An Outing at the Lake

President and Sister Livingstone in a rare moment of relaxation. Their schedule is beyond crazy. We're not sure how they keep up with everything. Our mission includes five countries with missionaries in three of them. We could really use some Senior couples so if anyone wants to have the experience of a lifetime, get your missionary application turned in, and request to come to the Congo!

Elder Barlow really isn't crashing into this tree. He is being a loving husand and is picking some pods from this tree that Sister Barlow loves to collect.

Sister Barlow is always taking pictures. Elder and Sister Barlow have done amazing projects as they have served as the Humanitarian Directors of the DR Congo Kinshasa Mission. They have an incredible blogspot that is very fun and truly inspiring. Check it out at: barlowsinthedrcongo.blogspot.com.

We enjoyed an hour of paddle boating on this peaceful lake. Could these be the original design for paddleboats? They worked fine, just not real comfortable but we didn't come to the Congo for comfort!
This area looks more like the jungle parts of Africa. There were vines hanging from the trees that you could really picture Tarzan swinging on!

Elder Moon, my best friend, my missionary companion and the man I adore!

Elder Moon got to see how the machine worked after he got it fixed. One of the technicians layed on the table and let Elder Moon exam his eye. We each got a turn to look in the operating microscope and check out this man's eye. That's the closest I will get to being a technician or doctor!
Final adjustments of the machine.
Elder Moon gets involved in a wide range of fix-it projects. At this garden project he fixed the leak at the hose bib and fixed the hose at the other end so he could install a nozzle so they didn't have to hold their thumb the whole time they were watering. Our son Jonny bought the nozzle in Provo and sent it over because they don't have them here in the C0ngo.

Elder Moon fixing a field of vision eye exam machine at the Kinshasa General Hospital.
When he finished and the machine was working, the doctors gave him a big applause. It was really touching. They were so appreciative!
To fix this operating microscope, we had to put on scrubs and go in the operating room. Dr. Hunsaker who was here from Utah to train a group of doctors was working with Elder Moon.
This is another operating microscope that Elder Moon had to assemble that had been donated to St. Joseph's Hospital. We had a small room to work in and then put on full scrubs and entered the operating room where three people were having surgery. He finished the installation in the operating room while these surgeries were taking place.

Elder Moon had to return to the small room to repair a part and the lighting was poor. One of the technicians brought in some operating lights so Elder Moon could see what he was doing.

This man without feet is waiting for his wheelchair. Watching these people receive these wheelchairs was a very humbling experience. We really take so many things for granted.

At the Handicap Center, Elder and Sister Barlow who are the Humanitarian directors for our mission arranged for wheelchairs to be distributed to people. Many of them have had to crawl for years and use shoes, or flip flops or blocks of wood under their hands.

President Iyomi on the far right is the President of the Kasa Vuba Stake in Kinshasa. He is a doctor by profession. He spoke at the ceremony. The man in the wheelchair was so excited!

As we were walking back from Camp Luka, we passed this "shop" under a tree. The lady in the back of the picture was sewing clothing on an old treadle sewing machine. (These machines were invented in 1851 by Isaac Singer.) She hangs the items to sell on the wall behind her. Many people set up these little shops right along the trails or roads and almost all of them are the old treadle machines. That's because they don't usually have electricity in these villages or in town for that matter.

At the far left you can see people filling their water containers. This picture above is the old latrine they used before the nice new blue one was built.

Beautiful faces of the children.

This water tower was installed by
This water tower that was arranged for by the Humanitarian arm of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints makes it possible for the villagers to get water right in their village rather than walking 6 kilometers each way to obtain water.

We got to go to the closing ceremony for this Latrine project at Camp Luka. You can see the before and after pictures. What a great improvement for their village. This was built next to the school. IFESH and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints partnered to do this project. They use local people to do the work and teach them the skills of how to build and maintain it. They also taught a hygiene class with the idea that the members would teach their families and other villagers.

These children are playing a game with wrappers. Their goal is to win as many as they can. They flip some kind of object and the winners take a wrapper. I guess it is their version of playing for marbles.
We checked to see what unit this Cub Scout was from only to learn it is a shirt that had come from Colorado. He was very proud of it! I don't think he even knows what a Cub Scout is.
All of the children love to have their picture taken. Thank heavens for digital cameras so we can show them their pictures. They get so excited to see themselves and their friends.

We spent a day with our friends from Tifie looking at their projects. This cute lady was teaching people how to whistle through her hands and had such a fun hairdo.
This is another little girl carrying her little brother who fell sound asleep.


















Some of their faces tear your heart out. But when you show them their picture, they usually burst into huge smiles!


This little girl in the center of the picture is on her way to get water from the water tower that the church Humanitarian Group brought to her village. Notice she is carrying one jug and has another strapped to her back.

Everywhere we go we see children 4-8 years old carrying younger siblings that range from tiny infants to 2 years old.