Grant Assenheimer
Grant Assenheimer is a logistician working with the Canadian branch of aid agency Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) in Shamwana, a tiny village in DR Congo's Katanga province. This is his second mission with MSF. Grant is a Canadian from Barrhead, Alberta.
Road Trip
Author: Grant Assenheimer
This past weekend, I went on a 3-day trip to the field with my senior log assistant and project coordinator. Our destination was Manono, the nearest cit to Shamwana and a short 6-hour, 170 km drive away. Our main goal was to explore local purchase opportunities and the ability to use the twice weekly flights from Manono to Goma as a way to get expats out of the project. So good to get out of the base and it was great to see another corner of the DRC. It also gave me lots to think about and Ive shared some of these thoughts over the next couple of entries. ...
Author: Grant Assenheimer
This past weekend, I went on a 3-day trip to the field with my senior log assistant and project coordinator. Our destination was Manono, the nearest cit to Shamwana and a short 6-hour, 170 km drive away. Our main goal was to explore local purchase opportunities and the ability to use the twice weekly flights from Manono to Goma as a way to get expats out of the project. So good to get out of the base and it was great to see another corner of the DRC. It also gave me lots to think about and Ive shared some of these thoughts over the next couple of entries. ...
Supply Lines
Author: Grant Assenheimer
After work last night, I enjoyed a beer, some Pringles and few hours of cards with our team. Small comforts after a long day! So easy to forget that this beer only arrives in Shamwana after a 5-day trip on the back of a bicycle! No one has a carif you have money here in Shamwana, you buy a bicycle. These arent your normal bikes, either. Heavy duty. You can weld them. They can carry 100 kilos. Not so comfortable but their real value is in the amount of cargo that can be strapped to them. ...
Author: Grant Assenheimer
After work last night, I enjoyed a beer, some Pringles and few hours of cards with our team. Small comforts after a long day! So easy to forget that this beer only arrives in Shamwana after a 5-day trip on the back of a bicycle! No one has a carif you have money here in Shamwana, you buy a bicycle. These arent your normal bikes, either. Heavy duty. You can weld them. They can carry 100 kilos. Not so comfortable but their real value is in the amount of cargo that can be strapped to them. ...
Water Mamas
Author: Grant Assenheimer
My Monday mornings are always a bit stressful. It is my job to literally wade out into a crowd of local Congolese women and select 10 of them to be our water haulers our Water Mamas for the week. Inside the compound, we officially start each day with a morning meeting at 8:00 am. The crowd outside the gate is already gathering by then. If you were one of these women, you would be there early to stake out your spot. Likely, you have a baby strapped to your back and have your two oldest daughters waiting in different parts of the line to increase your chances. This is the only real opportunity youll have to earn any money this week so it is a big deal. Everyone is talking, there is some pushing and an argument breaks out beside you as someone tries to force her way into the line. A mixture of excitement, hope and desperation can be felt in the air. ...
Author: Grant Assenheimer
My Monday mornings are always a bit stressful. It is my job to literally wade out into a crowd of local Congolese women and select 10 of them to be our water haulers our Water Mamas for the week. Inside the compound, we officially start each day with a morning meeting at 8:00 am. The crowd outside the gate is already gathering by then. If you were one of these women, you would be there early to stake out your spot. Likely, you have a baby strapped to your back and have your two oldest daughters waiting in different parts of the line to increase your chances. This is the only real opportunity youll have to earn any money this week so it is a big deal. Everyone is talking, there is some pushing and an argument breaks out beside you as someone tries to force her way into the line. A mixture of excitement, hope and desperation can be felt in the air. ...
Speechless
Author: Grant Assenheimer
Last week, I spent one afternoon visiting patients with one of the councilors from our Mental Health program. Wow. You dont answer that was fun when teammates ask how it went. The sessions were all in Kiluba, the main dialect here in Shamwana. While the ideas were translated into French for me by the councilor, you dont need to understand the words to get their meaning. Pretty heavy stuff On the surface, Shamwana is all cheerful Mazungo! greetings as people busily go about their business. Life is hard but improving and it is easy to forget that real war was here a short 3 years ago. This was one of the first times I had stopped to really look. And when you look, you see the wrinkled hands and dirt under the toenails. You see that the toy is made from an old plastic jug on a string. You notice that her blouse used to be whitebut is now gray and so thin its doesnt conceal much. You realize she doesnt even have flip-flopsand that life is not as easy as it appears. The first stop The lady was a bit older and although she seemed happy to see us, her eyes were tired and she looked tough. Hardened maybe. There was lots of activity in the yard and it seemed like she was running a daycare of sorts. We met outside under a towering mango tree and there were children playing everywhere. ...
Author: Grant Assenheimer
Last week, I spent one afternoon visiting patients with one of the councilors from our Mental Health program. Wow. You dont answer that was fun when teammates ask how it went. The sessions were all in Kiluba, the main dialect here in Shamwana. While the ideas were translated into French for me by the councilor, you dont need to understand the words to get their meaning. Pretty heavy stuff On the surface, Shamwana is all cheerful Mazungo! greetings as people busily go about their business. Life is hard but improving and it is easy to forget that real war was here a short 3 years ago. This was one of the first times I had stopped to really look. And when you look, you see the wrinkled hands and dirt under the toenails. You see that the toy is made from an old plastic jug on a string. You notice that her blouse used to be whitebut is now gray and so thin its doesnt conceal much. You realize she doesnt even have flip-flopsand that life is not as easy as it appears. The first stop The lady was a bit older and although she seemed happy to see us, her eyes were tired and she looked tough. Hardened maybe. There was lots of activity in the yard and it seemed like she was running a daycare of sorts. We met outside under a towering mango tree and there were children playing everywhere. ...
Its never quiet
Author: Grant Assenheimer
The roosters start at about 4:30 am and are joined by a chorus of wailing babies at daybreak. A car roars to life in the early morning, as our teams get ready to head out. The quiet flip-flop of an expats sandals can be heard outside my door as an early riser heads to the latrine. Quiet conversations between the water Mamas also start early, as they are busy pumping and filling 20-liter jugs at the hand pump in the compound. They will be back and forth many times throughout the day, balancing these heavy jugs on their heads and delivering water to all of the distribution points in the project. The dull thump-thump-thump of manioc being beaten into a fine powder can always be heard. Recently, the swishing and crunching of a peanut de-shelling apparatus starts early and goes on all day. ...
Previous entries
|
Next entries
Author: Grant Assenheimer
The roosters start at about 4:30 am and are joined by a chorus of wailing babies at daybreak. A car roars to life in the early morning, as our teams get ready to head out. The quiet flip-flop of an expats sandals can be heard outside my door as an early riser heads to the latrine. Quiet conversations between the water Mamas also start early, as they are busy pumping and filling 20-liter jugs at the hand pump in the compound. They will be back and forth many times throughout the day, balancing these heavy jugs on their heads and delivering water to all of the distribution points in the project. The dull thump-thump-thump of manioc being beaten into a fine powder can always be heard. Recently, the swishing and crunching of a peanut de-shelling apparatus starts early and goes on all day. ...
