Dolisie

Last week I had the privilege of leading a team to Dolisie, a small-ish town about four hours into the interior of Congo from our port city of Pointe Noire. One of the four general hospitals of Congo is located there, (two are in Pointe Noire and I spend quite a bit of time at both of them!) and we're looking into possibilities of training there, along with other things. The interior of Congo is really beautiful, it was a great trip with a great group.

The majority of the way was a very windy road through the jungle.

I forget how much I love nature until I get away from the Port and into the greenery... stunning.

Suddenly, just like driving from Western to Eastern Washington, we drove out of the forest into the savannah - totally different landscape!

A giant tree that has a history to it. I can't remember the story though. But there are tons of names carved in it.

 

We first went to the hospital and had a tour. Very nice place and the people were exceptionally welcoming and kind.  Then we went to our hotel...

Jen trying to learn French, with one of our translators, Davy.

The pool was a bonus we weren't expecting.  No one brought their swimsuits! 

That, my friends, is porcupine, and it was alright. None of the food was really that great...

Dolisie General Hospital

In the evening we went to the Agriculture site which is not far from Dolisie. Eliphaz explained about this piece of Mercy Ships that I previously didn't know much about.  We train people from all over the country on safe farming practices and natural pesticides, nutrition, animal raising, etc.  The idea is that no matter how awesome our medical programs are, if there isn't adequate nutrition in the country we are serving, it doesn't make a lasting difference.

The sunset was stunning.

Dolisie reminded me of any smaller town in Benin - very red.

On our way out of town we fed our fabric addiction at the local market! Thanks ladies for a fun trip!