My Mental and Emotional Status

Surviving DRC for almost 1.5 years is really an achievement to be proud of. Every morning, during breakfast, Jamian and I will talked about how fucked up our sleep is. The annoying mosquitoes, the bed bugs and the power cuts in the middle of the night.

Jamian & I going through our morning routine

I'm really in a bad mood because I haven't been sleeping well for the past week. As I'm writing this, the sound of the generator is roaring loudly and the emission of carbon monoxide is filling up my room.

I'm tired mentally and emotionally, but last night I stumbled upon this Instagram user and I read her blog and watched her YouTube videos. Man, that changed how I totally feel. She even inspired me to write this post. She wrote, " A blog (is) to document my life, not for any other purposes. I want to remember how I felt and how I dealt with each situation that life throws at me." This is exactly how I feel. She added, "Plus I have really terrible memory, I've forgotten most of my past memories until I started reading back. I've definitely came through a long way till I became who I am now. ;)"

I skipped church today. Last Sunday, one of the church member passed me a letter requesting for some funds to upgrade the church music instruments. Sometimes I feel I'm being taken advantage of, I know I have this #faithhopelove project at the back of my head but I don't see much progress/upgrade of the church building after contributing $1,000 to the church building fund.

This is a very grey area and I'm in a dilemma right now. I rather use that money to upgrade the church benches and cement the brown dirt floor in church. Or to even go feed the poor. I really don't know that to do anymore. I'm stucked!

Letter to me

$1,750 worth of amps and speaker

I really hate my job, I hate being an unethical accountant. Period. It feels like a prison here, barb wires around your house with armed guards 24/7. Life is super routine here as we are not encourage to go anywhere except house and office. I'm very hungry now, it's 4.00pm and lunch is still not ready.

Front part of our house

Prison

Despite all the negativity and complains, I thank God for this once in a life time experience, for sustaining me, for giving me comfort and strength.

My Experience in the DRC Part III

36) Boys selling water in plastic bag and people here drink from the small plastic bag. I've never tried before because we're advised not to drink local water. We only take mineral water here and it cost $1.50 per bottle. We even use that to brush our teeth but now I just use local water for that. Trying to cut cost for my co.

Focus on the third guy from the right. A plastic of water cost 50fc (equivalent to RM0.15)

37) Did you know the one doing pedicure and manicure here are young boys. You usually see them carrying different coloured nail polish all tied up together. They will walk on the street and if they are lucky, those 'aisui' women will sit at the side of the road and get pampered. Really a funny sight!

38) You can't walk at the streets after 10pm. The locals told me that the crime rate in Kindu is rising, a lot of robberies. So the soldiers will patrol the street after 10pm. They will put anyone who is on the street in prison for one night. Weird.

39) Bicycles are modified to carry goods. They carry bags of charcoal, thick ply woods, groceries, etc.

40) The internet cafe is cost a bomb! It looks like a classroom with wooden tables and chairs. Used laptops are given and your time is written on a piece of torn paper.

Busy Face-booking

Feels like going back to school

$4 dollars/hr and the speed sucks

41) Currently they are quite a number of photostat and printing services on every corner of the street. They will use a car battery to power up their mini photo machine or printers.

42) Their heat tolerance is high. They can sit under the sun for hours. Amazing.

43) Their cold tolerance is low. They will wrapped themselves in thick jackets and wind breaker when it rains.

44) Bugali taste like mud! When they cooked it, it smells like shit. Really terrible smell. This is their staple food here.

The flour used

Mama Rebeca mixing the flour with water and palm oil

 Mama Leki and Mama Rebeca having a happy meal together

Bon Apetite!

My turn to try

Close up shot of Bugali. 

45) Their hand signal have a different meaning. If you want something to be filled to the brink. Show this sign...

This means full in DRC.

46) DIY screen protector. They used plastic to wrap their mobile phones. Can't find the pic. =(

47) They cut the grass with a parang which is really time consuming and taxing to the lower back.

48) People don't carry powerbanks here but they bring their charger along with them.

Taking every opportunity to charge their phones

49) The usage of toilet paper here is very different from back home. It cost $6 for a dozen of low quality toilet paper which hurts your (_x_) after cleaning it.

It is used for one of my company's official ceremony

Yea, the VIPs are gonna cut that 'ribbon'

It is also used as a wedding deco

Bride and bridegroom seated inside a tent during their wedding ceremony. Will blog about this experience in another separate post. 

50) They look very similar if you don't know them. There was once I mistaken this guy as my worker in Kindu when I was in Kinshasa. Both places are 700miles apart and it was darn embarrassing.

I'm still not finish...to be continue.

My Experience in the DRC Part II

The list continues, click here to read the first part of what I've learned, noticed and experienced after being here for more than a year.

23) Don't expect to have a good night sleep. The no.1 most annoying thing is the mosquitoes, they feast as if there is no tomorrow and you could hear them buzzing like they're in an orchestra.  We don't have stable electricity and I would wake up sweating and scratching in the middle of the night.

The small little bulb on the tree is an indicator whether we have electricity or not

24) You can do a lot with one pail of water. I now can bathe and flush with just a pail of water. And there is a technique to flush your poo down the toilet bowl. If you fail to do it in one go, habis la.

25) Always carry a torch with you. Refer to 23.

26) Don't expect to eat whenever you want. If you have cravings for Maggi in the middle of the night, you've to get your guard to start a fire for you. By the time the charcoal is all heated up, you might lose the mood for supper.

Mama Beloti preparing lunch

27) Be prepared to eat the same dish over and over again.

Rice & dhal

Rice & curry green beans

Rice & beans

Rice & dhal

Chapati & red beans

Rice, ikan bilis & egg

Rice & dhal

Rice & spinach

Rice & red beans

Rice & beans

Rice & beans

Rice & spinach

Rice & beans

28) Your drinking water comes is all sorts of shapes. Courier service here is the shit. It cost us $300 to transfer a 16kg package from Kindu - Lubumbashi.

Drinking water

29) Picking your taxi driver is like buying a lottery ticket. Sometimes you strike a clean ok smelling rider, sometimes not.

30) Finding new spots/scars on your body is normal.

Look like I got stapled 

Scratch scratch scratch 

31) They clap their hands and cheer joyfully when the plane lands.

32) They put soap on their body after shower and let it dry. This is to make them smell nice.

33) Mothers breastfeed openly here. (no pics, sorry)

34) They put most things on their head; i.e umbrella, pails, handbags, broom. There was once I saw a man cycling with a basket of vegetables on his head!!!!!!

35) Taking photos publicly is prohibited.

My Experience in the DRC Part I

To click the 'create a new post' icon after more than a year is a dread. My last post was exactly one year ago about my trip to Kalima. But I'm just gonna take my buddy Sam's advice and start blogging, hopefully this would make me famous one day. Haha!

So what have I learn after living in the poorest country in the world for more than a year.

1) Don't think about getting out from the airport without a cost, even when you have your visa and all travelling documentations. 

Kindu Airport

2) The time stated in your flight ticket is just a number.

3) Getting your flight ticket does not guarantee you a seat on the plane.

4) Don't expect the air stewardess to smile at you!

5) Everything in the plane's toilet is incomplete or missing.

6) People say you pay a premium price for better service, but not here. Check out my in-flight dining experience.

7) Children are a super independent. I've seen so many 4-5 years old taking care of their baby brothers/sisters. There was once where this baby was crying non stop because she was thirsty, her brother just grab a plastic from the ground which contains a little water and put it in the mouth of the little one.

Beatrice, age 5 washing her own cup without being told

The crying baby and her brother

8) They chew on anything they find like a chewing gum. i.e ear phone plugs, paper clips, plastic bags, rubber, pen cover, etc

9) Mothers and pregnant women here are in the teens, twenties, thirties, forties and fifties. They are everywhere on the street because they don't believe in using a condom. One of the locals told me using a condom is bad. In addition to that, I've never seen one being sold here in Kindu.

10) Most women have a pin buried in their braided hair. They use this to dig and scratch their scalp because they don't wash their hair daily. Itchy ma.

11) They don't have running water here and I don't understand why we have to pay $50 a month for water charges. Water pipe and shower are just for decorative purpose only.

A typical stationery shop

12) Some locals who live far away from the water source (wells, water pumps, etc) have to walk for miles just to get water for washing clothes and cooking. And carrying 30L of water is no joke!

13) People here live in simplicity. No electricity, no running water, no gadgets, no electrical appliances, nothing to keep them entertain except human interaction.

Mama Mayaza cutting some sugar cane for me

14) Nothing is impossible for them because they are really innovative in making use of the resources they have. For instance, the light bulb at the gate of my house is not covered from rain. What my worker did was, get a plastic container and use that as a housing for the light bulb. The mic stand in my church is even more amazing. It is made out of wood, it can hold the mic but sometimes, it will drop out.

Light bulb cover

15) The doctor takes your medicine after your treatment is complete but I think this only applies to us expats. Probably they can sell those leftover medicine.

16) Men and women care about the outward appearance a lot. Those who can afford will go to a salon to get hair extension. For guys clean shaved head for two thousand Congolese Franc (approximately RM6).

17) Most people walk everywhere they go, that's why you see a lot of people walking in town. Their taxi is a motor bike. Taxi fare ranges from five hundred to one thousand Congolese Franc to get around town (approximately 3km - 5km).

With Biay at one of the sundry shop

18) Most of them have bloodshot eyes, not sure whether they're drunk most of the time or its the dusty environment here.

19) Children and people gather in big group outside shops which sells CD and DVDS for a taste of entertainment.

20) Corruption is inevitable.

21) When they tell you they are hungry or thirsty, they really mean it. One of my worker came to me and told me he was thirty. I gave him a 1.5L mineral water, he finished it on the spot in less than 10 seconds.

22) They share their food, eat together and smile more than most of us who have everything

The locals having lunch together

I'll continue to add on to this list because there are many new things I learn about the people here. One year seems like a short time but being here away from family/friends/Shadow and the comfort of life feels like I've been here for three years.