Pululu Mbambu

Up to this point we have been involved in repairing broken wells, and finishing up previously started wells....this....TADAAAAH is our very own first time finally approved and FINALLY started well.  It is in the beginning stages but....we are now ON A ROLL!  Pululu Mbambu is a quartier (village) outside of Kinshasa proper.  The 11,434 people here have never had clean water.  It is a privilege to serve them in this way.  They are fortunate to have a forward thinking, dynamic leader in Chief Jean Pierre.    Ro and I arrived here in DR Congo not knowing anything....I mean ANYTHING about wells and pumps and clean water.  Like you, most likely all we knew about water when we arrived here was how to turn on the faucet in our apartment.  Amazing what you learn and can do when you are serving the Lord.  Ro is the rock star of this project.  His patience with government officials, expertise in legal matters and fluency in French is astounding to say the least.  All I did was be charming, say a few words of support and encouragement in Lingala to the women, smile a lot and it didn't hurt that Chief Jean Pierre loves me :-)  The people of Pululu Mbambu had to sacrifice a lot to make this project happen.  They had to collect 10% of the cost of the well in advance before we could dig one spoonful of dirt.  The wells are donated by us the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormon) but we don't believe in dishing out wells or anything else without requiring a commitment of self- reliance.  The money raised by these people whose average income is $300 (yes three hundred dollars) per year is now in a secure bank account where it can be used to maintain the wells and pumps in the future.  Where do we Mormons get all of this money to provide relief throughout the world in developing countries?  It comes from donations from Church members and friends of the Church. This is not a blog post soliciting funds, but if you have read this far and would like to participate in something gratifying.  Let us know....Think about it the next time you turn on the faucet in your kitchen or bathroom and clean water comes out.  Amazing isn't it?   

Pululu Mbambu is a village we are drilling wells in at the moment.  This woman (who speaks only Lingala) and I have bonded.  Isn't she beautiful.....Just look at her face, it tells so many stories.  I love these African women. Rarely do we see a Congolese person with white hair as the life expectancy here is 55 years.   I asked this woman how many years she had and she said she didn't know.