Colette’s Return to Kandale

NIne weeks ago on October 1st Colette returned to the village of Kandale for her annual trip to observe the progress of the many ongoing projects. This particular visit was coordinated with a representative engineer of ‘Water Mission’, Enock Kiraire, from the Uganda Country Office. Water was one of the top priorities during the community projects meeting in Kandale with RKF board members in 2018. RKF Co-founders Colette and Greg travelled to Charleston, SC in August this year to consult with Water Mission and to determine the possibility of installing a solar pumping system that will provide clean water to the community of Kandale.

During Mr. Kiraire’s visit he was able to investigate the Kwilu River and three springs to better evaluate the possibility of drilling a well and installing a water pump. His preliminary findings indicated that a fresh water pumping system would include two 16,000-liter tanks with year round availability as opposed to our present two 5,000-liter tanks with only a seasonal capacity. Mr. Kiraire and Colette presented the final proposal during a community meeting. The idea is to develop a system in two phases that would require two pump stations due to Kandale's high elevation. Community members are presently paying roughly 5 cents per demijohn or 25 liters for runoff water that is not potable for drinking. According to Mr. Kiraire's tests, the water quality in Kandale is of a very good quality and will not require filtration, but chlorine purification is necessary to ensure the water is suitable for drinking. The community is very supportive of this idea. Presently a second visit is in the planning to gather additional data to develop the necessary design and actual budget for the project. The estimated cost may be up to $50-55,000 with community members paying a nominal fee for clean water.

In addition, Colette has been in consultations with two other engineers, Frederick Kaniema from Kinshasa and Jean-Paulin Mesa from Kikwit as well as the head of Gufwa-Gubila High School in Kandale, Njimbo Mukala Kasembe. They discussed the recent collapse of the high school, featured in the previous Communiqué. The government sponsored Caritas school rooms have been completed and there was a great deal of discussion about how to distribute the primary school students to the new Caritas classes and how to make room for the high school students that lost their classrooms. The collapsed high school had been built some 40 years ago with primarily local materials: mud bricks, raffia framing and a corrugated metal sheet roof. It is remarkable that it has weathered the elements this long. The loss of this structure has had a domino effect on the remaining classrooms requiring some subjects to double and triple up and to even hold classes out of doors under makeshift palm fronds. To further confound the space issue, the government has declared free education to all primary school students. This decree is to be applauded, yet no funding has been provided for teachers salaries or material fees to accommodate the new increase in student enrollment.

As the REVE Kandale Foundation moves forward with the construction of seven new classrooms. Colette presented to the engineer in charge the desire to hire and train local individuals to help with the new construction. A variety of other topics were discussed with the community during her visit including the creation of separate living quarters for the matrons who monitor the girls dormitory and the importance of continuing to plant indigenous trees in the ‘wild’ areas.

The images that Colette brought back to the REVE Kandale board members were incredible. They are rich with stories of perseverance, dignity, progress and community. It is evident, that even with the loss of the old high school, positive and tangible change continues and the people of Kandale are responding with a genuine appreciation for the improvement in their daily lives.

SCHOOL COLLAPSE UNDERSCORES NEED FOR MODERN CLASSROOMS!

An Appeal for Funds

It was the nightmare we all feared.

The heavy October rain weakened the mud-brick walls of Institut Gufwa-Gubila, one of the two secondary schools serving the children of the Greater Kandale area. The walls gave way, causing the roofs of two classrooms blocks to collapse, rendering the buildings unsafe and unusable.

Fortunately, the collapse occurred during the evening, and no one was injured.

But the events of Oct. 4 underscore the need for safer, more modern, and well-constructed classrooms in Kandale.

Our campaign to build seven new classrooms by the start of the 2020-2021 school year has become all the more urgent with the latest disaster. Our aim is to raise $75,000 for this phase of school construction and related programs.

REVE Kandale founder Colette Ramm was on a visit to Kandale when the disaster struck. “The residents of Kandale are resilient, but we need your help now more than ever,” she said.

You can donate by going directly to our website at https://www.revekandale.org/donate, or visit our GoFundMe site at https://www.gofundme.com/f/building-schools-building-dreams.

Institut Gufwa-Gubila dates to the 1970s and had been built through the perseverance of Kandale residents, who were determined to have a secondary school (watch this video). But without any assistance to speak of, the only affordable building materials were mud bricks, which weaken over time. In retrospect, it is a wonder the buildings lasted as long as they did. Below students are busily collecting materials for a temporary classroom. They are gathering clay and sand from the nearby hills and sticks from the surrounding thickets. photos by Colette Ramm 10/08/2019

With your assistance we have a new brick-making machine in place and have about one-third of the cement we will need to complete seven new classrooms with stronger, reinforced concrete. We still need to find funding for the remainder of the cement, roofing sheets, and other building materials.

As it stands, the students of Institut Gufwa-Gubila have moved into a six-classroom block built in 2011 by REVE Kandale that had housed part of the primary school. The displaced primary school students have relocated to the other primary school block as a temporary solution. Desks in that school block that had been shared by two students are now used by three or four. Due to the lack of space one of the classes has to meet outside. It’s clear the students want to learn. Let us please give them a chance.

We hope we have earned your trust -- as we have with one of our longtime donors who explains in this video Why We Give why his church gives to REVE Kandale – and that you work with us to expand the village circle and raise the children of Kandale. Our work together will continue to bring hope to Kandale and meet urgent educational needs.

Help us build schools. Help us build dreams.

It takes a few villages!

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.

Sewing a New Future

In October of 2018, your gift to the Reve Kandale Foundation allowed us to purchase 40 new sewing machines and tables in the capital of Kinshasa. Four RKF board members and two volunteers, Dr. Karl Klontz and David Whitford, transported the machines and solar panels to the newly built multi-purpose education building. The machines were assembled by Lycee Gina Gisanga teachers and experts from nearby Gungu. The trainers then conducted two days of intensive training on how to use and care for the machines.

This contribution has made a dramatic improvement in the lives of the girls who are participating in this program. The sewing program was started in 1972 with two old sewing machines that were in need of constant repair. The girls would proudly carry their sewing machines on their heads to school everyday, yet very few students ever mastered the technical skills required to pass the national exam due to a lack of hands on experience with the machines as well as a constant shortage of glue, scissors, needles, threads etc.

These photos demonstrate a vibrant classroom filled with the joy of learning. The students are busy making school uniforms, children’s clothes, and dresses for church and special events. The class is so successful that the rosters and dormitories are filled to capacity with young girls who are eager to participate in this growing program. For many of these girls it is not simply the promise of an income, but a way of life that provides independence, self-sufficiency, and the time to make rational life decisions about their future. 

As life in Kandale improves, with solar panels on two buildings, two poly tanks for water storage, six new classrooms, 40 sewing machines, one multi-purpose education building, the Reve Kandale Foundation remains committed to improving the lives of the people of Kandale and as the needs of the community grow, it is our plan to rise to those challenges. As always we thank you for your continued support and we look forward to keeping you posted on all the exciting changes.

Give to Reve Kandale Foundation

Providing Kandale with safe water supply

One of our initiatives for 2019 — to provide Kandale with a safe water supply — has reached a big milestone. We have purchased two polytanks, and they have arrived safely in Kandale thanks to the hard work of Prefet Mwatha, Papa Philippe and Chief Donatien Katoko.

The polytanks were purchased in Kinshasa and are being loaded onto taxis to ferry them to Colette's mother's house, before sending them on to Kandale. All the materials needed for the installation are poking out the back of the tank.

The tanks have been loaded on to 4X4 trucks for the long 750 km journey over poorly paved and dirt roads. Beneath the tanks are welded cages to support the tanks once they are in place. Henri and Chief Donatien Katoko stand with the tanks like proud parents. They left early in the morning to facilitate the journey.

The tanks have arrived after an arduous two-day journey from Kinshasa to Kikwit and then on to Kandale. The gutters are in place on the new multi-purpose education building and await hook up to start storing water before the end of the rainy season.

The tanks have been installed. We are now on our way to realizing our long-term goal of safe water. The presence of the tanks means the children of Kandale will have to make fewer trips down a steep and dangerous ravine to fetch water at the spring and can instead focus their energies on their school work. The next step will be to install a pumping system to bring water directly from the spring to Kandale. None of this would be possible without your support.

Kisalu ya mbote! (Good work!)

Colette - The making of REVE my Dream

Kandale Trip with Enoch Kashitu as a baby - 1995

In 1995, I traveled back to Kandale, seven years after Greg and I went there with his parents for our wedding in the church in which I grew-up.

The trip was prompted by the outbreak of the Ebola virus in my hometown of Kikwit, where my mother and some of my “long-sleeve” relatives resided. At the time, there were no phones, and getting news from my mother in Kikwit was like waiting for the results of a blood test where you never knew what the news would be. So, when I managed to travel home and saw my mother again, it was like the return of the prodigal son, except that no fattened calf was slaughtered.

I taught fifth grade in Kandale, after graduating from high school. This is where I met my husband Greg, a former U.S. Peace Corps volunteer in Kandale. We had been living in the United States, and this was my first trip back since our church wedding in 1988.  So, I was anxious to see everyone.

The day we arrived, it poured all night as though God had forgotten to turn off some faucets in heaven. The power of the rain, heavy wind, and lightning made every soul jump out of bed.  

Children playing on the destroyed HS building

When dawn broke the destruction was shocking.  Both the entire Kandale primary school and one of the main high school buildings built with twigs and dirt were flattened to the ground like hair in a storm. The beautiful mangoes that hung low on trees growing around the mission -- daring children to touch them -- had been ripped apart and lay on the ground.

I snapped some photos of a group of children in the distance cheerfully collecting as many mangoes as their little hands could hold.

Before I could take another shot of the kids, a loud cry from Kandale hospital stabbed my heart, and my mind wandered away from the happy scene of children playing. A young girl of 11 from a faraway village had just lost her mother in childbirth. The sight of the girl crying, her mother lying lifeless on the ground, was heartbreaking.

I walked away from there with my heart still sobbing and proceeded to the school parent-teachers meeting, which was to decide how to fix the classrooms destroyed by the storm. I had barely taken my seat, when one of the teachers shared his bright idea. We should not hire women teachers, he shouted. Why not? I screamed breaking all protocols as observer in the meeting.  They cannot climb on the roof to fix their own classrooms; male teachers must do it for them, he answered gently. Despite his gentle answer, it was quite upsetting that he would advise such extreme measures against the three female teachers.  Then, I realized that female or not, these were mostly teachers in their retiring age who had no business contemplating climbing anything, especially wet roofs. But in Congo, the government had no retirement plans for teachers.

I left a couple of days later as my vacation came to an end. It felt as though my memories of Kandale, and the challenges people faced to access basic education and healthcare, were diluted by my life in the United States.

The trip back to Kandale was an eye opener. It changed my life, almost like the burning bush that turned Moses into the man who would lead the Israelites out of Egypt and into Canaan. For the next few years my mind became preoccupied with the plight of the people of Kandale. I began to rally the entire Kandale community at home and in the diaspora. The people of Kandale were clear what they needed: better classrooms for their children and tree planting to bring the forest closer to home.

In 2010, we created the Réhabilitation de l'Espace Vert et des Ecoles Kandale (REVE Kandale), a charitable organization working in the Democratic Republic of Congo to promote education, environment and empowerment of girls and women. In English, it translates into Rehabilitation of Green Spaces and Schools. And “reve” translates into “dream.”

We have made a lot of progress over the past few years, and I am confident that in the years to come we will make that dream a reality.

Teaching first grade since 1952

Papa Kayembe Pierre in his class - 2013

The man in this photo is called Papa Kayembe Pierre.

He is well known in Kandale and beyond. He has been teaching first grade at Kandale primary school since 1952. The last time I caught up with him we had a chat about children who are nowadays graduating from school and yet they cannot write with proper grammar and spelling. I teach them alphabet, as always, but I am not sure if they are learning much after that, he said, his body language signaling this was a much bigger problem than mastering the alphabet.

Papa Kayembe must be in his mid-80s now. He has become frail and forgetful. Age is catching up fast with his mind and poverty doing the rest. He seemed to remember me when I last saw him. However, his mind won’t let him do that for long, so he wandered away from our conversation as though he was never present to begin with. It broke my heart to see him like that.

There’s no pension in the Democratic Republic of  Congo for teachers like Papa Kayembe. The government allows elderly teachers to arrange for their own substitute teacher so they can share in the one meager salary. This is usually a family member,  and in the case of Papa Kayembe, it is his granddaughter who agreed to bail him out. She now teaches class on his behalf. God willing she will teach 70 more years like Papa Kayembe and enable generation after generation in Kandale to learn their alphabet.

I am proud to have learned my alphabet with you, Papa Kayembe. It has served me well, and I salute you for a job well done!!

A Kandale Reunion

Four years ago, I began to reach out to people I had worked with in Zaire when I was a Peace Corps volunteer, after a 35-year communications gap.

Doug and Greg with former Headmaster, Faso

I was eager to get in touch with Greg Ramm, as he was someone who I enjoyed working with, and in many respects, I owe him my life. I was able to find him through a Google search, and two summers ago we were able to meet face to face in his home outside Washington, D.C.  Greg’s wife, Colette, prepared a traditional and delicious Congolese meal. I can still taste the saka saka and Primus we shared.

It would be extremely difficult to condense into a short blog post my Peace Corps experience in Zaire, as the Democratic Republic of Congo was called at the time, but when I arrived in country I had just turned 22 and knew very little about the world.  After eight weeks of language preparation in eastern Zaire, and eight weeks of fish culture training in Oklahoma, I arrived in the small village of Kandale, on the Kwilu River south of Kikwit, the capital city of Bandundu region and some 150 miles north of the Angolan border.  

Peter, Greg, Colette, Doug in Maryland, USA

The Pende people are the dominant Bantu group in the area and I found them to be incredibly generous, patient, and tolerant of my cultural faux pas and limited knowledge of Kikongo, the local language.   They have an impressive heritage, with a culture rich in dance, music, and sculpture. Prior to Greg’s arrival I was the only mundeli, or foreigner, within 50 miles, and at times it was a very isolating experience.  I lived on the opposite side of the Kwilu from Greg, maybe four miles away, and I would often visit him.  One of my great memories was playing cribbage with him in the late afternoons and evenings.

About a year-and-a-half into my stay, I became ill and had difficulty with the most basic tasks.  I sent him a letter, and he came with a group of people to carry me back to his house. As I couldn’t walk, they carried me on a stretcher singing songs along the journey up the hill back to Greg’s house.  After two days with the pain in my joints getting worse, Greg was able to coordinate, a small plane to Kikwit. From Kikwit it was on to Kinshasa, and then to Pretoria, South Africa, where I stayed for five weeks while they tested me for a host of exotic and deadly tropical illnesses.  My symptoms subsided quickly with a solid regimen of penicillin and afternoon tea and cookies.

I returned briefly to Kandale and the community was very glad to see that stories of my demise had been greatly exaggerated.  Upon returning to Washington, the doctors did further tests on me and determined that it was in fact rheumatic fever. All is well at this point, and now that I am back in touch with Greg, Colette, and a host of other volunteers, I look forward to contributing to the development projects started by the REVE Kandale Foundation.