Dear friends,                                            3 March, 2009

When the image came up on my computer screen, my heart sank.  It showed one of Congo’s desolate, endless savannas at dusk.  I had certainly been there but thankfully never done that!  How many times I have crossed such stretches on a motorcycle and wondered: if I broke down here, where would I get water?  How long would it take to walk to help?  How many days or weeks would it be before the next vehicle came by?

Now before me was an image of my worst fears.  There, a huge truck laden with famine-relieving cassava seed cane, broke down in the middle of nowhere Congo.  A forlorn group camped in the road: one man found a wheel rim for a chair, a woman with some pots organized who knows what kind of meal, others passed time.  The only consolation was that I knew Edgar Kimbao, our agricultural extension agent, had taken the picture and he had a motorcycle at the time.

Americans eat potatoes, Congolese eat cassava.  Both are starchy tubers that grow under ground.  Neither makes seed.  To grow a potato you have to plant a potato, or at least part of one.  For cassava (or manioc) you plant a piece of the stalk, six inches or so.  Hence to plant a few acres of cassava you need a truck load of cane.  When a plant makes no seed and you plant a plant to make a plant, they are all clones, genetically identical.  That means when a virulent disease comes along, such as the Irish potato blight that killed millions in 1845, the crop of an entire nation is ruined.  In Congo the disease is a virus, Cassava Mosaic Virus and it is causing famine.  Many are starving in locations so remote that only God knows they are there, but God does know, and God cares and in learning about people’s plight, we are also caring.

One of the projects I manage is seeking out the areas hardest hit by cassava mosaic virus and sending truckloads of new disease resistant varieties of cassava that happen to produce very high yields.  Areas where we have worked have literally gone from famine to feast in a couple years.

In his monthly report, Edgar simply stated “We delivered 30,000 feet of seed cane to Kazamba and Kikwit-Mbudji.” But the picture showed the harrowing trials and dangers of an otherwise mundane task.  That’s Congo.  Everything here is an adventure.  Edgar is a devoted Christian and willingly makes daily sacrifices to help others.  He could without doubt, find an easier occupation.

You have made sacrifices also in continuing to support us even in these financially difficult times.  I thank you; and the people of Kazamba and Kikwit-Mbudji also thank you.  You support me so I can support Edgar in his work.  We all need each other.  The Lord designed it that way.

You’ll be happy to know the break down was not serious and as you can see in the smiling faces, the seed cane got where needed before being ruined.  The people parceled the cane into bundles; a package for each village, clan, and family.  By now the plants are vigorously growing in the abundant rainfall we’ve had this year and when harvest comes, famine will turn to feast.

Without your support this would not have happened.  Thank you.  There are many more villages down the road from Kazamba and Kikwit-Mbudji waiting for sustainable relief from famine.  Those villagers need a gift of cassava cane, through you, through Edgar, and through me.  If you haven’t already, I invite you to join our partnership through your gifts of support, so we can keep working together to give a gift of famine relief in Congo.  The Lord designed it that way.

Wayne Niles
Democratic Republic of the Congo
March 2009

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