we are here in the democratic republic of congo; it used to be called zaire
this is a view of bethel from the front gate
we have a room in the Congo Bethel, where the family is about 300 people.
meals and accommodations are provided for us.
cathy is crocheting a doily for a couple who invited us over.
there are three new residence buildings going up here with three more in the works.
these are under contract from a worldly firm. brothers in the trades do quality control
weston is still working at the assembly hall site; the caretaker's residence.
the plumbing is mostly done, and now he's coordinating the rest of the project.
this is what the outside looks like now
here is a "before" picture of the yard between the house and the assembly site
the large structures here were supports for huge silos that held concrete and different aggregates.
by pulling on these four levers sand reading the scale, one man could mix any quantity from each silo.
the nameplate says it was engineered in germany in the 1970's.
next time, i'll explain how the company went out of business. it's an interesting story.
now they are gone. the contractor figured two days. it has taken over two weeks.
this area will be huge filter bed for the sewage from the toilets. it was engineered by the brothers in south africa.
here is a picture of a typical tire shop. he does repairs here all day with the tools you see.
on the right, the woman sells coke and other refreshments to his customers and passeresby.
there are a lot of businessmen and women like this. very little regulation is evident.
right across the street from bethel, there is a man with wooden shelves stocked with liquor.
some of the bottles are open; apparently you can get just a shot if you want.
we haven't been tempted.
