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| Canada House Kisangani |
It is considered to be one of the better houses here in town though everything is relative. I would not consider living in this house back in Canada. It is definitely a “fixer-upper”. Having said that, you can see that the house has potential and must have been very nice 20-30 years ago. It sits on a fairly large lot just off the main street. It is a three bedroom house with a large living room/dining room though the kitchen is rather small. The most impressive thing about the house is the height of the ceilings in the main rooms. They must be at least 20 feet high. However, the maintenance on the building has been haphazard over the years and nothing is ever done really well so patches to the wall don’t match the color of the wall itself. You walk directly on the cement floor that hasn’t been re-painted in years. There has been water damage. The leak was fixed but not the damaged to the plaster or ceiling tiles. The house is just kind of rundown. On the positive side, it is kept clean and everything generally works.
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| Living room at Canada House |
Life in Canada House is a cross between living in an old farm house and being in a hotel. The farm house part comes from the fact that water and electricity are not always dependable. The electrical service is not bad but it does cut out occasionally. It also operates on a three phase system which I don’t quite understand but the impact is that when they switch phases we have to go to the main electrical panel outside and make some adjustments. If there is an electrical engineer among you, perhaps you can explain to me how these phases work. The power is also not very “clean”, that is to say there are variations in voltage that can damage electronic components so we have several voltage regulators for the more sensitive equipment. We also have a backup generator but it has been acting up lately so we have to get that fixed. Water is also an issue. The city water only works a few hours a day. So we have a cistern that fills up from the city supply and we have an electric pump that supplies the house from the cistern. The pump has also been acting up lately. So if you’re in the shower when power goes out…Finally, there are the chickens. We have three of them and a rooster. They have a henhouse in the back yard but have the run of the yard during the day. We keep them to have a good supply of fresh eggs. The quality is better than those available in the market because they are well fed. We also have a banana tree.
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| The Chicks at Canada House |
Living here is also like being in a hotel. We have staff who do many things we would normally do ourselves at home. First there is the maid Charlotte. She cleans the house, washes the dishes, and washes our clothes (by hand in a big tub). She works very hard and keeps us afloat. Salé is our grounds keeper. He tends to the chickens, the small garden and does the yard work. As you imagine, things grow very well around here so the yard needs lots of attention. I don’t see how we would manage without them. We simply wouldn’t have time to get everything done. Finally, there are the security guards. They man the front gate and generally keep and eye on things. They are necessary for security from thieves and fires. So like at a hotel, you are never alone except in your room. The staff work hard. We pay them very well by local standards but for us it’s a pittance. Less than a night out for supper in Ottawa. It is one advantage to life in the developing world.
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| Bathroom at Canada House |
Finally, I have to mention the church next door. There are regular services held most days it seems. The service is in French and Lingaga (a local language). The priest and translator both use a public address system that is turned way up. When they talk it sounds like they are yelling at each other, loudly. There is also some off-key singing and music. Sunday mornings are not a quiet affair that is for sure. We could have worst neighbours I suppose.
That is all for this week. The electoral results will be announced next Sunday. Keep your fingers crossed.
John
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