The Wilmarth Journey: Thursday, June 19th

Mission Accomplished

We have been here two and half weeks and now only have 1 week left. The days have been so full and numerous that they are starting to run together in my mind. At this point I can say our short-term mission trip has been a success. We have a week left to stay here but we have already accomplished everything that we set out to do. This is impressive considering 1. How difficult it is to find materials here and 2. Putting in all the effort to get the tasks completed that were laid before us. With a couple tool purchases and some ingenuity here and there we figured it out. I have been tired but sleeping extremely well the last few nights.

Taking a break

Without the help of Emery and Yanike, two great brothers from the church, who are full of joy at the opportunity to work and serve, I think we wouldn’t have been done so fast. Also, Andrew and Didier’s son Walessa (the teenagers) have been carrying their man-sized share of the duties, digging trenches and moving materials.

Another water filling station

Yanicke making a bucket-filling platform, one of seven on the property

Marion has been helping to feed appetites, with her Congolese cuisine, created by all the work!

Elise, Marion, Mary

Making lunch for 20 little people

As of Tuesday we made Didier’s house “wet”. He told me today that he hasn’t had indoor plumbing in any house in which he has lived for the last 15 years. He is quite happy. We also connected the guest-house to the water supply, so we have a spigot in the shower and another in the bathroom; and also we added water in the bathroom of the orphanage (along with the orphanage kitchen that we added last week).

The central diesel generator on the property was wired to the orphanage and Didier’s house before we came to the Congo. The generator had been purchased for lights in the evening and with the foresight of needing to pump water from the well. Now, after buying 200 meters of wire, we also have connected the guest-house and the church on the property to the generator. The church was pitch black at night before; and flashlights were used to help us see in the guest house. Electricity is another luxury I take for granted when in California.

Andrew wiring the church

Yanicke wiring the church

Emery and Andrew, electricians

Bonus Projects

As a bonus to the completed plans, we were hoping to possibly hook-up the 4 toilets on the property so that they would work like an American toilet (with a tank that flushes, instead of a bucket of water) but after Andrew and I spent two hours working on one of the toilets with a new parts kit and multiple sets of old parts, we decided that not only could these toilets not be fixed, but that these toilets never were in their history able to flush. Can you imagine a brand new toilet installed in your house that can’t flush. Well that is what they have been using for a while. Andrew says these toilets aren’t worth a c**p!

So with a little more cash (yes this is a ploy for you to help out C4C with yet more funds) we are hoping to install 4 new toilets on this property that actually flush. That is right, I’m asking you to skip Starbucks for the next month and forward some money so that our friends over here can take care of these 20 kids with the convenience of a toilet! We found a Lebanese store here that carries a nice modern model. We will buy one tomorrow for a trial install. If all goes well, then we will buy 3 more next week. This, teaching at church Sunday, playing soccer with orphans, and basketball with the teenagers of the community, and a few other little tasks should keep us busy for the next week. We will leave next Thursday morning and start the 40 hour trek home; not looking forward to that part (up until I see a warm shower and my soft bed; that I am looking forward to.)