A Wonderful Day in Kinshasa!

A couple weeks ago a spent an awesome evening at a local university campus here in Kinshasa, IBTP. IBTP is a technical university here, teaching trades from the field of engineering. Many of my English students come from this school. One of my students, Marina, is the leader of the women’s student group on IBTP and since it was International Women’s Day on March 8 (which they celebrate for the entire month here) she planned a conference, which is what brought me to IBTP on March 24.

The Conference was on women in engineering and had three guest speakers, one woman who is an architect, one a professor, and another woman from the field of engineering (I never understood completely what she did). The whole conference was in French of course, so I only got the gist of what they were saying. From what I did pick up, it was really interesting to see the perceptions of people, especially in the question and answer period.

The Congolese culture is a culture with well-defined roles for women and men. For example, a walk through the market here will show you that men mostly sell phone cards or electronic things, work at a photocopier, or exchange money. Sometimes women do these things also, but you never see a man at a produce stall or a bread stall. Women or children only are seen hauling water or foodstuffs through the streets (balanced precariously on their head usually, very amazing).  It was especially interesting to see this at play in the conference. In Canada, universities are typically the most liberal, but in the question/answer period, this group of students asked things like, “how will women fulfill their duties at home if they are in the engineering field?” or “are women really capable of working to the same capacity as men?” (I paraphrased from French of course). I will come back to gender conflict later on in this post.

So after the conference was finished, they had entertainment planned. I was really pleasantly surprised at the presentation of everything, it was very professionally done. They had some traditional Congolese dancing, which was amazing, with traditional drumming and singing. There was a fashion show, choreographed by local fashion students. Next was some drama and poems. I really didn’t understand the poems, but they got good reactions from the crowds, and the dramas were hilarious or intense, again with students from a local arts university. One drama depicted a group of young women as much better students than the group of young men, who got drunk or fooled around, got in fights and didn’t study. Another drama, more serious, showed a young woman forced into a marriage she didn’t want by her father, with the man she married abandoning her after a few years and leaving her with no means but to go back to her father and beg him to stay at home again. They also fed us cake and gyros (in that order). They also had a karate demonstration, a couple black belts breaking staffs over each other’s arms, and a brief wrestling match, WWE style. It was pretty awesome, and… unexpected.

Next they had the “BOOM.” (Can you guess what that is?) The group moved outside, where they had a large patio, a sound system, DJ, and tables on the sides. My teammates Mark, Marina, Monica and Deanna all had to go before 5 pm for various reasons (meeting people, being sick, other things to do), but there was no way I was going to miss this (even though I also had malaria at the time, and possibly still do). So I stayed there on my own, with some of my English students. It was a really awesome time, and interesting cultural experience. They had more entertainment, local singers (one of them was even a Christian singer), a dance crew (performing some amazing hip-hop dancing), and more dramas. Around 8pm they opened up the dance floor and everyone danced. It was crazy, it seemed like every song had a specific dance to it, and everyone knew it. If you ask me nicely when I get back, I might show you a few! The best part of the night, though, was when some guy ran up and grabbed my arm, pulled me onto the patio and pulled me into one of the dances. Everyone was in a line, following the person in front of them, and doing the same dance move. I said to myself, “I can’t believe it, here I am, in Congo, in a Congo line.” It was hilarious, now I understand why they call it a Congo line.

It was an awesome night; I got to connect with some of the English students that I see every week on a different level, just having fun with them in their setting. It was also interesting being incredibly conspicuous; not only the only white person there, but also the only person who is not Congolese. In Canada, you may be an overwhelming minority, but at least there are many other minorities. I was the only person not from the Congolese culture there, and it was a strange feeling.

Since the conference, I have had more opportunity to speak with Marina, the young woman who organized the whole thing. She has a really amazing story; she has had many obstacles she has had to overcome in her life. Even with this conference, in the past the Women’s day celebrations were small, just a couple speeches lasting maybe an hour, but she wanted to organize the large conference, with the entertainment after. When she presented her plans to the dean, he said it wouldn’t be possible; in Marina’s words, he said, “you are a woman and young, what can you do?” But she was determined and she obtained his approval. Then she began organizing it, and even the other young woman in the university wouldn’t cooperate with her. They said the conference was going to fail, and they wouldn’t help with the dance or the drama or the fashion show.

And this is where Marina’s story becomes really inspirational to me. From the beginning, she was praying to Jesus, that He would provide the means to make it a successful conference. She said it was very stressful, but she never became discouraged. She trusted in God, and things began to come together. The young woman began to get excited about it and work with her; she found some women who have worked in the field to speak at the conference; she obtained sponsorship for the sound system, DJ, drinks and tables; she had the arts students sign up to help with the dancing, modeling and dramas; and through it all, she gives the glory to God, recognizing that it is only through his providence that all this happened.

This is really striking every time I speak with her. She doesn’t take for granted the things she has in her life; she thanks God for everything. She always has a story to tell about how God has provided or been there for her in her life.

I asked her one time how God has instilled such confidence in Him in her. She had many stories, but probably the most remarkable is when she was living in eastern Congo. Her family moved from Kinshasa to Goma, a border city to Rwanda. Then the war in ’94 broke out. The rebels came into Goma and were killing many people. There were many times when her entire family could have been killed by the rebels but were miraculously saved. Once, her family was hiding in a house when some soldiers came by. The door was locked, and they pounded on it for a few minutes. Then they left, and after a few hours of prayer, her father went outside to see if they were really gone. He walked around a corner, and they were sitting there in the shade of a tree. They saw him, and started laughing at him. He ran back into the house, and they began to pray again. The soldiers stayed for a while, but never actually tried to break down the door or enter by force. Eventually they just got bored and left.

Later, when they were trying to make their way back to their own house, they were captured along with a large group of people. The soldiers told them to lay face down on the ground, and said that they were going to kill them. Her mother was the only person who did not lay down, and she said to the leader that she wanted to face her death. After, her mother told her that she was praying the whole time. The leader and the other soldiers began to laugh and say “who does this woman think she is?” But after a few minutes of talking about her, they just said that today they would let the people live, as long as they promised not to steal or fight against them.

Knowing what kind of wholesale slaughter happened in that region, at that time, makes these stories even more amazing. Ask me some time about some of Marina’s stories and I will tell you, she has countless stories of God working in her life, and it is from the example of her mother and seeing God work firsthand that she has built up her faith.

Another time, I asked her what her plans were for the future. Again I was impressed by the way she answered. I was expecting something along the lines of, find a job, do this or that, but her response was to continue living and growing in reliance on God. To continue to recognize that Jesus is the best friend she can have, and that he gives perfect gifts. To continue to give glory to God for all that He has done in her life. I don’t think I ever have a conversation with her where God is not mentioned. It has become so natural for her to recognize God moving in her life, so natural to praise Him for it, that she is a constant witness to those around her. From her other Christian friends, to Muslim’s in her university, Jesus comes into all her conversations, telling others about His power and providence. She is always building up other Christians, talking about the teachings of the Bible, trying to live by the example of Jesus.

This is an example for me. I have been trying to focus on this for the last year of my life, to trust in God and give God the glory, to glorify God through my life and actions. To come here as a missionary, trying to build up the local church, and seeing Marina and others who live with such faith, trusting God with everything, has been really humbling for me. And again, I feel like I am the one being blessed.