Radio Kahuzi Reporting of Prime Minister, Jean-Michel, SAMA LUKONDE KYENGE, Visiting Devastation in Kalehe, South Kivu...

Congolese Prime Minister, Jean-Michel,
SAMA LUKONDE KYENGE,

May 28, 2023

Reported by Danny MAGADJU 

Photojournalist / Staff of Radio Kahuzi / BESI

Bukavu, D R Congo

Congolese Prime Minister, Jean-Michel, SAMA LUKONDE KYENGE, arrived at the Lwako Airfield located in the village of Cibanda in theTerritory of Kalehe in South Kivu on Saturday, May 27 after he visited Goma in North Kivu.

The Head of the Congolese government arrived on a mission of compassion in favor of the victims of the floods in the villages of Bushushu and Nyamukubi in the area of South Mbinga.

Prime Minister, SAMA LOKONDE
did not come empty-handed.

In his speech to the families of the victims, Prime Minister, SAMA LOKONDE emotionally expressed the need for assistance for the families after losing loved ones and all their valuables during the May 4 floods. 

Prime Minister distributed non-food and food 
items of rice, corn, flour; vegetable oil, 

Before his departure he distributed non-food and food items of rice, corn, flour; vegetable oil, kitchen utensils, mattresses, loincloths, as well as medicines to relieve, however slightly, the suffering of the victims families in these two villages. 

The Prime Minister was accompanied by a large delegation comprising national deputies and ministry members of the government, namely; the Ministers of Finance, Health and Rural Development; Ministers of Employment, Infrastructure, Industry, and the Defense Minister.

As we previously reported on May 4, more than five hundred (500) people are declared dead, and over five thousand (5,000) souls were lost, and presumed dead, after the torrential rains that fell on the Bushushun and Nyamamukubi villages in the Kalehe Territory located in South Kivu Province. The Prime Minister and his delegation visited the sties where there was enormous loss of life and damage.

It should also be noted that this is the first time a Prime Minister of the DRC has visited the Kalehe Territory.

Danny MAGADJU recording video

Radio Kahuzi Journalist, Danny MAGADJU, is shown in the foreground with the backpack preparing a video production of the Prime Minister's visit to Nyamukubi Kalehe near Bukavu. 

Photos of Disaster Victims

 Widows and men who have lost their families
expressing their heartbreak and loss.

Survivors are being housed in small 
tarpaulins on this dangerous hill. 

Bathing at the water's edge

Orphaned children under the age of six (6)
are more vulnerable and exposed to bad weather.
 

Danny with orphaned children whose parents died in floods.
Some of the children show signs of malnutrition.

Danny shared, "In order to arrive on time for the Prime Minister's speech, we had to rent a mini bus, but found the road totally impossible to navigate. We had to take a five-hour detour to Kalehe before arriving at the site of the news conference. Given the state of the road, we had to get out and push the vehicle through the bog."

May 28, 2023

Reported by Danny MAGADJU 

Photojournalist / Staff of Radio Kahuzi / BESI

Bukavu, D R Congo

Water Is Life . . . So They Say.

City of Bukavu Surrounded by Lake Kivu

South Kivu Cholera Outbreak

May 24, 2023

Reported by Danny Magadju

Photojournalist / Staff of Radio Kahuzi / BESI

Bukavu, D R Congo

The Province of South Kivu is currently facing an outbreak of Cholera. It is a severe and potentially fatal diarrheal disease caused by a lack of clean drinking water or food contaminated by Vibrio Choleric bacteria. Over the past few weeks, the Province has recorded more than two hundred (200) cases of deadly Cholera, including eight (8) deaths. This is alarming.

 
According to the Provincial Division of Health (DPS), the commune of Kadutu in Bukavu is the most affected, with more than seventy (70) cases.

This cholera outbreak is likely due to the sewage contaminated water that many of the households used during the REGIDESO water shortage, contaminated by human waste. The region often lacks an adequate sanitation system.

Faced with this situation, the health authorities of the province have taken measures to contain the spread of the disease. Medical teams have been mobilized to provide care to people with cholera and educate communities on the importance of hygiene practices such as hand washing and drinking safe drinking water.

Emergency measures must be strengthened to provide medical assistance and health education so that people have knowledge to prevent the spread of cholera. This cholera outbreak is an urgent reminder of the importance of access to safe drinking water and adequate sanitation.

It is crucial that the government, through REGIDESO and other organizations, invest in the the provision of safe drinking water and good sanitary conditions to prevent epidemics and protect public health.

Bukavu DRC

May 24 , 2023

 

Baby was found alive...

Danny Magadju, Photo Journalist, Radio Kahuzi / BESI

Bukavu, Democratic Republic of Congo

(Reporting from site of the destruction.)

Baby was found alive...

... in the rubble on the back of his mother who died in the disaster at Bushushu Kalehe. He remains the only survivor of his family. The baby’s father was also killed in the landslide.

God is Great who saved this baby. We must glorify the Lord every day.

May 8, 2023

Danny MAGADJU

Over 5,000 are Missing and Presumed Dead

A Red Cross worker finds another 

body of a loved one.

The provisionnel toll of the landslide in Bushushu and Nyamukubi, Kalehe territory in South Kivu is 405 and 5,255 people are missing. They are buried under the rubble. Among the survivors, some are seriously injured and were admitted to the general hospital of Ihusi Kalehe.

Among the dead are members of our Kahuzi Radio Clubs, which were engaged in agriculture and livestock breeding in the northern axis of Kalehe territory.

All valuables were washed away by the torrential rains. Struggling families and orhans require the assistance of every person of goodwill.

Danny listens to grieving family members.

Danny comforts another young man
 who has lost his entire family.

HAPPY 37th BIRTHDAY, BESI !

Barbara Smith, Richard and Kathy, and Harold Smith

OUR FIRST BOARD MEMBERS IN 1986

Richard McDonald, Harold Smith, Lawrence Trumbower, 

Calvin Lowder, and Gary Bowers 

 HAROLD, BARBARA, KIMBERLY SMITH;

LAWRENCE TRUMBOWER;

SHARON AND GARY BOWERS AND BOYS

OUR MOTHER, FAITH MCDONALD

Our very first BESI Board Member

KATHY AND RICHARD MCDONALD

(At the time of this photo in 1983, Richard was recovering 

from surgery on torn retinas in both eyes, and was basically, blind.)

HOW IT ALL BEGAN

Believer's Express Service, Inc., (BESI) was founded on March 11, 1986 on the campus of Toccoa Falls College (TFC) in Toccoa Falls, Georgia by Harold and Barbara Smith. The Smiths were attending TFC in preparation for missionary service with HCJB World Radio in Quito, Ecuador when Richard McDonald, brother to Barbara Smith requested that she and Harold consider helping them to begin an independent missionary ministry in the Democratic Republic of Congo then known as Zaire, Africa. The McDonalds arrived in Congo in 1974 to join Kathy's parents, Fred and Millie Bahler who had been serving since the 1940s. 

The Smiths prayed and the Lord redirected their plans for service to assist the McDonalds in their desire to remain in Africa but to step out in faith in a new direction.

And the rest is history. You can read more about their lives (www.besi.org) and how God directed them in 1983 after Richard was blinded by torn retinas to open the country of Zaire, now DRCongo to free radio and media. At that time is was against the law to even HAM radio out of the country. This was a big undertaking as they would need the permission of President MOBUTO. BUT GOD....

The First Free Radio License Signed by President Mobutu on July 4, 1991... 31 Years Ago!

Kathy and Richard McDonald were ready to return to Bukavu, D. R Congo (formerly Zaire) with a new "FM Transmitter in a Suitcase" to broadcast the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

President Mobutu signed the first free radio license. This opened the way for other radios, TV and free elections.

  

Here, Richard moves out of the crowd and extends his hand to shake the President's hand and to ask, "Excuse me, Mr. President, but we have two telecommunications projects that are being delayed in Kinshasa." President Mobutu turned and called the director of his office and introduced him to Richard saying, "Take care of this gentleman's questions." Richard walked with him behind the President and set up a rendezvous to discuss his projects. (Mama Mobutu is in the foreground shaking hands and greeting the people while bodyguards keep watch.) 

The permit for Radio Kahuzi was signed on July 4, 1991, by both the Minister of State for Information and Press and the Minister of State for Agriculture. Their letters agree to the technical papers proposing several of each: FM, medium wave, and shortwave broadcasting transmitters for Christian programming, as well as for agricultural and other rural development broadcasting, including health, hygiene, and nutrition. They classify it as a Program of Priority Public Investments, allowing customs exemptions for importations of equipment, etc.

Richard shared, "As we revisit the events of July 4, 1991, Kathy and I are very thankful to have lived several zenith events where we have experienced the Holy Spirit's intervention. Despite our frequent incapacity and simplicity as we live through this Age of Grace, we realize we are nearing the End Times and the conclusion of the Holy Spirit's work here on this earth. We are very grateful to be a part of that work during these tumultuous times."

To God be all the Glory for the things He has done!

The KGB's Most Wanted

 

Click Here to Watch:  The KGB's Most Wanted

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2022

Merry Christmas 2021!

 

Another Wedding Anniversary!

Happy 49th Anniversary, Rich and Kathy! So glad you are safe and sound with medical and dental checkups and repairs all done with good reports overall.

We enjoyed our time with you August 20 to December 5, 2021, which was your first visit home since 2014. Now back to the job at hand...broadcasting the Good News of His free gift of life everlasting, which God is offering to the world through his Son, Jesus Christ, our Saviour!

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believers on him shall not perish, but have everlasting life." 

John 3: 16 

This is the best news anyone can hear.

LITTLE SHEPHERD BOY

DANNY'S ENFANT SHEPHERD

Radio Kahuzi photo-journalist, Danny, came upon a very young shepherd boy who saw his camera and said, "I want to do that when I grow up." 

He is among the current generation of the world's youth under the age of fifteen. Africa is the continent with the youngest population world wide. As of 2021 around 40 percent is 15 years and younger. 

Lord, may he also want to become a Christian when he grows up. The children are no longer in school and find work herding cows and sheep, or carrying heavy loads of rocks, or jerry cans of water on their heads to make a few cents a day.

People under 18 years of age make up over a quarter of the world population (29.3%), and people age 65 and over make up less than one-tenth (7.9%).

There is no time to waste. 

Luke 10: 2 

"Therefore said he unto them, The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few: pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth labourers into his harvest."