Saturday, April 28, 2012
Things I've learned in the Congo
DR Congo is the most populous French-speaking country.
The Congo is about one fourth the size of the U.S. and has about one fourth the population of the U.S.
242 languages are spoken in the Congo. In addition to French, the other 4 official languages are Kikongo, Lingala, Tshiluba, and Swahili.
The aboriginal people of the Congo are the Pygmies.
The Second Congo War or African World War (1998-2003) was the world's second deadliest conflict since WWII killing 5..4 million people primarily from malaria, diarrhea, pneumonia, and malnutrition. Half of those who died were under the age of 5.
In 1885, King Leopold II of Belgium took control of the Congo as his own personal fiefdom. His people brutalized the local population to produce rubber. Rubber quotas were enforced by cutting off the hands of natives who didn't meet their quotas. Nearly half the population of the lower Congo River died as a result of exploitation and disease including smallpox. Later in 1908, the Belgian parliament took over the Congo as a result of an international outcry against Leopold's actions. The son of Leopold's mistress was born without a hand, probably due to amniotic band syndrome.
During the "kleptocracy" of Mobutu, the Congolese dictator who ruled from 1960 to 1997, he stole $4 Billion from his country and deposited in a Swiss bank account.
Even though the Congo is the poorest country in the world and even though malnutrition affects 2/3 of the population, it is widely considered to be the richest country in the world in natural resources.
DR Congo has 80% of the world's cobalt reserves. It is used in superalloys which are used to make jet engine parts, as pigments for ceramics, paints, and plastics, and for a variety of other industrial and manufacturing purposes.
The inflation rate in 2011 in DR Congo was 17%. The commercial bank prime lending rate is currently 45% (the highest in the world).
The Congo's river system could provide hydro-electric power to the entire continent of Africa.
Having electricity function without repetitive random blackouts is a blessing that I take for granted.
DR Congo has the highest frequency of thunderstorms in the world. (There is one going on outside right now.)
I have been missing out by only eating raw bananas. Fried bananas are delicious.
Last fall we visited the Bureau of Printing and Engraving as a family in Washington D.C. where U.S. paper money is printed. I wonder if those who work there realize that the U.S. dollar is used for most major transactions in DR Congo and can be used in stores and restaurants. However, change is given in Congolese Francs.
The life expectancy in DR Congo is 56 years. The life expectancy in the U.S. is 78 years.
The senior LDS missionary couples of the Congo are incredible.
I'm grateful for the work of LDS Charities and for their work here in the Congo.
LDS Charities provides long-term assistance through its 5 major initiatives of neonatal resuscitation training, clean water, wheelchairs, vision care, and food production and also responds to natural disasters worldwide with food, water, shelter, clothing, bedding, medical supplies, school kits, hygiene kits, newborn kits, and cleaning kits to provide relief to those in need.. Historically, over $1.3 billion in assistance has been provided in 178 countries since 1985 including $85 million in assistance to 130 countries last year. One hundred percent of every dollar donated is used help those in need since those serving are all volunteers.
The people of the Congo I have met are warm, capable, articulate, and committed to improving their country and specifically their country's infant mortality rate.
"All are alike unto God." The Book of Mormon, pg. 104 (2 Nephi 26:33)
The Congo is about one fourth the size of the U.S. and has about one fourth the population of the U.S.
242 languages are spoken in the Congo. In addition to French, the other 4 official languages are Kikongo, Lingala, Tshiluba, and Swahili.
The aboriginal people of the Congo are the Pygmies.
The Second Congo War or African World War (1998-2003) was the world's second deadliest conflict since WWII killing 5..4 million people primarily from malaria, diarrhea, pneumonia, and malnutrition. Half of those who died were under the age of 5.
In 1885, King Leopold II of Belgium took control of the Congo as his own personal fiefdom. His people brutalized the local population to produce rubber. Rubber quotas were enforced by cutting off the hands of natives who didn't meet their quotas. Nearly half the population of the lower Congo River died as a result of exploitation and disease including smallpox. Later in 1908, the Belgian parliament took over the Congo as a result of an international outcry against Leopold's actions. The son of Leopold's mistress was born without a hand, probably due to amniotic band syndrome.
During the "kleptocracy" of Mobutu, the Congolese dictator who ruled from 1960 to 1997, he stole $4 Billion from his country and deposited in a Swiss bank account.
Even though the Congo is the poorest country in the world and even though malnutrition affects 2/3 of the population, it is widely considered to be the richest country in the world in natural resources.
DR Congo has 80% of the world's cobalt reserves. It is used in superalloys which are used to make jet engine parts, as pigments for ceramics, paints, and plastics, and for a variety of other industrial and manufacturing purposes.
The inflation rate in 2011 in DR Congo was 17%. The commercial bank prime lending rate is currently 45% (the highest in the world).
The Congo's river system could provide hydro-electric power to the entire continent of Africa.
Having electricity function without repetitive random blackouts is a blessing that I take for granted.
DR Congo has the highest frequency of thunderstorms in the world. (There is one going on outside right now.)
I have been missing out by only eating raw bananas. Fried bananas are delicious.
Last fall we visited the Bureau of Printing and Engraving as a family in Washington D.C. where U.S. paper money is printed. I wonder if those who work there realize that the U.S. dollar is used for most major transactions in DR Congo and can be used in stores and restaurants. However, change is given in Congolese Francs.
The life expectancy in DR Congo is 56 years. The life expectancy in the U.S. is 78 years.
The senior LDS missionary couples of the Congo are incredible.
I'm grateful for the work of LDS Charities and for their work here in the Congo.
LDS Charities provides long-term assistance through its 5 major initiatives of neonatal resuscitation training, clean water, wheelchairs, vision care, and food production and also responds to natural disasters worldwide with food, water, shelter, clothing, bedding, medical supplies, school kits, hygiene kits, newborn kits, and cleaning kits to provide relief to those in need.. Historically, over $1.3 billion in assistance has been provided in 178 countries since 1985 including $85 million in assistance to 130 countries last year. One hundred percent of every dollar donated is used help those in need since those serving are all volunteers.
The people of the Congo I have met are warm, capable, articulate, and committed to improving their country and specifically their country's infant mortality rate.
"All are alike unto God." The Book of Mormon, pg. 104 (2 Nephi 26:33)
Friday, April 27, 2012
Meet "Neo-Natalie"
Today was the first day of our 4th Helping Babies Breathe course this week here in Kinshasa. This course is unique in that it is a joint venture between LDS Charities and the US Agency for International Development (AID). All of our 26 participants have traveled to Kinshasa from places all over the Congo from several of the 11 provinces of the country including Katanga, South Kivu, Kasai-Oriental, and Kasai-Occidental.
Most of the participating nurses and doctors are hospital or department directors, so they will be instrumental in teaching neonatal resuscitation to those they work with in their local hospitals.
In our training courses, we use an inflatable mannequin called Neo-Natalie. When I first started teaching neonatal resuscitation in 2004, we used much more expensive baby mannequins that even had vocal cords to help in teaching intubation. These mannequins were very expensive (about $700). This limited the ability of LDS Charities to donate large numbers of teaching mannequins. Then Torre Laerdal of Stavanger, Norway (where my son Geoff served as a missionary), and the Laerdal company developed a much simpler mannequin that is perfect for teaching HBB in developing countries. This mannequin is only about $50 (Laerdal sells it at their cost). The whole teaching kit fits into a box a little bigger than a shoe box which is great for the providers who must carry it back to their hospitals on the bus or on the airplane. It is inflatable with either air or water (we use air). And it gives excellent feedback to the learner as it has "lungs" that inflate when the bag and mask is used correctly, and it even simulates the ability to check the babies heart rate by touching the base of the umbilical cord.
The kit includes the "Penguin," an innovative bulb suction device that you can open up, wash, sterilize with either boiling water or disinfectant or by autoclave. It is shaped like a penguin and even has little "eyes."
Here in the Congo, most women buy their own bulb syringes prior to going into labor which they then bring with them to the hospital. However, some women cannot afford to purchase one, so the penguin can be used and reused with these patients.
Each course participant will receive from LDS Charities a teaching kit, a teaching flip chart, a delivery room poster, and several printed student manuals as well as a CD with a digital copy of all the teaching documents. Participants will also receive 3 delivery room kits each of which includes a stethoscope, 2 penguins, and a reusable bag and mask. With this equipment and the skills that are learned in the course, these nurses and doctors will be well suited to teach their colleagues.
It is estimated that worldwide 900,000 babies die each year because they cannot breathe following birth. 90% of babies who are unable breathe following birth can be saved by neonatal resuscitation. So far 17,600 birth attendants have been trained by LDS Charities volunteers.They in turn have taught 118,400 others. Tomorrow, 26 more birth attendants will complete their training and prepare to train others as well.
Most of the participating nurses and doctors are hospital or department directors, so they will be instrumental in teaching neonatal resuscitation to those they work with in their local hospitals.
In our training courses, we use an inflatable mannequin called Neo-Natalie. When I first started teaching neonatal resuscitation in 2004, we used much more expensive baby mannequins that even had vocal cords to help in teaching intubation. These mannequins were very expensive (about $700). This limited the ability of LDS Charities to donate large numbers of teaching mannequins. Then Torre Laerdal of Stavanger, Norway (where my son Geoff served as a missionary), and the Laerdal company developed a much simpler mannequin that is perfect for teaching HBB in developing countries. This mannequin is only about $50 (Laerdal sells it at their cost). The whole teaching kit fits into a box a little bigger than a shoe box which is great for the providers who must carry it back to their hospitals on the bus or on the airplane. It is inflatable with either air or water (we use air). And it gives excellent feedback to the learner as it has "lungs" that inflate when the bag and mask is used correctly, and it even simulates the ability to check the babies heart rate by touching the base of the umbilical cord.
The kit includes the "Penguin," an innovative bulb suction device that you can open up, wash, sterilize with either boiling water or disinfectant or by autoclave. It is shaped like a penguin and even has little "eyes."
Here in the Congo, most women buy their own bulb syringes prior to going into labor which they then bring with them to the hospital. However, some women cannot afford to purchase one, so the penguin can be used and reused with these patients.
Each course participant will receive from LDS Charities a teaching kit, a teaching flip chart, a delivery room poster, and several printed student manuals as well as a CD with a digital copy of all the teaching documents. Participants will also receive 3 delivery room kits each of which includes a stethoscope, 2 penguins, and a reusable bag and mask. With this equipment and the skills that are learned in the course, these nurses and doctors will be well suited to teach their colleagues.
It is estimated that worldwide 900,000 babies die each year because they cannot breathe following birth. 90% of babies who are unable breathe following birth can be saved by neonatal resuscitation. So far 17,600 birth attendants have been trained by LDS Charities volunteers.They in turn have taught 118,400 others. Tomorrow, 26 more birth attendants will complete their training and prepare to train others as well.
Thursday, April 26, 2012
A Bright Ray of Hope: The Perpetual Education Fund
The Perpetual Education Fund
The Perpetual Education Fund (PEF) has been established to provide young adults of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who live in developing countries with the support and resources necessary to improve their lives through education and better employment to better serve their family, the Church, and their community. (See pef.lds.org)
In the mid-1800's, all of my ancestors who were living at that time emigrated to Utah from England and Denmark or moved west from other places in America to gather with the Latter-day Saints in the Salt Lake Valley. Many Mormon pioneers were only able to afford to travel to Utah because of the Perpetual Emigration Fund. Those who were already in Utah donated to the fund to help pay the travel costs of others who wanted to come. Then when they got to Utah and got themselves established, they would then pay back the funds they had received into the Perpetual Emigration Fund to help others gather with the Saints.
In 2001, Gordon B. Hinckley (the 15th prophet of the Church) established a new fund patterned after the old Perpetual Emigration Fund and called it the Perpetual Education Fund.
Members and friends of the Church around the world are invited to donate to this fund for the benefit of those in developing countries who are in need of assistance for their education. The investment interest on this fund is used to support education; so the fund's corpus is constantly growing as donations are made.
Here in the poorest country on earth, the PEF is now starting to benefit those who are striving to further their education. This week we met the senior couple who administers this program here in DR Congo.
After being referred by the bishop of his or her local congregation, a young adult is invited to take a one month course entitled, "Planning For Success." This course helps them to set goals and make decisions about education and also teaches proper budgeting principles. Next the young adults meet with the missionary couple to apply online to the program. Most educational programs are 1 to 3 years in length. DR Congo PEF students have taken computer courses, accounting, and even pastry making. The cost of these programs range from $350-$1200 for the entire course of study in this country. Once approved, the tuition is always paid from the PEF fund directly to the school, even if the missionary couple has to drive the money over to the school. While the student is going through the program, he or she is asked to start repaying a small amount back every month. (In DR Congo, that amount is $5 per month.) At the end of the course of study, a repayment plan is set up with the payback being made in small installments over up to 8 years. The investment proceeds on the loans that are repaid is then available for other students to use, thus it is indeed a PERPETUAL education fund.
This program now has about 160 beneficiaries here in Kinshasa (and thousands worldwide) and will continue to grow over time. What a great way to help these wonderful young people gain valuable skills that will give them the ability to support themselves and their families.
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
The Amazing WORK of our Neonatal Resuscitation Champion!
In 2006, I met Dr. N for the first time. He is an OB/GYN physician here in Kinshasa who took our first Neonatal Resuscitation course. He caught the vision as to how this training could change his country for the better. We call those who take it upon themselves to perpetuate this training in their own countries our "champions." Dr. N is truly a champion among champions! He took the course again the next year when we returned and began teaching other providers in Kinshasa. When we returned in 2008, he taught with us in Kinshasa and flew to his native Lubumbashi to teach with us there too. Later when the Helping Babies Breathe curriculum was introduced by the American Academy of Pediatrics, LDS Humanitarian Services sponsored his trip to Washington, D.C. to receive this training.
It was wonderful to see Dr. N again this week and to teach side by side with him. He estimates that he has now assisted in the neonatal resuscitation training of about 2800 doctors, nurses, and midwives in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Just imagine the impact his WORK has had, if each one of these health care providers has gone on to resuscitate and save babies. Now remember that all of these providers has been challenged to go on and teach other providers in their own institutions. He told me about a midwife he trained in Mbuji-Mayi (the third largest city in the Congo with 1.5 million people). She started delivering babies at age 15 and is now 75 years old and still working as a midwife. She has delivered babies for 60 years. When faced with a baby who is not breathing, her technique over the years has been to put hot tea on compresses and place the compresses on the chest of the baby. Many babies have been burned, but she thought that she was helping. Once she took the Helping Babies Breathe course and received the bag and mask, she was thrilled to finally have an effective method to save babies who are not breathing.
Dr. N has done a study of the places where training has taken place and has found that infant mortality has dropped 50% in those hospitals and health centers which have received neonatal resuscitation training. Since the Congo has the world's second-highest rate of infant mortality after Chad (about 77 deaths per 1000 life births or 7.7%), it is essential that this WORK continue.
Dr. N, in his humble and unassuming way, continues to champion neonatal resuscitation. He is already planning more training courses later this year.
I honor Dr. N for his service, but as Elder Dallin H. Oaks has taught, "The Lord wants us to teach and minister out of love for Him and for His children, not to fill any need or win any recognition for ourselves . . . We promote unselfish service when we praise the work rather that the person who does it . . . If we praise the words or the work, we bestow recognition on the Master who directed it, not on the servant who seemed to accomplish it." Life's Lessons Learned, p. 102
I am grateful to the Master for inspiring His servant, Dr. N to accomplish this great WORK of teaching and perpetuating neonatal resuscitation in the Congo!
It was wonderful to see Dr. N again this week and to teach side by side with him. He estimates that he has now assisted in the neonatal resuscitation training of about 2800 doctors, nurses, and midwives in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Just imagine the impact his WORK has had, if each one of these health care providers has gone on to resuscitate and save babies. Now remember that all of these providers has been challenged to go on and teach other providers in their own institutions. He told me about a midwife he trained in Mbuji-Mayi (the third largest city in the Congo with 1.5 million people). She started delivering babies at age 15 and is now 75 years old and still working as a midwife. She has delivered babies for 60 years. When faced with a baby who is not breathing, her technique over the years has been to put hot tea on compresses and place the compresses on the chest of the baby. Many babies have been burned, but she thought that she was helping. Once she took the Helping Babies Breathe course and received the bag and mask, she was thrilled to finally have an effective method to save babies who are not breathing.
Dr. N has done a study of the places where training has taken place and has found that infant mortality has dropped 50% in those hospitals and health centers which have received neonatal resuscitation training. Since the Congo has the world's second-highest rate of infant mortality after Chad (about 77 deaths per 1000 life births or 7.7%), it is essential that this WORK continue.
Dr. N, in his humble and unassuming way, continues to champion neonatal resuscitation. He is already planning more training courses later this year.
I honor Dr. N for his service, but as Elder Dallin H. Oaks has taught, "The Lord wants us to teach and minister out of love for Him and for His children, not to fill any need or win any recognition for ourselves . . . We promote unselfish service when we praise the work rather that the person who does it . . . If we praise the words or the work, we bestow recognition on the Master who directed it, not on the servant who seemed to accomplish it." Life's Lessons Learned, p. 102
I am grateful to the Master for inspiring His servant, Dr. N to accomplish this great WORK of teaching and perpetuating neonatal resuscitation in the Congo!
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
Helping Babies Breathe in Kinshasa
It is now Tuesday night here in Kinshasa, and we have
completed our first 2 neonatal resuscitation training courses. Our team
consists of 3 physicians from the U.S., our team administrator, the local LDS
Charities missionary couple, and a local Congolese doctor who has taught many
courses with us in the past.
We taught at a meeting hall which belongs to the Catholic
Church near St. Joseph's Hospital. In our Monday course we taught 30 midwives
(accoucheuses) and 2 physicians and Tuesday we taught 39 midwives and 3
physicians for a total of 74 people so far. These providers work in about 25
different health centers, maternity centers, or hospitals here in Kinshasa. The
Kingasani Maternity Hospital in the Masina neighborhood which I have visited on
previous trips has about 1000 deliveries per month but no C-sections. If a patient needs a C-section, she must be taken to St.
Joseph's Hospital which has about 450 deliveries per month of which about 150
are C-sections. Some of the health centers have only a small number of
deliveries each month.
Normally a woman purchases her own bulb syringe and brings
it to the hospital when she goes into labor for use in case her baby needs suctioning at the time of
the delivery.
When we added up all the deliveries for all the hospitals
represented, it totaled about 50,000 per year. Our goal is to get each of these
providers to train all the providers in their own hospitals within the next few
weeks. Each team receives a supply of training kits and manuals to take back to
their facilities. Each facility also receives a bag and mask kit, a cleanable
bulb syringe, and a stethoscope to be used by the providers in their hospitals.
This equipment can be taken apart, washed, and sterilized or boiled so that it
can be used many times.
The course is based on the Helping Babies Breathe curriculum
from the American Academy of Pediatrics (see www.helpingbabiesbreathe.org). The
manuals and flipcharts have been translated into French, then digitally sent to
China for printing then sent to the LDS Humanitarian Center in Salt Lake City
where they were combined with the resuscitation kits and sent in a shipping
container to Kinshasa. At the end of the day-long course, each participant
received a certificate of attendance in the closing ceremonies. We feel
confident that those who are taught these resuscitation skills will make a
difference and save many babies who might otherwise not survive.
Monday, April 23, 2012
My London Marathon
To get to Kinshasa I flew from Denver to London to Johannesburg and then on to Kinshasa. When I arrived in London, I had 6 hours between flights, so I decided to take the Underground into the city and go for a leisurely Sunday afternoon walk. (Unfortunately, it was too late in the day for me to attend a sacrament meeting in London.) I pictured that the city center would be relatively quiet. Little did I know, Sunday was the London Marathon! It reminded me of the day many years ago when my sister and I came up out of the Metro in Paris into a giant crowd only to find out that we were on the Champs Elysees during the end of the Tour de France! I walked from the Green Park Tube station over to Buckingham Palace and, low and behold, the end of the marathon course is right there along the Mall just down the street from the palace. The people crossing the finish line at that time were those at about the 5 hour mark. Hundreds of people running! Probably thousands of entrants. There was a lot of excitement as the runners passed Buckingham Palace and entered their final leg. What a great race to run in along all of the famous sites! I navigated the huge crowd and walked along the Serpentine in St. Jame's Park and then walked down the center of Whitehall street (with Big Ben at one end and Lord Nelson's column at the other and, like many roads, closed to motorized traffic for the race) and then walked down to Trafalgar Square. There in the square is a giant countdown clock for the London Summer Olympics. I ducked out of the rain and into the National Gallery to view some famous paintings including many of the the Savior as I listened to the talks from the most recent General Conference (listen or watch at gc.lds.org), which I had downloaded to my ipod in French to help retrain my brain to understand this beautiful language that I learned more than 30 years ago while I served as a missionary in France. It was an unusual but fun way to spend the Sabbath! I recently heard from a friend that the original Marathon was instituted in commemoration of the fabled run of the Greek soldier Pheidippides, a messenger from the Battle of Marathon (the namesake of the race) to Athens. My London Marathon was probably only 2.62 miles, but my air marathon continues. Now on to Kinshasa . . .
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
Joy in the Congo: A Musical Miracle
On April 8, 2012, 60 Minutes did a feature on an orchestra in Kinshasa. Click here to watch this inspiring video:
60 Minutes: Joy in the Congo
60 Minutes: Joy in the Congo
Thursday, April 5, 2012
Helping Babies Breathe in DR Congo
On April 21, 2012, I will travel to the Democratic Republic of the Congo for the fourth time. I will again be volunteering with LDS Humanitarian Services. Neonatal Resuscitation is a major humanitarian initiative of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Visit this link for a video which features Elder Jeffery R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles telling about the Neonatal Resuscitation Training program.
Neonatal Resuscitation Video
In 2007, I returned with my son Geoff (a returned missionary from the Norway Oslo Mission who is now studying at the Brigham Young University Jerusalem Center).
Click here to see a short video of Geoff and another team member distributing newborn kits at the Kingasani Maternity Hospital: Newborn Nursery Video
(The movie takes several seconds to load. Be sure and watch to the end to hear the mothers of these premature babies sing a traditional song of gratitude.)
We again participated in Neonatal Resuscitation Training (NRT) in Kinshasa and also took a boat across the Congo River to Brazzaville, the capital of the Republic of the Congo.
There we participated in the first NRT course in that country.
Then in 2008, my wife Cathryn and my daughter Emma joined me in DR Congo for another course in Kinshasa.
We also flew to DR Congo's second-largest city, Lubumbashi. In Lubumbashi, we taught the first LDS Humanitarian Services NRT course in that city.
Over the years, the wonderful talented physicians of DR Congo have become more and more involved with extending this training around the country. In April, our team of 3 LDS Humanitarian Services physicians will partner with several Congolese physicians to teach the Helping Babies Breathe curriculum to health care providers in Kinshasa.
DR Congo is the second largest country in Africa (Algeria is slightly larger). Its area is roughly the size of the US east of the Mississippi River.
Kinshasa is the capital of DR Congo and with a population of 10 million people is the second largest city in Africa after Cairo. It is also the second largest French speaking city in the world after Paris.
I look forward to this opportunity to serve the wonderful people of the Congo.
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