My home in Kindu is relatively comfortable. For my first month and a bit in Kindu, I stayed in the biggest room in our house, but it was boiling hot in there day and night. In April I moved all my stuff to one of the two rooms in a small separated annex. There’s a lot more shade over the roof of this room, so the air in the room is actually colder than the air outside during the daytime.
The mosquito net in this room is green and not big enough for the bed, so I often wake up with my feet sticking well out of the net with a few mosquito bites:
We have two staff members who share kitchen duties. When one has a day off, the other is working, and some days they work together. Mama Walou plucking the feathers off a decapitated chicken in our kitchen:
Papa Rama pounding garlic cloves:
On occasion, non-kitchen staff decide to use the kitchen as well. Catherine, who takes care of our finances, makes terrific banana loaf every once in a while:
We also have a few cats around, though the population is starting to dwindle. One of these three kittens sleeping in the small garbage bin has already been taken to a new home, and another should be gone soon:
On the grounds of our home, we have a papaya tree, a red avocado tree (a red-skinned, sweet, and tart apple/pear type fruit with white flesh and a big seed like an avocado, hence the local appelation), and a grapefruit tree:
Before bed each night I try to read at least 27 pages of one of the books I brought with me, as I brought 4884 pages of reading for 180 days. Most nights there’s some sort of music or drumming that continues late into the night, which doesn’t bother me at all. Sometimes we get a rainstorm that helps me sleep better than normal. Many mornings, a bell is rung more than 20 times around 6am, which I am told is somehow related to a local church which I’ve never seen but already very much dislike. At 7am, it’s time to get out of bed for breakfast and head to the office in time for 8am, the start of the working day.
What are you eating most of the days?
Chris, it’s really great to hear about some of the details that make up your daily life! I love seeing these photos!
Pieter: We eat mostly rice, oil, meat (chicken and pork), bread, plantains, and fruit.