Thank you so much to everyone who made this project possible! The team experienced some serious health issues along the way and we are grateful to God for bringing us through.

The truck was shipped from England in June and almost made it to Fiziland! It broke down about 60 miles from its destination but ‘our’ tractor went out to meet it and towed it home. What a spectacular sight this must have been on the appalling roads and if only we had a photograph!

They had with them some precious money donated by Changing Lives and designated for some sewing machines.  Living in the UK in a very multi-cultural part of London it was, therefore, quite a shock to be so very conspicuous as a ‘white woman’, and it very quickly became clear that white woman meant – money.  Shopping for the sewing machines was quite a challenging experience, and more so when we added them to our luggage ready to cross the border into DR Congo. Our airline generously allowed 45kg each, so we were already well packed with sewing accessories and a case full of sports equipment for the children.  Five treadle sewing machines and various rolls of cloth, together with vast amounts of luggage PLUS ‘white woman’ made us very obvious indeed. The journey into DR Congo cost a huge amount in terms of exploitation of the situation, but such is life in Africa. We were grateful to arrive at our destination with all the luggage still complete. Nothing was stolen along the way.

The tractor project proved itself to be an amazing walk of faith. Changing Lives somehow became the catalyst and within a very short time money started to arrive in almost every post.  We opened letters which brought tears to our eyes. One lady was dying, but she had heard of the tractor project and wanted to give a gift. She passed away just a couple of days after we received it.

One Saturday afternoon there was a knock on our door. A lady stood there holding her cheque book. ‘Hello’, she said. I could not work out who she was.  It was an ‘old’ school friend of our daughter’s. They had been in primary school together but I had not seen her for  years and had failed to recognise her.   She told me that she had been in church the previous week and heard God speak to her. She knew God told her to come and bring some money. She did not know what it was for, but she could not rest until she had been.  And even though she clearly had a nasty throat infection, there she was to honour what God had asked of her.

Amazingly, we reached the £11,000 target, but by then the price had gone up and the new estimate was £14,500. By now we were breathless at what God was doing. The manager of the business where we were buying the tractor advised us that prices were going up, but he would honour our order if it was paid in full by a certain date. We did not have the money. We asked if we could pay 50% and after some hesitation he eventually agreed.  But the balance also had a deadline. By now our faith was being stretched to the limit!

It was a wonderful moment when the money was paid in full, on time! Changing Lives always wants to give God the glory for everything, as there is no way that such a small team could achieve so much on their own.  We offered to Him what we could do, and we are in awe at the way He took our offering and multiplied it, touching so many other people along the way.  We say ‘Thank You’ so much to everyone who took part in the tractor project.

In addition to the tractor there was a new plough and harrow.  Shipping the precious container with the items was not without delay and stress, but it was a great day when we heard that it had finally arrived.

We can report that it is now working in Fiziland and making a huge difference.

In our luggage we had £200 worth of sports equipment.  This included footballs, marker cones, football team bibs, small balls, skipping ropes, whistles and stop watches.  The headmaster of the local school invited other teachers to come and share in receiving these precious items and a scheme was introduced to them so that they could share the equipment around but still be accountable to each other. An inflatable ball illustrated with a world map was quickly stored away for geography lessons!

We held a fun morning with the local school. It was a crazy affair with what seemed like hundreds of excited children but our hope and prayer is that the sports equipment will provide an on-going outlet for their energy and bring a measure of healing to these broken children.

After the excitement of family reunions, Georges and Lydia were able to look around the area and it was with great sadness that they saw the devastation which had been caused by the war. People were still traumatised and in many cases lacked the motivation to see any sense of hope for the future.

During that visit, Georges was able to lead some seminars and to bring a sense of vision for the future. Some local chiefs donated two large areas of land, and a small group of people made a start at cultivating it. The soil was very fertile and the land quickly produced an encouraging harvest.

The area, however, is desperately poor. There is no electricity, no piped water, no sanitation, no postal system and no land-line phones.  Just a few villages now have a tap, but many people walk a kilometre to fetch water which is often of a very dubious quality.  Many wash themselves and their clothes in Lake Tanganyika and then take the same water home to drink.

The question ‘What is poverty?’ is one which I asked myself before I went to Fizi. I wondered what to expect. Nothing could prepare me for the reality. There was no electricity, no piped water, no sanitation, no postal system and no land-line phones. The market stalls seemed to have some small fish for sale, maybe some fruit, perhaps some flip flops or a few bars of soap. It seemed as though I had stepped back in time hundreds of years.

New babies were carried on their mother’s back, but it seemed as though once they could toddle, they were on their own. We saw tiny children wander along the side of the main road (there was only one road) into Fizi. It was perhaps fortunate that the vehicles could not possibly drive fast as the road was so poor, but there must surely be tragic accidents with these little ones if they had not yet learnt to jump out of the way in time.

The children’s clothing was so poor and ragged. We saw little ones of perhaps 5 years old carrying a baby brother or sister.  Young children walked with heavy pots of water on their heads.  Some local children came running to the fun day and pleaded to be allowed to join in. Their parents did not have enough money to pay for them to be in school.

These ladies had no idea that they were about to become business women in a whole new venture. If we ourselves could imagine the challenge of setting up a business without specific training or experience and with virtually no office equipment, then it would be extremely daunting. We had taken sewing accessories with us in our luggage. These included scissors, pinking shears, pins, tape measures, patterns and thread.  We had bought rolls of material in Bujumbura which would be suitable for school uniforms, and Lydia was later able to buy some prettier material for little girls’ dresses.