Is it me...my brother or long lost cousin or is it not...you be the judge.

here is the note from my friend claiming this is me... :)

Go to Steve's blog here...
Rick,

The angle on these photos isn't so helpful, but, I swear, the guy and
you are somehow related. He is a little chubby though. ( thanks Steve for not claiming he is chubby as me ;)

Blessings,

steve

ps. the ad is for a local tabloid. The sign says, "We are in the know
about everything: the world of stars, politics, entertainment, people
happenings, sports.

In Brief: More than $300 million wasted in water projects

In Brief: More than $300 million wasted in water projects

DAKAR, 23 March 2009 (IRIN) - Donors, governments and NGOs have wasted hundreds of millions of dollars in rural African water projects by not maintaining wells and boreholes they built, according to an International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) report.

As a result, 50,000 water supply points are non-functioning across rural Africa, wrote Jamie Skinner. Only one third of the water supply systems built by an NGO network in Senegal’s Kaolack region since the 1980s are still working; 58 percent of water points in northern Ghana are in disrepair.

“It is not enough to drill a well and walk away. Water projects need to support long-term maintenance needs and engage local communities. Without this it is like throwing money down the drain,” stated the IIED report. Up to US$360 million has been lost in wasted water projects in recent years.

“Every day a borehole does not provide safe water, people are obliged to drink from unclean pools and rivers, exposing them to water-borne diseases,” Skinner said.

aj/pt

Themes: (IRIN) Aid Policy, (IRIN) Economy, (IRIN) In Brief, (IRIN) Water & Sanitation


Copyright © IRIN 2009

The Congo Initiative is impacting the Democratic Republic of Congo

Here is a testimony from a UCBC Student Testimony: Amani, 18 yrs., 1st Year Student
Go to Congo Initiative to find out more about this transformational ministry.


Why did you come to UCBC?

I came because I have a plan in my life. I want to use computers in all the ways it can be used. The first reason I came to UCBC was to get a degree in Computer Science. This faculty does not exist in this region of Congo.

Second reason is because it is Christian and all human values are respected. UCBC will help me go ahead in Science. It is advanced with Internet, library, and English language. But, having values with Science is important.

What makes UCBC different from other universities?

In the town I am from, Butembo, I am afraid of the universities. Students are aggressive, many of them do drugs and drink and are sexually promiscuous. Students at UCBC are being transformed. Student's from other universities that come to UCBC change.

Example...we were in a small accident with the van. Students from other universities would have beaten or killed the driver. Our students acted differently-- we were transformed, different. Teachers come with their own ways of teaching that are not necessarily the best. They are getting used to our philosophy and education here and also transforming the way they teach. My hope is that we continue to all be transformed. This is why I am committed to UCBC.

Why is UCBC important for change in Congo?

We don't want to continue having the same type of leaders we have had in the past. We need new leaders in all aspects of society to avoid corruption and immoral values that currently exist. We have many intellectuals, but they do not know how to apply their studies practically. It will be good if I can apply my knowledge of computer science into society with moral and ethical values. I want to leave UCBC when I know I have the knowledge and the values instilled in me. We need people who are transformed to transform this country. If we can have such a university it is good for the country. Nothing is impossible.

How has UCBC impacted you personally?

Since I came here, I didn't know anything about university, English, or computers. Also, inside myself, my heart, I'm growing step by step as I learn at UCBC. Chapel time, sports, and all the activities we have here help me grow. When I came here, I had my personal time for things such as prayer, but here I'm constantly reminded that I have someone who is leading my life.

A day before school began I was supposed to go to Bukavu for studies, but I was able to visit Beni and decided to attend UCBC. I thank the Lord because I am here.

I thank the Lord for bringing Congo Initiative and UCBC to Beni and our country. I believe it is helping our country develop. I hope all the projects we have will succeed.

god is working

( a story from a young senaglese missionary)

i wanted to share a little bit about my last medical team in my home town and surrounded villages. 
Every year since four years, i am hosting a team from the US. Usually, i put them together with Africans brothers and sisters working for the same goal which is God to be glorify. 
As many people knew, in our country before you show the Jesus film, you need to ask permission at the mayor or the local government represent but personally i didn't. I showed the Jesus film right in front of my dad (who was a retired coranic teacher) compound at the stress. There were over to 500 or 600 people watched this film included a five years girl named 'A'. She is my friend' daughter. When the film started 'A' asked her mom and her uncle wife if they want to go to watch the film, basically they replied no. She left by herself. She watched the film until the end. She followed the crowd who she can go back home during the night in the dark of course. 'A'said to her parents you should see this by yourself how they killed him on the cross. When 'A' mom reported these things to me i almost cry because of joy. Personally, i never met a christian until i was 17 years old. Praise because the gospel is preaching where they never hear this wonderful news about the way of salvation through Jesus-Christ.

'Taken over by Satan'

BBC NEWS
'Taken over by Satan'
In 1994 in the village of Nyarubuye, Rwanda, the Hutu majority went on a killing spree in the local church, slaughtering neighbours and friends.

Gitera Rwamuhuzi is one of those who took part in the genocide. This is his story.

Before the genocide, life was normal. For us, as long as there was a harvest good enough to save us from buying food from the market, I would say that we were happy.

I heard that Tutsis were regarded as superior towards Hutus. For example a Hutu could only change his social status by serving in a Tutsi's household. The rest were low-class Hutus.

“ Some people did not even find someone to kill because there were more killers than victims ”

Because the RPF were blamed for the death of President Habyarimana, we thought that they had started with the high-ranking officials and that they were going to end up doing the same to us ordinary people.

We thought that if they had managed to kill the head of state, how were ordinary people supposed to survive?

On the morning of 15 April 1994, each one of us woke up knowing what to do and where to go because we had made a plan the previous night. In the morning we woke up and started walking towards the church.

No life

After selecting the people who could use guns and grenades, they armed them and said we should surround the church.

They said one group would go south and another group would go to the north. There were so many of us we were treading on each others' heels.

People who had grenades detonated them. The Tutsis started screaming for help.

As they were screaming, those who had guns started to shoot inside.

They screamed saying that we are dying, help us, but the soldiers continued shooting.

I entered and when I met a man I hit him with a club and he died.

You would say why not two, three or four but I couldn't kill two or three because those that entered outnumbered those inside.

Some people did not even find someone to kill because there were more killers than victims.

When we moved in, it was as if we were competing over the killing. We entered and each one of us began killing their own.

Each person who we cut looked like they had been hit by the grenades. They looked traumatised. They looked like their hearts had been taken away.

No one was asking for forgiveness. They looked like they had been killed already.

My neighbours

Those you cut were just not saying anything. They were scared that no one said anything. They must have been traumatized.

Apart from breathing you could see that they had no life in them. They looked like their hearts had been taken away.

“ These people were my neighbours - the picture of their deaths may never leave me ”
I saw people whose hands had been amputated, those with no legs, and others with no heads. I saw everything.

Especially seeing people rolling around and screaming in agony, with no arms, no legs. People died in very bad conditions.

It was as if we were taken over by Satan. We were taken over by Satan. When Satan is using you, you lose your mind. We were not ourselves. Beginning with me, I don't think I was normal.

You wouldn't be normal if you start butchering people for no reason. We had been attacked by the devil.

Even when I dream my body changes in a way I cannot explain. These people were my neighbours. The picture of their deaths may never leave me. Everything else I can get out of my head but that picture never leaves.

Panorama: The Killers was broadcast on BBC One on Sunday, 4 April 2004 at 2215 BST

15 year anniversary of the Genocide in Rwanda

Genocide in Rwanda - 1994 - 800,000 Deaths

Beginning on April 6, 1994, and for the next hundred days, up to 800,000 Tutsis were killed by Hutu militia using clubs and machetes, with as many as 10,000 killed each day.

Rwanda is one of the smallest countries in Central Africa, with just 7 million people, and is comprised of two main ethnic groups, the Hutu and the Tutsi. Although the Hutus account for 90 percent of the population, in the past, the Tutsi minority was considered the aristocracy of Rwanda and dominated Hutu peasants for decades, especially while Rwanda was under Belgian colonial rule.

Following independence from Belgium in 1962, the Hutu majority seized power and reversed the roles, oppressing the Tutsis through systematic discrimination and acts of violence. As a result, over 200,000 Tutsis fled to neighboring countries and formed a rebel guerrilla army, the Rwandan Patriotic Front.

In 1990, this rebel army invaded Rwanda and forced Hutu President Juvenal Habyalimana into signing an accord that mandated that the Hutus and Tutsis would share power.

read the rest here