Curt returned home from DR of Congo safely and we are happy to be together again! This our friend, Phil Malula on the left of Curt, and Phil's wife's brother and sister-in-law. Curt has interesting and sad stories of life in the Congo. The poor just keep getting poorer and crime is rampant as people just try to survive. One day Curt's car and driver got stopped by the police (they saw a white man...and an opportunity for extortion) and Curt had to call Phil to come rescue him. They sent another car and whisked him away. The police are people to be afraid of there!
The project with Tifi - TEACHING INDIVIDUALS AND FAMILIES INDEPENDENCE THROUGH ENTERPRISE (http://www.tifie.org/organization.html) is to develop a truck repair shop. They have a fleet of trucks that helps many have employment and Curt is going to help them set up a shop to do maintenance, repairs and build truck beds. They weren't successful at finding a suitable building to lease on this trip and have decided to buy property and remodel a building. Curt is gathering machinery to ship to Congo since what is available there is very expensive and old. There will trips in the future to continue the project... but I don't plan on going with him. It is not safe. At the orphanage that Tifi runs it's not even safe for Curt to visit because "bad guys" who saw him come would break in and demand whatever "the white man brought". Our love and admiration of Phil and his family is reason enough to be involved.
