Phil's return from Nairobi and the upcoming birth of our first grandchild!

I'm thankful Phil returned from Nairobi a week ago today. He had been in Nairobi for the past 3 weeks, trying to speed up the shipment of medicines out of Kenya and on their way to the 3 locations in the DRC. Prayers are still needed for the final paperwork clearance to allow the trucks to leave (the exit permit).

Last weekend I got these photos - the other end of the medicine supply chain system. Seeing these photos, from our teams in the field, highlights the incredible challenges they face in Medair's work of saving lives by supporting isolated, hard to reach health facilities in locations receiving large numbers of displaced people.

Medicines are loaded on a helicopter in Goma and sent to a drop point, in an area inaccessible by trucks, due to fighting. Our staff receive the medicines and load them up on motorcycle taxis and then make the long difficult journeys to their respective locations.

From beginning to end - getting medicines to the isolated health centres that Medair supports have multiple challenges. We are just thankful for the commitment of our staff in 'going the extra mile' - doing everything possible to succeed and respond to the needs of people in suffering.

Literally on the other side of the world, we are celebrating the fact that Nathan and Anna are expecting a child in early June! Last weekend Anna's parents held a baby shower to celebrate. You probably can't see the cake very well, but there are 3 pairs of hiking boots on it! Nate and Anna have always reveled in hiking, and from now on they will be doing that with a child/children! We were sorry to miss the shower, but that is the reality of our lives right now.

 Not only does this signal a change in Anna & Nathan's lives, but ours as well! They and we enter a new season of our lives! Our contracts with Medair end at the end of June. For a number of reasons (including being more available for our first grandchild!) we are now planning to leave Congo at that time and relocate back to Minnesota. 

Praise:

1. For the loading of the trucks in Nairobi on Friday;
2. For the recently received medicines, that went from Nairobi to Butembo in only 2 weeks (a new record since we have been in Congo) in April;
3. That Anna's pregnancy has been going well!
4. That Anna recently got another scholarship for her studies at Boston University!
5. For the upcoming birth of our first grandchild, marking a new season in our lives!

Prayer: 

1. For our staff in the field who are working in extremely difficult locations;
2. For the transport and customs clearing of the three trucks now on their way to Goma, Butembo and Bunia;
3. For all the handover related to leaving our positions here in Congo;
4. For ending well with Medair Congo
5. For a smooth delivery of Anna & Nathan's baby!
6. For our transition back to the US, finding jobs and reintegrating back into a society that is often no less mystifying than the one we currently live in (though for different reasons). 

Goma cut off

 We wanted to simply update you and sollicit your prayers for the situation in Goma. The fighting has created a situation where all roads out of Goma are cut off, except for the road crossing the border into Rwanda (and speculation is rife that this border will be closed). 

This has been some time in coming, as you might imagine. The government forces have been losing significant ground since the elections. There is still no particular indication that the rebels want to take Goma, rather their aim seems to be to make the population of Goma suffer (as normally Goma's provisions come from the countryside - from which it is now cut off). Currently supplies come into Goma only from Rwanda, so prices are rising on a daily basis. 

These changes in the status quo have meant a number of things for Medair. First, we have had to pull back from some of the places where we have been serving because of security issues. This has meant quite difficult trips out from sites where staff have been serving on alternate routes. The attached video shows the harrowing trip by motorcycle over muddy mountaineous roads that some staff had to undertake in order to get back to Goma. This particular trip meant taking a boat on Lake Kivu as well.

24/7 health post set up in camp for displaced people

Medair has also recently opened a 24/7 health facility in a camp for displaced people in Goma to serve the people fleeing to Goma (there has been a significant population movement in this direction, as you can imagine). It has also meant that Medair staff working throughout Eastern Congo, but with family living in Congo, have the added stress of concern for their family members, from whom they are separated. Finally, it has had financial implications as Medair has given a salary advance to staff with family in Goma so that families can purchase hibernation supplies, in case the situation gets worse. Supplies have also been purchased for international staff, in case of hibernation in Goma. 

Community meeting to open health post

Christine and I were in Nairobi seeking medical care while much of this transpired. We came back to Goma on Wednesday. But headquarters wants to limit the number of international staff in Goma to 7, in case of need for boat evacuation across Lake Kivu. So on Thursday, I flew to Beni (and subsequently went overland), in order to go to our base in Butembo to address some logistical concerns. I will work from there for the next couple of weeks. On Friday Christine flew to Bunia, to work from our base there and participate in a training for staff who have returned from the field. 

We have been challenged in getting supplies for all of these responses again. We have a truckload of supplies that we hope will leave Nairobi this week for Butembo. And we have several truckloads of additional supplies, for which the orders need to be finished so that they can be trucked to Congo. 

We simply want to ask for your prayers for all these things in the weeks to come!

Praise:

1. General calm and little violence in the post-electoral period - thanks for your prayers;
2. For access to good health care in Nairobi; 
3. For Medair's commitment to its staff, international and nationa staff; 
4. For the healing of our country director, Marian's, sudden hearing loss!

Prayer: 

1. For us to be able to get other needed supplies from Nairobi to Congo - and cleared from customs (you can just keep this on your prayer list continually!);
2. For peace for Congo, and for the suffering of Congolese to stop;
3. For Medair to be able to continue to stand in the gap with the afflicted, the harassed and the destitute

A tale of three trucks

When we were with Christine's sister, and her husband Jim, recently, we realized that we hadn't given you feedback on the 3 trucks - and the amazing stories surrounding each and every one of those trucks! These stories are a testament to the prayers of God's people (you!), so we wanted to share them. 

In our last blog we mentioned the 40 foot container truck going from Nairobi (Kenya) to Bunia (RD Congo). Shortly before the truck reached the border our country director shared a local news story with a photo of about 500 trucks stuck on the road between the border and Bunia!! So we were really praying on this side as well! The truck arrived at the border post without problem, and we wondered how the passage to Bunia would go. We didn't hear anything for a couple of day, and then we heard that the truck had arrived in Bunia! We have no idea how the passage to Bunia transpired, but we are so grateful that it arrived without major incident! We don't think it got stuck at all!

The truck going to Butembo had its own challenges. It made it to the border without any problem. But after being cleared the clearing agent told us that customs was requesting an armed escort for the truck as some trucks had been attacked on that road, merchandise stolen and the trucks burned. When we talked with the head of the base, he hadn't really heard of armed escorts of trucks. Armed escorts are a big issue for humanitarian aid (and they are systematic, in Somalia, for instance). So there was discussion with headquarters about whether or not we should accept this request (part of the equation in taking a decision had to do with whether or not the requesters could do the hijacking if we didn't accede to their request). Finally HQ said we could go ahead with the armed escort, and the truck arrived safely in Butembo. 

Unfortunately, that was not the end of the Butembo story. As there were no customs officials who came from the border with the truck, the local customs officials in Butembo sealed the warehouse into which we put this medicine and would not allow Medair to use the supplies. This was obviously a challenge, and it took us another week to get the warehouse unsealed. We had to bring customs officials from the border to unseal the warehouse. 

The third truck was sent to Goma. It was the first to arrive at the border, and all seemed to be progressing well. The customs clearing process had nearly finished when Phil got a message from the customs clearing agency saying that customs was requiring that another government agency sign off on the duty free exclusion. He said that it could take a month to get that approval! Phil was super busy when he received this email, but he felt an urge to simply send the clearing agent this verse: "I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves." (Mt 10:16, NIV). About an hour later Phil got an email back from the clearing agent saying, "God has answered your prayers. The file has just been validated. We're finalizing the OCC formalities, then we'll take the truck out." We got the truck the next day and unloaded it into our warehouse. 

So you see just how important your prayers are! In fact, the clearing agency said that it was a miracle that our 3 trucks were cleared so quickly, because it has been taking up to 3 months to clear cargo! Phil contacted a colleague from Médecins Sans Frontière (MSF) who confirmed with him that they are spending at least 3 months to clear cargo. Thank you for your constant prayers (even when we are unfaithful in reporting back 😓). 

This week the new Deputy Logs Managwer shared this image with me: 

Maybe this is an appropiate way to end the stories of the Lord bringing us our 3 trucks of supplies from Nairobi!

In our Advent devotional this week, this was said: "When we cry out to God just as Jesus did in the Garden of Gethsemane “God take this cup from me” (Luke 22:42) our voice joins the chorus of the fellowship of the afflicted." This really resonates with us. In this season when we await the coming of the baby Jesus again, we are thankful to be able to be your voices joining the fellowship of the afflicted in Eastern Congo! 

The Father showed us the way - He gave his Son with us to share in our afflictions. May the Lord use us all to walk along with the afflicted in this Advent season! If you desire to do that through Medair, you can make a donation at medair.org. 

Praise:

1. Since Rudi his green card, he and Annika will be spending Christmas in Albania with Rudi's family. It has been nearly 5 years since Rudi has been home to Albania. He lost his grandfather during this time. So we are thankful they can be with family in Albania together!
2. Presidential campaign season has been relatively calm thus far. It is likely to be highly contentious when the results are announced (if the election isn't delayed) on the 15th of January. 
3. For good time in Tanzania with Christine's sister and husband. We got to visit the hospital where Christine was born, the market she remembers as a kid, and other notable landmarks. 
4. For awareness-raising during the 16 days of activism against violence against women (which will be the subject of another blog). 

Prayer: 

1. For elections to come off peacefully on Dec. 20 (this might take a miracle!)
2. For us to be able to get other needed supplies from Nairobi to Congo - and cleared!
3. For peace for Congo during this period of elections. 
4. For Medair to be able to continue to stand in the gap with the afflicted, the harassed and the destitute

More on the humanitarian air bridge - making pesto!

 

We wanted to simply send you this article about the air bridge: Medair Germany Air Bridge article - your browser should ask you if you want the article translated into English. Google does an admirable job in translating such an article. 

The rains have started!

I also want to ask that you be in prayer for 3 trucks that are going from Nairobi directly to our three bases in Bunia, Butembo and Goma with (as always) much needed medical and nutrition supplies! As you can see in the photo the rains have started in Eastern Congo, making reaching those we serve more difficult. This is one of our vehicles that went to take supplies to a health facility. On the way back, they struggled to make it through the mud. 

The truck going to Bunia is a truck with a 40-foot container on it. The road between the border and Bunia is really problematic - there have been a lot of vehicles getting stuck. So this is the one which really needs your prayers!

Yesterday we did something we have never done before in Congo - we made pesto! We had planted basil plants some time ago, but have only now gotten to actually making some pesto. Raising basil to make pesto was one of my favorite activities for the 7 years that we lived in the States and had a garden. I have fond memories of spending much of an entire day making pesto and freezing most of it (we enjoyed it well into the Winter - maybe even the 

spring)! We didn't make nearly that much this time, but it is a wonderful taste from home (borrowed from Italy)! We don't talk a lot about our life here in Goma. but this gives you a snapshot of one non-work activity!

Praise:

1. Rudi got his SS card and green card in the last 10 days - got it in record time!
2. Again, thanks for the arrival of supplies from Europe!
3. For our children doing well - one just got over COVID (which seems to be surging in the US)
4. For Christine getting a new Community Engagement Manager (Joel DJONGA), and Phil getting a Deputy Logs Manager hired (Aimé KUMBOKO). Please pray for these new staff! They should both help us to be able to get more done!

Prayer: 

1. For safety for Medair staff working in locations where the security situation can change rapidly
2. For our 3 trucks to be able to make it through customs quickly and move on to their respective bases successfully!
3. For Christine and other staff involved in writing project proposals for new funding for next year. Part of working in humanitarian aid is that project funding cycles are 1-2 years, which means proposal work is fairly continuous. 

Supplies from heaven....well, from Europe (but if feels like they have come from heaven to me)!

 Greetings from Goma!

We have just returned from time with the kids in MN (and just in the knick of time since Rudi & Annika have already moved to GA where Annika has started her Master's in public health and Nathan & Anna move to Boston at the end of the month so Anna can start her MDiv). Leaving only Lydia and Bri in MN. We left the States on Thursday. 

On Thursday I got the above video (showing them unloading Medair's supplies from the plane), and the

Ready to Use Therapeutique Food (RUTF) on its
way to our warehouse

following images, from my Senior Logs Officer, Jean-Louis MUSIMBI. Before I left, the coordination logs team was working on ordering supplies from Europe! We don't generally do this, except for urgently needed supplies that we can't find anywhere (because the shipping is so expensive)! But on Thursday the 3rd European air bridge flight arrived in Congo (to help humanitarian aid organizations get much needed supplies to the people we serve). These flights were arranged by the European Humanitarian Organisation. As it turned out there was not as much demand for this flight, so Medair was able to ship some very heavy nutritional inputs that normally are not accepted on these flights! I am, as they say, over the moon. 

Besides the RUTF, we were able to get therapeutique milk and resomal, all three used in the treatment of malnutrition (which we see too much of in displaced persons). These products are super dense and heavy, so when I left we were unsure that we would be able to get any of these products on the flight. In the end we were able to ship all three! 

The stocks being offloaded into our warehouse

Besides these nutritional rehabilitation inputs (which we have been having a super hard time gettting - the global supply chain disruption continues), we also were able to procure a lot of essential medicines in the form of Interagency Emergency Health Kits. The contents of these kits were formulated by a consortium of humanitarian aid organisations, so they really respond to our needs on the ground. With these kits we will have not only essential medicines, but also some specialized medicines and medical equipment. As usual, we will supply these to health facilities with which we work in the emergency response. 

We thank the Lord who has helped us get these much needed supplies! Please celebrate with us these supplies which are truly heaven-sent! Thanks also for your ongoing prayers for the people we serve and for peace in Eastern Congo!

Tippy Taps......running water - well, kind of....

A young boy activating the
tippy tap with his foot

I, Christine, went out this week to Kibati, to see what the community engagement (CE) team has been able to achieve in one of the informal camps for displaced persons. The CE team works along side Medair's Water and Sanitation (WASH) team and the health team running the Cholera Treatment Unit (CTU), where people with cholera receive treatment. Cholera is a diarrheal disease where people can die of dehydration within 24 hours if not treated.  The CE team has been working at encouraging behaviours that help prevent cholera.  

We have already talked about the life-saving Oral Rehydration stations that the CE team has put in place in these different IDP camps where Medair is serving. We now want to introduce you to "tippy taps". Water in these informal settlements is a real problem. Kibati is on the side of a large volcano with no good source of water.  Many organizations are trucking water to the camp (including Medair). But good water remains scarce. At the same time, hand-washing is crucial to the prevention of cholera. Early in the cholera response, when discussing with displaced people about the importance of washing hands to prevent cholera, our teams were told that people were happy to wash their hands but had no water and no soap. So the CE team introduced tippy taps that are activated by a foot pedal. 

A young girl using her family's tippy tap

Having tippy taps is only the beginning of the battle. People have to believe that using them will help them to prevent cholera. When I got out to Kibati on Thursday, right away I went over to one of the shelters where a Tippy Tap was hanging. I asked the child there, 'what do you do with that thing?', she told me, 'I wash my hands', and proceeded to show me how she did so. I then asked, 'why do you wash your hands?', immediately she responded, 'to prevent cholera' as if it was something I should already know. It was really great to hear that response. I then talked to other children, asking questions about why and when they washed their hands. They enthusiastically showed me how they used their tippy taps at their own shelters as well as told me exactly when they needed to wash their hands (after using the toilet, before eating, when their hands are dirty). Hearing these answers from the children, who are often seen as change agents in communities (how many of us recognize that our kids are more willing to embrace change than we as adults?), was a confirmation that the hard work of the CE teams is bearing fruit. 

Tippy taps in front of every shelter!

 Fun fact: Tippy taps are considered an 'appropriate technology'  in settings where water is scarce. We had our own tippy tap outside our latrine when we lived in a village in Benin! 

Praise:

1. Annika and Rudi's wedding was a beautiful celebration on the 27th of May

2. For being able to get much needed essential medicines and nutrition supplies in over the last few weeks.

Prayer concern: 

1. Ongoing impact of these interventions after Medair and other NGOs withdraw from the IDP camps;

2.  IDPs are still not able to return home as armed groups are still active in their home areas. Prayers for peace and a resolution to the conflict

3. For safety for Medair staff working in locations where the security situation can change rapidly

A wedding, a graduation and housing

Annika and Rudi

Quite a lot has been happening in our family these days and we wanted to share a quick update.

A Wedding - Annika and Rudin will have their first little wedding on May 27th to be followed by a larger celebration at a later date. We are thrilled that they've made this decision. We first met Rudi at their graduation from Goshen College and he has become a very much loved member of the family. Phil and I had the opportunity to get to know Rudi's family in Albania, when we spent 2 months there in 2021. Annika moved to Akron, Ohio while Rudi was finishing up his Master's degree at Kent State, and both have been working for a local nonprofit Asia. In mid July they will move to Atlanta, as Annika will start her Masters in Public Health at Emory.

D&Y,  Anna, Lydz and Bri celebratring with Nathan

Nathan and Anna

Graduation - for the past two years Nathan has been doing a Masters in Development Practice. On May 13th he graduated from the U of MN's Humphrey School of Public Policy. As many of you know, Nathan is well known for 'collecting surrogate parents' in the absence of his own. Nathan invited our dear friends Dan & Yvonne to his graduation, and they so willingly came to support and encourage him, as they did so often while we all lived in South Africa. Nathan and Anna will move to Boston the end of August so that Anna can start her Masters of Divinity studies at Boston University. 

Housing - affordable - For the past year and a half Lydia has been working for Urban Home Works, a nonprofit focused on providing safe and affordable housing and encouraging home ownership opportunities for low to moderate income families. On the personal home front, Lydia and her partner, Bri, asked us if we'd be willing to have them move into our home (affordable), which we've been renting out, and test out their home renovating and design ideas. Bri works as an HR Coordinator in a company that provides HR Services to organisations looking to outsource this support.

 

Lydia and Bri

            

    Today, the 24th, Phil and I start the long trip back to the US to join the wedding celebration this weekend. We'll be in Akron for about 2 1/2 days before heading back to Kigali to recover for a couple of days before heading back to work commitments.     

We are looking forward immensely to this special occasion this weekend and the opportunity to be together as family as we welcome Rudi officially into the LD clan. We would love to stay longer but will have more time with family at the end of July when we'll have a month of leave. 

We ask for your prayers as we travel. And most especially we ask for your prayers for Annika and Rudi, as they make this commitment to each other in the very small gathered community of family and close friends. Yes, Rudi's parents will be coming from Albania!  A&R have chosen Micah 6:8, as their couple's verse, and were quite surprised to see a banner with that verse on it, hanging on the wall of the church where they will be married. Apparently it had been hidden behind something else. A beautiful confirmation for them of the verse they make their couple's verse as they embark on a lifetime together.