Living in Africa is an Adventure

Sunday we remained in Bujumbura and were blessed by a church plant that has been established there. The church is an inspiration for Africa as there are missionary pastors sent from Nigeria, Kenya and other countries who are fully funded by their sending churches! Africans are challenging each other to mobilize their own people for change and for Christ. The worship was an amazing experience which reminded us that God goes before us AND He is behind us, he is with us every step of the way! This was a much needed reminder for what was ahead of us.

Monday we started our adventure to Gitega, the city where we will be living. Our van started out with us and all of our luggage. Just under half way to Gitega, we had to make an emergency stop as suddenly our van started smoking inside. We all piled out of the van and us “muzungus” became quite an attraction sitting on the side of the road. Quickly, children surrounded us and eagerly watched our every move. The hardest part was keeping the kids safely on the side of the road….which really, there is not much of a side to stick to! Our van’s radiator overheated so it had to get cooled down. Luckily we had 3 boys who could run and get water to drench the radiator to cool it down….smoke was pouring out of the vehicle! After cooling it for ½ hour, we all got in and started on the journey again. I suggested we stop to let the engine cool longer as the road we were travelling was mostly driving up a mountain side, but our driver wanted to keep going. A fIew minutes later, smoke started coming again….so we all piled out and sat on the side of the road. This time, the van was not going anywhere so two taxis were sent to pick us up. After sitting in the sun for 2 hours, the taxis arrived with a good drink for us and we were able to pack all our luggage into both cars!

As we continued on our travels, we had an encounter with the police which prolonged our already tiring trip. Because most of our luggage was in 1 car and we were all in another car, the police tried to say that our cars were not together! Imaging that! Where else would the taxi driver get a car load of luggage from Canada? The police then asked for a bribe….Charles agreed to pay if they gave him a receipt…instead of 5,000f, they said with a receipt it would cost us 50,000f. Charles insisted we needed a receipt. We prayed while our drivers discussed with the police. Awhile later, they came back saying they were letting us go…without paying anything! We continued on our way with the last leg of the trip uneventful. In the end, what should have taken us 2 hours, took us almost 6 hours.

We arrived in the early evening at our house we will be renting. Everything went smoothly for getting settled into the house and we had a great meal waiting for us when we arrived. Tuesday we spent the day getting settled and we were able to unpacked a bit. We also checked out the school for our kids, which is only a 10 minute walk from our house. We were surprised to find out how advanced the kids at the school are. In grade 1, they learn handwriting and they start multiplication / division tables! By grade 2, everything is in the long handwriting and they are doing all their multiplication/division tables by memory. Joshua is also attending school, and he will be having homework sent home! We will have to hire a tutor to help get the kids caught up with the other kids, but with a little work, it is possible.

The first day of school started off an exciting adventure for all the kids. We left home at 7:15 as school starts at 7:30am. As we entered the school area, we were immediately surrounded by a mass of kids who were intriqued by the “muzungus”! It was a bit overwhelming for each of my kids to have their heads and arms touched by a mass of  kids who rarely see white skins.  The teachers do their best to get the kids away but there are so many that when 5-6 leave, they are replaced by more curious eyes and hands. There were no tears the first day, except for mine! It was a challenge to leave all of my kids in the care of someone else. By God’s grace, I made it through the morning. Joshua goes to school 7:30-12:00 and the other kids go 7:30-1:00. We did not send any snack for the kids, which we learned that at this time, we need to send a small snack for our kids and the school is agreeable for us to do so.

The second day of school did not go quite a smooth! Elijah was crying and Joshua would not let me go! We eventually were able to get them settled and according to the teachers, they all did well the rest of the day. On Tuesday and Thursday, Savana and Elijah go back to school for an additional 2 hours. Starting tomorrow, 4-5 days a week we will have a tutor come to help Savana and Elijah get caught up with what they need to in school….this will be an additional 2 hours of schooling each time! Hopefully it won’t take long for them to get caught up.

Another adventure we had to day was looking for a vehicle. We took a few vehicles for a test drive…and yes, I got to drive in Africa! I was so paranoid as there are very few rules here. One driver told us, “this road is one way”. I asked him how would I know that road was just a one way…..his response….”This is AFRICA!” Oye..at least the roads in Gitega aren’t as busy as the ones in Bujumbura so we should be able to get comfortable here before driving in the big city. The process is definitely an African process for buying a vehicle. We stopped by one grocery shop and talked to the lady to see if she knew where we could buy a vehicle. She phoned her husband and in a few minutes, we had guys bringing cars/vans/SUVs right to us! We are still in the process for finding the right vehicle for our family so please pray for us as we work through this process.

Tomorrow we hope to get to GIA to meet staff and students and start to fulfill our roles at the school.

 

God Bless,

       Charles & Darla Balenga

For those who would like to donate towards our mission, you can donate on either YFC Edmonton website or Bridges of Hope website labelled “Burundi Mission” at the following links.

http://www.yfced.com/index.php/donate/how-to-donate

http://www.thebridgesofhope.com/index.php?p=Donate