On the Home Stretch

This is a photo of a street; well actually a whole portion of the city of Goma, that was totally covered with lava in the 2000 eruption of the volcano just visible behind me in the background. We were in this neighbourhood delivering left over dry food from one of the distributions to an orphanage. As we got out of the vehicle, the children greeted us in song and lively clapping and dance. These children were orphaned as a result of the war here.

The volcano in the background generates its own cloud of steam that pretty much constantly covers the top. I’m estimating it’s 25 km away, and it is 10,500 ft. Some of the evenings, we can look up at it and there is an amazing red glow in the sky. It erupted last in 2000. Most of Goma and the surrounding 100kms were covered by lava by varying amounts from this or other eruptions. Everywhere you go around here there is lava rock. It has got to be hard on those with bare feet.



This is our Goma warehouse, where local staff are preparing personal hygiene kits containing tooth paste and brushes, diaper material, string, soap, towels, and many more non food items. These will be distributed by Care to IDP”s most in need.

This is the line up waiting for the food distribution today outside the Baptist Church. It is a very organized process thanks to the leadership provided to the local church through SP staff.

This is one of about 11,000 people benefiting from Samaritan’s Purse food distribution today through the local Baptist Church. She is carrying a sack of flour which she will have to divide among a group of people grouped together to make the distribution process more expedient.

This was one of the hand wash stations we had provided for the latrines in Buganga IDP Camp. We also provided cleaning tools for these latrines which were turned over to family groupings who will keep them cleaned. We have also acquired soap for everyone at the camp through UNICEF/Hope In Action which should be distributed Monday.

Patmos IDP Camp. We were at the Patmos Baptist Church IDP camp today where there has been a suspected large number of cholera cases. We’re building 26 latrines, and working on a water supply to offer relief from hauling water from lake 1km away and 42 meter vertical climb back to camp. We told the folks there that we are hoping to bring plastic covering for their huts, and they started applauding...they are so grateful for what we are doing for them.

These are the guys that are hand excavating...or should I say human powered rock drills...for the latrines at Patmos IDP Camp. Lava is prevalent everywhere in and about Goma, as the last eruption of the steaming night glowing volcano was in 2000. These guys weren’t even using the shovel to take the broken rock and soil out of the excavation; they were using their bare hands, as the shovel doesn’t fit into the irregularities created in broken lava. There were ladies and children from the camp picking through the rubble they excavate out of the hole and sifting through to gather the stone and some of the sand that will be used for the concrete foundation for the latrine. We asked the local contractor to use labour from the camp.

This was a photo during a significant rainstorm at Buganga IDP Camp. To add insult to injury for the inhabitants here, I saw one of the ladies bailing out her hut, as the makeshift berm she had built around her hut had not sufficed.

Combatting the spread of Cholera

John testing turbidity of water sampled from spring we are
looking at piping to school/village


Making assessment of spring box that is located 700 meters above
a village and school. We are putting forth a design to pipe this water to a tap stand at the school, and may be able to implement this design before we go.

inspecting construction of new 6 stall latrines at Buganga camp

6 stall latrine at Buganga camp near Minova, 2 hours west of Goma

Went to Patmos Baptist church camp and met with the principal of Patmos
Elementary school run by the government/Baptist church– this is where there are about 2000 IDP’s encamped around that the government doesn’t want supported by NGO’s because they are within the city of Goma and have supposedly been offered space at other camps. But according to the camp director, an IDP himself, it is unsafe for them to go to the other camps....we weren’t told why. But the cholera is becoming a major health issue here, and we need to act on preventing its spread, and latrines is the first step, as everywhere you walk, there is human feces around...bad situation with only about 9 usable, but very deplorably dirty latrines available for use. The church latrine has 2
stalls and is absolutely brimming almost onto the floorboards.

Back at the Buganga camp near Minova, where our LWTS water purification units are located, there are now 44 latrines with at least another 26 to be built in the next few days. We’re going to be installing bucket/spigot wash stations at each latrine on Monday, and UNICEF is supposed to be providing all of the camp inhabitants with soap. These sanitation improvements should help curb the spread of cholera.

John is holding a makeshift hand level survey rod with Valery and children looking on.

Valery, is a Canadian citizen now but came to Canada as a refugee, whose family is in Toronto, but he has a heart to help his people in the Congo as they struggle. He has been a tremendous asset and blessing to our Water/Sanitation team with his interpreting, driving, local contacts and knowledge, and his big heart to serve with us.

The work continues

I’m showing the water techs at the camp how we can improve the water
quality by inserting the pump suction line into a pail and then lowering it into the black primary sediment tanks on the right. The river water is very turbid – I would say it is worse than the North Thompson River in flood. So we are using these big black tanks for primary sedimentation before treating the water within the LWTS.








Me with kids on the back steps of the Baptist Church with the IDP camp
huts in the background. The 2 latrines in the background are overfilled, and along with 3 other seats at another latrine next to the church, are the only
toilets and hygiene for the over 5000 people at this camp.








Me showing the kids my trusty hand level while surveying pipeline – kids
follow you everywhere, mostly hoping to get something from the Muzungu




John (engineer from Ottawa) is taking a sample of water from the tap to test for the chlorine content. This has to be closely monitored, as we don’t want it so high that the people will not drink the water, but we want it to be effective in killing bacteria.











little girl carrying water from lake, 40 vertical meters and 1km to
IDP camp - in the hour we were onsite, we saw probably 50 children doing
likewise, some appearing to be as young as 3 years old.






Kids filling water jugs at the Buganga camp from the LWTS (living water
treatment system) that we are helping to keep fuctioning and improving.







Construction of the new latrines by paid workers who also are
residents of the camp.













These toddlers were shelling beans – children at a very young age are
expected to contribute to the family needs.

Hearts to serve

Matthew 25: 40

The King will reply, "I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me."

There are about 10 of us with SP right now - Len is the head of SP security, Dr. Warren Cooper, Charles Ibsen program coordinator, Imanuel from Liberia is the finance officer - he is a Liberian who speaks french, Patrick is the outgoing finance officer from Boon NC, David Ingrahm Liaison officer, Edward also a Liberian who is looking aftter logistics and nutrition/ food distribution, and Shadrack a Kenyan also nutrition/food distribution

United nations troops everywhere – When we landed, there were bunkers all around the airport. There is a contingent from Indian Army, who are wearing the UN turquoise turbans. Airport is a very interesting place – appears that about 10years ago, the local volcano erupted and buried much of the town and the airport. There are jets there that were trapped after the eruption, and lay derelict as the are unable to take off on the shortened runway, as it was not reconstructed after the eruption. The airport is extremely busy with relief flights coming in and out. It is quite a process, as there are many individuals trying to capitalize on those coming into the country and finding creative ways to charge them fees.

Yesterday we went to a Baptist church about 12km from town. It is quite a task getting through town, as the roads are absolutely terrible – worse than Costa Rica or Uganda if you can believe it. Surrounding the small church, probably the size of Colebrook, are 1000 huts where IDP (Internally Displaced People) families of about 9 are living in absolute squalor. No agency is yet in charge of this camp; that is being worked on. It is tough to be patient on the politics when people are living in such destitute conditions. These huts are 2 meters wide by 2.5 meters long by about 1.5 meters high stick frames. These huts are covered with banana leaves, so are not water tight. We have tried to find out how many people sleep in each hut, but have not found that out. We were escorted by the SP program coordinator Charles Ibsen – Charles is from Edmonton, and went to Trinity Western. He is the SP Niger country Director.
This was the toughest part so far...the site of the camp is in a lava field, which is very rough and sharp like our barbeque rock with large outcroppings. The people at the camp have to walk 1000 meters distance and about a 30 meter drop to get water from the lake and carry it back to the camp. It is mostly the job of the children; I mostly saw little girls from 2 to 10 doing this. One of the girls was walking with this water jug harnessed to her head, she was about 4 years old little bit of nothing. She was sobbing; I suspect she was sick...tore at my heart. Along the path to the lake is a UN garbage dump, where people were scavanging for whatever they could use.
It is our hope to install a pump at the lake shore, and pump the water through a 1000 meter long pipe up to the camp/church where it can be stored in "pillow" or "onion" tanks and treated with chlorine and the distributed to taps. This will so help these folks, not only by reducing the physical effort of getting the water, but also providing easier access for basic hygene.

Patricks first days

Patrick's picture yesterday









Where relief work is happening.

Patricks day

"Today we are going to an area where the Baptist church has a number of refugee clusters to assess their water and sanitation needs. We may be setting up a treatment system there for them,. Also, according to the WASH (water and sanitation health) the focus should be on latrine construction. Our main camp that we’re working on has supposedly 7000 (we’re goingto confirm) and only 12 latrine stalls. We’;re in the process of having another 21 built, with a goal of 150 total, depending on the actual numbers in camp."

Very small world!!!

The Liaison Officer for SP (Samaritan's Purse) here is David Ingrams – remember the Ingrams were posted on our screen at church as missionary focus? David and wife Cindy were Alliance missionaries, but he’s been working with SP Canada in Calgary for the last year. His wife is the daughter of the previous pastor before Don.

I love it when God reminds us how connected we are in His world.

Patrick's on his way to DR of Congo....home Dec. 11th

CALLED OUT TO SERVE: Clean water needed

Patrick (sent from eMi US office) http://www.emiusa.org/will be travelling to a refugee setttlement near Goma (near the Rwandan border on the east) to work with Samaritan's Purse and Food for the Hungry http://www.cfhi.ca/ in providing clean water. Read about the current crisis and UN involvement http://news.google.ca/news?hl=en&q=congo+clean+water&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=X&oi=news_result&resnum=11&ct=title

Samaritan's Purse is a faith based NGO (non government organization) that reaches out in times of disaster. Most people know this org from the gift shoe boxes collected at Christmas and sent to children in need in Third World countries- called Operation Christmas Child. This outreach actually creates a very diverse and crucial lifeline that can be used in times of disaster situations to get the food, water, shelter, and medical supplies to communities. http://www.samaritanspurse.org/

Patrick's Job:

... to oversee the two WMI (Water Mission Intl) systems in the camp may be a major part of the effort.... help train and keep the technicians moving and trouble shooting issues/problems. In order to meet sphere standards , a simple system consisting of a settling tank, chlorination and storage may need to be added. Read about the water issues from Unisef http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/congo.html

What's happening in Haiti

EMI mobilized a two-man team to Haiti to install portable emergency water purification systems all over Haiti. Hurricanes Fay, Gustav, Hanna and Ike have all ravaged Haiti in the last few weeks. Widespread deforestation to make charcoal for cooking has destroyed the land's capacity to retain rainwater, so even small rains induce major mud flows that can move earth and rocks to devastating effect. The tropical storms and hurricanes of 2008 wiped out a lot of homes and blocked roads all over Haiti. The photos were taken in Gonaives. Flood waters were 11 feet high in some places and a 2-foot layer of mud still blankets the city a month after the disaster.

Water Missions International has shipped about 20 of their 10-gpm Living Water Treatment Systems (LWTS, http://www.watermissions.org/howwe_engineered_lwts.html ) to Haiti. Each system has the capacity to serve a community of 3,000 people.

Patrick is packed and ready to continue the work of disaster recovery.

Last day on Site

The team having a day of rest on a boat ride. You know who those two cool dudes are!!

















Team meetings

















More work























Ron, a local architect and dear brother to Bill & Tammy's ministry in Chiapas, discussing concrete mixing ratios (posted on cement bag) with eMi team.

The People

Jonathan is 5 years old and has more street smarts than most 10 year olds. He had been abandoned by one of the many Illegal Aliens traveling from Honduras or El Salvador on their way to the US. We have no way of knowing where he is from or what he has experienced but we do know that God chose to send him to us and we are overjoyed that the Lord would send him to us. Please pray for Jonathan, he has had a very hard 5 years of life. From: http://lostandfoundint.net/blog/

This shows a picture of the migrants that are trying to make their way to the US on the train right in front of Tammy & Bills. It is so sad...the trains are absolutely jammed on the roof with people, as well as on every ladder and between every car. It is so dangerous.

Christobal, the lead staff at the ranch where our team was developing a Master Plan for El Faro De Esparanza, helps Patrick by carrying survey instrument 1 km across the property at the end of the day. Cristobal and his crew of Miguel, Manuel, Luis (jr), and Luis (sr), provided amazing friendship and support to our team as we worked on the ground by cutting survey line with machete (bargachar!), digging soil and perc test holes, and carrying water for perc tests. They also provided Spanish lessons and much grace for us as we tried to convey our needs and they successfully obliged.

Coming home in 2 more sleeps

It's all about relationships. Look at the amazing bonds that blossomed in such a short time.

Clowning around?????






Pat, Brenden and Tom - the team leader












The team - Lost in the Jungle.

Tammy, Sam and Brenden at the orphanage

More pictures from Mexico

The eMi team and Bill and Tammy of El Alfarero

Creating new connections and extraordinary work for God.









The guest house on the site under construction.

Soil testing

Crossing a creek on the site

Brenden and some of the team

New Day

Father and Son









Day in the life of a surveyor on a mission trip

Got up at 6:45, breakfast (cereal) at 7:30, worship 8 to 9, team planning 9 to 10. On site surveying 10 to 2, lunch, back survey 3 to 630, dinner, testimonials - 2 of us; Patrick started. Testimonials from 7:30 to 8:30, and then 8:30 to 10:30 Pat had to work on his survey notes and bring data into computer from data recorder, massage, and prepare contour plan for Team Leader Tom and architectural team to use tomorrow.

The team and kids playing soccer. Great bonding.





















Clean-up time.

Some parts of the site are like this, and others are jungle.

The rest of the team arrives

Colossians 3:24 since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.









The whole team together with the ministry. This is where the "Vision" of the ministry is captured by the sharing and gathering as much information as possible. Truly an amazing time of exploring ideas and formulating a plan.

















Can you see that wierd buggy thing on the top left of the total station. Pat went nose to nose with it as he went to take a reading. EWWW!

Day 1 on site

First day of surveying and it was hot and humid. Father and son. What a great team. Am I proud. Oh Yeah!!!

Pat, Brenden and the kids. Look at all those new books.

Patrick and Brenden are on the ground

Here is Brenden with Tammy and Bill, founders and directors of Rancho Del Alfarero in Chiapas. Ready to begin surveying tomorrow morning.