In 2017 the REVE Kandale Foundation focused on purchasing a brick-making machine to begin work on
several structures in Kandale including four classrooms and a multi-purpose building. These structures have been completed as of 2018 and the work is now underway to build the next series of classrooms in 2020. In anticipation of this work, funds were dedicated to purchase 450 bags of cement in the regional capital of Kikwit while the price was low. The REVE Kandale Foundation will need 750 bags in total to complete the new classrooms. While the transport of the poly tanks from Kinshasa was a logistical feat, the transport of cement from Kikwit, roughly six hours away on dirt roads, demanded a very different endeavor.
Due to the weight of the cement, the truck broke down outside of Gungu just before the Kwilu River bridge some 50 kilometers from Kandale. Papa Phillipe, who is 72, was accompanying the truck, had to walk several kilometers to Gungu to get phone coverage in order to alert the truck owner in Kikwit to send help. Four days later the truck was successfully repaired and Papa Phillipe was picked up in Gungu early in the morning. As the truck was crossing the small bridge near Nzemba village, the bridge gave way and the front wheels fell into the water. Papa Phillipe rushed to Kandale on a motorcycle to inform the village. Louis Konda, another volunteer, went out to the disabled truck and mobilized the people in nearby villages to help unload the cement and pull the truck out of the water. The cement needed to be stored under a tarp as the rainy season had begun. After three days a tractor was procured and the cement was transported to Kandale in several loads with each load taking about two hours. The good news is that no one was hurt, the truck has not been permanently damaged and the cement is now dry and awaiting the start of construction.
In more good news, the poly tanks have been installed and connected to the roof of the new multi-purpose building via a gutter.
In late August the first rain of the season filled both tanks. There was a long queue for water and the volunteers had to limit the amount of water individuals could take. Access to this water is already having an important impact on the community as the children will not be making the arduous trek for water twice a day down the treacherous ravine.
The REVE Kandale Foundation welcomes our newest Board Member, Chris Fowles.
Chris Fowles, RKF New Board Member
Chris Fowles has over 30 years community-level economic development work experience in sub-Saharan Africa. After graduating from Beloit College in Wisconsin with a major in French, Chris served a Peace Corps volunteer in Togo teaching English as a foreign language to secondary school students. In the 1980s she served as Director of Education and later Programming and Training Director for the Peace Corps program in the Democratic Republic of Congo, She also served as Peace Corps Country Director in Burundi.
In 1986, Chris joined the U.S. African Development Foundation and served in many leadership roles with extensive travel to more than 30 African countries. These include, Managing Director, overseeing a $20 million grant program and staff both in D.C. and 20 country programs across Africa. Chris retired in 2017 and lives in her family home in rural Massachusetts.
