News from Nord Kivu

We are into one of the dry periods of the year here (mid December - end February). Apparently, its more severe this year than usual. We will have to add two additional springs to the two we use to have enough water for the hospital, our theripeutic nutritional center, and the base operation. This involves getting the authorisation from the spring committees (we collect the water during the night so the local population can have access during the day, making the estimates for the cost (connecting to our two pumping stations), and doing the work. This is my biggest project for the moment (while continuing all the others.

I just finished my end of the month / beginning of the month marathon. That includes the pay (in cash, this time including the calculation of the end of the year bonus and holiday pay for 170 people), finishing the accounting for the months, the logistics / administration report, and the calculations and reports for consumption of diesel, gasoline, and kerosene for the cars, pumps, eletric generators, lamps, etc. We just finished the accounting yesterday, having to find a BIG error in the cash.

On the positive side, we are eating incredibly well this week. Our direction has recently moved from Beni in the north to Goma in the south. Their cook , Elysee, is here for a few days during the transition. We already eat pretty well, but this guy could start his own restaurant. Our regular cook is on sick leave, and will probably never work again because of a heart problem, and he is replaced by one of the housekeepers. He defends himself pretty well in the kitchen, but with the training of Elysee I think we are going to have a whole new culinary future here.

However, we may also have to augment our daily contribution to the "food fund", which I also have the pleasure of managing here. Hereés the way it works. As a volunteer of MSF, we are paid 610 dollars a month in an account in Paris. (We can't tap into this here, because there are no banks. The closest is 4 hours away. And anyway, there are no credit card withdrawals at the banks either.) Here in RD Congo, we are paid a daily living allowance of 7 dollars. Of this I collect 3 dollars per day for the "food fund". (Beer counts pretty heavy in this fund.) In December, with Christmas and New Years, we exploded the fund with purchases if european style stuff from a trip to Butembo, 4 hours north of here. I had to ask an additional 20 dollars from the seven of us expats here to finish the month. If our housekeeper/cook, Jean de Dieu, wants to keep up doing what Elysee is teaching him, we will have to add purchases, particularly spices, from Butembo each month, but we could still come out even at 4 dollars a month. It will be worth it.

That's All,
Ed