We began our second Helping Mothers Survive: Bleeding After Birth course today. The 19 physicians and midwives we trained in the first half of the week now became master trainers of the 37 midwives and nurses who arrived today. They did a great job teaching this curriculum. I noticed that some of the tables conversed primarily in Swahili, which is the main indigenous language here. Almost everyone we meet here speaks French. The Democratic Republic of the Congo is a multilingual country where an estimated total of 242 languages are spoken. The official language is French. Four indigenous languages have the status of national languages: Kituba (called "Kikongo"), Lingala, Swahili and Tshiluba.
During part of the day, the electricity went out. The room we are using has no windows. The participants continued the course without interruption, as they are very used to power outages. I learned that a great way to make a lantern is to turn on the light of a mobile phone and set it under a water bottle such that the light shines up through the bottle and the water.
Of note, 99% of the population of DR Congo (mostly those in rural areas) do not have electricity. In urban areas, about 50% of the residents have electricity.)
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