Vanga!

The plane ride to Vanga was on the caravan. Ryan was co-pilot, Sydney and I were just behind him and the pilot- Sydney in her carseat and wide-eyed at all the new things she was experiencing. Our trunks were stacked up in a line directly behind her and the Rices were in a row behind me.

We took off over Kinshasa and very quickly were flying over the Congo River, where just the day before we were in a boat and on a sandbar. It was much easier to see the great size of the river from above. We ascended to 9000 feet, above clouds so that we were unable to see the ground at that time. Most of the team took naps, but of course Sydney was wide awake and reading books, trying to kick the back of the pilot’s seat, asking for water, etc. In the co-pilot seat, Ryan was able to communicate with the pilot via headset, and among other things, Ryan talked about his past engineering projects.

After just over an hour, we started descending, quickly able to see the ground where there were palm trees, brown huts in clumps, and even a purple flowering tree. I recognized the hospital as soon as the Kwilu River came into view. I searched for our house, but I was unable to identify it through the cover of the trees. As we started to land, we saw the German pediatrician enthusiastically waving from his bicycle on the side of the runway, kids were running to gather at the fence line, and we could see that there was a large group assembled at the hanger. The wheels hit the grass softly, but firmly, and we coasted to a stop, turned around, and came back to the waiting crowd.

We came down the steps of the airplane in the rear of the aircraft, so Sydney and I were the last ones down. I no sooner let go of her hand to wave and shake hands then Sydney was going right back up the stairs and back onto the airplane. She loved playing like this, going back and forth, up and down, as our luggage was unloaded from the opposite side. Finally, as it was time for us to make room for the passengers going on the return flight to Kinshasa, I told Sydney to go run to the kids who were waiting to greet us. She took off, but not in the direction which I was meaning. No, she had seen the group of village kids on the opposite side of the runway as we had come in and had waved to them. Therefore, instead of going straight to the hanger and that group of kids, she went running across the runway, alone, towards the kids there. 

Sydney running across the runway to greet some children

Ryan and I chuckled and followed her. I’m sure those kids never get greeted first! She boldly went up to the fence line and poked the first child that she could, right in the belly, and then went down the line and looked at the others but didn’t really say anything. What could a 21 month old think of this??

We then bid au revoir to them and went back across the runway to the hanger. There, a large group of kids gathered around her. But instead of them touching her hair and pointing or being loud as I had assumed, they were quiet and waited for her to come to them. Indeed, I was quite surprised to find that she was “bothering” them more than the other way around by; for instance, she was poking her finger at a little boy’s belly because she was curious about the Mr. Potato Head on his shirt, or blabbing on and on after seeing a girl with pretty beads in her hair, then trying to pull them out one by one. Then there were some very young kids that were scared of her, so of course she tried to give them, not just a high five or handshake, but a big hug to squeeze them out of their fear…. Which didn’t help. J

As for the adult side of things, there were a lot of hospital staff and village leadership present to welcome us. It was great fun to see again a few of the doctors and nurses with whom I had worked in 2012. I missed most of the logistical part of the welcome, luggage handling, government stamping, etc as I was chasing a very small child, but just before we departed from the airport, we gathered in a large circle. The German pediatrician, Dr. Friedhelm, formally introduced us and then some of the prominent members came by and shook our hands in a more formal line. Then we regrouped and prayed together, that God would have His hand on our work here and that we would feel welcome.

We loaded up into the two awaiting landcruisers: the Rices and their luggage in one, and our family with our luggage in the other. We made our way down the sandy road (it is dry season now, so it is quite sandy and not packed at all). There is really no village center, other than the hospital and church, but these are situated right by the riverbank, so by nature, the village is formed a bit like St. Louis really, with the rest of the village spreading out from the focal point of the hospital. Along the road, there were chickens, goats, small stands of women and children selling bread or peanuts or bananas, and guys under umbrellas selling cell phone minutes. Every few minutes, we would go over what seemed like a large speed bump (which would make it impossible to navigate with any vehicle which sits low). These “speed bumps”are really just to stop water from washing straight down the road. It diverts the water to the side of the road where sometimes there are 4 foot open pits where the water can then settle.

We turned to the right at a soccer field, appropriately enough, and the Rice’s vehicle took them on towards their riverside home. We skirted the soccer field, went past several palm trees, the nice maintenance shop, the Brothers house, and finally to our gate! The dirt had been swept, the garden looked great, there were newly-laid cement steps in the back and sidewalk in the front, and the house exterior had a fresh coat of paint. With excitement, we walked through an open door. Mama Lutti was working on keeping the new tiled floor clean as we entered. For the next hour, we worked on very basic sorting into piles of bags and boxes. We then headed over to the Rice’s home for lunch that had been prepared for us there. Whew! A bit of chaos but it is great to finally be home!

After lunch, everyone fell asleep. And by everyone, yes everyone. I only slept a short time, as I was excited about being in Vanga finally and had many items on my to-do list that were running through my head. So when the Swiss maintenance man named Heiner came, I was awake and went with him to deliver another car load of our shipped items to the house. In addition, we stopped by the house of a missionary who is currently on home assignment, I tried out their 150+ year old rocking chair, and promptly absconded it to our house. J One thing about moving in to a house in Congo is that there were about 5 guys who helped get the trunks from the landcruiser and into our very full living room! 

I spent the next couple of hours alone, getting acquainted with the house, deciding on what rooms to use for what purpose, and starting the large task of organizing some of it. When I returned to the Rice’s house, Ryan had just woken up from his nap. We ended the day with dinner at the Brothers. With Sydney as active as she was during the day, she was ready to go to sleep immediately after she was done eating, and I volunteered to take her back to the Rices where we will be staying until electricity is in place. It was a peaceful walk in the dark, with the sentinel and his flashlight leading the way. The stars are brilliant, and as there are no traffic sounds, the crunch of leaves seems almost deafening.