The Hills with HOPE for the Congo: Explosions in Brazzaville

As I am sure many of you know by now, Sunday March 4th was very eventful for Allie and me. We had just finished getting ready for church that morning and were about to leave the apartment when the first explosion went off. These explosions were nearly three miles away, but they felt so close. We could literally feel the force of the explosion as it blasted through our windows, breaking some of the glass. Nate's first though was that our complex was being attacked. We both the hit the ground scared of what might be going on. We peaked outside and no one was screaming. There was no panic and people were actually outside working next door. At this point we assumed it must have been a generator near by that just exploded. We gathered ourselves and started to head out the door when the second one hit. This one was by far the biggest of all the explosions. The blast was so big that it knocked Allie to the ground and sent her glass of water flying across the room. More windows broke. At this point we were terrified. We both crawled to the bathroom, grabbing our cell phones and computer along the way. Once inside we began to pray. We had no idea what was going on. Our first thought was that a war must have broken out. I mean, what are you supposed to think when explosions go off in Africa? We prayed for our safety and the safety of all the innocent people of Brazzaville. Nate sat with his back against the bathroom door when the third explosion went off. Although not as big as the second, it was still powerful enough to force the bathroom door open even with Nate sitting against it. After those three, we heard many more explosions. Some sounded close, others further away. Our only thought was that rebels were traveling through the city, tossing grenades all over the place. We were able to get a hold of our friend from the Embassy before the phones went out. Unfortunately, he had no more information for us. Luckily, the internet was still working even after the phones went out. We started skyping with one of our missionary friends that had just traveled to another part of Africa the day before. She had heard from her husband, still in Brazzaville, that there were explosions and wanted to know if we were ok. She was also with one of her teammates who left behind his wife and 5 month old baby. He had been unable to contact them. As his family lived just across the courtyard from us, Nate decided he should go check on them. Things had seemed to have quieted down a bit, so we thought it would be alright. As soon as Nate walked out the door, all the others living on the compound started coming out as well. We were all confused and scared. Communication is not the same in Africa. In America, within 30 minutes the President would be on every station informing the nation of all the details. Not here. It was over an hour before we got the first bit of information. Oddly enough it came from Kinshasa, the capital of the other Congo. The explosions were so powerful they even broke glass windows over there, across the river. All the HOPE staff living at SIL gathered in Catherine's room on the first floor. We sat together, discussing the events and trying desperately to find some information on the internet. We all packed a small bag just in case we would have to be evacuated. We were so relieved to find out almost two hours after the first explosion that the whole thing was the result of a fire and not war. It was about this same time that HOPE's Director of Operations showed up at SIL. He lives very close to the ammunition depot and had walked over an hour to get to SIL. He was a little banged up from his door that came off its hinge after the second explosion and hit him in the head. He was in a bit of shock, but was ok. We were all relieved. Over the next few hours we learned that all HOPE staff had survived the explosions. We also learned that two of the staff, Olive and Loveline, suffered sever damage to their homes. Olive's home was actually completely destroyed. They are both now living with family members and trying to figure out the next steps. Please be praying for both of them as they are also dealing with the emotional and mental trauma from the experiences they lived through.

Things are calm in the city now. Thankfully there haven't been any uprisings or protesting. There was a bad civil war here in the late 90s and many people think memories of it are keeping the peace. No one wants another war. There are thousands of displaced people who had their homes completely destroyed. There are 6-7 refugee camps around the city. Angi and I, Allie, went to visit one last Sunday that is right up the road from where we live. We took some clothes donations to give to the camp leadership. The sight was so sad. Many people didn't have tents, but just straw mats to sleep on under the stars. The numbers in the camp increased exponentially so there has been trouble with keeping organization and order. We were told there are 3 toilets for the 2,000 people in the camp. Ridiculous. I felt completely lost and frustrated. I want to help, but don't know how. The government is barely doing anything for the people, even though the explosion was there fault. Everyone is waiting for the exploded area to be deemed safe and reopened. They have quarantined the area looking for live ammo that flew out, but didn't blow up. Please be praying for all the people affected. Those who are living in the refugees camps especially.

March has been SO HOT. Definitely the roughest month yet in terms of comfortability. It is like summer in South Carolina, which Im very used to, but we don't have A/C to get a break from it. We are definitely always covered in a little layer of sweat. Thankfully, we got to watch March Madness this past weekend in an air conditioned apartment. It was awesome! Other than the heat things are good. Nate has been busy at work as HOPE has been assessing all the clients to see who was affected by the explosions. Thankfully no clients died, but homes and businesses of clients were definitely destroyed.

God answered Allie's prayer! Thank you for all your prayers :) I was asked to be the volunteer Kiva Coordinator. Kiva fundraises for microfinance institutions (MFIs). They partner with MFIs like HOPE and send money for loans. HOPE posts profiles of clients on the Kiva website (www.kiva.org) and donors from around the world can fund the loans. I assist in interviewing and taking photos of clients, posting profiles online, and "liaisoning" between HOPE and Kiva. I have also been asked to revamp the Manual for Kiva processes and to institute a process that will allow for greater capacity as HOPE increases its received funding from Kiva. I am enjoying it very much and am keeping very busy!

Allie had a wonderful birthday Saturday! Thank you everyone for all the wonderful wishes and love. Nate made an awesome dinner for me! He brought Carrabbas to Africa. He made homemade chicken marsala, herb potatoes, green beans, and bread with olive oil. Yum! I was so happy. Cant believe Im 24 though. yuck! I think Ive decided to stop at 25. Its a good number.

We are looking forward to visiting home in May! It is only 2 months away. We are so excited to see our families and friends, sleep in some air conditioning, and eat chic-fi-la and hamburgers and steak and mexican and the list goes on....