They will be cutting off our email access Sunday evening, so this is my last chance to send or RECEIVE email (hint, hint).
Here, we are supposedly into one of the dry seasons, but after a long dry spell, it has now rained for three days and it's cold! I'm not really sensitive to cold, but I've worn a sweater during the daytime for the last two days.
For those of you in Jeffersonville, you won't believe this but Wapol, the assistant administrator, is a member of the Brannam Tabernacle! I was talking with him today and mentionned that I was from Jeffersonville, Indiana. He got all excited and started talking about his religion and their prophet. Apparently, there are quite a few members here in Congo.
The stay of Elysee, the cook for the coordination team in Goma, was heavenly. This guy can open a restaurant anywhere. He did some training with our cook and left some spices, so we are hoping for the best. Our cook, Jean-de Dieu (John from God), does pretty well, but it's often the same things. Elysee had some cookbooks with him, and I'm in the process of entering some basic recipes into my computer (pie crusts, fried vegetable batter, "creme patisserie", etc) plus a few other recipes of his, so that I will have them available on future missions.
They say that "first departures" with MSF are for training. I believe it. Now I know what I need to bring with me for 6 months ( tocks of deodorant, razor blades, chapstick, toothpaste), what I DON'T need (we're limited to 44 pounds), and what I need in my computer (music, films, recipes, photo editing software, my bank account). Remember, we don't have internet access, just email; and now not even that.
Things are going well here, although as hectic as ever. I finished the end / beginning of the month stuff. Now it's finding cars to transport emergencies, field explorations, mobile clinics and construction material deliveries; taking care of employee conflicts and problems; finding, negitiating and installing water provisions; making estimates, overseeing and reporting final costs for construction projects; planning programs with our site head; etc. Anne-Laure, our site head, consults with and counts on me a lot; the old guy on the team. That helps me to get an overall view of our projects (after all, we're called Doctors Without Borders, not Log/Admin Without Borders - we're a MEDICAL relief organisation), and it's also flattering. She's great. She's always looking for ways to expand what we do here, but I'm afraid she's going to burn herself out.
All in all, I'm still learning a lot, and still having a great time working with the Congolese. They are a great bunch who have been dealt a raw deal. But they maintain an optimisme and a desire to get ahead which is incredible.
Bye,Ed
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