The Perpetual Education Fund office work

Mark here:

We are called as Perpetual Education Fund Self-Reliance missionaries. The Fund is a wonderful thing that gets many of our young people into school to prepare for a better future. We have 300 recipients here in Kinshasa, and are growing here, and starting in Lubumbashi, 1,200 miles to the east. Next year, we are told we will begin helping church members who have no other livelihood to start small businesses of their own.

One of our duties is to contact all of our loan recipients by phone once a month. We can’t mail them a statement, because there is no mail service here. We encourage them in their studies and assess problems. For them to make a loan payment at the bank is challenging, because the bank system itself is pretty young in the country. Nonetheless, they learn responsibility and self-reliance when they keep their commitments faithfully.

The students are required to make a small loan payment ($5) every month while they are in school, more after graduation. Very often, a student who is behind in his payments will commit to come see us or to make a payment at the bank. What we found is that those commitments are usually forgotten, so I began to make a record of them and watch for the completion of the student’s intentions. Occasionally we send a text message reminder. The result is fewer students are behind on their loans.

Part of the process of getting a P.E.F. student loan is an extensive online application. The students approach this after the "Planning for Success" workshop, and interviews with church leaders. Because of power outages, slow connections, server slowdowns, etc., they sometimes take a full day on the computers in our office to apply.

This week, Elaine took her beautiful African fabric (actually imported from Holland), and made a simple bedspread for our bed.

Rainy season is upon us, so we experienced the drive home in the rain this week. The video is from inside our Toyota pickup truck. Along the way an oncoming car flashes the headlights at us, indicating that he wants to turn in front of us. We've learned to do this in hopelessly congested traffic. On rainy days, all the street vendors disappear except for umbrella salespeople. This is a pretty mellow drive home, enjoyable to see the rain for dry-country people from Utah. Our rainy season lasts 9 months, we are told.

We pass the gas station where we buy fuel. Gas is about $6 a gallon, not bad. After the gas station we see one of the innumerable buildings under construction in Kinshasa. Elaine has started a photo collection of them. People start buildings here and run out of money, but might come back later and pick up where they left off.

Just this morning, we learned that the wall on the left in this video is that of the U.S. Embassy in Kinshasa. We pass it every day, but it doesn't advertise itself prominently. Just yesterday one of our P.E.F. workers, Boris, had a background check there for his new employment at the U.S. Aid Agency. As we pass the embassy, you can barely see the U.S. flag through the tree on the left.

Amazing grace

"Toto, I think we are not in Kansas anymore" a wonderful line from The Wizard of Oz has become my oft quoted paraphrase, Frère Smith, I think we are not in Kansas anymore. (Remember Dorothy's last name is Gale-my maiden name- after all).

It has been an eventful week, some good and some challenging, but mostly good. Indulge me in a little prefacing. We recounted in great detail Mark's encounter with the police concerning a stop sign that was not visible and how upsetting it was for both of us even though I was not in the truck at the time. Well guess what? The sign has been replaced and now faces the traffic lane. The police have been there each day and traffic seems to flow a little better. I was feeling I might not be able to endure this endless tension of fearing possible harassment by the police as well as bad guys. Getting up and getting going was getting hard as was sleeping.

My concerns felt like Elder Quentin L. Cook's phrase he used in a Conference talk, "I hope ya know we had a hard time". I prayed mightily explaining to Heavenly Father that this fear was making it impossible for me to function and I couldn't see myself surviving for eighteen months. I also asked that my answer not be another trial to see if I could handle it, but just some indication that I might be shown something to help. Monday when we left the office around 5:00 PM we drove to the "dreaded intersection" and stopped well before the stop sign and one of the officers waved us forward, then motioned us to pull over to the right side of the road. Oh no - not more of what I was dreading. Mark rolled down the window and the officer said something to him in French and Mark yelled, "Oh NO".

Well, that is enough to make one's heart stop. He turned to me and said the officer informed him that his back left tire was FLAT, I mean FLAT. The officer stopped the rest of the traffic going the same direction, made a space for Mark to pull off the road and we were surrounded by four police and several other bystanders. I don't know if they asked if they could help and I didn't understand or if they all left their "duties" and started to change the tire. They would not let me do anything, anyway what do I know about changing a tire on a car let alone on a Toyota truck? Mark called the mission office to talk to someone about where to find the spare tire and how were we to get it on. No one answered, so he called Frère Didier, our "boss". Mark handed his phone to one of the policeman (something we have been told not to do) and Didier explained how to get the tire off, where to find the jack, etc., etc. All these police and bystanders pitched in and changed the tire, not an easy task anywhere but really not easy here. They would not allow Mark to help, no they said, they would take care of it. A half hour later we were back on the road again with police help getting back into the flow of traffic. As one of the bystanders completed the tightening of the bolts, another policeman wearing a different uniform who had stood by and watched most of the time, checked to make sure they were tight. We got out all our Congolese francs and willingly paid each one a little something, and believe me it was little.

It appears that the man that did the most work, lying down in the road, checking all steps taken came out of a shop that serviced heavy equipment. By the time the flat tire was replaced, Mark had learned all the names of the policemen and policewoman. As we drove away, I started to cry, which startled Mark a bit. When I was able to talk, I explained to him what I had prayed for that very morning and as I watched them rally to our aid, I knew that it was an answer to my prayer, a peace I have not felt since arriving here. I am not naive enough to believe that nothing challenging will happen the next 17 months, but I think my anxiety level has been reduced measurably. It even looks and feels different now.

Now how can we get someone to mount the repaired tire back under the bed of the truck?

We have had a busy week in the office with new loans to process, a partition built for Frère Didier to have some privacy to interview applicants, a party to celebrate our 100% contacting loan recipients that are behind on their payments, and one of our volunteers - Boris - getting a job with USAID (the office that occupies the first three floors of the building where we live). 

Mark is becoming acquainted with a lot of this city as he drives Frère Didier to banks, the Temporal Affairs office, schools to pay tuition for our PEF applicants, and more banks.

I finished some sewing and altering. There is a Singer sewing machine that passes around the mission couples, works well, but it is not my Bernina. I had to take in Mark's pants; he is losing some weight. I hesitated, because we are finding ways to add variety to our diet. We buy eggs from a member and they deliver them to the mission office where we pick them up. We found some Quaker Old Fashioned Oats today, so we can get a little more fiber. We purchased dry beans from the public outdoor market where the vendors go to get stuff to sell in their little shops or on the street. Elder and Sister Moon are humanitarian missionaries and go out near this public market and can buy stuff, but it is in bulk. They buy 100 pounds of flour ground to their own specifications and are willing to sell us some of that. We used this flour to make tortillas. We asked them if they could buy peanuts there and they said yes, so we should have some of those soon.

We are sending some money with the Bybees, who "have to go" to South Africa for a meeting of the Public Affairs Missionaries from our region. We want them to buy some nuts like walnuts, pecans, hazelnuts and almonds. Mark had some problems with an infection, but now with the help of Sister Bybee's essential oils, he is much better. 

Mark's task today, Saturday P-day, was to clean the floors - first sweeping then wet mopping. 

The water as it comes out of the tap. Mark's Crocs are floating awaiting cleaning.

We fill the tub with water because it is the only hot water in the place. The pictures tell an interesting story, the first is what it looks like straight from the tap and what it looks like after scrubbing the floor. The first is scary enough, but the floors are seldom free from the fine dirt that seems to get inside no matter that the windows and doors are shut all the time. 

The water after mopping the floor.

The senior missionaries make us welcome

We have completed three weeks in the Congo. We met the Mission President the night we arrived. He was doing his maiden "airport" pickup. He had with him three couples along with his wife. The next day President and Sister Cook got on a plane to visit some of the far-flung parts of his mission followed by a trip to Johannesburg, South Africa for a meeting of all the mission presidents serving in the Africa Southeast Area. They returned Sunday or Monday and invited the senior missionaries to dinner, something he said they like to do the day after a couple arrives but they were unable to do because of their own very hectic schedule. This dinner was marvelous, chicken, oven roasted potatoes, coleslaw, petite peas and onions, with chocolate cake and ice cream for dessert.

Mark described the first four days in Kinshasa as follows:

"President Cook and wife and the couples took turns hosting us to wonderful meals. Wednesday, President Cook and his wife picked us up at our "doorstep" and took us to their apartment. We told the mission president about son Michael coming from Arizona see us before we left and going to our setting apart, and giving the prayer. He was very happy for us. They fed us dinner, and it was really good. It turns out that President Cook was on a mission with me in Paris in 1969-71. He actually arrived in 1970. One apartment that he stayed in was in Nogent-sur-Marne in Paris. It was a chapel on the ground floor, and missionary quarters on the second/third floor. I lived in it just prior to him being there. He mentioned that there was a Dutchman and his family living there on the third floor, who was a Church Physical Facilities employee assigned to oversee chapel construction on the grounds.

It all came back to me then that my companion and I lived on the third floor there, and that when the Dutch family arrived, we were displaced to the second floor. One of the things that came from that was that the apartment, which was always chilly became very comfortable, because the man knew how to maintain the furnaces, a great boon to us. I told Pres. Cook that the Dutchman told us that his wife wanted us to come to dinner the week after they arrived, and what did we want to eat? I said "Pot au feu" (pot roast). He replied that he didn't know what that was, but they would find out and serve it to us. They did, and it was excellent. Well it turns out that the dinner that Sis. Cook prepared for us was also an excellent pot au feu with tender beef roast, moist delicious potatoes, and really well-cooked carrots all in a sweet gravy.
 
It was most interesting to talk about those old days and mutual friends, particularly Bruce Brown. We also had Belgian bread and butter, with jam and honey, fresh salad with Knorr Greek dressing and chilled bottled water. For dessert, they served a chocolate sheet cake with Neapolitan ice cream." 

On other nights, the Moons served Mexican enchiladas, the Bybees served a delicious roasted chicken meal with baked sweet potatoes, and a green salad with tomatoes. For dessert, Sister Bybee had made a wonderful plantain pudding. The Smiths 1 treated us to a wonderful mac and cheese dinner (the cheeses were the best Europe has to offer), stewed tomatoes and green peas. On Monday for FHE the Gates had a dessert evening and served a wonderful rice and raisin pudding for all the couples. 

Our own efforts at cooking have a long way to go. We are still trying to find ingredients we like to use like baking soda, which I thought would be easy. A previous missionary here said that cream of tartar was not available, but we found it at ShopRite and now I need to know what to do with it. Each of the couples has taken us shopping for food to favorite places, including produce stands by the road.

ShopRite grocery. Across the road from our office.

I want to make Mark's favorite cake, one that his Sister Nancy made for the family, chocolate with boiled frosting. Haven't found cocoa yet and a boxed cake costs around $12 US. Will keep looking. It is common for a store to have an item you like but the next time you go, they don't have it. We did find plain yoghurt yesterday, a container of less than 6 oz. for $2.25 - yikes. Hope we can use it as a start to make our own. We bought a thermometer for that purpose. Time will tell. 
 
We have been able to buy peanut butter on sale for about $1 for 400 g, about 14 oz. We had to make three dozen cookies for the Zone Conference earlier this week and they turned out okay. We used peanut butter and oatmeal. The Bybees gave us a carton of Quaker Oats and we were sure we could buy some, so we used all we had. We went shopping yesterday and could not find oats.

Our first Missionary Zone Conference was Tuesday in the Seminary and Institute building. Our PEF Self-Reliance Office is in the same building, across the hall. Elder Carl B. Cook, a Seventy, a General Authority of the Church, presided and taught the missionaries. He speaks only English so it was good for me to hear the training in both languages and Mark was able to serve as a translator for Sister Cook. The training centered around the concept of asking questions and referred us missionaries to Preach My Gospel. They served the missionaries lunch with the cookies for dessert. Many of the African missionaries declined the cookies; they are not too fond of sweets. Mark just reminded me that they drank a very sweet soda pop, go figure.

Wednesday, I was asked by the missionary Zone Leader to participate in a discussion two sisters were teaching because the investigator was a single male. He realized that I couldn't speak French, but he was desperate. The night before we had been asked at dinner by Elder Cook to recount our best day in the mission. I couldn't come up with an answer, because the best day was the next day when I got to participate in teaching the principles of tithing and offerings to an investigator. Ça c'est cool!