From dugout canoe to the Internet...
Lotumbe is isolated, but its community members do paddle dugout canoes (7 days each way) to the regional capital, Mbandaka. There they have access to email (slow and not always reliable) and cell phones. They communicate with us when they can.
Further, one or more officers of HandUp Congo personally visit Lotumbe at least every 18 months. We rent a motorized dugout canoe -- a mere 16 hours from Mbandaka to Lotumbe! The Tale of Two Sewing Machines documents our visit to Lotumbe in April 2006 – and our discovery of the marvelous developments that had come of our original outreach. The story focuses on Chantal Bolingo, but Antoinette Mapele Bolembo was equally instrumental in initiating the transformation that is under way.
The following are in chronological order. They were sent by our friends in Lotumbe. The last pictures show the most recent transmissions.
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Months after our first shipment to Lotumbe in June 2005, we received a heartwarming demonstration of accountability from our partners there.
Chantal & Antoinette sent us these photos via EMAIL! Someone from the village paddled SEVEN days to bring film from Lotumbe to Mbandaka. They had the film developed, the pictures scanned, and EMAILED us the photos. They also documented the pharmacy and eyeglass dispensary stocked with the same shipment.
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On December 1, 2006, a series of photos began arriving by email even as last-minute preparations were under way in San Francisco for the Zone Communication World of Good Holiday Auction benefitting Lotumbe.
The following photos from our friends in Lotumbe document the arrival and implementation of goods and services made possible by HandUp Congo's friends' donations and a successful US embassy grant finally delivered in early fall 2006.
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Goods purchased with funds donated by friends of HandUp Congo as well as with US embassy grant money are ready for the trip from Mbandaka to Lotumbe.
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Chantal Bolingo, president of FLO, accompanied the precious cargo from Kinshasa by airplane and then from Mbandaka to Lotumbe in dugout canoe. The rainy season doesn't make the trip any easier.
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Although FLO aims to support women's development in Lotumbe, the men are eager to pitch in and help. The lumber will help rehabilitate a community building for the new general store and for an enlarged sewing school.
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From large to small, community members join in putting finishing touches to the newly refurbished general store.
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Borrowers await their turns to receive microloans at the new community bank.
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