My experience

I hope these posted photos capture the duality of incredible beauty and poverty of Kinshasa. Most people are filled with great hopes for the future. It was an incredible experience... wonderful people, wonderful land...

On the news front: "UN Says Congo remains world's deadliest catastrophe" from Reuters (05-14-2006). Read entire article here.

Post war abandoned home

Here's a shot of an abandoned home post war...

... and here's a story that will break your heart and give you a sense of what's reality in Kinshasa (per Eva)...

... so, a couple year's ago, the main post office in downtown Kinshasa closed due to the war and rioting. The people that worked there lost their jobs. Work is so hard to come by that for two years, everyday, the staff that worked there, wake up every morning, get dressed for work, and travel to the post office building... just in hopes that it might re-open and they get their jobs back...

makes ya think doesn't it...

Our hosts

Eva and Pierre... our outstanding hosts. They are living in DR Congo for the duration of the project (about 2 years). Also is a pic of their beautiful yard. This is where we stayed... very nice, indeed!

A Kinshasa street scene

A typical city scene in Kinshasa...

The wealthy areas

A couple shots of the wealthy areas of Kinshasa... you'll notice walls and barred wire around the homes... that's the reality...

A Safe Journey up River - Goodbye Jeep

Marie Jeanne and Pierre pose with the jeep.

The jeep is being sent up river by barge to another SECID project location. Yup, a 3 week journey for the truck... people pay $60 to go on the barge as well. The barge holds gas, sugar, people, whatever will fit. By the way, $60 in DR Congo is a LOT of money!

Where I stayed

This is where I stayed while in Kinshasa. This is the guest house of Eva and Pierre. Notice the guard trying to get out of the picture. There is 24 hour guard security on the premises - the guards do 12 hour shifts.

Great people...

Meet Pierre and Marie Jeanne... they are the best! Both work for the SECID DRC project... this pic is near the barge on the river...

Another city street...

Here's another pic in Kinshasa on our way to work... typical for the city...

Kinshasa, the city...

Kinshasa is a city of over 8 million people, probably more, that's the number everyone uses. Here's a typical view of a city street on our way to the office...

Strolling on the river...

Here's Steve, Jackie, Pierre, Laurie and Eva... this was about the last time we relaxed together... loads of work to come... but this was a great afternoon!

A couple sunset shots...

Wow! Sunset on the Congo River... a couple good ones...

I'm back... here are more pics of Kinshasa

We made it back safely to Washington, DC... stops in Cameroon, Brussels and then to DC. I'll be posting a number of pictures taken on the trip. Enjoy and hopefully you'll get a bit of a sense of what Kinshasa is like. Enjoy!

This is of the Congo River and a barge that will be taking the SECID jeep up river to a satellite location that SECID works in. It will take 3 weeks!

Pierre loves his maps

Pierre leads the SECID DRC projects here in Kinshasa, DR Congo. The dots on the map are areas that SECID is working in, or will be soon. DR Congo is HUGE.

A couple work folks...

Say "hi" to Henri and Steve. Henri is my counterpart for IT work here at the SECID DRC office in Kinshasa.

The Club Scene

So, it's been a few days since the last posting... but we've been working loads of hours. Tonight, we hit the music, bar scene. Here's a couple pics.

Enjoy... more to come...