Final Post from CAR Trip 2017

Well since we have returned to Bangui, We have been working on a variety of projects. Nothing really exciting but yet important. The most important thing that we have been doing is reconnecting with some people here, spending time catching up with one another. Sunday after church, we went out of town to meet with the leaders of the Grace brethren seminary at their new property. We got to hear their vision for the growth of the school and the development of the property. We discussed their need for the expansion of their water system to accommodate the growth. We will do some research along with Water for Good to determine the best plan moving forward. 

This is a water well that our church funded for a village that neighbors the seminary property.

Our visit to Grace Brethren Seminary.
Today, Monday, we worked very hard to finish up the projects we have been working on. Bruce and I were also able to squeeze in a visit with an old friend. This man lives away from town a little bit and grows spiralina. Spiralina has a high level of protein and other nutrients and is used to help people who are sick especially, but it can be taken for preventative health measures as well. Over the several years we have been coming here Bruce and I have developed a relationship with this man, and Bruce has assisted him and his work. So today we wanted to go see how this man was doing after the war.  Marcellin took us to the farm, once the man realized who we were he was so thrilled to see us and could not stop saying how excited he was to see us and how that he was going to sleep so well tonight knowing that we have stopped to see him. He shared with us how that when the Seleka rebels came he got shot in the neck and they beat him.  He said then they took everything he had. So now he is trying to rebuild his business which is hard because most of his workers were scared away and have not come back so he is doing the work now along with his family members. Some of the customers that he had before the war, like hospitals, orphanages, and other things like that have lost contact with him as a result of the war. He is hoping to reestablish himself and his customer base but it is very difficult. Please pray for him.

This will be my last post from Africa as we will prepare to leave to come home tomorrow morning. We are thankful for the time that we could be here and invest in our brothers and sisters in Christ to help them help their country. I am especially thankful to Bruce, Rick, and Walter, for being willing to come with me and invest their time and resources. It has been a great trip filled with lots of hard work, laughter, and adventures. My prayer is that God will bring me back again. Thank you to all who have been praying for us, it has been very important to 
us knowing that we are lifted up in prayer. Thank you especially to our families for letting us come and holding down the fort while we have been gone. We look forward to sharing with you more as you see us.

Tim
Sent from my iPhone 

Bruce and the Spiralina farmer

Back to Bangui

Scroll to bottom for pictures.

As expected, yesterday was a long travel day back to Bangui.  We left Berberti around 5:45 am and we arrived in Bangui around 8:30-9 pm. This time we took the southern route which follows the fourth parallel Road across the southern part of the central African republic. This road goes down through the rain forest and provides wonderful scenery with the canopy trees over the road. The entire road is a one lane dirt road that most the time is all sand. The roads have not been worked on much so they are very bumpy and the drivers are constantly swerving to miss holes. 

Thankfully we did not have any car problems other than having to stop and resecure the luggage carrier that broke the mounting bracket that secures it to the roof of the truck. I was happy that I had left some suitcase straps in my backpack that we had used on the way over to secure our heavy bags. We used these to secure the luggage rack and were able to continue our journey. Things were going well and I thought we were making good progress but then we entered the town of Boda.  

Once we arrived we quickly realized that there was a big truck stuck in the middle of the one lane bridge, it had fallen through part of the bridge over a small river. There was no other way to cross the river and to go a different way would take hours to go around. But we had the best solution, his name is Marcellin. He assessed the situation and decided that he could engineer a way to lift the truck back up onto the bridge and get it off the bridge. You would think this idea would be well received by the community, but in this case it was not. Typical of African culture there was a man who did not want the truck to be removed until the trucking company owner came to the town to pay to rebuild the bridge. We learned later that the truck had been stuck for over a day and a half already.  Marcellin insisted to this man that he could remove the truck from the bridge then the bridge could be repaired. At this point there was a confrontation, the man causing the problems grabbed a bar being used to jack up the truck and started swinging it at the people watching this whole situation. Then he started yelling at Marcellin and asked him why he was not afraid of him, and Marcellin challenged him back, why are you not afraid of me? It turned out that this man was a chief of the former militia group called anti-balata and the people were afraid of him because he was a warrior.  Marcellin told him he would follow his ideas if they were right, but if they were wrong he would not follow him. Thankfully this confrontation only lasted a few minutes, then Marcellin and some others guys continued to work on jacking the truck up so they could move it off the bridge. This process took a while as you might guess, but it was really cool to see Marcellin's problem solving skills take over, he took charge of the scene and started organizing people around him. He even purchased big wooden boards off of a truck waiting to cross the bridge so that they could be put underneath the truck to cover the hole in the bridge. About three hours, the truck was able to be backed off the bridge much to the cheers of all the people watching. Then we quickly drove our trucks across the bridge first to make sure we got a crossed since Marcellin had "come to the rescue". Oh, how would you feel to be the first ones to drive across a bridge that had just broken? Well we got to do that, the guys actually drove the trucks across with Bruce riding with Marcellin, but then the rest of us walked across the bridge just to be safe which actually was not easy either because you had lots of boards across the bridge that were not secured down, and people were wanting to start going across the bridge too. Well, after this three hour delay we were back on the road. 

The rest of the trip went pretty well getting us back into the capital city just before the city curfew. It was a great feeling to finally get back, we all felt worn out like we have been working the entire time which, in a way, we have been, we were constantly holding on as we bounced around the roads. It was a great feeling to lie in bed and to be still, but one funny thing happened, imagine being in a vehicle for all of those hours listening to the same music over and over, imagine it is in a different language, this music was stuck in my head while I was trying to go to sleep, but I figured Marcellin had earned the right to listen to whatever he wanted to because he had gotten us back.
Today, Friday, we helped Rick get packed up and headed off to check in his bags so that he could leave around 5:30 PM local time to head home. I am so thankful for Rick's contribution to our team and I ask you to pray as he travels home, and that he may have a great reunion time with his family on Saturday.
The rest of us went to the water for good office to check on the progress while we were gone. The guys did a great job and had a fresh coat of paint on the exterior and interior of the office. Walter continued his work on the electrical system making connections to be able to switch between solar power and electrical power. If you know Walter, he is an expert, and is very thorough, and knows how to connect complex wiring situations. While Walter worked on that, I sorted more tools so that they could be left here for the team here in Bangui .  

Before Rick left, we took time as a team to tour a couple of the other properties of water for good. We actually got to meet Marcellin's mom and other family members. This was a fun experience, but I realized that I forgot to take pictures so I will see if I can stop again. Then, we visited a place called PK – 22. I admit this was a little difficult because over the years my teams and I have spent a lot of time at this property fixing it up to be another base camp for Water for good. We had built a large barn and had assembled shipping containers and made them into a working mechanic shop. But as with so many things here in the central African republic, this property was looted and destroyed by the Seleka rebels. Water for good removed as many things as they could just in case but they could not move everything. There were carcasses of machines sitting around that had been stripped of all of their valuable parts. Everything else was completely gone every shred of the building and containers was completely gone. While this was a discouraging visit, I am thankful to God for the resolve that he put into my heart that this would not keep me from continuing to help the people of the Central African Republic. My job is to serve Jesus, Jesus's job is to do the rest, my job is to be faithful to what Jesus wants me to do. I also reflected on several conversations I have had since I have been here with Marcellin. He has had many things destroyed by the Seleka rebels, and been threatened with a gun if he did not give them money,but his attitude has been to persevere and not let them stop him from living the life that he believes God has for him. He even said one time, they took all of my cows but I will go buy new ones. Well, I pray that if it is God's will we will be able to come back at some point and build another building to replace the one that was destroyed it will be in a different location but the results will be the same, we will persevere with our partners here to further the work that God has given them, and us.

PK-22 now

The barn sat directly behind this tree.  We ate our lunches under this tree while building it.

The buildings are all gone.

What the barn at PK-22 looked like before the war.

PK-22 before the war.

Tim
Sent from my iPhone

In the central African republic it is in the dry season right now, but the last couple nights we have had rain showers that have cooled off things very nicely. This made sleeping much more enjoyable, not having sweat running down your face while you're trying to sleep.
Tuesday, was another workday, Walter and I finished working on the drill rig and we did some final testing with Marcellin. We also took time to document all of the hydraulic systems so that Walter will be able to help order parts in the future for the rig.  Marcellin was very excited to see the rig working properly again. Now they will be able to go out and drill new waters wells soon. Walter also worked on the second drill rig to replace a pump that needed wasn't working as well.   Rick and Bruce continued to work on the office project, they were making and installing the trusses to hold the roof. They also were making screens for over the windows to keep bugs out of the office.
One of the things that we have really enjoyed is getting to know some of the workers Monday night, we had Elise share about her experiences when the Seleka rebels came to Berberti. Elise has been our cook while we have been here. She is always busy cooking or doing our laundry and she just loves to serve and she told Jim that she is very happy that we are here so that she can have a job. So she told us how The rebels came and raided the house that we are staying in. They stole furniture and broke doors in every room.  They also demanded that a Elise cook them meals. She obviously was fearful, but had to follow their demands so she prepared meals for them. There were about six different times that the Rebels came to the guesthouse each time demanding she make them food. One time a group that was here gave her money to go buy food and then prepared it for them. She left the food on the tables for the guys to eat it then when she came in the gate of the compound they put a gun to her head and told her to eat the food first because they were suspicious that she had poisoned the food. So she ate some food and after about 10 minutes they were satisfied and went ahead and ate  the food. After the meal the leader of the group thanked her for treating them so kindly and asked her to pray for them because he knew that what they were doing was wrong. So the leader of this group made all of the soldiers get out of the trucks and kneel down on the ground and she prayed for them before they left. There is much more to the story but Jim is going to record it again and have it translated so that it can be documented.
Last night we got to visit with Marcellin's secretary Astride. Again, it was great to hear more about her family and to share with her about our families. She shared much gratitude to us for sacrificing time from our families at home to come to their country to help them. She also had stories about the rebels coming to town, I am so thankful that God has protected these wonderful people here and I hope that we have been an encouragement to them to persevere. It also reminds us that we need to pray for our brothers and sisters who are going through very difficult times to help them stay faithful.  Our projects are important, but building relationships is most important and I'm thankful that we were able to do that.
Wednesday morning, I had the opportunity along with Bruce to go to the employee devotional time at 7 am. At the end of this time Bruce was able to hand out some gifts that we had brought them. After this time we also took time to take some pictures. Then later, Walter did a training class for all the employees teaching them about some of the principles of hydraulic systems. Walter is very knowledgeable and his expertise was very helpful to all of the guys.
     Thank you for all of your prayers, and we would ask you to pray once again for us as we will start the journey back to Bangui early Thursday morning. We anticipate another long bouncy day traveling back, pray for perseverance for us and the vehicles. Rick will fly out of the country Friday, but the rest of us will stay until Tuesday to finish some of the work.

 Rick and Bruce installing trusses.

 Bruce handing out gifts.

 Marcellin and Tim

 Bruce and Astride

 Walt and Marcellin

 Walt teaching his class while Jim translates.

 Walt's students

 Alexis's wife had a baby boy this morning.  They named him Tim.  Wow, how special is that?! I'm so glad that my husband's presence means that much to the Africans working with Water For Good (Jeana).I pray many blessings for little Tim.

Tim and Elise.

.

Tim
Sent from my iPhone

Well, I finally have Internet so I am going to send some updates about what we have been doing. The funny thing is, I had typed up a blog post on my computer waiting for the Internet to come back on. But now my computer screen will not work so I am typing it on my phone. I was able to send some pictures yesterday that I saw were posted, so I will try and provide information to go with the pictures. Saturday we continued our projects, Bruce and Rick continued their work on the container turning it into an office. They worked at framing the windows and doors and leveling the container.  Walt and I continued to work on the drill rig looking to diagnose the problem with the hydraulic system. We spent all day looking at different scenarios but as of Saturday, we had not found the problem.
Sunday we attended church in town it was great to worship with our brothers and sisters in Christ. After Church we drove around town a little bit looking at how bad the roads were. We got out and looked at the main road into town and how badly the road had been washed out by the rains. The ground is very sandy so once the rain comes, it quickly washes it away. Many houses are now in jeopardy of falling into the hole . Most of the afternoon we took the opportunity to rest and just relax. Later in the afternoon we went for a walk in our neighborhood to visit two of the men that work for MAD (Marcellin African Drilling), Alexis and Etienne.   We wanted to go visit these men at their homes and meet their families and hear their stories. We asked them about how their families were affected by the war and when the rebels came into town. The men said that they hid their families out in the tall grass so that they would not be harmed by the military men.

At this point I want to explain a little bit about the structure of the Water well drilling teams. You may have heard the phrase "give a man a fish, feed him for a day, teach a man how to fish feed him for a lifetime". Well this is the philosophy that water for good has been working on in the Central African Republic. They have worked very hard to invest in the African people and to teach them principles that will help them long-term, this is a much harder process, but the results will be last longer. Jim Hocking has sought to mentor men and women over the years as he has operated water for good.  One of those men, Marcellin, has been trained to do the drilling of the new water wells and to do mechanical repairs on all of the vehicles. He is an awesome guy who has worked very hard to learn the skills and to grow in his leadership abilities.  

A little over a year ago, Water for Good continued the process to invest in the African people by handing over part of the drilling program to Marcellin. He now owns the Drilling company and has his own company name, Marcellin African Drilling (MAD).  He is the only central African business owner of a well drilling company. He leases the land and equipment from Water for Good, but just like any other company, he is responsible to hire employees and run the day-to-day operations. So Water for Good and MAD partner together to do the water well drilling projects here in the Central African Republic. It is exciting to see this big step take place. It has been fun for me personally to see him develop over all of the years I've been coming here. Please pray for him as he has this big responsibility, I can tell that he enjoys it, but anyone who runs a business knows the challenges of managing and running a business. He also leases the property where we are staying, so we are his guests, we ride in his trucks, we stay in his guest house. We are excited to help him in his new business as he partners with Water for Good.

Monday was another workday, the office project continues. I appreciate Bruce and Rick taking on this project. They are doing a great job and are enjoying working with the other guys. Walter and I continued to work on the drill rig. Thankfully Walter figured out the problem with the drill rig, and we now have it functioning again. Now we are starting on the other Drill rig to work on a problem it has, but Walter thinks he knows the problem. It is great to have Walter here with his knowledge and expertise. 

We also had the privilege of handing out new tools to the maintenance teams yesterday. These men go out into the villages and do repairs to the water pumps so that the villages can continue to have clean water. I took a picture of their old tools, and then I took a picture of them as they received new tools that we brought with us from the US. It was honestly very expensive to bring these tools here but seeing the smiles on their faces was very rewarding. The men said that they will be able to do their work because of these new tools. I want to thank all of you that donated to our trip to help fund these tools. I will also take this opportunity to put a plug in for anyone who is interested in helping continue the work here in the Central African Republic by donating to Water for Good. We get to see firsthand that the money is being well spent to provide clean freshwater as well as investing in training the central African people. You can visit their website to learn more at www.waterforgood.org and donate.

God bless
Tim
Sent from my iPhone

Sunday, Jan 22

It's hot and muggy in Beberatti with no air conditioning.  Tim took a little tiny fan in hopes it would provide some relief during these stifling nights. It's hot/dry season in then CAR. It could be up to 130 F in the sun during this season.
Yesterday, Sunday, morning, Rick wasn't feeling well and had to leave church early and head back to the guesthouse.  This morning I heard from Tim that he is starting to feel better.  Communication has been slow since they arrived in Beberatti.  The internet is unreliable.  He was able to get a call out to me on Saturday evening though. Pictures he sent last night finally came through today.  So please see the pics below and appreciate some of what they are doing there. Thanks for your prayers!

 Saturday's work

 Saturday's work

 Church

 Main road into Beberatti was washed out by heavy rains.

 Visit with Alexis

 Partnership between Water For Good and Marcellin African

 Maintenance team's old tools.

Maintenance team's new tools!

Jan 20 CAR Update

 I wanted to get you caught up on our last two days.

Thursday was our travel day from Bangui to Berberati.  Our trip took around 14 hrs, this journey is not for the faint of heart.  About an hour into our trip we stopped in Boali, where Water for Good has its radio station.  We dropped off some much needed supplies that we brought from the US so the guys can make some repairs and help get the nighttime transmitter working.  The Water for Good radio station has a huge impact on the country as its broadcast reaches all across the Central African Republic.  The radio station did sustain some damage as the Seleka rebels looted and destroyed as they took over the country.  But it has been back up and running for a while now and soon once repairs are made it will be fully back online.  Walt was excited to take a look at the broadcasting equipment in the humble studio built in a shipping container.

     Our journey then continued on to Berberati, Being able to drive on asphalt was a luxury we only got to experience for a couple hours.  The majority of our trip was on untouched dirt roads.  This was like a 6-hr workout for us and the vehicles.  The roads were washed out and hard to find a path to drive on at times.  The ruff terrain tossed us back and forth like a pinball in a pinball machine.  If you have ever ridden in a pick up truck and noticed handles above the passenger doors and wondered "whoever uses these", well, these were lifesavers for us.  The person in the middle of the back seat got tossed back and forth, because there was nothing to hold onto.  The roads were worse than I had experienced in previous trips by far.  

     Another noticeable difference was empty towns that normally were bustling markets in previous years.  Many people fled during the war and only part of the people have returned.  The Seleka rebels systematically killed and destroyed people and infrastructure.  They destroyed fuel pumps in every town that had a gas station leaving getting fuel to buying from local guys who carry their fuel in smaller containers.  This was then followed by the exodus of Muslim people fleeing from the Anti-balaka who were retaliating for the attrocities committed against the people.  Many of the Muslim homes and businesses were either boarded up or completely destroyed.

     Well, part way through our trip one of the trucks quit running.  This caused us to be broken down for about an hour and a half in the middle of the bush.  We broke down in a section of road that was one lane only, no one could pass us on either side, so after awhile we had oncoming traffic waiting for us to get out of the way.  Thanks to Marcellin's mechanical skills, the truck was back up and running and lasted all the way to about 2 kilometers from our destination in Berberati.  At this point in the road, there was a large truck stuck almost tipping over into a ravine.  The truck was blocking the road, but thankfully for us, Marcellin and Patrick dug out the bank of the hill on the left side of the truck and just enough dirt moved to get our trucks by the big truck.  But just as we went to leave, the truck that had broken down earlier quit working again.  This time we could not get it running  but since we were close we just hooked up a tow rope and towed the truck to town.  So finally our journey was complete, time to rest.  Even though it was a long tough day, we are thankful to be here to help make a difference here in the CAR.

     Today, Friday, we took some time to scope out the needed projects here.  Walt began his crucial work of diagnosing the problem with the hydraulic system on the drill rig.  Please pray that he is successful as the drill rigs are what allows new water wells to be drilled.  Bruce and Rick began the project to transform the shipping container into an office.  This office will house the teams that go out and do the maintenance on the water well pumps.  So pray that by the time we leave it will be close to move in ready.  I just worked with Jim and bounced back and forth helping Walt and Bruce and Rick.  A lot of the people here remembered me from previous trips, almost all asked to see my hand.  On one of my trips in the past, I seriously injured my finger ("almost cut it off" adds Jeana). I guess it had a major impact and I know it encourages them to see me come back, especially when I bring others to help.

Thanks for your prayers

Tim

Today was our first day to work, our main goal was to sort out all of the tools that we brought with us from the United States. First of all I want to thank everyone who donated to make this possible.  I would like to thank the Wooster Lowe's for donating a bunch of tools and toolboxes that will be handed out throughout our time here. Next, I want to thank those who donated financially which allowed us to purchase tools at discounted prices from a local store owner, to be able to be used to help Africans have safe clean water. I'm looking forward to the opportunity to hand these tools out to the teams, I'm sure it will be just like Christmas morning to them.
After lunch, we went back to the Water for Good office to continue to evaluate improvements that need to be made. Next we decided to hook up the solar panels that were mounted on a stand so that the office could have solar power back up for when the electricity is not on from the city. Walt got up on the ladder to do most of the wiring, it is nice to know someone who can keep the wires straight.
Tomorrow we will leave at 5 am to begin our journey to Beberati which is where the water well drilling facility is located. This journey should take between 12 and 14 hours.  We plan on doing many repairs and maintenance to help get the rigs ready to drill more wells. Walt will do some training on hydraulic systems as well. The rest of us Will work to turn a 40 foot shipping container into an office for the maintenance teams to use.

Thank you for your prayers
Tim

Leaving Paris for Bangui

Our four guys met up with Jim Hocking, founder of Water For Good, in Atlanta and flew to Paris. This morning they left Paris for Bangui. LOL! They now have 24 pieces of luggage between the 5 of them.

Update: While it took me all day for some reason to be able to get these pictures on this blog, the guys flew all the way to Bangui.  They have arrived with ALL 24 suitcases and ALL 5 guys! Marcellin, Farel, Nicaise and Andre were all there at the airport to greet them  Tim said they greeted him with a head bump which is a pretty special greeting among friends.  I think they are happy to see him and the team!  I sent the usual gift to Andre, the cook: bacon! Not something he gets very often or at all.  Not everyone gets to have meat on thier plates.  I'm so happy that he and his family will have a little for now.

I guess tomorrow they will stay around Bangui instead of jumping into trucks for a 15 hour drive.  They will make that drive to Beberati on Thursday.

Tim, Bruce, Walt, Rick and Jim all arrived safely in Paris this morning. They are quite tired as none of the had much sleep on the plane. If you can imagine Tim and Bruce shoulder to shoulder on those "spacious" seats, you'll understand why sleeping was difficult.

The trip to the concierge's station to drop off their 17 bags at the Paris airport was a challenge, but they made it, took the train into the city and met up with Rob Plaster, a missionary in Paris. After lunch and a tower of the city: Eiffle Tower, Notra Dome, Arch de Truimph, the Louve, they went to the airport hotel to get some much needed sleep.

They will start their day at 5am their time (11pm ours), leave Paris at 9am and land in Bangui around supper time.

Thanks everyone for your prayers thus far. I will update this blog as often as Tim can send me info.