What's Woody Doing Now

Praying for a 'Martin Luther King' in Congo

Today is a holiday in the US and Congo. No, King's birthday is not a holiday in Congo.
However, Congolese are facing some difficult times. The people are looking for change and freedom from injustice.
Congolese needs a Martin Luther King now.

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"Change does not roll in on the wheels of inevitability, but comes through continuous struggle. And so we must straighten our backs and work for our freedom. A man can't ride you unless your back is bent." .. Martin Luther King, Jr.

And a few more thoughts, from one of the greatest men of my lifetime:
“On some positions, Cowardice asks the question, "Is it safe?" Expediency asks the question, "Is it politic?" And Vanity comes along and asks the question, "Is it popular?" But Conscience asks the question "Is it right?" And there comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular, but he must do it because Conscience tells him it is right.”

Your voice will give you away

I'm missing my Daybreaker's Toastmasters Club meeting on Friday mornings. I miss the practice, evaluations, and friendship.

http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2012/01/your-voice-will-give-you-away.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+typepad%2Fsethsmainblog+%28Seth%27s+Blog%29

It's extremely difficult to read a speech and sound as if you mean it.
For most of us, when reading, posture changes, the throat tightens and people can tell. Reading is different from speaking, and a different sort of attention is paid.
Before you give a speech, then, you must do one of two things if your goal is to persuade:

The Grinch Stole Christmas Vacation, Too!

On Christmas Eve, I spent the morning in the downtown market area. I wanted to see the kind of activities and happenings in preparation for Christmas.

This is my first and only Christmas in Congo (per my wife). My Christmas stay was necessity versus a real experience.

To my surprise, it was a normal day. Even the kids went to school. So, I asked why? The election polling stations were at mostly schools and churches. Therefore, the kids were off days before and after the elections. Note, I said days before and after!

I was awaken by cheering students on the day after Christmas. They were preparing to start their school day. Unbelievable, it's suppose to be an official holiday.

Therefore, the Christmas vacation was stolen from them. There was a lot of stealing during and after the election. The Grinch was active!

We Are Celebrating

We are celebrating Thanksgiving!
We are celebrating Christmas!
We are celebrating anything and everything!
The turkey is finally done! It's been a long journey from Fisher's (Indiana) Walmart to the table here in Kananga, Congo. It was brought the week of November. It's been four planes and stored in four freezers.

It's good to celebrate!

Seth's Blog: No choice

A person without choices is a dead!
I just made a difficult choice!

http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2011/12/no-choice-1.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+typepad%2Fsethsmainblog+%28Seth%27s+Blog%29

'Remarkable work often comes from making choices when everyone else feels as though there is no choice. Difficult choices involve painful sacrifices, advance planning or just plain guts.'

Shifting Gears

The Bio Sand Filter workshop is done! Twenty-one people trained. Now it is time implement some projects.
But first, we have to survive the announcements of the election results here in Congo. Tuesday is the day! The country is on pins and needles.
The internet just came back after being off for two days. Supposedly, the government ordered the phone companies to shut down the internet and sms via phones.
Anyway, we are ready to ride it out at the house. We will evacuate to the UN compound if necessary.
Sent from a MyTouch4G

Election Blues

I have been in Kananga for just over a week. We have been preparing for a workshop on Wednesday.
We have been trying to work around the election. It has trying but successful. Today (Monday, the election day), our prep work came to a complete stop.
Saturday was bad (unusual) and not expected. I saw the burning tires and moto on the way home. Everything appears to be caused by reports of people finding duplicate and completed ballots on people.
Today, we had more reports of the same. Police are firing shots in the site to disperse crowds. Also, they used tear gas today at one location. Close enough to hear shots and see the flying rocks today! I made it home and stayed inside the rest of the day.

The polls should closed but they are clearing those in line.? Plus it rained this afternoon which stopped voting. My house is 30 yards from a polling station.

Uncle, I Give, I'm Tapping Out!

Doing business in Congo is the worst at its best.
I just got bitten. I trusted them.
We shipped pieces of sheet metal from the Kinshasa, the capital city. That was the only place we knew it was available. It was purchased on last Tuesday. It was to be shipped on Wednesday.
We checked at the local agent here in Kananga on Monday. She said it was here at airport. And it was be delivered in the afternoon. Tuesday, it's coming from the airport. Wednesday, it's still in Kinshasa.

What a country! I give!

$2.50 a Pound

That's the rate to ship any thing from Kinshasa to Kananga by air. It's only 400 miles. But there are no roads, no trains or other means of transporting goods. By boat is too slow and cumbersome.
It cost me more for shipping then the item cost. Luckily it was raw materials for building our bio-sand filter molds. Water filters will save countless lives. That makes it easier to accept.

$4 per Pound

That's the cost of next day delivery service by midnight to the Congo. Actually, that's the cost of an excess bag via a commercial airline. At a maximum weight of 50 pounds, it costs $200 per excess bag. But, at least in my case, it's over 8,000 miles to Congo. There should be a guarantee of delivery with you.

That's an interesting factoid!