I’m Going to Miss Having a Refrigerator

Once we got back to Minembwe, Osee (as in Hosea), our goat herder requested for us to come and see our goats, all 31 of them. Our reason for having a herd of goats was for our family and the orphans to be able to occasionally eat some meat. Our goal was having 30 goats before we would begin to make a meal out of any of them.

After seeing the goats, Osee invited my friend Eric (our co-worker from the university)and I into his home for some tea, which here means 50% tea and 50% milk. When I add three heaping TABLESPOONS of cane sugar to my “tea,” in my mind it has now become a milkshake… I miss milkshakes.

The homes here are very sparse inside; typically, some wooden chairs and benches and… that’s it. The walls are a mixture of clay and cow poo, but it doesn’t stink at all.

Osee and Eric in front of the goat house, with the beautiful Mt. Katavi in the background.

The Refugee Situation

Keeping the masses feed during these lean times is quite challenging. We are blessed to work with the university as…

… each distribution is very orderly without a trace of chaos.

On this day corn flour was being distributed.

Next week, the university will distribute beans for the refugees to plant.

Six of these ladies are refugees; they and their families have all been welcomed into the homes of the locals. No one sleeps under the sky.

The Volunteer House

This is where we live and it’s the HQ for all the work we do. Designed to house our families and visiting volunteers, but sadly, it’s hard to invite volunteers to a “war” zone.

(From left to right) The volunteer house, the cook house, Garden #1 (so many pineapples!), and our neighbors’ house.

(From left to right) Garden #2, which keeps getting bigger and bigger, and Miles’ shop. Down near the shop is where the Ostranders plan to build their home.

It takes a loooong time to grow a pineapple way up here (elevation 6,300 ft), but it’s worth the wait. We have 140 pineapple plants

Transplanting cabbage from our nursery to the garden, and pulling weeds.

This DRC army officer stops by occasionally to admire our gardens get some of our hot peppers.

Uno!!!

Our place frequently visited by the orphans. These girls, the orphanage, all about 13, were reading Hop on Pop to me, the third book that they had read to me.

Back in January, the day before Lisa and I traveled from Burundi to Minembwe, Lisa stood in the kitchen and lamented, “Oh, I’m going to miss having a refrigerator.” Here is our “refrigerator” in Minembwe; our leftovers share the cabinet with our dishes. After this many years here, I personally think refrigerators are overrated, but I do wish we had a freezer for ice cream. Is it possible to make ice cream from cabbage and beans?

Somehow! - Michael