In 500 Words or Less

In 500 words or less...

...describe your career goals, research interests, and moving personal history.  (Bonus points if we cry.)

In 500 words or less...

...explain how to solve world hunger.  (Make sure your idea is novel and realistic, please.)

In 500 words or less...

...capture the essence of motherhood.  (You know, get to the root of it.)

In 500 words or less...

...tell us what it's like to live in Congo.  (Everything.  Tell us everything.  We want to feel the rain on your dusty skin and hear the beat of drums in the distance.)

In 500 words or less...

Can you tell I'm applying to grad school?  

Every day this week, I've spent the hours between 8pm - 2am (because that's when a working parent is most productive, right?) obsessing over the state of my life in 500 words or less.  It's agonizing and those final cuts and edits almost did me in.  Johan (and Sarah) told me more than once that I was clearly insane.  It's just so intense to lay your hopes and dreams out to a bunch of strangers and ask them - pay them - to judge you.

If I try to work when my kids are awake, things like this happen.  (Yes, that's my cat eating a lollipop.)

I exaggerated above.  None of the schools asked me to wax eloquent on motherhood or begged to experience an absurd African rainstorm.  Thankfully, public health programs are largely sensible and to the point when it comes to essays.  However, I did just read this article about the ways undergraduate admissions are trying to sort through the essay doldrums, and I can't decide if I would have rather answered one of these questions:

• “What does Play-Doh have to do with Plato?” (Chicago)
• “If you could choose to be raised by robots, dinosaurs or aliens, who would you pick?” (Brandeis)
• “So where is Waldo, really?” (Chicago again)
•  “Write an essay somehow inspired by super-huge mustard.” (Chicago, writing crazy-ass essay questions to mess with high school seniors since 1980.)

Could I somehow describe my dedication to safe motherhood by way of super-huge mustard?  I'm thinking...

Image by Gtarmanperson via Wiki Commons.

While the bulk of my 500-word angst is over and submitted, I keep turning sentences over in my head: eliminating a , an, that, and which, adding hyphens, and correcting my misdirected love of the passive sentence.  It's my new mental game, not unlike those people who silently add big numbers for fun while on the subway or grocery store line. It makes me feel clever.  But there is also a feeling of danger; that once I start, I might not be able to stop.  The more I revise, the more I understand that the essay might never really be perfect!  Is this what editors feel like all the time?

People love and hate this process.  Check out these amazing essays about essays.  I should have known that the NYTimes would be all over this topic.  Here, here, here, here, here, and here.  

Some schools try to frame the word limit as a part of the competition, saying, "It's part of the challenge for you to make us like you in as few words as possible." While I was initially among the throngs protesting the unfairness of this task, I'm now a convert.  500 words is genius.

The exercise of painfully fitting your dearest aspirations and most transformational moments into a little over one, single-spaced, page is kind of inspirational.  For example, I learned that while I thought that some of my best work was done after two glasses of wine, it was, in fact, definitely not true upon sober re-reading.  I learned that my husband really, really loves me as evidenced by a 3am editing session on a school night.  I also learned that I enjoy writing about moms and babies and the state of world health. Which is good, because if I end up with a dissertation on my hands someday, I had better really like my topic.  Talk about clarity. 

A great essay booze doth not inspire.

The 500-word, high-stakes, personal essay. You should try it sometime.  But, not for fun.  That might be weird.  

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When Worms Hatch Out of Your Skin

A while back I talked a bit about the issue of bugs in Congo. I realize I was remiss not to mention the mango worm. We at Mama Congo would be failing you if we didn't have a post on this infamous creature. Any proper orientation to living in Congo contains the lesson, Mango Worms 101. Here's the short version: they hatch out of your skin.

I neglected this parasite for good reason. In terms of dramatic wildlife experiences, it ranks pretty low. For example, yesterday Adam was 3 inches away from a snake falling from a tree and landing on his shoulders. While I am afraid of real things like rebel groups and ninja terrorists, Adam is afraid of seeing a slithering reptile. Or even knowing they exist. So when one landed with a thud on the concrete behind him, and then proceeded to rear-up and fight off a flock of birds that instantly dive-bombed the poor thing, Adam reached for his smelling salts.

When he got home and I saw his ghost-white face, I knew. "It's raining f-ing snakes," he said. So yeah, pulling a worm out of your skin is amateur hour.

Honestly, it's not really a worm. Here's how it goes down. A mango fly lays eggs on the ground. The larvae crawl around until they come in contact with flesh where they can bury themselves and grow into a more proper worm-like thing, or maggot if you will. Then they hatch out of your skin and go on their merry way. Here's a better explanation (if you care for more detail) including the fact that their scientific name derives from "human eater."

There were 8 segments on this guy. I guess we'll call it a worm. 
If you look real close, you can see the black mouth or eye or something.

It does sound really dramatic. David Sedaris even has a bit where he tells the story of his boyfriend Hugh, who grew up in the Congo, and the worm that came out of his skin. It's the perfect fodder for David Sedaris, story-teller extraordinaire, known exaggerator. (P.S. Can anyone find this story? I can't remember where I first read and/or heard it.)

Getting a mango worm is a rite of Congo passage. It's a great story to tell at home, without having to endure too much actual trauma. You can almost see it in people's eyes: "Do you think I have a mango worm?!" They say with 80% excitement, 20% fear.

Ex-pat friends even post pictures of "Baby's First Mango Worm." I had one when we first got here. It was on the bottom of my foot and I thought it was just another weird pregnancy symptom. They're quite painful, because after all it is something trying to grow inside your skin. I took my foot to my neighbor who had raised two teenage boys in Congo. She claimed she spent her Saturdays taking worms out of their backs. She even had a device for such extraction. This thing, which is also used to pop pimples. Obviously.

A few weeks ago Charlotte hosted her first mango fly babies. One on her back. One on her leg. Because if you needed to burrow in flesh, wouldn't you choose mushy baby thighs? I tried the old missionary trick of smothering them out with Vaseline. We put her to bed with a glob of Vaseline on the spots, and without fail, the next morning their little heads were poking out for air.

If you look very close you can see the tell-tale black dot. The sign of the mango worm.

Maybe someday her boyfriend (or girlfriend, no judgment) can use her story to make millions of literary dollars.

Mango Worm Bonus: While the point of this piece was to debunk the horror of mango worms, you really must check out what happened to our friends' little girl. Seriously. Just. Ugh.

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Weekend List!

Sarah's List:

Good Congo News! A little over a year ago these guys were threatening to terrorize the country all the way to Kinshasa. But this week the M23 says they're done. Good news, indeed.

Image from Sara Rich's blog. Read all about it here.

Speaking of Sara Rich (see image above). I think I'm about to have a friend who's really famous. Check out her organization EduCorps. It's genius, really.

It still tickles me that when you search "TASOK" this is the picture comes up. Sara Rich all packed up and ready to leave us.

Russell Feingold is becoming a Congolese household name. Here's an example: "Who is this Russell Feingold? Why is he here? What is he doing? I think I should care about him. Can you Google if he is in Kinshasa and where he is staying so I can go introduce myself to him?" Absolutely!

Here's an interesting way to capture a pirate king. Play to his ego and lure him to your country in a reverse Argo-esque scheme. Here's the story.

What did New York look like in 1939? Check out this film!

  by  Barbara L. Hanson 

A funny thing happens when you share a name with a mayor-elect.

From the department of I Still Think 1990 was 10 Years Ago, 20 songs you can't even believe are 20 years old.

Fall makes me think of college. Here are some of the most beautiful ones (and the ugliest ones). Who knew I spent 4 years at a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

  by  Vironevaeh 

I've thought about this article since it came out 4 years ago. It's resurfacing. A good read on stick-to-it-iveness.

And one more. Fascinating, beautiful, moving.

"Fall" in Congo.

Jill's List:

The other evening, I went to the closest Vodacom shop to get some credit and Loulou and I found ourselves in the middle of a bonafide, liquored-up, parking lot dance party - with laser lights.  The reason?  The grand opening of a new Woodin shop.  Controversy is great for blogs...so, here goes:  Vlisco or Woodin? Which is better?  (I'm still partial to Vlisco, but that's just because of their incredible billboards.)

Last month's Vlisco billboard on Bouldevard de 30 Juin, Kinshasa.  I want that dress.

I live with a man who hates The Sound of Music.  I know, how does this sort of thing happen?  Turns out he's not alone.  Check out NPR's A Complete Curmudgeon's Guide to TSoM.  For example:

9. The "Lonely Goatherd" puppet show is all about coerced mountain marriages, including coerced goat marriages, which send a bad message to children and anthropomorphized goats.

And then there's this McSweeny's.  Brilliant.  Almost turned me into a curmudgeon.

  by  Jacob Whittaker 

My first job as a nurse was at Neighborcare Health. The doctors, medical assistants, and midwives whom I worked with had an unwavering commitment to the most disadvantaged populations of Seattle.  The patients taught me that everyone deserves health care.  Check out this shout out in the HuffPost.

Kamala Khan!

From here.

Thinking of our friends in Cairo this week.  Wondering if this article is true.

Photo by Erin Velzeboer.  Remember her?

Johan has spent all morning putting together a Saved By the Bell/Jurassic Park themed playlist.  Favorites?  Johnny Cash's The Dinosaur Song, Nirvana's School, and Les Calamités' version of The Kids Are Alright.  Keeping it real in the Congo.

Struggling with this a little.  Especially when my three-year-old wants to listen too.

Bedtime reading.  Thank goodness for iPads.  We didn't have to pack all billion pages of Harry Potter in our luggage.

And.  Best Facebook conversation ever:

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Sarah Sensamaust

Loving Orange is the New Black, especially with the shout-out to Kinshasa as a place where there are starving people because "just saying Africa would be racist."

Like ·  · Share · about an hour ago · 

Erin Velzeboer, Sara Rich and Jared Shenk like this.

Jared Shenk Just wait until you get to the shoutout to Waynesboro, VA 

25 minutes ago · Like

• 

  Sarah Sensamaust Oh my, Jill Humphrey, this IS the show for you.

  22 minutes ago · Unlike · 1
• 

  Jill Humphrey No way. Waynesboro gets a shout out? Hometown pride!

  19 minutes ago · Like
• 

  Jill Humphrey (Though, I realize that the reference probably has to do with meth or teen pregnancy.)

  18 minutes ago · Like · 1
• 

  Jared Shenk Bingo

  18 minutes ago · Like
• 

  Jill Humphrey Hahaha.

  17 minutes ago · Like
• 

  Jill Humphrey I'm pasting this conversation on Mama Congo.

  Unable to post comment. Try Again
• 

(That last comment courtesy of today's rainstorm, which has probably knocked out the Internet.)  Going now to get the first season.  

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A Star in Kinshasa

I have known Nyota Babunga - whose first name means "star" in Swahili - for two years.  We first met over email - discussing press releases, advertising, and sponsors for Kima Mbangu (Run Fast!), the annual 5K run our school holds to benefit the organization where Nyota works.  

It only took a few conversations to realize that this woman is a star in every sense of the word: energetic, independent and dedicated.  She truly believes that hope and promise exist in even the most chaotic communities.

Les Fonds Pour les Femmes Congolaises (FFC) is a unique NGO founded and run by incredible Congolese women for Congolese women.  Nyota is one of those women.  

Here are some of her thoughts on life and the Congo:

Tell us a favorite memory from when you were a child:

My favorite moment when I was a child is when I would remove my dada’s shoes when he came back from work and also the weekends when we would go visiting places with my dad.

Nyota and her family!

Where did you grow up?  How did you settle in Kinshasa? 

I grew up partly in Bukavu and Kenya but with a lot of travelling in the south region of Africa.

Baby Nyota.

Coming back to Kinshasa after being born here and knowing nothing about Kin was a new and adventurous experience that I enjoyed. It was my first time to be away from my family and to start life in an unknown town.  It is interesting to be back in my country for a noble cause of helping women and fighting for women’s human rights. At first, I had to stay at family members but at some point I thought, "With the type of work I am involved in it will be great for me to have my own place."  Thus, step by step I took a house and am still finishing it up now.  This was a move that was not accepted and well taken from most of the people in Kinshasa because the belief that a women should stay with her parents or family until she gets married and that if you stay alone you might be taken as “femme libre” and might not receive solicitations for marriage. I am a firm believer that actions speak louder than words and so I decided to embark on this journey. I believe that if the man that is up to the task he will not be intimidated by either my position or my way of life.

At the African Women's Leadership Conference

How did you start working for FFC?  How long have you been at the organization?

In 2011, I was working for Urgent Action Fund-Africa (UAF-A) when I received a solicitation from the FFC to apply for the position of fundraising and communication manager.  Given that UAF-A was working to advance women’s human rights in Africa as a whole, I was delighted to work in Congo for the advancement of rights in my own country.  I knew that I would have the opportunity to impact women's lives and to bring a smile to their faces. It is always an encouragement when I see a women relieved from oppression, a woman accessing a decision making position or a woman accepted back into society after being rejected and stigmatized due to health problems. Most importantly, I love seeing a woman who has survived sexual violence smile and recover from this horrible event.  It helps me.  

Nyota at ISIOLO, a secluded area of Kenya.  She was conducting a training on sanitation.

It seems like there are many great ideas out there for how to help women in Congo - education, micro-loans, skills training.  In your opinion, what is the most important tool for women to be safe and successful in the DRC today?

I believe that the most important tool for women in DRC is their economic and social empowerment. I believe that raising awareness about their rights will contribute a great deal to women’s success and development in the DRC.

Many people are also talking about the huge concerns for women in Congo - dropping out of school, pregnancy at a young age, rape, war, illiteracy.  In your opinion, what are the greatest challenge facing Congolese women today? 

The greatest challenge facing Congolese women today, apart from rape and rights violations, is poverty and lack of parent education. This is not only for women but for the general population.  This is the reason why we see dropouts and teenage pregnancies.  Girls always think they will receive something better or that their lives will improve and later realize it was a trap they can't escape from. There is a lack of vision in the lives of young girls.  I think that this is because our education systems does not provide the students with motivation, role models or source of inspirations apart from music and other distractions.

Tell us one of your favorite moments from working with the FFC.  We are especially interested to hear about a particular person who has touched your life.

I could talk about many instances where women have touched my life and work.  This has had a big impact on my life - like the way the FFC director sacrifices everything just so a woman's life can be changed.   But one particular moment I will never forget was when one of our grantees came to thank me for what FFC has done for her. Her words still resonate in my head: “FFC has enabled me to travel and come and talk about my life and the promotion of peace in my country.  You have enabled me to be important in the history of my country and in the lives of women. I will go back and talk about you to our young girls. I will talk about how they should work hard and focus on their future.  I will take your pictures to them as an inspiration.”   This statement  gives me strength and encourages me to work hard.

Nyota & I with the FFC's founder, Julienne Lusenge, at last year's Kima Mbangu event.

The huge divide between the "haves" and the "have nots" is very obvious in Kinshasa.  There is a small number of very rich and powerful people and a large expanse of poor and disadvantaged.  What are your thoughts on this situation?

This is true- and sad for our country - but I have seen that it is almost the same in most capitalistic countries.  The only difference is that, at times, the rich in this country are not willing to assist the poor but rather work to ensure that they have it all and that the poor stay down. I personally dream of a Congo where the rich - or any person in an influential position - will look down and stretch out their hands to help assist the poor or the less fortunate instead of mocking and stepping on them. I hope for a Congo where we will all come together to work for the development and advancement of our country without giving in to corruption or greed.

A 17-year-old student recently told me that she considers herself part of the "generation that will change Congo for the better."  Do you think this is true?  Why or why not?

I might not be well placed to answer this due to the fact that I am not the one who determines the fate of another person. But as long as the student maintains her vision and works hard, I believe it is possible and I believe she can even go beyond her dreams. This is because I believe in the will and determination of a person.  If you believe it and if you are determined, you can achieve it.

"If you believe it, you can achieve it", Kinshasa.

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