Christmas Cheer

It's, of course, hard to be so far away from family at Christmas. We have between us seven nephews and nieces who are so fun! We miss our families, but I decided that I needed to do something positive to build community here, and not just with the expat crowd. 

So Vanessa, my MCC colleague, and I hosted a ladies tea. We invited five Congolese women we feel connected to. Only two could come, but we had a really sweet time on Christmas Eve sitting together, drinking cider, and decorating Christmas  cookies! V and I made some sugar cookies and used the only cookie cutters we had - lots of African animals. We were stoked to find a few varieties of sprinkles in the store and food coloring, too!

The ladies who came were Gisele (on the right in the picture), who is the sister of my classmate from EMU, and Rachel, the wife of the pastor of the church we've been going to. The didn't know each other but were both so happy to be with us as we exchanged cultural Christmas traditions. We also shared what we're thankful for this year. I mentioned the incredible weather here and the sense of God's presence here with us and throughout the transition. God is our Good Father and we are his sons and daughters! Joyeux Noel!

Mid-December thoughts

I finally got back home to Bukavu on Friday morning (My first December day here!). By 1pm, Serge and I had mostly decided on our eight Seed participants. By the end of the day, the invitations were officially sent! Wow. I feel amazed that we finished that part! So Relieved. And a little stressed about everything that was put on the back burner while we made those decisions.

The unexpected week in Kinshasa was surprisingly peaceful for me. Each day, I thought "Maybe I'll be able to leave tomorrow" and I finally left on Thursday. I got to be part of the ECC (Congolese Council of Churches) chapel and share a bit about the Seed Program. One of the staff said I did a great job on my French. How nice!

I know Mark will be ready to share a lot of his excitement about what he's going to be doing. Lord-willing, he'll be back in Bukavu tonight (Sunday). I hope he won't have the drama I had at the airport upon return to Goma regarding my yellow fever vaccine card. It was the biggest dilemma I’ve faced thus far: whether to get another yellow fever immunization in the airport or to pay the health department official (what Mark insists is extortion because it was to protect myself).

And here it is, almost Christmas! As one of my favorite bloggers, Janelle in Uganda, pointed out, Christmas is a whole different ballgame near the equator. Not only is the weather the same as it is most of the year, but only the fancy stores have any Christmas decorations. Maybe part of our struggle is the variety we’re accustomed to – in terms of cereal options, food generally and even seasons that change.

The big things on my agenda for Christmas are going to a church service on Christmas day and giving $20 extra to the staff (guards and gardeners) who keep up our “compound” (walled plot of land with four residences). I have our stockings hung, but haven’t yet figured out if we’ll fill them with anything. I’m sure there are a bunch of single expats who will get together and drink and tell stories about the crazy things they’ve done, and that may be the easy place to be, but I’m not into that.

Our little Christmas decorations

Job Qualifications

One of the items listed on my job description is:
"Adaptable, flexible and patient in situations that change frequently and/or move slowly".

I wondered if I was exhibiting that as I waited in the immigration office at the Kinshasa airport this morning as the flight I was supposed to be on departed. There were some complications with my visa that will be set right tomorrow or Tuesday with our long-term missionary visas. But this morning was frustrating, having gone through the stress of the taxi being an hour late, not knowing who would escort me through all the hoops at the airport (an official job here called "protocol"), trying to keep my backpack and carry-on with me and not let them make me check one of them, etc. I won't go into detail. There were some tears, at which point I wondered if I was living up to the qualifications I knew this job would require.

Eventually, I was reminded of God's sovereignty and decided to let go of the frustration and look for what he wanted me to be doing here. Because I'm here in Kinshasa indefinitely but no longer than a week (with Mark, thankfully! He was going to stay a week longer than me for work.) But this week is important as we are making our final decisions about who will be our Seed participants!

BUT I had a really good laugh with Mark over one of the things that happened during the adventure at the airport. I was sitting on some stairs, waiting for the taxi to return to pick me up after having missed my flight. Not in the best mood. A Strange Man (SM) approached me.

SM: Hello, What is your name?
Karen: I don't tell strangers my name.
SM: I work here at the airport.
K: ...silence.
SM: I love you.
K: I'm married.
SM: How many children do you have?
K: Lots.
SM:?
K: A LOT
SM: Like three?
K: Yes, three.
SM: Okay, thank you. (walks away)
K: (watched him walk away)

I hope this brings some laughter to you, too! Thanks for reading!

Kinshasa!

We arrived safely and without incident in Kinshasa on Tuesday night. Things here have required more flexibility, as we're staying at a hotel far from the office and don't have regular transportation, plus we don't have reliable French interpretation all of the time and haven't had anyone really helping us learn how to do life here.

The weather is like Mumbai - hot and humid. My stomach was bothering me a bit the first few days, too. All in all, I'm ready to get back to our house in Bukavu!

Mark will stay here for another week, as he is getting into his job responsibilities, but he'll be in a home that is closer to the office, so that's very nice. The ECC (Congolese Council of Churches) are working to get our missionary visas this week which is a lot sooner than expected and will save us money, time and passport pages.

Traffic Robot!
Literally!

This weekend is a big event for Rev. Milenge, Mark's overseer. He is getting an honorary doctorate from a big university here and there are lots of festivities we'll be part of. It's kind of like a wedding. We're staying at the hotel with a lot of other guests. Mark is currently in a ceremony that he didn't know he was going to. There are also events on Saturday morning, Saturday afternoon/evening and Sunday evening. Pray for patience!

Ferrari with popular musician

Personally, I'm wrestling with what we want our lifestyle here in Congo to be like. There are a lot of expats who live quite separately from most Congolese people, other than those who serve them (nanny, cook, cleaner). I feel confused and a bit stuck regarding how to take care of ourselves and survive without separating ourselves. But in Bukavu, there are a number of Congolese I'm really looking forward to getting to know better, so that helps my outlook some.

I'm also very excited that our Seed team is coming together! Lord-willing by the end of next week, we will have made our decisions about the eight participants we will invite. Thank you for reading, praying, caring!

Basics of MCC and our address

MCC's slogan is Relief, Development and Peace in the name of Christ.

We're not raising financial support because MCC is a development and relief agency; they hired me for a specific position for a project that was in the budget already. That said, they're happy to receive financial contributions in our honor for the work of MCC, and if you want a picture of us for your fridge, let me know.

Please do email us, email us pictures of yourself, read our blog and ask questions or comment (if the comments work?), pray for us.

Also, we can receive mail through the Rwanda MCC office!

Mark and Karen Dawson

Mennonite Central Committee

PO Box 804

Kigali, Rwanda

Week 1 in Goma

It's a little difficult to get settled in Bukavu with all the travelling we're doing. But we generally like to travel and have been enjoying seeing new places. We have been in Goma for the past week and will be in Kinshasa next week.

This week in Goma was for conducting interviews for Seed applicants and also meeting with potential partner organizations who we would place our participants with. I have been completely unmotivated to work on French because this week was so full of meetings and interviews almost all in French, and that wears me out! But Mark has been a boss, with two hours of French lessons every day! It's really exciting to see our Seed team coming together and to feel really on the same page with Serge. We will probably spend a lot of time over the Christmas "break" working on the curriculum and educational aspect of the program, as we haven't really touched it yet.

Hotel Bungwe in Goma where we're staying

Today is Sunday, and we didn't go to church in Goma, but we have had a very nice morning singing (lots of Jon Foreman songs) and praying together. I felt God's presence close, reminding us that our true home is in Him, so no matter where we are, He is with us and nothing can keep us from his love. There's not a whole lot Christmas-y here. Advent reflections for me have definitely focused on waiting for the kingdom "where the weak are finally strong, where the righteous right the wrongs, still looking for a home in a world where I belong" (Switchfoot "Where I belong").

This week, we're asking for prayer for:
- safe travel to, in, and from Kinshasa
- our marriage in stressful times of change and living/working in close proximity
- perseverance in learning French
- discernment as we make our final selections for Seed participants (who will begin with MCC in mid-Feb)

Goma

Karen and I are in Goma now. Today we visited some of the IDP (Internally Displaced Persons--like refugees, they have been forced to flee from their home communities for fear of personal safety, but they are still in their country of origin) camps that MCC has work in. It was very encouraging to see this work. MCC has partnered with a Congolese NGO, an arm of the Congolese Council of Churches to help the IDP's have their own personal gardens, as well as a large community garden. Wednesday is the day that the whole community comes to work on the community garden. Several local agronomists have been hired to shepherd the community in their planting. Both of the gardens we saw today were thriving, with between 30-70 people working on them when we arrived. We were greeted with wonderful singing in Swahili and lots of smiles. It was really touching. 

The IDP camps are about 2 hours away by car (probably less than 40 miles total). These rides were beautiful, and took us through the lava fields created by the volcanoes close by. I've included a far away and close-up shot of the most notorious one: Nyiragongo. It is smoking in both of these pictures.

This evening we had a very pleasant dinner with our coworker and then headed back to her place to hang out. Unfortunately, the power was out, so we left shortly after we got there. BUT, since the power was out, we thought to look up at the sky and noticed a red-orange glow coming from about 30 degrees up on the horizon. It was Nyiragongo.

Did I mention that this volcano has a liquid lava lake in the crater at the top? Well, it does, and on clear nights you can see the light emitted from the lava radiating off of the smoke which wafts up from that lake. In you haven't heard, it is VERY COOL to see a mountain glowing in the dark because of a liquid lava lake that is located inside of a crater at the top of the mountain. I highly recommend it if you have the opportunity.

I was quite thankful to see how God used a seeming bummer (no electricity) as an opportunity for a cool experience. Thanks Lord!

Day in the Life?

We arrived in Goma this afternoon, and I felt like I'd just stepped off the plane for the first time (culture shock!). I was disoriented from the late night last night at an expat Thanksgiving celebration then leaving the house by 6:15am to get on the 6 hour boat ride. Plus there was a dog in the night that barked so much, Mark went outside to yell at it (turned out there was not an intruder, just a cat).

So I was tired, and they showed violent movies the whole way (6 hours), then we found out that a government boat sank in the lake this morning and over 20 people died! The violent movies were really disturbing in this culture where violence has become normal. One of the movies (with Bruce Willis) was white US soldiers saving a group of African villagers from the horrible African military of some country. I just felt sick that it was being played because people here have been so close to violence like what was shown. At least the volume wasn't too loud.

This is not the kind of boat we took , but these are traditional fishing boats.
They hang nets off of those long poles coming off the end and travel in threes.

AND I got a message from a friend that her teenage daughter was pushed into a strange man's car and by God's grace was able to get out without being physically assaulted, just really scared. So...heavy day. Plus we're in Goma. Where in 2013 one of the armed groups (M23) was in control for a few months. And the streets have lava rocks all in them, making it a bit hard to walk.

It's quite safe here and we're at a nice hotel, but today was overwhelming to me. I can't wait to go to bed soon! Prayers appreciated for travel, meetings, adjusting, and protection from spiritual attack.

It is very pretty here. There are volcanoes close by.

Songs that helped me come out of the worst of my funk:
- "Beautiful Things" by Gungor: "Could a garden come up from this ground at all? You make beautiful things out of the dust"
- "Christ is Risen" by Matt Maher: "Trampling over death by death! Oh, Death, where is your sting? O, Hell, where is your victory? O, Church, come stand in the light! The glory of God has defeated the night!"
- "We Shall Not be Shaken" by Matt Redman: "When everything is breaking, you are left unshaken; Nations could be quaking but you're the solid ground"

Thanksgiving in Bukavu

We took the day off on Thursday, went shopping in the morning and cooked all afternoon. We ate a roasted chicken with rosemary, stuffing from scratch (made with leek-ish veggies as a substitute for celery), mashed potatoes, green beans, gravy and biscuits (made by Mark).

Our colleague Patrick came with his girlfriend and another American guy Mark met last week joined. It was pretty low-key for me and that was my main objective, along with having a special day. As we were sitting down, the electrician (who we'd been waiting for all day) came! But the food and company were both wonderful, and we're glad we were able to host and have a nice Thanksgiving.

I feel like I don't have the capacity to say anything very substantial or reflective, but God is good, and He has been near to us during this first month in DR Congo. I am very thankful for his grace!

Reflecting on "I, Francis" (of Assisi)

It doesn’t really feel like Thanksgiving here. Actually, it’s really not Thanksgiving here since Thanksgiving is a culturally constructed “sentiment” and it is not part of the culture here – with turkeys and pumpkins and cornucopias and football. So I’m trying to decide if it’s important to me to cook a big meal to share on Thursday or not. Two years ago, we were in Uganda with friends and made a big effort to have turkey, stuffing, cranberries and pumpkin pie. Last year, we shared a traditional celebration meal with classmates from China, Indonesia, Pakistan and India. I’ll let you know what you decide to do here in Congo, but it will likely include chicken, potatoes, green beans and perhaps pudding.

In other news, weekends here can be depressing since we have a very small social circle right now and don’t have our Congolese driving licenses yet. I find myself really looking forward to when the Seed program is started and we have lots of activity for a while.

Speaking of, yesterday morning during my quiet time, I was very inspired by a passage from I, Francis by Carlo Carretto. He wrote some stuff about culture that could be very poignant in the formation of our Seed cohort here about the Gospel being a path that transcends all cultures. But I was especially struck by what he wrote about social justice:

“When I, Francis, heard the call of the Gospel, I did not set about organizing a political pressure-group in Assisi. What I did, I remember very well, I did for love, without expecting anything in return; I did if for the Gospel, without placing myself at odds with the rich, without squabbling with those who preferred to remain rich. And I certainly did it without any class hatred.

“I did not challenge the poor people who came with me to fight for their rights, or to win salary increases. I only told them that we would be blessed—if also battered, persecuted, or killed. The Gospel taught me to place the emphasis on the mystery of the human being more than on the duty of the human being…

“It is not enough to change laws. You have to change hearts [your own!]… This is why I took the Gospel path. For me the Gospel was the sign of liberation, yes, but true liberation, the liberation of hearts. This was the thrust that lifted me out of the middle-class spirit, which is present to every age, and is known as selfishness, arrogance, pride, sensuality, idolatry, and slavery.

“I saw in the Gospel a road beyond, a path that transcended all cultures, human constructs, all civilizations and conventions. I felt the Gospel to be eternal; I felt politics and culture, including Christian culture, to be in time. I was made always to go beyond time.”

I guess just writing this all out doesn’t explain why it challenges and comforts me in the midst of being in a new, confusing place; in the midst of hearing of new controversies every time I open my computer thanks to news and facebook. But I am stirred deeply by this and pray that God might use it to challenge and comfort you, as well.

Freebie: Yes, there are roosters that crow in the early morning, as there have been in pretty much every country I have ever visited outside of the US. Also, I forgot that Mark gets me flowers a lot more in developing countries! Love it!

To Uvira and Back again

Mon-Wed this week, we went to Uvira, a smaller town south of here. The good road goes through Rwanda, so we had to cross the border twice in about an hour. That takes a while. It’s warmer in Uvira, but it’s a city surrounded by beauty – mountains on one side and Lake Tanganyika on the other. Unfortunately, we didn’t get any pictures (in typical Mark and Karen style). But we did eat a lot of fish! And mangoes!

We met with Pastor Ron, the leader of an MCC partner organization called Shalom Ministries which is connected to a Mennonite Brethren church there. They work in many different areas, including girls’ education, agriculture for pygmies, women’s sewing and trauma healing (through HROC – Healing and Reconciling our Communities). On the trip out, we passed through an area where a massacre occurred within the last year and 40 people were killed. Shalom Ministries is planning a trauma healing and alternatives to violence training to happen close to that village soon. We’re looking forward to working with them through Seed.

What we're looking at this week

Pray for us this week:

- safe and uneventful travel (visiting MCC partners who are potential Seed placements in another city)

- wisdom & discernment for decisions about our house and who we will employ (language tutors, guards, househelp)

- healthy routines for exercise and meals

- grace with ourselves and one another

Odds and Ends of my thoughts from the first two weeks

I’m really looking forward to this weekend, and not just because it’s our 6^th wedding anniversary! I’ve been wanting so badly to have some time to settle in – to take down decorative axes, bow & arrow, etc. J Last weekend we were on our retreat, so Saturday will be my first day to myself.

Tuesday, I came home a little bit early to do some chores, and I was really So happy for mysterious househelp (a friend of our landlord’s who wants to clean for us) who washed my unmentionables! I wasn’t expecting it and it was such a blessing because that was one of the main things I needed to do.

Dogs – Zambia is where I learned to not like dogs anymore because there are too many, they are skinny and have too many babies, plus they’re not actually good security. There are three dogs on our compound and one just gave birth to her second litter in a year.

Security in the city is much more comfortable than I expected as neither of our colleagues have experienced any theft, not even petty pick-pocketing, and they aren’t aware of any attempted break-ins in our area since they’re been here!

Transactions are so confusing because there are Congolese francs (though I’ve only seen 100, 200, 500, and 1000) but there are also USD, so many transactions involve both. It feels like everything is 500 Congolese Francs, from a motorcycle taxi ride to a stack of tomatoes to an ice cream cone.

Yesterday, I met the sister of an EMU classmate who is from Bukavu! We sat and chatted over a soda (Fanta citron) for an hour or so, and I was so happy to feel like I had found a friend. Thank you, Jacques! She was so kind and willing to help and genuinely interested in our lives here.

About 8,000 words...

Enjoy some pictures!

 Here is Karen and I flying to Congo!

 Here are the motorcyles (aka "moto" or "motorbike") we ride a lot.

 This is a crested crane, national animal/symbol of Uganda

 This is a very cool Bird of Paradise/Banana Family tree.

 This is some countryside on the island of Idjwi. Lots of Eastern DRC looks like this.

 This is Mark on a boat on Lake Kivu. As you can see, there are mountains eveywhere.

 Close-ish-up of some of the mountains on Lake Kivu. Mark thinks those white spots are waterfalls.

Mark went to the barber the other day, who made his facial hair look like a somewhat respectable beard! Karen has been swooning ever since.*

*Bonus material: this picture was taken in our backyard. Our colleague lives in the place with the solar panel on it. Mark wants to cut down some of the bamboo and make a dock to sit on the water.

working Dawsons

We’ve been working hard this week! I’ve been full-time processing applications for our Seed program (many of them in French), and Mark’s taken the lead on setting up house by shopping and cooking, plus learning about the legal system here, practicing French and bringing humor to our team.

My office! The desk on the right is mine.

Today, we were “presented” to a local partner organization called “Program for Peace and Reconciliation” (PPR). It is really exciting to be part of what they’re doing, as they work with the Congolese government and the UN to register and/or repatriate Rwandan refugees and combatants.

We sat in their conference room while it was pouring outside and listened to the men and women as they presented what they do. A large part of it is “sensitization” through local churches, making refugees and combatants aware of what their options are and trying to convince them that they will not be forcibly repatriated (settled again in Rwanda, where their citizenship still is). It inspires me that they’re working through churches to minister to the “offenders”. I put in quotes because the politicians are often the behind-the-scenes initiators of attacks to distract from the real issues.

They’re excited to have Mark working with them as a international human rights lawyer, especially advising about the consequences of recruiting child soldiers. And I’m excited to place Seed participants in villages where PPR is doing sensitization work. It’s really fun to see our passions overlapping so quickly.

It was pouring rain while we were meeting, and we opened with scripture, prayer and song, which I really appreciated. It was pretty much entirely in French, but Serge was interpreting for Mark and me. I understand a lot, but really struggle to say anything. I trust the stubborn-child-language-learning thing to happen: that I’m just listening and listening and one day, it’ll click and I’ll start speaking at a reasonable level.

I’m sure there’s a lot more I could say but I’m going to stop there and post this before I crash. But we have been having plumbing issues that remind me of Zambia. Hopefully the dripping won’t keep me awake tonight.