2019

Descending 5,000 feet from Rethy down to lake Albert and climbing back up in a day used all the energy we had. The potential energy of water falling down that escarpment was beyond measure and Marr Miller had seen a large falls plunging down from the plateau not far from Rethy. We had checked the falls at VP and concluded they were too small to provide electricity for us.

Exploring the site of an abandoned perfume factory in Zaire was the initial motivation to develop a 400 KVA hydroelectric plant in the highlands overlooking Lake Albert. During a ninth grade class field trip we did the feasibility study, learning more about potential and kinetic energy than can be taught in books. Boarding school activities at Rethy stimulated creativity.

When I was asked to help I didn’t receive specific instructions from the one I was helping. I knew exactly what needed to be done, took the initiative, and used what I had, to do the best I could. The one I was helping never showed up at the project and didn’t speak to me for a couple days. From my perspective the job was well done.

This story includes several opportunities I had to discipline my unique boarding school children. What do you do when pet guinea pigs are used by four boys as experimental animals in the development of their hunting skills with a bow and arrow? Evaluating the pleasures of smoking geranium leaves was another situation requiring responsible adult input.

This is a continuation of the story of one who refused to retire even after the ceremony was completed. His friends had forgotten him and sent no “dollards”, no letters, no gifts. Without sugar in his tea he was even too weak to walk. He was my friend.

Abrahamu’s faithful work at the school and his ringing of the bell we will never forget. The ringing clang of Abrahamu’s iron rod on the rusty brake drum was an integral part of each school day at Rethy. He used the chant to inform us that the bell was ringing. The bell was ringing, come to school now! Come, come, come! Hurry, hurry, hurry! We needed to come immediately and not delay Actually we could fool around a little, because we weren’t really late unless we not in our seats the second time he rang the bell.

Money, when examined over several years in what was once the Belgian Congo, then Zaire, and now the Democratic Republic of Congo, gives an eloquent demonstration of the fleeting value of money. “Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not high-minded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy.” A young preacher was so instructed in the Bible.

Last week we thought a little about counterfeit money. The counterfeit American Express Travelers check paid to an innkeeper at Mahagi was able to buy goods and services. The American cyclist traveling the length of Africa no doubt had other currencies in his backpack, possibly including some authentic US hundred bills. Getting something for nothing was the cheapest at Mahagi. We began to wonder if the Zaire, issued by the government, was also counterfeit.

Last week I shared the brief history of the circulation and use of a currency created by a missionary Bible school teacher at Bafuka. I called it the Z-bill because Bob Zimmerman designed and printed the purple paper money to use in that remote part of Zaire while awaiting the distribution of the new currency as ordered by Mobutu.

What is your priority during Christmas break? I doubt the local schools call the winter holiday “Christmas” any more, but the administrators probably remember when it was. Thanksgiving is becoming “Turkey Day” and holiday shopping begins as soon the marketing experts can motivate the consumer to buy, now shortly after the consumption of the turkey. Black Friday starts Thursday.