Not only did Ray literally change the everyday lives of all who lived or worked in the house by fixing the water situation, but he went on fixing things. At that time, there were four people living in the house: Bob, Dawn, and Elizabeth Baird, who had been so instrumental in getting us there with Graci the first time; Brenda, the field coordinator to whom the house belongs; and us. JP also has an office in the house, and then there is Chantal, who helps in the kitchen during the day, two outside watchmen, a dog, and a cat. All are in need of running water for various reasons.
Ray also discovered the electrical system was not grounded and was heating up so badly in the laundry room that, without doubt, there soon would have been a fire. He climbed into the attic, too, and identified which rafters desperately needed changing due to termites, and to no one’s liking, what animals lived up there. Rats! Yes, I mean the animal variety. (Shudder.)
We, the Bairds, and Brenda talked of many things: what could be done, what needed doing, the spiritual state of the churches with which the mission, Heart for Central Africa, has connection. And how the culture has changed due to the large influx of aid organizations with expatriates from many countries. Truly a catch-22. Many more items, foods, household goods, hard goods, and so on were now available because people from those organizations have money with which to buy them. This is good in some ways for those who have money, but sadly, it also makes prices rise so much that the average local cannot afford even basic foods. (In one instance, ice was being shipped in across the lake for certain people who liked their drinks extra cold!)
We toured the city seeing how things had changed or even disappeared. It was shocking. So much traffic! So many people! So many little stores!
Arriving in Zaire in 1985, our family was immediately taken to a village high in the mountains, where we lived with a pastor and his family of seven for a month to get into the culture and be immersed in the language. We knew only a few words of Swahili, and they knew no English. It was a small wood house with a dirt floor, corrugated metal roof, and an outdoor privy surrounded by corn stalks for privacy. (Some of us cannot forget the two-foot blue-headed lizard who lived in the privy! However, he was usually gracious enough to stay outside when it was in use.) Altogether, it was quite nice compared to the other homes on the mountainside, most of which were mud huts with thatched roofs.
What generous, hardworking, kind people they were! Unforgettable in so many ways. Certainly, they remember our youngest boys crying at every meal, wanting a burger or anything other than beans and rice or a warm sardine. But despite such enormous culture shock and very different living arrangements, we forged a relationship that, surprisingly, plays a part in our mission today.
The pastor’s wife and I would sit on tiny wooden stools behind the house and prepare meals together over a small wood fire on the ground. I was never as tiny as she, so to lower my behind onto a stool only six inches high was quite a feat. I tipped over many times, with my knees in the air and my skirt still covering all the necessary parts, before I learned to balance myself! She and I had many laughs as we cooked and tried to communicate.
This same family was one of those who lined the brick wall in front of the house when we first arrived back in Bukavu with Graci. There they were, with so many beautiful grown up children, twice as many as they’d had back in 1985! I had to blink back tears upon seeing them again!
I would soon learn that Byabeca, the little girl with the big eyes I remembered so well (inset: front row, fourth from the right), who had quietly watched every move we made when we lived with them, was now a married woman with four children of her own. She is also the director of Tracy’s Heart, the HFCA home used for abused and trafficked women, and Brenda’s right hand.
I am amazed by Byabeca’s wisdom, her heart, her love for God, and her commitment to helping damaged women. The woman she has become says much about her parents. And Emanuel, her younger brother, is the computer instructor at Tracy’s Heart. Yes, some of these women are being taught the basics of computing because someone from Brenda’s home church in the States graciously supplied Tracy’s Heart with computers. Amazing! We were delighted to see all of them and find that thirty-two years later, they are playing these important roles.
We were delighted to see all of them and find that thirty-two years later, they are playing these important roles. And we are excited that we get to share with them another season of our lives.