gachunia

Hey friends i just came back from a trip from the great lakes. The Congo forest are beutiful and rich green. The country have vast chunks of land that is unexplored. Despite the great fear of war that is evident in the area there are still many safe places that are waiting to be explored.

I toured the forest where we are supporting Pygmys who are so characteristically short. They love dancing and are quite hilarious. However they have a very low fertility are rate and risk extinction. The mortality rate is so high due to children diseases like pneumonia and the like. We have 105 families and it is rare to see a pygmy family with more that two or three children(not by design) in comparison with congolese who sire more than 8 on average. They have been kicked out of the forest with no govt to take care of  them as they are busy with the war.

I met a mzunguafrican boy in a remote poor village near Bukavu South Kivu. The villagers were shouting at the boy calling him MONUC. I rushed out of the house where our missionary stays and i thought we are in problems with the UN soldiers who are called MONUC here or something. Little did i know those were jestings aimed at this boy whose father lives maybe somewhere in texas or who knows. I realised those are the incriptions of peacekeeping soldiers littered all over the war zones for the memory " i was here" as the war of resources ranges the people suffer and the miners do their business and walk free.

will post pics for this trip later.

I believe that in small ways we are going to do something. I work for a small Christian NGO called Mission Base Intiative which is indigenous in Kenya but working all over this region doing missionary work and development.