19 Oct Bukavu Novembre 2017
Goodmorning everyone,
The travel route through Africa is different even if not less tiring, Milan- Addis Ababa- Bujumbura- Goma in DRC and finally 14 hours of navigation by ferry from Goma to Bukavu on Lake Kiwu. As Burundi is not a stable country yet so I decided to avoid choosing the shortest route.
The reception is always pleasant, all the old friends come to welcome you and without further ado you begin to distribute those small gifts that you packed in your suitcase before leaving: the tobacco “Aroma” pipe for Mauro, the chocolate for Suor Mirabilis, shampoo and cream for Suor Scholastica, mint candies for Franco, candies for Giuseppe and Nicola, panettone alla Genovese to eat with friends on Sundays.
The next day we go to the installation sites, suburbs, a huge favelas where life flows between the many contradictions of a population abused by the external and internal power of the nation, the intense smell of the wet land and that of the exposed sewers, where a simple candy thrown out a moving land rover makes the day for the poor street children.
During the journey I think about what could be the reason why so many people pour into this asshole of the world, passing from the dignified poverty of the countryside, where everyone at least has a warm meal and a shelter over their head, to a desolating misery that forces them to sell themselves for a mere mobile phone, often broken or without credit.
We are in Africa, apart from the world around us, things never go smooth. Least of all the supply of inverters that we sent from Italy. An error in the packing list has diverted our inverters to another location and, although they had noticed that they had 4 extra pieces, they decided not to communicate anything to our collaborator but to use the inverters for other locations: 2 in Burundi 1 to Bukavu RDC and 1 to Kalungu RDC.
What now? Telephone search in various directions. Travel half the city to reconnect and finally we talk with a priest of the Diocese of Bukavu that confirms that our inverter are installed in other locations and apologises for the misunderstanding ensuring the immediate recovery of equipment and their complete return.
Moral of the story: you leave for Burundi where you can retrieve 2 inverters, from Tanganika for the third piece to Bukavu where they are installed on Thursday. The fourth fortunately is in Bukavu so thats not an issue problem.
Oh I almost forgot it all took 4 days of travel and of course another thousand dollars of customs to recover the 2 inverters in Burundi.
I am in Tumino now in the dispensary of Sister Rita and between the screams of the new mothers and the cries of the newborns, the warm and noisy tin roof is trampled and the second plant is laid. The installation is simple, the beams are still good and the equipment is located in an abandoned room behind the answering machine.
No other problem, the installations are now at full capacity and guarantees energy for the wells of Panzi Solidaritè and the dispensary of Sister Rita.
Almost 15 days have passed since I arrived at Bukavu D.R.C for the installation of our systems for the production of electricity and, at the meeting place in Goma, for the return to Italy.
Thank you all for your cooperation in this great project by Se.Va and a goodbye to the next trip.
Fausto
s and Dematology Departments as well as:
CD4 cell counting machine
Centrifuge
Fluorescence microscopes
Two fridges
Night lighting and external security
The system implemented in the Enduimet school provides energy for the secretarial and night lighting of classrooms and dormitories as well as security for the walkways.
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