Basankusu: Things are looking up

I travelled from Kinshasa to Basankusu with Fr John Kirwan MHM, who had been on leave in England since just after our house fire, last year. Fr John was happy to be back in his adopted country, where he has worked as a missionary for many years. The journey, however, was less than easy. From Congo’s capital, Kinshasa, to Mbandaka, on the Equator, it took only fifty-five minutes by plane. After that, the river journey to Basankusu took three days!

Our trusty canoe with outboard

We travelled with our diocesan priests, all packed closely on blue plastic chairs in a dugout canoe, driven by a not-very-powerful outboard engine. We were happily received in several isolated village parishes along the river and got a few hours’ sleep during the two nights, on assorted mats and mattresses. It was very cramped – but we managed to keep in good spirits as we chugged along through the rainforest. Whatever hardships we met we were given the reminder: “A la guerre, comme à la guerre!”… “When at war, we live as at war!”

With the diocesan priests taking a rest on the journey

In Basankusu our house reconstruction had already begun, overseen by Fr Stan Bondoko, the third member of Mill Hill Missionaries in the Congo. Piles of white sand arrived constantly by handcart, which was then swiftly transformed into concrete bricks. After a year of washing from a bucket of rainwater, I’ll be very pleased when the house is finished and we can return to en-suite plumbing.

My nutrition centre is still firing on all cylinders. Sadly, we are treating more children than ever – yet our donations have gone down drastically. Late rains have led to a poor harvest and an only meagre appearance of the protein-rich edible caterpillars, this year. People from outlying villages are getting to hear about us, travelling great distances on foot to be treated at the centre. So, we are now treating more than fifty malnourished children, each day.

In fact, the malnutrition project is expanding. We have decided to buy a small house which is close to our Catholic hospital. It will be used for our severely malnourished children, who, as well as being fed around the clock, often need urgent medical treatment. We intend to extend it a little, replace the palm-thatch with a metal roof and install a toilet for the resident manager. We need to raise £4,000 to buy it and do it up ... and a further £4,000 to run it for the first year.

Francis Hannaway at his centre for malnourished children

Something else that I noticed, on my return, was that I didn’t get harassed by Basankusu’s immigration police this time. 

So, all things considered, things are looking up.

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