WALUNGU NEWSLETTER

1. work at your home and contribute to the community development help Walungu create revolving livestock fund WALUNGU NEWSLETTER No 5

2. Dear neighbours and friends of Walungu... nabuur.com Welcome to the fifth issue of our newsletter. This is a busy summer for Walungu community. The learning farm has started and the people are involved in different activities with goats and farming. We can see first results of our mutual efforts. This could have not been achieved without your help – your continuous support makes a difference for Walungu community and helps them on their path to empowerment. In this issue you can read: 1. What has been achieved(page 2) 2. What is going on, next steps and how you can contribute(page 3) 3. About DR of the Congo and its culture(pages 4,5,6 ) 4. Find out which neighbour is introduced this time(page 7) Enjoy reading the fifth issue of Walungu newsletter. Your facilitator Company Logo Page 1

3. Guillaume with the community Company Logo

4. What has been achieved nabuur.com The learning farm has started. Your contribution to establishing it was essential. The community has bought a couple of Alpine goats and got one female as a gift. So now they have a buck and two does. One female goat is pregnant and should get kids in less than 3 months. A new volunteer, vet Chokola who was recommended by Trinto, provides free veterinary services and together with Roger is training the community in goat keeping on a daily basis. The community has learnt to build goat sheds and some families have been building sheds for themselves. Beside the first shed built last year, there is one more built recently. Since the last year’s seed was destroyed a good deal by heavy rains and hail, Ken sent another package of seed. It recently arrived to Walungu and the community is getting ready to plant it these days. The Worldschool group has prepared SWOT and breeding plan, which need to be revised and updated with the results of the learning farm. We have a doctor who is preparing to hold a training about water borne diseases and good hygiene practices in Walungu in October There’s another partnership on sight with Fopac DRC, a partner of AGRITERRA from the Netherlands Guillaume has met with Bahizire, the man who’s working with fuel briquettes in DRC. Bahizire is willing to hold a demonstration in Walungu for free, but he needs his travel expenses covered. Company Logo Page 2

5. First dairy goats in Walungu Company Logo

6. What is going on Water We are investigating possibility to introduce fuel briquettes in Walungu as a substitute for wood for cooking. Briquettes A doctor is preparing a training about water borne diseases and good hygiene practices in Walungu in October. We need to further define what can be done with low/no cost at the beginning. Learning farm continues and Worldschool students should be working on a project plan. Your comments and ideas will be needed. Plan nabuur.com Company Logo Page 3

7. Roger and vet Chokola with the goats Company Logo

8. DR of the Congo nabuur.com Walungu Did you know? More people were taken into slavery from the part of Africa now occupied by the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Republic of Congo and Angola than from any other area of the continent. Over three centuries, more than 13.5 million men, women and children were enslaved. Company Logo Page 4 http://www.cp-pc.ca/english/congo/index.html

9. Children of Congo Company Logo

10. Life in Congo Many Congolese enjoy playing cards, singing, dancing, listening to music, storytelling and visiting relatives. Board games such as chess and checkers are also popular. In small villages, communal activities may include gathering at the local bar to watch a wrestling or soccer match on television. The cities offer movies, theatres and dance clubs. The Congolese are imaginative dancers and constantly invent new dances. Many urban Congolese spend their leisure time in bars. They dance, listen to live or recorded Congolese jazz or simply talk with friends over a glass of beer. Congolese enjoy beers such as Skol and Primus as well as homemade brews. People also drink palm wine, which is made from the juice of the palm oil tree. It contains yeast and can be fermented overnight. Other drinks include ginger beer, banana beer, sugar-cane wine, homemade gin and passion-fruit juice. It is customary to pour a small amount of liquid on the ground before drinking, as a libation for thirsty ancestors. Because of Congo's economic problems, teachers' salaries are extremely low and teachers often remain unpaid for months. Pupils in public schools often bring money, or some other form of payment, such as food, to school to pay for their instruction. Schools are without basic supplies, and libraries have empty shelves. Trained teachers are in short supply. Less than one-quarter of primary school teachers have diplomas. Poor funding and deteriorating standards have led to student demonstrations and teacher strikes nabuur.com Company Logo Page 5 http://www.cp-pc.ca/english/congo/index.html

11. Children of Congo Company Logo

12. More about DR of the Congo Despite the nation's vast potential wealth in natural resources, Congo's economy has declined dramatically since the 1970s. Chronic government deficits, mismanagement, widespread corruption, rapid inflation and decreased mineral production have made the country one of the poorest in the world. Civil war continues to destabilize the currency. Indigenous bank notes have lost almost all value, and most currency transactions are conducted in American dollars. A barter economy now flourishes, and most people survive by subsistence farming and small-scale trading. Until the 1990s, mining supplied three-quarters of Congo's export earnings. Other exports included industrial diamonds, crude oil, cobalt, cadmium, gold, manganese, silver, tin and zinc. Industries included mineral processing, cement, textiles, footwear, cigarettes, processed foods and beverages. Modern mining operations and many industries collapsed in the 1990s, however, due to mismanagement, civil war and the withdrawal of foreign aid. Since independence in 1960, large numbers of Congolese have migrated to the cities, hoping to find jobs in business, industry and government. The resulting rapid growth of cities has led to high unemployment and crowded living conditions. Those who do find work often earn low wages and find it almost impossible to support themselves and their families. There are many chegues, or street children, in the cities. Today, agriculture, forestry and fishing employ 60% of the working population. Cash crops include coffee, cocoa, cotton, tea and quinine. Cassava, bananas, peanuts, root crops and corn are raised for local consumption. Products gathered from the rain forest or plantations include palm oil, rubber and timber. Most village families farm a small plot of land, raising almost all their own food. Few can afford farm machinery, so most use hand tools. As a result, farm production is low, and most farm families are poor. Some rural inhabitants also hunt or catch fish. nabuur.com http://www.cp-pc.ca/english/congo/index.html Company Logo Page 6

13. Children of Congo Company Logo

14. Find out more about our neighbours… ESTHER I am 34 with 3 kids (all girls!) and I live in the Netherlands, in the east. I studied English and taught English at a secondary school for about 12 years. I decided to go back to college last year and I am studying Social Studies now. I have always had this dream of setting up counselling programs for girls and women in African countries. At this moment, I work for refugee work in the Netherlands and I counsel refugees about naturalisation, asylum procedures, accomodation, social support and job coaching. I also train volunteers and I coordinate a project which is about refugees spending a day at a Dutch family to get familiar with Dutch culture and to expand their social contacts. I joined Nabuur at the end of 2008 and I started doing a small task in Walungu, Congo. It was a very creative task (taking photos that could be used for a manual about goat keeping) and I got help from one of my clients at refugee work in the Netherlands for that. I did a few things for another Nabuur village Kayenzi, in Rwanda. Then, Eddy in Kisozi, Uganda, asked me to be his facilitator and this grew very big! At this moment, I have a "fulltime job" at Kisozi and I spend all my time working on Nabuur. There is a lot going on there, we are setting up several projects and we are making great progress. Nabuur gave me the chance to be able to mean something to others and share my ideas and talents with those of others. And in October, I will be flying to Uganda to see how this Nabuur village is progressing! nabuur.com Company Logo Page 7

15. At the end of this issue… nabuur.com Enjoy this small photo gallery of Walungu… Children of Walungu… The church… Traditional dancers… A house in Walungu… Thank you for your continuous support. Together we are making a difference Company Logo Page 8