Lotoba

I spent August and September back in Goma, DRCongo setting up the Lotoba production facility with the help of Glenn Bean, Marian Roan, and input from countless friends at HEAL Africa. As a reminder Lotoba is Global Strategies for HIV Prevention's name for the Ready to Use Therapeutic Food (RUTF) that we are producing for meeting the nutritional needs of malnourished children in the North Kivu region of Congo. RUTF is a revolutionary idea for treating severely malnourished children.
There are many benefits to RUTF. It is easy for the children to consume, has all the protein, calories, vitamins and minerals that they need to become healthy children, and this in turn gives them a better chance of not only survival but also of becoming successful members of their communities as they get older. The majority of brain development occurs before the age of 3 and physical development is directly related to the nutrition children have access to before the age of 5. A child who is malnourished in these first few years of life will be at a permanent physical and mental disadvantage for the rest of their lives.
There is also a huge benefit to children with HIV. Children who have HIV can forgo the need to start Antiretroviral(ARV) drugs if they are properly nourished. ARV's are required when CD4 counts (a measure of certain white blood cells) reach a dangerously low level. And once on ARV's the child will likely require them for the rest of their lives to remain healthy. ARV's are not cheep.

Our Lotoba project will start out by feeding the HIV positive children who are being treated at the HIV clinic at HEAL Africa in Goma. Then we hope to increase production capacity to meet the needs of the other aid organizations in the region who are using RUTF's purchased elsewhere for their nutrition projects. This will be the step that allows the project to be susstainable without the continued input of raised funds from the US and elsewhere.

The pictures above show the transformation of the facility we are using between August and the end of September. I left at the beginning of October and the facility is fully functional. There is a manager and 2 full time workers, both from a local widows organization who use their wages to care for their children and provide them with educational opportunities.

The pictures below show the process of measuring and weighing the child to determine if they are malnourished. The mid-upper arm circumfrance (MUAC) measurement is the most telling. A severely acute malnourished child (ie on the verge of starvation) will have a MUAC that is just about than of a broom handle. The other measurements are height and weight.





Parents (almost always Mothers) are then given a weeks worth of Lotoba to take home where they can feed their child while still taking care of her other children. This is another huge benefit of RUTF products like Lotoba. If the child had to remain at the hospital, so would the mother. There would be a cost to keep the child at the hospital, which is likely prohibitive since the mom has to stay at the hospital with the child, and the rest of the children in the family would likely be at home under the care of the oldest child, sometimes an 8 year old taking care of 2 or 3 younger siblings for who knows how many days or oven weeks.

We are very excited about the progress of this project. I thank all those who have taken part in Hope Walks events and donated funding. Anyone interested in donating can go to Global Strategies website or mail them a check and indicate that the donation is for the Lotoba Project.

140.6 miles - 12h 53m 54s

Those are the statistics, but they don't tell the full story. Sunday was an experience that adjectives don't do justice. I talked to my family after the race and I told my sister that when I crossed the finish line I couldn't contain the emotion that spilled out in the form of tears. She asked what I was thinking at that moment and I honestly couldn't remember. There was no single thought, but rather an overwhelming sensation that goes hand in hand with an accomplishment like this. I would never be able to do that feeling justice by trying to describe it. I believe that part of it was also due to the knowledge of all of you who had wished me luck over the past couple of weeks. Whenever I heard a spectator cheer for their loved one "You can do this.. We love you!" I couldn't help but get choked up. It was completely reactionary and involved no analysis or deeper thought. Just like your legs involuntary reaction to a doctors gentle tap on the knee, certain comments throughout the day (especially on the run) would just get to me.

I had the chance to meet up with Rich, from Race4Kids, Saturday night and got some good race day advice from him. His daughter Elizabeth and son stayed home in Toronto with the grandparents and Rich was here this year as just a spectator. We talked for a bit about what I was doing in Africa and how Elizabeth is doing. She is getting a device removed in 4 weeks that has been used to give her medication during her Leukemia treatment. Rich and his wife said that although this is great for Elizabeth, it is actually a little hard for them. For the past year and a half they have been actively treating and fighting this disease. But now, they just have to wait and see. If she makes it 4 years without relapse she should be in the clear, but until then they just have to hope and pray that she will be fine. It was great to have this opportunity to get to know someone that I had only exchanged a few e-mails with over the last couple of months, but who's team I was/am a part of.

Race day:
Sunday started out with the alarm clock set at 4am. Breakfast, dressed (with my Race4Kids race top), transition and special needs bags packed, and then into town by 5:15. First thing was to drop off special needs bags, which are given to us halfway through the bike and run. I just had 1 water bottle with CarboPro1200 in my bike special needs bag and nothing in my run special needs bag. As I dropped them off I thought maybe I was missing something as I passed bag after bag that looked like it was full of stuff! As it turned out, I didn't need anything more than that extra bottle and what the race course provided. Next was last minute checks of my bike and then the wetsuit. Dressed for the swim we all started migrating to the lake. It was about 200 meters from the transition are to the lake and we got to see what we would be running back over after exiting the swim. I put my cap and goggles on, said a quick prayer (which would not be the last...) and wished Raf good luck. We had talked about trying to start in the same place but then realized that once we started warming up it would be impossible to find one another. Into the water I dove, to warm up for a loooong day.

Swim:
2,300+ people started the swim at the same time. Generally I hear stories of these mass starts looking and feeling like a feeding frenzy in shark infested waters, so I was a bit nervous. The last thing I wanted to do was start my day with an elbow to the forehead or someone dragging my backwards by the ankle like so many horror stories I had heard. Surprisingly the swim went brilliantly for me. I ended up in some sort of bubble between the mass of people trying to swim with a view of the underwater cable marking the course, and the mass of people trying to stay away from that mass. Aside from a few legs I had to swim over and a few people grabbing at my feet, my first lap was surprisingly smooth. The theme for me during this race was "I've never gone this far before..." I had a bit more contact on my second lap but nothing to concerning. As I rounded the buy that marked 3000m finished and just 1000 to go, I thought to myself for the first time...."I've never swam this far before". But I felt good and just focused on staying relaxed and in good form.

Out of the water with an official time of 1:12:06 and in 1000 place over all. I was very happy with my swim as i was expecting 1:15 - 1:20.

Bike:
Halfway through the swim, it started raining. By the time I was heading for my bike I was thinking that it may be a good idea to keep the wetsuit on to stay dry... It was pouring! The transition tent had mud puddles everywhere. The guy helping me with transition helped me get my socks and shoes on reminded me put on my helmet, and then wished me luck as I headed out to get my bike. I had a fleeting thought to put on my windbreaker but decided against it because if the rain let up and the sun came out I knew it would be way to hot. Well, the rain never let up.
It was raining hard enough that I didn't see any of the beautiful scenery that usually graces this course. For me, the rain was actually a blessing because I tend to overheat during races and the constant rain kept me cool. I had decided to take it easy on the bike. I knew that i had a long day ahead. Everyone was passing me. All ages, shapes, and sizes! halfway through the first lap I saw Louise pass me (our names are on our race numbers so fans can cheer for us) and I looked at her left calf, knowing that would be where her age was marked, and saw "65". I had to smile. I got passed by 65 year old Louise, and yet I knew that I had to let her go because otherwise I would have nothing left on the run. My bike was like that. I was passed by everyone! And it showed. After the swim I was 1000 overall. On the bike my time compared to everyone else was 1641. Only roughly 600 athletes had slower bike times than I did. But I stuck to my game plan. I had budgeted 7 hours for the bike. The last 10-15 miles was all uphill. Not extremely steep. But on the second lap, over 100 miles in, those last 10 miles of hills felt much steeper. There were some good motivational signs posted on the bike course along this last climb. My favorite being a quote from Winston Churchill "If you're going through hell, keep on moving". Amen to that! After the 45 mile mark I thought "this is the first time I've ridden this far in 3.5 months. After 92 miles I thought "this is the farthest I've ever biked", and at 100 miles into the bike I had done my first century ride ever. I was slow, but I was still moving!

Off the bike with an official time of 7:06:29 (65 year old Louise finished her bike in 6:36!!)

Run:
By this time I had been on the go for nearly 8.5 hours. I knew that if I could pull off a 4-4h30 marathon I would break my 13hr goal. I wasn't sure how my legs would respond after the bike, and I was pleasantly surprised as I started running and found myself at a pace that was actually running, rather than shuffling. I didn't wear a watch, so I had no idea how fast I was running, but I decided to just go with what felt good. Mark Allen, one of the best Ironman athletes, once said "the pain isn't that much greater if you run a little faster, but it's over sooner". Between that and Churchill I had some good lines going through my head. 26.2 miles... I decided to break it down by aid stations. I would run from station to station, approximately every mile, and then walk through the aid station getting coke, water, and Gatorade at first. I was feeling "fresh" through mile 3 still but felt like I was putting to much in my belly. It was all sloshing around each time I got out of the aid station area and started running again. So, I started having just half cups of water and coke. At about mile 4 I passed my friend Raf heading the opposite direction, which meant he was about 6 miles ahead of me. Which was about right since he was planning to finish the bike in 6 hours.

By mile 10 I decided to give the chicken broth they were offering a try. That stuff was a miracle for me! It calmed my stomach down and I felt great. From then on, I took chicken broth at every 3rd aid station. The rain was still dumping, which I liked. it wasn't all that cold, just soaking wet and kept me cool. Miles 5-13 I started telling myself "ok, just 13 miles to get back to this point" I tried to stay in high spirits by talking a bit with other athletes, and joking with volunteers. At the turn around point on the second lap, 18+ miles in, I told the volunteers "don't take this personally, but I'm really glad I won't see you again today!" By mile 21 I didn't want to get over confident, but I pretty much knew I was going to finish. It was an awesome feeling. Just a 10k to go I thought. Than with 3 miles left, just a 5k to go. I skipped the last aid station and ran strong through the last 2 miles. As I came down the hill and through the entrance to the oval and around to the finish line I was high fiveing everyone and pumping my fists in the air. I felt like I had all the energy in the world! It was an awesome feeling with everyone cheering and knowing that I was actually finishing, and finishing strongly. I crossed the finish line, was covered by a space blanket and guided through the finisher process, switching between a huge smile and uncontrollable tears. Unreal! "This is my first Ironman!"

Official Run time 4:21:14 (9:59 minute per mile average)

Official finish time: 12h 53m 54s

The volunteers along the course were great. They and tons of other friends and family, as well as general spectators from the local communities,stuck it out in the rain for 17 hours! And I couldn't have done this without all of your prayers and e-mails of support wishing me luck. I kept thinking about all of you who have supported me in so many ways and who contributed to Race4Kids, and I thought about how long all the volunteers and spectators had stood outside cheering on thousands of athletes that they don't know, feeding us, and encouraging us. I had to finish for all of you and it is because of all of you that I was able to finish. Thank you!

-Timo (Ironman) Acosta ;)

Update - Lake Placid - 40 hrs and counting!

Today is my second full day in Lake Placid. The excitement of the Lake Placid Ironman is in full force and has penetrated the entire community! The roads are full of cyclists and runners checking out the course and making last minute adjustments. Local restaurants have special meal choices, their staff sporting ironman hats and shirts, and local residents have banners hanging in their front yard. We definitely feel welcomed.

I'm here with my friend Rafael who is also doing the ironman on Sunday. We flew in from SFO late Wednesday night and have spent the last day and a half getting registered and familiar with the course. Yesterday we registered, tuned up our bikes and went for a 40 mile ride to check out part of the course. We first drove the course and noticed that there are a LOT of hills. This is arguably the most difficult Ironman in North America. Our ride took us over what some consider to be one of the toughest sections of the course, and it was surprisingly easy.... But we were also very fresh. We hit these same hills at around 45 miles and 100 miles into the course on sunday and I think these hills will feel like mountains. The run course is also pretty hilly, but then again I think even a drive way would feel like a wall by mile 20.

It has rained of and on today with a bit of thunder and lighting. Hopefully the moisture will be squeezed out before the race and we won't have to worry about the weather come race day. Tonight will be the mandatory athletes meeting and banquet, where we get to hear all the official rules and size up our competition while plowing down all-you-can-eat pasta, salad, and liquids!

Tomorrow I'll get to meet Rich, who has provided some training tips for me and is also the founder of Race4Kids. It is Rich's daughter who's picture is on the Race4Kids website. He sent a copy of his race strategy to all of us who will be part of the Race4Kids team (with Orange race jersey and all!) and his motivation through points in the run, when it really gets tough, is to think about how much his daughter has had to endure during her treatment over the past year. I can't wait to meet them and the others who have joined the team.

Thanks to all of you have have sent in donations over the past week and a half. There have been dozens of donations pouring in! Tomorrow will be a short swim, drop our bikes off, and rest.... 7am EST Sunday will be here before I know it. I'm very excited, and a bit nervous, just thinking about it.

Cheers,
Timo

HEAL Africa 3 - the other guys 1!!!

Yesterday I was invited to play Futbal with the HEAL Africa staff at the main stadium in Goma. I've been wanting to enter the stadium since I arrived to watch a match and as it turns out my first visit was as a player.

What I thought would be a pick-up game of sorts ended up being quite serious. We had uniforms, refs, and fans! As is typical here I was told the match started at 15h and was worried when I was 5 minutes late, only to find out I was the first one there and the match didn't actually start to about 4:15. I was initially on the bench but before the match started I noticed there weren't enough players on our side, so I stood patiently by the side lines. When they looked over for another player I was right there and got to start the game. And I never left the field. They placed me at left back which suited me fine since it's a position I had played growing up.

Our team was surprisingly strong right from the opening whistle. The majority of the first half was played on the opponents side of the pitch with several shots just over the cross bars. Than with about 15 left in the first half we put one in the net... and the celebration was amazing. Kids came running on to the field doing cartwheels and our fans where jumping up and down in wild excitement. I felt like I played ok for having running shoes on a dirt pitch. I was sliding around a bit, but for the most part contained my side. I think mostly because I'm a mzungu, everyone was making a huge deal and high fives all around for my play on the field. I guess when the expectations are low, it doesn't take much to impress... ;

Second half we put in two more, with one coming off my cross from the left side, about 10 yard in from midfield. The ball just cleared the defended and the keeper was already too far out, so our forward redirected the ball with a header right over the keepers out stretched hand as he dove backward toward the goal.

The put one in on us through the middle of the field towards the end, but when the final whistle blew you would have though we won the world cup. The cheering and singing (oleee, ole, ole, oleeee....) was great. And as everyone piled into the hospital vehicles to head back to the hospital the sirens were blaring and horns honking as they plowed through the middle of the dirt pitch.... I now have been dubbed Zidane for our team, mostly because we have the same skin tone... ;) What an incredible experience. Unfortunately no pictures, but trust me, even if you don't enjoy futbal/soccer, you would have had fun witnessing this match and being a part of the fans on the sidelines.

Malawi and Goma in April (Nutrition project)

Although we broke down (overheating) on the way to the airport and ultimately missed our flight, God was faithful through this experience. We broke down across the street from a small spring locals were using for washing and drinking water. Than the airline changed our flights for free with absolutely no hassle! It was great.















We found the man who manufactures the peanut butter we eat at Majimatulivu, the house I'm staying at. And this is the finished product before being put in the recycled mayo jars. I'm pretty sure there would be at least a few health code violations if this was back in the states......





The "Lab", better known as the kitchen at Maji.











The final product that Glenn and I prepared is in the middle and left jar. The Malawi made product is in the small jar on the right.

Snapshots from Malawi and Goma in April

In April Glenn Bean and I traveled to Malawi to do some research on the RUTF nutrition product being made their as part of Mark Manery's "Project Peanut Butter". Then we came back to Goma to see what we could accomplish in a weeks time with the knowledge we gained from Malawi. It was a great trip with lots of fun adventures, including canceled flights, missed flights, broken down cars, playing frisbee with 3 year olds, passing giraffes on the way to the Nairobi airport, and of course making a sample "plumpynut" product in our own kitchen at Maji in Goma. Unfortunately I can only upload two pictures at the moment, but when I can figure out how to get more up I will. Enjoy.

RUTF Nutrition project

We have a name! ..or at least one that is being used for the moment Since PlumpyNut is trademarked, I have been using RUTF in reference to our project recently. But now we have a swahili name - Mateka Kalanga. It means peanut butter. Pretty simple, but I like the sound of it. (pronounced just how it is spelled)

I felt a little stagnate with this project for a week or so a while back as I focused on the clinic and got involved with some of the other hospital programs. But the last week and a half have been quite productive. I finally found a hand powered peanut grinder and put it to the test successfully.... I'm not sure if I'll ever pay for peanut butter again now that I can make it myself....... Don't hold me to that.

I also had a productive meeting with the head nutritionist with UNICEF. Turns out that they are making a push to start using Nutriset's PlumpyNut extensively in the DR Congo pending a successful pilot project starting this month. I was given 5 criteria that we need to meet in order to have UNICEF consider purchasing our Mateka Kalanga instead of the PlumpyNut from France. We have a potential market outside of the malnourished children in HEAL Africa's programs, which is great. This was really a key to whether this project would be able to become self sustaining and thus worth pursuing. After an earlier meeting with WFP (World Food Program) I was a bit discouraged because the program director I meet with was less than enthusiastic about the idea of local production.

I also have had some exciting news come in the way of Russ McCahan, from Fort Collins, CO. Russ has felt a calling to feed the hungry in Africa and has been passionately and selflessly pursing this calling. Global Strategies(G.S.) and myself have benefited from his project and experience in Nigeria and now we are benefiting again as he has found 2 peanut grinders and 2 industrial 20qt mixers, as well as various other kitchen related goods difficult to find here in Goma, that he will be sending to G.S. shortly to then be sent here. So we may have equipment here and the illusive vitamin powder that is impossible to find here locally to actually start making real Mateka Kalanga before I head back to the US in July.

This has been another learning experience for me. How to start a food processing project in a country that does not have a food processing industry! Sure, there is honey, every kind of fruit you can think of, fish, and various kinds of meat available locally, but none of those things are processed. The only Congolese made processed food products that I'm aware of are cheese, and a couple different types of beer. Everything else is imported. The biggest challenge this presents is approvals. We need to meet a certain quality standard, but there is no standard in this country to meet. So, we will use international standards of quality assurance for now. I'm still working on getting a meeting lined up with government officials who may have the power to shut down such a program as ours in order to find out what hoops we may have to jump through before we start the production. Lot's of learning!

That's the latest in the land of Peanut Butter.... or Mateka Kalanga as we like to call it here... ;)

Timo and the Volcano

The volcano was officially reopened about 3 weeks ago. A group of 5 of us decided to give it a go and headed up a week after it was opened. This hike felt like Africa. The Africa that most people in the states picture. Not the one with wide open plains and safaris (that's Kenya and Tanzania) but the rainforest Africa.


We had two armed guards with us and 2 porters to help carry our things, and headed up shortly after 1pm. It was hot at the bottom, rained on us half way up, and was windy and freezing cold at the top! The first quarter of the hike was along a thin trail through the densely forested base of the volcano.

The trail went straight up the volcano, with almost no switchbacks. I marveled at the views when the clouds finally broke. We could see Goma and Lake Kivu far below. And like most cities seen from afar there appeared to be a semblance of order that one finds difficult to encounter when actually walking the streets of the city.

When we got to the top, we were warmly greeted to the sights and sounds of the lava boiling up in the center of the volcano! It was like something out of The Lord of The Rings. I kept looking behind me, sensing some sort of Golem lurking in the shadows....



We spent the night on the rim at the top of the volcano, falling asleep to the sounds of molten magma gurgling and moving like the ocean.. It was amazing. I couldn't help by think of the power of God as I pondered this molten magma coming from deep within the earth and just waiting for its chance to be released.

Church..... more than just a building

I went to Pastor Samuel's church this morning, as he invited me to give the sermon. It was such a blessing for me to be a part of the worship service at his church. The small wooden building was located about 50 meters from the runway of the Goma International Airport (which may be giving to much credit to this airport....), and is quite modest. Yet the praise and prayer of the people in it made me feel like this was exactly the type of church Jesus would have wanted to visit if he were here in Goma right now. It's not a church that defines itself by the comfort of it's pews or the quality of it's sound system (which they had but worked only a quarter of the time) but a church defined by the quality of the praise and worship of its members. We sang and prayed for about an hour and a half before the first pastor rose and gave his sermon. During the singing the kids were dancing in the aisles while their parents clapped along with the beat, or made their own beat, and all sang their hearts out. It felt like no one wanted to stop singing, like they could just keep giving praise all day long! It was very energizing. I can't say that I've been to many 3 hour long services where I come out feeling energized, but I can say that about today's service. I was a guest in their church, within the walls of that building, but we were all there as a part of the global family of Christians, giving praise to a God who does not sleep and is eternally faithful.

I didn't really want to speak when it came to my time, because I knew I wouldn't be exuding the same type of evangelical fervor that the first pastor and the rest of the worship had been filled with, but I had a message of love and servant hood, of forgiveness and responsibility that God had given me to share and so I did. It's kind of odd to use a translator because I'm never sure if my words are being translated properly, but then again there is a freedom in hoping that God is letting the translator hear the true message He wants his people to hear. In that case it is more God's message than my own that makes it to the ears of those in the room, and I know that is a good think!

Sunday Morning Runs

During my training for the Lake Placid Ironman July 20th, I've covered a significant portion of Goma on foot. Sunday's especially, as I run a 10 mile out and back that takes me to the border crossing to Rwanda.
I leave at 6am usually and as I head out I inevitably find myself running past small groups and individuals going the opposite direction. I haven't yet figured out where they originate, but it seems that the majority of folks I see, and there are quite a few Sunday mornings, are heading in the opposite direction. They often acknowledge me and each other with a thumbs up and "courage", giving encouragement. I've now started doing the same when I see my fellow runners throughout the week. I do get the occasional person running in the same direction and have a hard time not trying to pass them. When this happens they will always pick up the pace and run with me, at least for a while. (one weekday morning I wound up with a 12 year old school girl, in sandals, school uniform, and book bag on her back running alongside of me for about a quarter mile until her turnoff to school. Each time I looked over she was there looking back with a big proud smile, and when she turned off she bid me farewell with a wave and huge grin) It was a precious moment. That has never happened to me in the states.
The contrast between the local runners and myself is comical. Me with my running shoes, special inserts, matching top and bottom running outfit, running hat with extra breathability, and my ipod nano in hand with Nike+ accessory to monitor my milage, time, pace, and calories burned. They often are running in not much more than sandals, and even in sandals sometimes, with running clothes that consist of anything from sweat suites to kaki dress pants and button down shirts.
I don't necessarily feel guilty because of what I have, but I do realize why so many here assume the "mzungu's" are rich and have money flowing from their ears. Just look at the way the dress just to go for a run......

These sunday runs have made me feel just a little closer to the community here in Goma, even if I do stand out with my running accessaries. Instead of honking at them as I pass in my NGO Land Rover, I'm one of them, running over the same lava rocks, dodging the same puddles, breathing in the same fumes of passing vehicles, and giving encouragement to my fellow runners........

What in the World is Timo doing....

This is a question that I've been asked quite a bit. Before leaving, during my trip to Goma, and even while I've been here. So, I thought I would give a list of the things that I've started working on during my 3 weeks here and which I will plan to expand on when I return in April.

New Clinic:
There is a new clinic that is being built at the Hospital and I've started discussing the project with the construction forman here in Goma, the architect in Sacramento, and Dick Anderson one of the directors on the US side of HEAL Africa. I'll be doing the interface between the architect in Sacramento and the people doing the work here, as well as working with the forman when trouble shooting is needed and with the actual location and construction of the clinic. Plans should be here by the 3rd of March and by the time I get back in April I think the preparation for the foundation should be completed.

Waste disposal:
Right now the hospital has a small incinerator that they use to burn all of the waste that comes out of the hospital. This includes needles, rubber gloves, bandages, biological waste, etc. You name it, coming out of the hospital, and they are burning it. This is obviously not the best practice for a hospital, although it is common practice in nearly all hospitals here from what I understand. So, I've got 2 projects that I'd like to tackle. One is designing a waste disposal program for the various medical departments at the hospital with separate containers for different classes of waste and implementation/training of the doctors, nurses, and lab technicians working in the hospital.
The second project is a redesign of the incinerator. It's basically a small open air fire place that's sitting in the far corner of the property. I'm taking a wild guess and saying that they smoke coming out of the 10' tall smoke stack is pretty toxic, and if the wind is blowing the wrong way it heads straight at the technical services buildings and towards the ward where women recovering from VVF surgery are staying. (although the smoke is pretty thinned out by that point)

Water Supply:
It's a novel idea to have a reliable supply of running water at a hospital.... Unfortunately they don't here. There are a couple of water tanks that are supposed to be a back up for when the city water stops working, which happens from time to time and can last a week or more, but I'm not convinced that they are filling up, or that they can really be helpful during a prolong water shortage because of the small pipe size leading to and from the tank. So, there are a couple of ideas I'm working on for fixing this situation. The first of which is to design a way to measure how much water is in the tank, which would be a good thing to know for starters. This will be a longer term project because ultimately we need to design a system of water storage and distribution that could supply the hospital for up to a week if the city water supply cuts out.

Nutrition project:
Global Strategies is planning to start a small manufacturing process for a generic version of "Plumpy Nut" which is basically a fortified peanut butter. The "Plumpy Nut" will be distributed to malnurished children who have HIV and are on ARV treatment. It will also be sold to local NGO's to make the program self sustainable. At this point we have been visiting local vendors to find out where and how we can get the ingredients and equipment and how much it will cost, as well as where it will be located. The people doing the work will be caretakers of Orphans here in Goma so we're not just providing much needed food to kids, but also much needed jobs and income for these caretakers.

English Lessons:
We are starting english conversation classes twice a week for several of the doctors and hope to expand it to include any of the staff who are interested in improving their english. For the two doctors that we are focusing on at first it is critical for them to improve their english as they are slated to attend a training course in Israel.
There is also a translator at the hospital who teaches ESL to some of the students from a local university and I've started helping him with those classes once a week. While I'm back in the US during March I will be getting some better reference materials for both of these classes.

So, those are the things that are keeping me busy at the moment and will be my focus when I return for 3 months from April to July. "Now you know...... and knowing is half the battle..."

(sorry- no pictures at this point because my internet connection is way to slow. I'll try to update with photo's when I get back to the states.)

The lost Key

This is a quick story of how I greatly underestimate the goodness of people at times. I'm in Kigali Rwanda, and for some reason I just can't help but think that everyone is out to get the Muzungu (white person, as they call us). Not outwardly, but inwardly I admit that I was having a hard time completely trusting the bus drivers and taxi cabs especially. So, when we got back to the hotel and I realized my key had fallen out of my pocket at some point. I thought that it was lost for sure. Who is going to return a key. Anyone who finds it is going to just keep it and use it for something.... what, I don't really know, but that's how I was thinking. When I returned to the bus station the next day (think 15 passenger vans leaving from a mechanics shop - not greyhound bus terminal), I thought I was grasping for straws. But they said to come back after noon and they would let us know. So 4pm we stopped by the bus station and much to my surprise the lady behind the counter, who has 10 people talking to her at once and waving money for bus tickets in front of her face, looks up with a smile. She reaches under the desk and pulls out not only the key, but also a dinner receipt that had fallen out of my pocket with the key.... When will I learn my lesson and have more faith!

Gikongora Memorial

Second day in Rwanda was a bus ride to Gikongora. On the way there, I asked the guy next to me where to worst of the genocide in Rwanda took place. He looked at me with an awkward smile and said "where you are going was the worst.." It was silence for a while after that and then he told me he would point out the place where his uncle, aunt, and cousin once lived. They had been killed and the house burned to the ground. A lot more silence. I really didn't know what to say, and I could tell that this had brought up some painful memories, as he told me that he lives only with his sister now. I did not need to ask what happened to his parents. We finally arrived in Gikongora and took bike cabbies down the hill to the memorial. The lady at the front of the memorial building lead us around the back, which I thought was strange because only old school buildings stood out back, while the memorial building looked very new and attractive and I was sure it had what I really wanted to see. Especially since there was a clear language barrier between us and the tour lady. I later learned that the school buildings are the memorial and the nice new building has never been finished. So it is empty. Out guide, the only person on the entire site, started unlocking rooms of the school buildings, and left the doors open for us. As I walked in the first room, I was caught off guard at the sight of about 30 bodies lying on wooden tables.

I'm not sure if the bodies are real...although I've been told they are and they sure smelled and looked it! Room after room, 25 in all are filled with these memories of the genocide. On the school grounds that we were at, several mass graves had been found. 50,000 people in total had been killed in this town... It was very moving. As we left, a man with a large indentation in his forehead escorted us out and in broken french and english discussion he told us that he was one of 4 survivors of this area and that the indentation was from a bullet wound. He had been left to die. He smelled of alcohol and softly begged for food as we left. He may be an alcoholic, but I can't even imagine the horrible memories that must still haunt him, and the pain he may be trying to numb....

Rwandan Development....

I was in Kigali before but didn't stay down town. This time, however, we stayed in a downtown hotel. Rwanda seems to be developing a lot and either benefiting from, or catering to, the money coming in from the Western world. It is likely both. Much of this money is what some call guilt money. Aide that has been sent into Rwanda for the past 10-years because of the guilt of failing to act during the Rwanda Genocide in 1994.

A couple of high-rise construction projects and newly finished developments are the biggest signs of this increased economic development in Kigali's "business district" which seemed to be about 4 blocks around. They still need to make some improvements thought. When trying to use the ATM, the machine would choke, as if it was cutting my card in to shreds, and then spit my card back out, fortunately still in one piece. But with no money. So, I went into a bank and asked them about the ATM machines. "Oh, they don't work....". me-"where can I find one that works?" "none of the ATM's in Rwanda work" All of Rwanda!? I had heard of local machines not working for some reason, but the entire ATM network in a country not working... Wow. (I later found out that they do work for local cards, but have not been set up yet for international transactions)

Quick Kigali Day 1 summary: After arriving early in the morning from Kampala, I was beat. I was afraid that Ashley would want to tackle the day in Kigali since she got a bit more sleep than I had on the bus ride, but was relieved when nap was on the top of her list as well. So, first day in Kigali started with a long nap, which was rudely interrupted by some pretty big swaying from an earthquake that we later heard had struck the Bukavu area on the south side of Lake Kivu along the border of DRC and Rwanda. No structural problems in Kigali however. Then we were both itching for some different food, which after two weeks in Uganda for me and 1 month for her, meant Italian food! Found a great place with PIzza!

Kampala

After leaving Jinja, we said our goodbye's to the Uganda team on the corner of one of the busiest streets in Kampala, which has traffic that would make New York City feel like a stroll through the countryside. Ashley Johnson, a student at Whitworth University, was part of our Uganda team and is studying genocide. Since there really is no better way to learn about it than in the field, she decided to join me to Kigali to see the Genocide Memorial there. Which was great because traveling solo is never quite as much fun.
Kampala, I found, is an extremely busy city. It is how I imagine some of the cities in India and Asia to be, with no traffic lights and what seems to be complete chaos everywhere. However, once you get used to it, it's not to hard to learn how to walk into traffic, stop as a van and moto pass on both sides with about 6 inches to spare, and then calmly continue across the street repeating the process as needed until reaching the other side. The picture is of the taxi park in the center of town and is not far from what the traffic in the streets looks like during rush hour.
Besides serviving the city streets, we also checked out the newly built Mosque, which is the second biggest in Africa and was paid for by the president of Liberia. It is a beautiful building and got a tour of the entire grounds, inside and out. I would say that the Mosque was one of the neat things to see in Kampala, but if I ever go back it will probably only as a stopping point on my way to somewhere else.

If you're ever in Kampala though and looking for a cheap place to stay, the Hotel Fiancee had warm water and good security (an armed guard at the front door). It was about $15/night and not far from a cool little outdoor eating area. Think strip mall, lined with restaurants, and everyone sitting out in the parking lot on plastic chairs and small plastic tables, with waiters giving the options of ordering from any of the establishments. Then add music and "miming" to the mix, and you have a truly unique experience. Miming is basically lipsinking on steroids. This is just a block or two from the central bus station in Kampala.

After 2 nights in Kampala, we were off on the night bus to Kigali. The bus left at 1am. The bus was full size, like a greyhound, except that most of the luggage had to be kept in the aisle or somewhere on the top of the bus since the bottom compartments are used almost entirely for commercial goods. So, if you ever plan to bus travel around Africa, I would recommend keeping luggage to a minimum. I don't have a lot, but I still feel like the bag I have is pretty large. The bus ride was pretty uneventful, except that I got very little sleep and two stops included a roadside bathroom stop..... which meant guys lining up 5 ft from the bus to pee and women going around the corner of the nearby buildings (homes, or shops, I have no idea what they were), and the other stop was for a women and a guy who loaded up into the bus from the side of the road in the middle of nowhere, and then they got off together about 30 minutes down the road. I'm guessing he was protecting her somehow, since as he sat down right in front of me, I noticed the barrel of a shotgun slung around his neck...

10 hours later, we were in Kigali.

Rafting the Nile

The day after camp, about 12 people in our group went for a white water rafting trip down the Nile. To say the least it was an awesome adventure. A bunch of class V rapids and several flipped boats. one of the best rafting experiences I've been on. We'll be leaving tonight for Kampala where I'll be staying the night and then catching a night bus tomorrow evening to Kigali, Rwanda. A couple days in Kigali and then on to Goma, DRC. I hope to update when I get there.

Lessons learned - COG Uganda

Uganda YWAM Blog

(written a couple of days ago) The first couple of days of our Mzungo (white people) team's stay here in Uganda were filled with rest, getting to know each other, and doing a little touring around Jinja. Jinja is the 2nd largest city in Uganda and the water way just outside of town is known as the source of the Nile. So of course we had to have some Nile beer, brewed just off of the shores of the Nile. The landscape in Uganda is very fertile and the roads tend to be very well maintained, which is not like my experience during my previous trip to the Congo. After a couple days of adjusting and sorting bins of supplies for the kids and the camp, we meet our Ugandan counterparts and headed to the YWAM base in Bugembe, about 30 minutes drive outside of Jinja. The grounds is beautiful! The view from the main conference center is of two terraced open fields with a back drop of Lake Victoria. The first couple of nights we had a full moon, but now the moon has gone, leaving a million stars dotting the night sky.

The staff which we are working with are either soon to be University Freshman or are on their break from the Universities. It's been great to have their guidance and assistance with the kids who are between the ages of 14 and 19, except for one 6 year old boy from Lira, which is in the north of Uganda and is the area that has been so troubled by the Lords Resistance Army (LRA). More about that later.

It's the end of the second day that the children have been here, which is great because they are opening up and having fun with each other and with us as camp assistants, but is also sad because it means that they only have a couple more days left in their stay here. We actually had a bit of a scare when this afternoon marked almost a full 36 hours without running water at our camp. We have been able to purchase water for drinking, but without running water for showers, cooking, and toilets, it is nearly impossible to run a camp of over 150 people. There was actually some discussion as to when we would decide that we had a to send the kids home because it would become too unsanitary.... I didn't think that it would come to that, but it certainly was a reminder to me that I won't get that much time to really spend with these kids and to use every moment to learn from them and to love them. Our leader, Jen, made a call to find out about the status of getting running water back in service and stated "We need running water for drinking, showers, and to flush the toilets.....these are basic needs.." Commenting on this later, Mary Ann with Children of Grace put this in perspective by reminding us that these are basic needs...... basic needs that are not being meet all over the country and at the homes of the children we were working with..... We take so much for granted.




There is a group of about 6 or 7 from Lira in the North of Uganda, where the LRA has terrorized the civilian population for over 20 years. Two boys who were in my group, Boniface and Jacob, are from Lira. Boniface is 15, but size wise looks more like 12 and Jacob is a small 6 year old and one of the cutest kids I've meet when he smiles, but carries himself like a little man... In the picture above, Boniface is the one on left and Jacob is the little kid bottom right. As I looked at Boniface and Jacob playing soccer the last day, waiting for the busses to arrive and take the campers home, I tried to picture them with machine guns and weapons in their hands, pulled from their families and taught to kill as part of the LRA.... It really broke my heart! The evil that resides in the hearts of men who can force kids into being soldiers is unfathomable to me, yet a reality that haunts the lives and thoughts of the kids from Norther Uganda. Boniface told me that he would like to ask his sponsor for a walkman. When I asked why, if he wanted to be a musician or music producer, etc. he replied. "I like to listen to music because it helps me forget about the bad things that happened in the past.." I don't know his complete story, except that his parents are dead and he has not been able to return to his home for years because of the violence in the area and danger of young boys being kidnapped.... I don't recount this story to be a downer about my experience here, because as whole I have learned a great deal and feel like I've been blessed with new friends here in Uganda, but my intention is meant more for the education of you the reader, and a reminder to all of us that we should be grateful for the lives we have as North American's, as privilaged people who have our basic needs taken care of..... and then some.

Internet access is slow, so I'll end with a couple memorable quotes from different people this week.

"If we loose an hour in the morning, we will spend all day looking for it" - Abraham (co-leader of the camp)

Emmanuel (Emma) (one of the campers in my small group) - "May I take your Plate?" Me - "no, that's O.K., I can get it" Laurence - "I know you can get it, but I would like to help you"

Help me. Humbling to say the least.....

My bags are packed, I'm ready to go......

Tonight at 10:15pm I will start my journey to Jinja, Uganda, the first part of my trip which will find me in Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo on the 5th of February. Air Canada flight AC754 is also the first part of a longer journey of discovery.

What will I see, what will I do, what will I learn? These are all questions that I have been asked and which I internally continue to ask myself. I know that in Uganda I will be working with children who are orphans of AIDS and sponsored through Children of Grace. We will be running a camp for these kids, playing games with them, studying the bible with them, and giving them a place where they can relax and just be kids, forgetting the worries and stresses of their lives during the rest of the year. This is the "brochure" explanation, but I know from past experiences that this is only surface level. The relationships built, the memories made, the lessons learned, the cultural and emotional challenges... These are impossible to predict, but what really makes these kinds of experiences ones that will resonate for a lifetime.

The same can be said for my time in the Congo, where I'll be staying and working with the founders of HEAL Africa. My mission their is not set in stone and there are many different opportunities. February in the Congo will be used to shape the my future involvement in Goma and when I will return after March.

I am excited and a little nervous as I head out this evening. For those of you who pray, I would ask that you pray for the orphaned children in Uganda that will attend our camp, for travel safety for our team going to Uganda, and for me, that I would be listening for and following God's guiding voice in my life.

-Timo
Collossians 3:17