Sep 16
Editor’s note: We’ve just received several blog pieces from Byron in Congo. Without adequate Internet service to send them at the time, he wrote anyway and saved them up. Here is the first.
August 24, 2009
Today, was our first day back in Kinshasa, Congo. Our first call was at the USAID office, where we learned that our microenterprise project is on track for approval. They hope the papers will be available within the time we are in Congo. USAID is also developing some new agricultural projects that may be of interest to us. They were eager to connect to others working in development. Most exciting, we heard that the Deputy Prime Minister is pursuing a project with the World Bank to develop $120 million in projects in Équateur Province (which includes the Ubangi area). Half is proposed for infrastructure and half for agricultural development. They also pointed us to Dr. Mahungu at the International Institute for Tropical Agriculture (IITA), who is working with several groups to institute growing much better varieties of cassava. We visited him and learned that they have also developed new methods of processing cassava to preserve taste while minimizing cyanide residues.
At CDI Bwamanga [the Catholic development agency] we learned more about their road development projects. They have progressed well on the Gemena-Karawa road but are not finished. They are building log bridges, so cement bridges would be very welcome in some places. They hope to extend the road to Businga in the near future, but that depends upon funding by the European Union. CDI are interested in a partnership with us regarding future USAID projects and for promoting coffee production.
QUESTION of the day: How can we help CEUM to develop the leadership skill required to manage $1 million-plus projects?
Tagged with: Congo • cooperate • development • leadership • sustainable
Jul 21
Energy is a worldwide concern. Energy is a huge problem in the Congo today. Diesel fuel in the Ubangi region reached $28/gallon last fall and is still above $10/gallon. There is no electricity grid in the region. Cooking is done over a wood or charcoal fire. Few people have flashlights. Even candles are few. Lack of power is a major obstacle for development of sustainable communities.
Twenty-five years ago, Bob Thornbloom conceived and carried out construction of a dam and hydro-electric power station at Zulu to serve the Karawa station. Although there were some limitations during the dry season, reliable, constant electrical power had a major impact on the Karawa mission. It literally became a shining beacon on the hill.
In the past few years, some of the equipment began to wear out and the seven mile cable connecting the power plant to the station shorts our frequently. We learned of a USAID program, American Hospitals and Schools Abroad that annually solicits proposals for facilities and equipment to support hospitals and schools such as the ones at Karawa. On June 30th, we submitted a proposal to renovate the Zulu station and the connecting cable. Competition for these grants is fierce and for this and other reasons we’re not optimistic about this year. But by next year, we hope to be better positioned to win.
For a subsistence, capital poor economy, how would you choose between energy solutions that require high capital and low operating cost or low capital but high operating cost?
Tagged with: Congo • development • Power • sustainable
Jun 26
This blog will focus on issues of sustainable development, especially in the context of places where the Paul Carlson Partnership works. Over time, we’ll touch on the practical and the theoretical, books and articles we read, and our experiences in the field. I hope that you will enjoy the commentary and be stimulated to add comments and questions. We especially hope that readers from the Congo and others in the developing world will add their comments and opinions.
The tagline for the Paul Carlson Partnership is “Investing for Sustainable Communities.” By sustainable, we mean a community that has sufficient trade with those outside the community to generate cash to support its schools, clinics, churches, and public infrastructure. We argue that “sustainable” applies primarily to support for the operating expenses, not to capital expenditures. There is a long history of development, especially in the United States, where the capital for that development came from outside the community. For example, when electricity came to the farm where I grew up, the capital came from the government, but the users then supported the operating and replacement costs. But to become sustainable, a community clearly has to generate sufficient income for current operations.
How would you define “sustainable”?
Tagged with: Congo • development • sustainable
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