March 5: Some Early Work

The ever-present reminder: Donations are accepted here:

Toilets and Showers for Kimbondo

Confident that support would start rolling in when our fundraiser officially opened, we okayed some spending of funds and commencement of work before we had actually gathered any money.  With $1,800 received over the first weekend (and--not quite a spoiler alert, but a hint--strong reason to be confident that this dollar amount is soon to grow dramatically), our confidence served us well.

In order to combat the ever-looming threat of inflation in the D.R. Congo, Madlen did some massive purchasing of materials and hired work crews to get started.  Here's a few looks at the situation on the ground:

 

Yeah, this is raw sewage.

And this used to be a toilet.

And this is how you attack decrepit bathroom plumbing.

And this is the first shipment of cement that will make it all better.

And this is the beginnings of a new septic tank.

And here is a much later stage of a new septic tank.

                                       

 And somehow Madlen and the workers got this far in about a week.  We have a long way to go until this part of the project is funded (and much farther if we hope to be able to renovate the old living quarters). But our confidence has paid off and Madlen will continue borrowing money in Kinshasa to complete this bathroom ASAP, feeling certain that we'll be able to raise the money to repay the loan.