Ok, I have a little more packing to do, but my passport is here !! Yay God !! I had to mail it off last Friday to the Congolese Embassy in Washington D.C. for my entry visa with an express mail return envelope. I was a bit nervous about it getting back to me in time for my flight out this Friday (day after tomorrow). But the local post office says it is waiting for me at pick-up now, so I can breath :)
We leave Friday afternoon and arrive in Kinshasa (DRC) on Saturday. We have a layover in Chicago and another in Brussels, Belgium along with two flights at 8 hours ... but hey, that what it takes to go to the other side of the world :) Once we get to Kinshasa we will have to wait a bit to go to Mbuja-Mayi. Mbuja-Mayi is in diamond country and will require an additional visa that we have to get in-person in Kinshasa. The plan is to book a flight out to Mbuja-Mayi on Tuesday, as there are no decent roads that can get us there. We will then have 9 days to install the system and then get back to Kinshasa for our flight out on August 10th.
We are installing a 2.5kW solar electric system in the Kalala MEZEU medical clinic near Mbuja-Mayi. This clinic serves 50,000 people in the Cibombo Cinuanyi community. The solar power will run lights, microscopes, centrifuges, other lab equipment, and/or computers. At one point we were hoping to do a water pumping system as well, but the huge cost of drilling in Africa put that project on hold. We are hoping to make a future trip (or trips) to add the water pumping, some DC refrigeration, and possibly expand the solar system. We will see what God does :) Prayers in abundance please and thank you !!
We leave Friday afternoon and arrive in Kinshasa (DRC) on Saturday. We have a layover in Chicago and another in Brussels, Belgium along with two flights at 8 hours ... but hey, that what it takes to go to the other side of the world :) Once we get to Kinshasa we will have to wait a bit to go to Mbuja-Mayi. Mbuja-Mayi is in diamond country and will require an additional visa that we have to get in-person in Kinshasa. The plan is to book a flight out to Mbuja-Mayi on Tuesday, as there are no decent roads that can get us there. We will then have 9 days to install the system and then get back to Kinshasa for our flight out on August 10th.
We are installing a 2.5kW solar electric system in the Kalala MEZEU medical clinic near Mbuja-Mayi. This clinic serves 50,000 people in the Cibombo Cinuanyi community. The solar power will run lights, microscopes, centrifuges, other lab equipment, and/or computers. At one point we were hoping to do a water pumping system as well, but the huge cost of drilling in Africa put that project on hold. We are hoping to make a future trip (or trips) to add the water pumping, some DC refrigeration, and possibly expand the solar system. We will see what God does :) Prayers in abundance please and thank you !!
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