Miles in Minembwe so he could continue to experiment with the composition of his bricks.
Miles’ first building was his shop, which will store the drying bricks and wood he will need to make their house, his tools, and our motorcycle that has been stored nightly in our living room since December. Once the house is built, the shop will also become a place where Miles can train others.
Inspired by the fact that our “team” is not just limited to those of us here in Minembwe, and that it is far bigger than we can probably imagine—we have a proposal! If anyone reading these blogs has anything to share with us regarding what you see us doing, or what we’re attempting to do, please contact us at LaOlamAfrica@gmail.com. Our new team motto… “He creates chemistry.”
Somehow!
Michael
From Bad to "Worser"
Life in Minembwe recently got crazy very quickly these past few weeks. First, the girls, Bella, Sophia, and Aimee, got sick with high fevers. With very little testing available in Minembwe, the UN allowed them to travel out via the helicopter to Uvira, DRC on September 5, along with Emilee and Lisa. They all ended up just across the border in Bujumbura, Burundi, our normal "go to" spot of resupply. The girls were tested; Aimee had a bacterial infection, and Sophia had a kidney infection. Bella's feeling better, but it was never determined what was ailing her.
Immediately after the ladies and girls left, things went from bad to worse in Minembwe, as the Mai Mai rebels began yet another campaign, as they did in March and May, to try to take over Minembwe. Miles and I kept working hard through this latest conflict on various community projects, the building of Miles’ shop and house, the garden projects at the volunteers’ house, as well as trying to help the community cope with the current crisis. During the week, things went from worse to "worser," and then on Friday, Sept 13, things got extremely tense and the UN peacekeepers requested that Miles and I evacuate to their base. We grabbed our already packed "getaway" backpacks and went to the base, which is 1.3 miles or about five minutes by motorcycle from the volunteer house. Due to the escalating situation, the UN had to fly some personnel into Minembwe the next day, so on Saturday morning they told us that Miles and I were flying out in a couple of hours.
Our family was happy to know that Miles and I would arrive in Bujumbura on Saturday afternoon. But, leaving behind our Minembwe “family” was a horrible feeling; pretty sure that I would not be capable of leaving them in the future should this situation arise again. Told by the Mai Mai they would be slaughtered where they stood and knowing they were without the help of the DRC army, the locals were unexpectedly able to fight off the Mai Mai (killing the Mai Mai leader) that very day. There are a lot of politics and tribal issues in Minembwe and throughout DRC, so depending on what tribe you hail from, you don’t want to wait on the DRC army to help you.
We’re waiting on news regarding the stability of Minembwe. Our partner Lazare went up on Thursday, and Miles is hoping to head back up this coming Monday. If Miles gives us the “thumbs up” the rest of us will follow shortly thereafter.
Rebels Again… and Again… and…
In the late afternoon of Wednesday, June 26, I dragged a bench out to the middle of the path in front of our gate and a couple of friends joined me.
We sat and listened to nearby automatic gunfire, greeted and encouraged fleeing neighbors, and waited to see if the rebels were heading our direction. We were also waiting on Miles and our co-worker Lazare.
A lot of people gathered at our house that afternoon. The people in the photo who are standing are in front of our gate. The people in the foreground are fleeing; most went up the “mountain” in the background. That night we had an extra six people sleeping at our house, two of our staff and their children, as well as a group of six Americans who we were hosting from Tuesday until Thursday. In their own words, Wednesday was pretty frightening for the visiting group even though some had previously traveled to conflict areas, but none had ever experienced anything like this. They said the lack of a vehicle to flee in made a difference, but what especially got to them was seeing frightened people fleeing with their possessions on their heads and backs, and with a ton of kids in tow.
Were we happy in this photo? Not for the situation, but we were happy to be together. Behind us was the direction people were fleeing.
The fighting on Wednesday was miles south of us, but you could clearly hear the booms of the mortar fire. Automatic weapon gunfire began very nearby toward the very end of the day. We later found out that the cause of the gunfire was a drunk soldier who fired his gun, which in turn spooked other soldiers into thinking they were being attacked, so they fired their guns as well. The “gun battle” was intermittent but quite long. We had no idea at that moment, but without knowing I joked that it was a drunk soldier; sadly, soldiers here are frequently drunk. The worst part was the gunfire had separated all of us from Miles and Lazare, who had taken our motorcycle to visit with officials in “The Center.” The Center is our non-town town, kind of a shantytown that has grown up around the local government office and the UN base. Miles and Lazare were getting ready to ride our motorcycle straight into the path of the eventual random gunfire just as it erupted, but Miles was able to instead speed over to the UN base, where they took refuge until the shooting died down. Miles said he could hear bullets whizzing overhead a few times while they were at the base.
Things chilled on Thursday, then ramped up again on Friday in a village west of us. The huge Friday market broke up early as people hurried back to their homes to grab their children and belongings to then flee once again. Friday’s attack was a surprise to the inhabitants of that village; two brothers that work with us had to run home to help evacuate their brothers and sisters after their dad called them. This village is one that Miles and I have visited often as we work there with a teacher who runs an afterschool program for high school students; Miles was going to teach a Basic Electricity course there this summer. The village is five miles away from us, or about a 15-minute motorcycle ride on a really bad path.
Rebels had been attacking different villages every few days, and in-between people would hear rumors of rebel attacks, so there’s been a lot of movement of people fleeing back and forth. The army flew in maybe 15 plane loads of soldiers on Saturday, and more planes came in on Sunday but we’re not sure if those planes had soldiers or just supplies. We met many of the MSF (Médecins Sans Frontieres\Doctors Without Borders) staff that came to help as there have been plenty of shot up rebels, soldiers, as well as locals who have tried to fight off the rebels. If we were to guess, we would think that maybe another 150-200 soldiers arrived on Saturday, which is not so many considering that the bad guys attack each village with double that amount, and a significant amount of soldiers are needed to keep “The Center” and the "airport" secure.
Some background on why things are such a mess here. Beginning with the original outbreak of violence that eventually pushed Miles and family out of the house and onto the UN base back in May, it seems that a commander who was leading the army was actually working with the rebels, giving away supplies and ammunition, as well as vital info such a troop movements. Plus... there was an insider within the UN (most likely an African in a supporting role) that was helping get information to the rebels, and/or keeping information away from the UN. We do not know if anyone is actually in custody. The army commander went to the UN base and asked for sanctuary because he feared for his life once he was discovered as a traitor. This was all discovered around that fateful Wednesday, so this is likely one reason the rebels’ attacks were not more easily repelled. A new commander of the army was put in place as of Wednesday, but he has an uphill battle on his hands in overcoming the advantage given to the rebels due to the help of the traitors. Why did those guys, as well as another I can’t mention, do what they did? It could be politics or tribalism, but most likely money, as none of them make much, nor are they paid with any regularity.
We’re not going anywhere at this moment unless we hear or see that the bad guys are breathing down our necks, but we do have small bags packed and planned escape routes. Emilee says she is much better packed this time around. We feel safe and secure, and we’re surrounded and blessed with many friends here. We are also in good relationship with the local government officials, as well as the leadership of the UN Peacekeeping force, all of whom are sincerely interested in our wellbeing. Communication is sketchy at best, but we will do our best to keep you abreast of this situation, and we’ll try to finally post some of the numerous positive activities that are happening day in and day out here in Minembwe. Many thanks for your continued prayers!
Somehow!
Michael
"Maybe Tomorrow"
“Maybe tomorrow” … we hear this a lot in the DRC.
While Lisa and I (Michael) were in the U.S., various militias went on a weeklong rampage in Minembwe. The Ostranders and others heard about village after village being abandoned, then overrun, and, most of the time, burnt to the ground. Within a few days, the O’s could see the smoke and fires, and they were eventually encouraged to seek shelter at the local UN base that is only 1.5 miles from where we live. The O’s were treated exceptionally well during their time spent at the base.
After eight days of hearing “maybe tomorrow” from the UN, the O’s were finally able to get a helicopter ride from Minembwe down to the UN base in Uvira. From there, the O’s were able to get a ride across the border to Bujumbura, Burundi, where they have been for nearly two weeks.
Even before the O’s left Minembwe, things had started to calm in the area where we live, but those we work with, as well as the U.S. Embassy preferred that the O’s “get out of Dodge” for a while until things became more stable.
Three days later, Lisa and I flew into Goma, and after a 10-hour road trip via the winding roads of Rwanda and Burundi, we arrived in Bujumbura the next day to join forces with the O’s.
Now, all of us are trying to make our way back up to Minembwe. This past Thursday, Miles had the necessary paperwork to get a ride up to Minembwe via the UN helicopter, but he was turned away due to an overbooked (by more than double) flight. I have paperwork to go via the helicopter on Monday, so the latest plan is for me to try to get up to Minembwe and assess the situation, and then give the okay for the rest of our family to come up to Minembwe via a plane this week.
So once again… maybe tomorrow.
Can I go home now?
All is well two weeks after the surgery. The post-operation testing showed that the cancer was only found in the prostate, which was fully removed, and I’m being a good boy through this slooooow healing process. Thanks to all for the love and support that’s been shown to us through this time.
Now that I’ve been able to catch my breath a bit, get ready for a steady stream of updates/posts about our work and life in Minembwe over the past several months, as a lack of Internet connection kept us from getting these out.
From this point forward, our updates, along with a website blog notice, will only be sent from LaOlamAfrica@gmail.com (via Mailchimp), as well as a link from our LaOlamAfrica Facebook page. If you received this email message from ONLY our personal address, northlandproductions@gmail.com, please keep reading. To easily correct this, please go into your Spam folder, find (or search) for a message with "LaOlam Africa Update" and mark "not spam." Adding our LaOlamAfrica@gmail.com email address to your contacts will also help our email not to be sent to Spam. Please email our daughter Demerey at this new address if you have any future troubles receiving our updates.
A Small Course Correction
A Small Course Correction
The LORD’s plan has always been better than ours. He’s proven that to us time and time again over the years so were okay with the news we’re about to share. Back in September, 10 days before we left for Minembwe, we learned there was a small amount of cancer found in my (Michael's) prostate. Since there is no way from Minembwe to monitor the cancer and treat it less radically, we have opted to have my prostate removed.
Lisa and I will return to the States on March 7. I’ve promised my family that I will be on my best behavior during the recovery period, so they are allowing me to return to Minembwe on May 22. We know that you all “have our backs” with regard to prayer; it is, and has always been a huge comfort to us. Miles, Emilee, and the girls will continue to stay in Minembwe while we are gone.
We’ve had tremendous communication problems here in Minembwe since the national election process began at the end of December, so we’ll do our best to soon inundate you with what we’ve been up to since December.
Somehow,
Michael
Safety First
Safety First
Safety: First, but not foremost, we wanted everyone to be aware that life could get a little crazy here in DR Congo with elections coming up on Dec 23. The problem with elections in DRC is that they have historically brought violence. If you follow any international news, you’re going to hear about DRC this week, and maybe for weeks to come. With Kinshasa, the nation’s capital, being on the opposite side of the country (1,000 miles/1,500 km – think Seattle to Los Angeles) from Minembwe, there’s quite a distance between us and most of the current violence.
Some of you might have heard that the U.S. Embassy in Kinshasa was closed six days (Nov 26-Dec 4) due to a credible terrorist threat; U.S. citizens have been asked to keep a low profile. Ha… kind of hard for us to go “low-pro” in Minembwe. If we hear that things are going to get dicey here in Minembwe, we have a couple of plans in place to stay safe.
Where’s the Corn?: Foremost, but not first because you won’t see/hear this in the news, our region is facing a significant food shortage right now, which means that prices on everyone’s basic food staples, corn meal and beans, have skyrocketed. The crops were poor due to weather, and many people needing funds desperately sold a good portion of their bean supply a while ago trying to capitalize on what they thought were high prices. Now the prices have climbed higher and many can’t afford to buy more beans; we will join the university in educating the public to not fall prey to this again. This year, the corn meal and bean issue has been exasperated by the fact that we have a huge refugee population that relocated to our area this summer due to fighting in the outlying regions of Minembwe.
“Our” problem is that the orphanage has a gas-powered grinder that the boys use to grind the corn of others. Those who use this service then leave a portion of the corn meal with the orphans as payment for the grinding, which, along with beans, makes up the orphans’ diet. With the poor crops of corn comes a lack of customers for the orphanage’s corn-grinding business, which means no corn meal for the kids.
From the moment we arrived in September, we’ve been harvesting everything we already had in our fields to feed these kids, as well as to help fortify the school lunches for the children (250) at the school we work with. We’ve also been hard at work planting various crops in all of our fields with the hope that we’ll soon have more food to share. One of our goals here is to help to diversify and improve the diet of the orphans, as well as all who live in this area.
Some have sent funds to specifically help feed and care for the orphans; we have used those funds to buy enough beans and corn meal for this month and into the next. What a blessing to have a big international ‘family’ to help care for these precious children.
Ndayishimiye: We appreciate all of the prayer and concern that’s been shown for the now four-month old Ndayishimiye. We have had people offer to help with Ndayishimiye’s need for baby formula, as well as to help pay for the wages of an additional “mama” to care for him. God is good!
Big sister Furaha designed a pair of glasses for Ndayishimiye
After months of time spent in and out of the local hospital, Ndayishimiye is in much better health these days, and he seems to no longer have any issues with his left shoulder. Ndayishimiye’s new brothers and sisters adore him; he’s always in the arms or lap of one of his 25 brothers and sisters.
Visas for the Ostranders!: A few days ago, the Ostranders received their three-year visas. There was concern that with the election chaos, that the request would get shuffled into oblivion. Lisa and I received our three-year visas last February, so now we all can confidently carry out the work that we have planned, knowing that we have time to dig in and serve these people that we have come to love.
Seven Bucks
Seven Bucks
What’s the cost of a smile? In this case, seven bucks. In a previous update, I wrote about Nsenga.
Remember Nsenga (on the right), the kid with a terrific smile…
… but who had to lay his head on his notebook to see anything that’s written?
I wrote about wondering how to help Nsenga being that there’s no ophthalmologists or optometrists within days and days of travel via foot.
The only solution I could come up with was to bring him a magnifying glass—seven bucks. This is Nsenga’s teacher Jackson showing him how to use it.
Until we’re able to figure out how to get a vision team up to Minembwe, Nsenga will have to make do with the magnifying glass. FYI—last year, even without a magnifying glass, Nsenga’s marks were high enough to move on up to the next grade level. Nsenga is a can-do kind of a guy.
Walking
Walking
In Minembwe we walk; there are two vehicles I know of owned by someone other than the UN, and one of those is an ambulance. Walking is wonderful because you can’t but help getting to know the people that you meet along the way. Being that we stick out like a proverbial sore thumb, people want to spend time with us, even if it’s just 30 seconds spent greeting one another. I’m pretty sure there will be plenty of future “Walking” photos.
I haven't borrowed my neighbor’s coffee bean grinder yet; I probably can't lift the pestle.
After we visit the orphans at their home, they always walk us part-way home.
Not sure if I would still do this as Sophia is no longer wearing disposable diapers.
Chatting with our neighbors, who cut and carry wood for income. I always try to keep the conversation short when I’m chatting with women who have heavy loads on their heads.
Bella: “Grandma, why don't they just put the wood in their car.”
Lisa: Bella, do you see any cars in Minembwe?
The beginning of a long walk to meet the base commander of the local UN peacekeeping force.
Making friends along the way.
The visits with the UN commanders are always fun and informational for both sides.
Heading back home; somehow we always draw a crowd.
Urgent Need & Prayer Request: Ndyeshimiye
Urgent Need and Prayer Request for Ndyeshimiye
An immediate need arose the moment we arrived in Minembwe. Ndyeshimiye (N-de-shim-e-yea), who at four months old is the youngest of the orphans, needs a lot of help.
In September, Ndyeshimiye became completely lethargic, so we sent him to the hospital. Ndyeshimiye was severely anemic and had to have a blood transfusion. We then found out that up to this point, he had been fed tea and occasionally some cow's milk when they could get it.
Emilee started supplying some breast milk for Ndyeshimiye, but it wasn't nearly enough. We were able to have some baby formula sent up by our co-workers via the weekly UN helicopter. We also hired another full-time "mama" to care specifically for Ndyeshimiye at the orphans' home.
Ndyeshimiye is doing much better now (more pictures below) that he's getting a healthy amount of formula, plus some of Emilee's milk, but he's going to need to be on formula for a long time. We’ve been making up the formula each day, and one of the other children comes to our house and picks it up three times a day. The kids house needs a water filter before they can begin to make the formula themselves. We have filters, but we are waiting for buckets to be transported up here.
Ways to help:
- Giving via LaOlam, designated for baby formula, or the new mama's wages. You can give online or mail a check to LaOlam, 11180 North Rd, Leavenworth, WA 98826
- Prayer for another mama to help supplement breastmilk, along with Emilee.
- Prayer for wisdom regarding Ndyeshimiye's long term care.
- Ndyeshimiye had some trauma to his left shoulder from birth and he can’t move it; it seems to be painful if jarred. Prayer for wisdom on how to handle this situation as well.
Thank you!
