Samuel Nkailu and Muditu came after breakfast to say goodbye. We sat down on the terrace and talked for a little while. They wanted us to give them ideas for and viewpoints on the work of the Youth House. But it was not a good time to ask us for advice as we were on the move. First, we were on our way to the bank, and then we had some paperwork to do before leaving for Kimpese. We expressed our gratitude for being able to use the Youth House when we train the entrepreneurs. It’s suitable for the course activities. Already, the Youth House accomodates a number of different activities. I suggested that Samuel writes a letter every month in Swedish and in French about the Youth House, and that we publish the letters on the website. Maybe this could give Samuel and Muditu the feedback they wish for. Earlier in the week, Bernt had given Samuel two tubes of Plastic Padding to fix holes in the roofing. We reminded them of our promise from last fall to finance a ceiling for the Youth House.

Then we went to the BIAC bank. Earlier, we had talked to the BIAC deputy managing director Julien Makvuala about transferring $ 21,550 from BIAC to the Nsanda group, which has a bank account in the ProCredit Bank. Mr. Makvuala had told us that the BIAC bank charges 1% of the sum that is to be transferred, a cost that would amount to $ 215 or SEK 1,350 on this occasion. We found this price to be excessive and we decided on an alternative solution. We would simply withdraw all the money in cash and go to the ProCredit Bank, which is known for not taking any charges for its services, where we would make a deposit. No more expenditures than that of the petrol and of course, the BIAC bank withdrawal fee.

Before we left the BIAC bank, we paid a visit to the managing director Erick Tezo to discuss all the bank charges. Besides a monthly fee, the bank also have a deposit as well as a withdrawal fee. I showed him that we have paid $ 250 in different fees to the bank already this year. After a brief exchange of views, he expressed his trust in our activities and their purpose. On the spot, he promised that today’s withdrawal would be free of charge. He also promised to address the issue of the other bank fees with the BIAC Kinshasa managing director. If there won’t be a rapid change we will consider changing banks. Every single dollar is meant for the entrepreneurs.

At the ProCredit Bank we deposited the money into the newly opened Nsanda Group account. When the bank cashier counted the money, he found some dirty $ 100 bills. And some even had a small tear. He didn’t accept it, as orderliness and perfection is king. We had to go back to the BIAC bank to get new bills. Said and done, and on our second try the bills were good enough and got deposited in good hands. For personal use, I withdrew money from a cash machine with my VISA card. It had the exact same functioning as a Swedish cash machine and it worked just fine.

When all this time-consuming money moving business was over, the time was 1 pm and we stoved our bags and things in the car and went to Kimpese. We were five people in Yapeco’s small jeep, in other words it was well packed. Julienne hadn’t been to her home in Luozi since she got back from Sweden. On the road we were stopped by two police checks. Except checking the vehicle and the driver, the police are after money to supplement their salaries. At the first the stop, Yapeco asked the policeman straight out how come he was able to demand money when there were two foreigners in the car. The policeman dropped his request and we continued our trip. The police at the next stop got the same poor result from stopping us.

We arrived in Kimpese at 4 pm, and immediately afterwards dinner was served. Emy came to share the meal with us. To come to Kimpese is lovely, the place is a small oasis. Emy needs more footballs to the Gothia Sport Center. He says that it is very well attended. Footballs are called for.

The other day we came across a group of enterprising young people. They had taken the matter into their own hands and started a rescue action for their own street in Matadi. It is a commendable initiative. The need is huge and many ought to follow their example. Of course, the boys wanted to get paid for their trouble. One of the boys was assigned to job of collecting the toll, and he was equipped with a bricklayer´s bucket for the purpose. They stopped us, but Yapeco managed to negotiate suspension until we returned. They were satisfied with the deal, and on the way back we put our contribution in the bucket.

This time in Congo, the temperature is more agreeable compared to our earlier visits. Now, it fluctuates between 20 and 25ºC during the day, and this makes you feel much better than if it is around 30 to 35ºC. The nights are cooler and it´s easier to sleep. We had a dense drizzle the other night, even if it´s supposed to be dry season. A substantial amount of water was running from the roofs. The humidity seems to be high.

Today, we had a refresher course for the January 11 Group. In the morning, we went through how to make a sales budget, investing, results and liquidity. They needed the run-through as they hadn´t completely understood the systematics of it all. We used the budget Kunda had drawn up as an example. He will start a chicken farm and broiler breeding. We made a few adjustments and additions, but all in all the budget was alright. Even if the hens don´t lay any eggs for the first six months (it takes six months for a chicken to mature), Kunda won´t have any liquidity difficulties during his first year unless too many unexpected negative incidents occur. He even has a margin for some unexpected events. In the afternoon, Bernt and Julienne had individual talks with the entrepreneurs. I engaged in desk work and banking transactions. We opened a bank account in the ProCredit Bank on behalf of the Nsanda Group. Jean Clement Nyambudi will be the Finance Director and Julienne will be Managing Director of the Group. Thus, they´ve got respectable titles too.

When we were done for the day, we had also done our last day in Matadi for this time. We have largely managed to do what we had planned. Thanks to the temperature being friendlier to Nordic guests, it has been easier to work. To sum up, we are quite pleased with the results so far, but you never know what the future holds. Each and every day, this country offers us new experiences and surprises. As recently as tonight we made a new acquaintance. Yesterday, Clement got sweet potatoes from a good friend in Kwakwa. Tonight, he cooked them and served them for supper. They lived up to their name and were really nice.

Early in the morning, Muditu and his wife Josefin came over and gave Bernt and me one kilo of peanuts each as a surprise. They´d got a good harvest in January of more than 1,500 kg. We haven´t contributed to this harvest. Before we came into the picture he cultivated 1.5 hectares. With the help fm MSG he has expanded to 4.25 hectares, and our loan made it possible for him to sell his produce at the right time. He has been storing all the nuts in his house and will sell them when the price is good. Josefin was on her way out to the fields to take care of the farm workers they´ve hired. She is the farmer of the family and she is the one who looks after the fields. Obviously, it´s the women who carries the heaviest burden in the Congo.

After breakfast, we drove out to Nsanda. First we visited the town hall. We needed to see the municipal manager and inform him about the agricultural project we are starting up. When we got there, he was on an official journey on his motorcycle. Another civil servant called him to tell him we were there, and an hour later he showed up. The petrol had run dry on him, and he´d had to walk the last part of the way. We had a nice talk with the municipal manager, Mbenza Mvumbi. He welcomed the Nsanda Group with open arms. We also told him about the activities of MSG. At once, he asked MSG to come to Nsanda to train entrepreneurs. He told us that he himself owns a lot of land, and that there are minerals and gold in the ground. Certainly, there are hidden fortunes all over the Congo. We must assist the Congolese to discover first the possibilities within themselves and then the opportunities the natural resources of this rich land can give them.

The Nsanda Group farmlands are outside the village Kwakwa. We had some difficulties finding our way there. After several detours between the houses, and after consulting the villagers we finally were on track. The Nyambudis themselves hadn´t been there for many years. The vegetation was three meters high along the road – or more correctly worded: along the cattle track. At times, Yapeco had to plow his way forward with the car. Fortunately for us, we came in the dry season. If we had come during the rainy season, we would have had to walk, cutting our way through the vegetation with machetes. We took a short walk into the fields, to see if we could find any boundary markers. But no, they had to go undetected a little while longer.

The farmlands seem to be located in an amazing area. Large parts of them are on a high plateau, next to a valley with a watercourse. We talked about how to use the vegetation that grows on the fields now. It should be possible to hack it to pieces and plow it into the ground. The nutrients ought to be brought back to the soil. If you read this, and have ideas of how this could be done, please contact us! We don´t think that burning the vegetation is good for the earth. A few manioc plants were left from earlier cultivations. Clement picked up a root that Julienne peeled and shared with the rest of us. The first harvest of the Nsanda Group was thus officially reaped and consumed. The root tasted sweetly of nuts.

We had a look at the tractor BM Volvo and the Toyota Jeep. Tuto, the son of the Nyambudis, is in charge of getting the vehicles in shape. Tuto got hold of a better engine for the Jeep in Kinshasa. And all necessary parts for the tractor have been procured. Next month, the clearance of the fields will start. It is indeed an exciting project!

When the usual morning routine was completed, we walked over to the Youth House (YH). At 9 am we started the workday with private tuition. Two of the future partners of the Nsanda Group (agricultural project) live in Matadi, but only one of them – Mbombi Richard – could make it today. He is already an entrepreneur, running his own pharmacy in Nsanda. He will become the local manager of the Nsanda project, and he is the only one of the partners who goes to Nsanda every day. After getting to know him a little better, Bernt and Julienne began the tuition. Samuel Nkailu, caretaker of YH, was also there. I went over to Yapeco´s office, where I did some reporting and other desk work.

At 10.30 am, Yapeco and I went to the YH with coffee and snacks. And after that, Yapeco and I reviewed our financial position. Yapeco is a rock and spends a lot of time on MSG. We don´t pay him for his work, but he is compensated through an advantageous loan that he got today when we were at the bank BIAC. We met with the new managing director and we are working on strengthening the cooperation with the bank. The loan will consolidate Yapeco´s business and provide him with a decent income. More and more, we realize what an asset he is to MSG. There is only one problem with Yapeco; it´s difficult for him to find time to study English and therefore we experience occasional misunderstandings. We are looking for solutions to facilitate his English studies.

During the afternoon, the follow-up of the October 10 Group continued with three individual talks. First up was Demba, who is also the chairperson of his group. His has a loan of $1,250, which is the smallest loan we have granted yet. He was very pleased with his business, a shop where he sells groceries and other necessities. Then came Peter who used to be a math teacher, but couldn´t support his family on his teacher salary. He has a small sewing workshop and two employees, both seamstresses. He has bought two bales of second hand clothes that he and his staff have made-over, and two bales of fabrics that have been made into curtains and sundries. The products are sold in his shop. His loan amounts to $1,800, and he has already paid the interest of $130 ”in advance”. According to the agreed terms of the payment plan they don´t have to pay any interest or installments before July 30. After that date they make monthly installments for 13 months, when the entire loan will be repaid.

The third man was Philippe. He has a small farm where he breeds chickens and pigs. He was cautious about investing everything in pigs. The dry period in spring, that arrived a few months after he got the loan, is problematic for piglets and that´s why he didn´t buy any. But he has built a pigsty and made preparation for future pig farming. And he has made up for the ”loss” by trading Turkish cement and rice. Philippes has borrowed $2,300. All three of the entrepreneurs we met with today think that their businesses are doing fine. It´s interesting to see their inventiveness – if things don´t work out the way they thought, they find something else to do. An unanimous outlook is ”We do everything we can”. One trouble that has occurred is when a so called person of authority comes and asks for tax. This tax can be quite arbitrary. Yapeco, who has been an entrepreneur for many years had a lot of good advice to share with our new entrepreneurs.

To carry goods on top of your head is, as far as I can see, ergonomically sound and gentle to the body compared to other methods. To carry the load in a basket on your back is probably also a good idea. Primarily, it´s the women who transport goods in this fashion, but sometimes you can see a man with a load on his head. The other day, I met a man in Kinshasa who had his entire mobile shop on his head, excellently exposed, built like a football grandstand. In Lisanga, where we are staying, Bernt tried to help a group of young female bearers. They were washing clothes and fetched the water at a water post right outside our house. They carried the water in 20 liter buckets. The task fit Bernt like a glove – he is born in the star sign of Aquarius (Water Bearer). Bernt was so successful in his aid work that one of the women expressed her hope to marry a white man. She didn´t specify which one, but she probably had a younger man than Bernt in mind. Anyhow, Bernt was amazed of how easily they balanced the 20 liter bucket on their head along a distance which included a steep hill.

During the afternoon we had five individual talks with the entrepreneurs. We had the first talk last Sunday, and we will have another three on Tuesday. By then, we will have met all the entrepreneurs of the October 10 group. This is one part of our follow-up plan. We will monitor each one of them for one year with the intention of providing support and helping them avoid pitfalls. We apply both praise and criticism – encouragement and warnings go hand in hand. All business involves ups and downs and the market forces are much the same all over the world. The main skill being taught in the entrepreneurial course is how to tackle the caprices of the market.

I want to thank everybody for all the encouraging e-mails and blog responses we have received! They lift our mood and strengthen our confidence. I want to enclose an e-mail from a very well-known Congolese, José Dianzungu, a pensioned professor now living in Luozi. He has worked in the US, in Europe and in Congo. In Congo, he used to be in charge of SIDA´s projects. He has a website of his own; the address is included in his e-mail below:

Dear Sir,

Thanks and congratulations for the news about your group.
I share your philosophy and your approach to overcoming poverty through effective and efficient entrepreneurship. I wish you brilliant achievements.
Please visit our website www.lirepouragir.org.

Best regards.

José Dianzungu

And we welcome more activity on our website. Please feel free to comment, criticize or ask us anything!

The day began without electricity and water. A few scoops of water had to replace the usual shower. The coldnesss of the water make you use the fewest possible number of scoops, and it’s surely an efficient waking up device. As usual, we had a traditional Congolese breakfast: boiled eggs, white bread (not my favourite) and tea. Then, we went to Nzadi with Yapeco in his Toyota 4 Wheel Drive Jeep. Jean Clement and Julienne Nyambudi also came along with us. Nzadi is a district of Matadi that is located on top of the hills with a stunning view over the city and the surroundings. Down in the valley you can see the Congo River. To go all the way up to Nzadi, you need a Jeep. Here, a congregation was started in 1986 by 400 members of the Baobab Church. Today, the Nzadi Church has 1.500 members.

This day, the church celebrated its 25th Anniversary with pomp and circumstance. We arrived around 9 am, and the service had already begun. The church was almost half full. The place where we gathered will eventually become a complete church building. Today, it’s only four walls, about 3.5 meters high made of cement bricks. The floor area is about 30 x 40 meters. It has an earthen floor, and the sky for roof. In two years, they believe that the building will have a more conventional floor and roof. The pastor of the congregation, Angelo Mayambula, had counted on us to show up for the Special Anniversary, and when we arrived, we were accompanied onto the podium at the front of the church, where we got a special welcome, me, Bernt, Jean Clement and Julienne. Luckily, there was a roof over the podium; otherwise I and Bernt wouldn’t have managed the heat. Another group of about 100 honorary guests were seated under the roof. Many of the ordinary members had brought parasols.

There were many greetings from near and far, and we Swedes got our own item on the program. We were introduced by Julienne, and I got to say a few words about the activities of MSG. Göran Andreasson was the first pastor of the congregation when it started in 1986. He was invited together with his wife Anneli and their sons Johannes, Josef, Samuel and Martin. Two secretaries from the Swedish Embassy were also there. Göran preached in French, interpreted by pastor Mpanzu Divionkele to monkutuba. When all had arrived, we were around 1000 people who celebrated together. There were all kinds of choir singing. In the church, there are 12 different choirs and a flute orchestra. But today, a brass band from the Kiamvo Church accompanied the singing. There were many contributors and speakers, for instance Tata Endouka who is over 90 years old and has been a member of the church from the start. He had so much to tell that the leader of the service had to shout amen a few times before it dawned on Tata Endouka that he too could say amen. Paul Tekansala gave a speech. He said that the duration of the service should be adjusted to the temperature, but even so, he spoke for quite some time on two occasions.

The offertory was quite voluminous. For instance, it included some roofing and ten sacks of cement. After that, everybody who had been married for ten years or more were invited to the front where they shook hands with the pastors, and were blessed. All those who had been born in 1986, about 40 persons, came to the front for intersession and blessings. When all the 25 items on the program were done, Göran concluded the Anniversary service by saying the Lord’s blessing. By then, the time was 2.30 pm. The service had lasted for almost 6 hours. Thanks to the tempo of the Congolese services, you don’t get bored, but sleep wasn’t far away during some of the longer speeches. Nobody was in any hurry to go home after the service. A Congolese has plenty of time to socialize and chat. This had been a Special Anniversary with many cheers and a lot of joy, a service that made a lasting impression and gave us many great experiences with the Congolese people.

It´s lovely to be able to take a walk in the morning. Although Matadi is quite a big city with a lot of traffic, I have found walks around the church area ”Lisanga”. Today I dropped by a cement foundry during my morning walk. A friendly Congolese greeted me and showed me around. He was probably the owner, but I couldn´t ask as we didn´t have a common language. They produced concrete bricks and other smaller building parts in concrete. Because I am familiar with this type of building material, we didn´t have to exchange many words in order for me to understand how the production was set up. They mix the concrete manually. They have a small machine with a vibrator where five bricks are made at a time. Then, the bricks are put in rows on the ground for the concrete to burn. I visited the factory at 6.30 am on a Saturday morning, and they had just started their workday.

After breakfast, we had a meeting in the Youth House, and the first group to report was the Augustine Group. It consists of five entrepreneurs from the first round, and they took the course in October last year. We had to wait 45 minutes for the last ones to appear. It´s not good practice. Of course there are Swedes as well who have the unsound peculiarity of always being late, and you cannot ignore that the habit is disrespectful. It ought to be possible to change – keeping the time must be the best practice for all parts. A positive development this time was that the person who was late was aware of his action, and apologized. Apology was accepted by the rest of us and the meeting could begin.

Everyone accounted for their investment and gave a progress report including both successes and setbacks. One part of our policy is openness, but one person in the group had problems abiding by this specific part of the policy. We know through other channels that this entrepreneur is doing fine, but in front of the group he had difficulties giving a proper description of his business. Sometimes, we just have to accept each other´s oddities. It´s interesting to see the different personalities of the group members. We went through the accounts we expect them to deliver onwards. Next time, they are supposed to report the figures of the actual budget compared to the budget they drew up during the course. This will be published on the website. The purpose of the reports is to give the lenders in Sweden an understanding of the progress of ”their” entrepreneur.

The Demba Group, which consists of four entrepreneurs, arrived at 11.30 am. The openness is greater in this group. So far, all entrepreneurs of the first round of entrepreneurs seem to be doing alright. We decided to meet again on Monday for individual talks about the budgets. Their homework was to work through their budget once more. Some of them might need to adjust their budgets. We sent them home with the budgets either on an USB stick or in the e-mail inbox. Next week we are going to visit the entrepreneurs on location. Already today we saw the first visible proofs of entrepreneurship: Axel Biongo, who lives on the church area Lisanga, is keeping 180 chickens in a chicken run next to the dining room at Lisanga. He will break the record of shortest distance between producer and consumer I think, because as soon as the chickens start to lay eggs, he will be the supplier of eggs to the restaurant. This will be both climate friendly and something for Guiness book of world records.

Shortly before 9 am, we packed our things in a taxi ordered by Yapeco. We´re going by taxi all the 370 kilometers to Matadi. The taxi ride will cost $120, and we´re also going to pay for food and accomodations in Kimpese for the driver. Our chauffeur is called Luamba Kinigela Sakoul and is a nice man in his fourties, but he can explode when fellow road-users don´t behave as expected. Then he rolls down the car window and shouts something that we don´t understand. He certainly is speeding, but with judgement. We stopped a few miles outside Kinshasa to have the breakfast we´d purchased before we left the city. On the meny was bread with cheese, Coca Cola and fruit. About thirty school children in white shirts and darkblue trousers passed us on their way to school. There were only two girls in the group. The rest of the girls were probably at home, working. It´s such a loss for the country not to give everyone the opportunity to go to school. We´d bought too much bread, but Yapeco cut a slice into two and offered it to some of them. The children looked healthy and they were by all means cheerful. By the roadside, there was a wall about five meters high. Almost all the children climbed up on the wall, and walked along the highest part. Fate shall be tempted, and boys will be boys. After breakfast, I and Bernt were tired and fell asleep.

We arrived to Kimpese after 250 kilometers, around 3 pm. We had dinner with Emy Meantizila, and after the meal, we did nothing but discuss all kinds of different projects. Emy, who is a pastor, was in charge of the translation of the Bible into Congolese, he takes care of street children and runs a school for them. He also runs an agricultural project that is the livelihood of 30 families, he is committed to the Gothia Sport Center in Kimpese and he runs a vocational school for construction workers and mechanics. He´s planning to implement Internet broadband for the households of Kimpese and to start fish breeding together with his son, Dinawa Diaku Emy, who recently finished his agronomist education. Emy is also a baker. He´d made all the bread we ate when we were in Kimpese. Bread that is moreish. The oven is not good at the moment, he said, but no doubt he´ll find a way to acquire better bakery equipment, other recipes to diversify his selections of bread and more challenges in life overall.

Emy is a very interesting person. He has an enormous capacity and the ability to think out of the box. He especially raised two issues concerning the future of the Congo. The first issue was that the Congolese don´t fully appreciate the indispensability of having money. Many Congolese can manage without money today, and that´s why they don´t think it matters. My reflection is that money ought to be even more important for a Congolese than for people in rich welfare states. In the Congo, money can mean the difference between life and death when you get ill. If you can´t pay for medical treatment you don´t get any. The other issue of importance to the future of the Congo that Emy brought up is the Western world´s interference in and indirect rule of the Congolese politics. He says that the Western world even influences democratic elections. This practice needs to stop.

In Kimpese, there was no electricity during our stay. The food was prepared on small charcoal stoves. One of them used to be a car wheel rim, but was now filled with charcoal with a pot upon it. The night is pitch-dark after 6 pm. Our hosts had bought amazing Chinese lamps lit by LEDs and batteries. They give away quite a good light and you can carry them like a hurricane lamp, but the light isn´t good enough to read by for a longer time. My computer battery was empty by 8 pm, and shortly afterwards a bright person in the company suggested that we all go to bed. Everyone went along with the idea as this was our best option. Bonne nuit!

Gösta Luboyi and his little Toyota Jeep has provided for most of our needs of transportation. The other night, we had a engine failure in the middle of rush-hour traffic. The car was completely dead, and the thought of having to walk the remaining 10 kilometers to the hotel threatened to become a reality. Yapeco and I jumped out of the car and started pushing it off the roadway. To our surprise, when we had gained some momentum the engine ignited and we could continue driving through the chaotic traffic of Kinshasa in a grateful and happy mood. Not too many fellow road-users had to curse and swear or use their horns to show disapproval of us blocking the way.

Today, Gösta picked us up at 9 am and took us to his home where we had breakfast with him and his wife Clarisse. When we got there, the table was already laid and the breakfast consisted of tea, bread, omelet with ham and onions, and a glass of cold water. You have to keep on filling up with fluids to feel well in this hot climate. Apart from Clarisse, her sister and a maid who takes care of the daughter Gunnel 2 years old, was at home. The son, Gösta 5 years old, was at preschool. Gösta and Clarisse also employ a person to pick up Gösta at school and bring him home, but that person was not present at our breakfast.

After breakfast, we went to the Ndjili Church, where the Luboyis are members. The church has 2.000 members and is the largest congregation within the CEC Church. It is the friend church of the Immanuel Church in Stockholm. We talked to pastor Mavuzi and his wife about friend church activities. Their main friend church activity is prayer for the other church. When we were there, about 50 women had a meeting in the church and three women were preparing a meal for them outside in cauldrons on open fires. Pastor Mavuzi showed us a nearly half-finished building close to the church. The building is supposed to become a conference center, restaurant, offices and apartments, but not much has happened for the last ten years. Could it be a project for the friend church in Sweden? Pray and work.

In the afternoon, the son of the Nyambudis, Tutondele also called Tuto, came to pick us up. We were going to meet the partners of the Nsanda Group. We went through the upcoming steps of their (our) entrepreneurial project. Bernt and Steve had each made a schedule for the coming year, and we reviewed them as well. On Wednesday, the management group will meet to look at machines and the fields. The tractor, a BM Volvo 350, will be ready to use by the first of July. I brought a new engine starter for it, donated by Brunnegård in Vesense through Ingvar Alriksson. In July, the preparation of the soil will start. One of the group members, Nina, told us that she’d had plans to go on vacation to Rwanda in July, but she’s cancelled the trip in favour of the Nsanda project. Such a spirit gives energy to the whole group, and especially to me and Bernt.

After the usual getting up it´s time to toddle off to the shower. We feel that the shower is colder here compared to in other places in Congo. Bernt is guessing that the water might be originating from the Arctic Ocean. But I don´t think he is right. We ought to be about 1.000 kilometers from the Arctic, and the water pipes simply aren´t that long. It is very climate friendly, and cost-effective for the hotel to have cold water in the shower. The amount of time you can endure a really cold shower is generally brief. For the individual, the cold shower has it´s good points too: it is indeed both awakening and refreshing.

After breakfast at the catholic oasis, we went straight to the Swedish Embassy. We were very well received, but the atmosphere was harsh to begin with. The cause of the discord was a case of a visa application in March and April. The sharpened Schengen Agreement took effect during spring 2011, and it makes heavy demands on Congolese citizens. A person who applies for a visa to the Schengen area must have employment with a stable income and be able to prove ownership to a bank account of several thousands. The reason for the sharpened regulations is said to be the many defections. We got the information that 80% of all visa applications had been refused during the last months.

Both we and the embassy staff were frank and open in describing the events that had led up to our disagreements. We cleared the air and I and Bernt shook hands with the responsible official and apologized for our indignant responses to the handling of the visa application in question. Now, we will do what the Swedish head of State tried to do: we will turn the page and move on. We got the opportunity to use our Power Point presentation and talk about our activities in Congo. During the presentation, we realized how important the embassy could be for us. They have a wide network and know many people that could be of help for us. First of all, we need financiers and advisors. We are looking forward to a closer cooperation with the embassy. Our visit to the embassy ended in mutual understanding.

Our next item on the program was a budget meeting with Yapeco. We looked into the documentation of his business and drew up a budget. He will get a loan from MSG in order to strengthen his business and make it more profitable. After the meeting, we had a delicious dinner. And back at the hotel, we discovered that there was electricity in the wires. And better still; there were no more power failures during the day. Wonderful!