A Tricky Business

Shipping to Congo can be a tricky business. There is no post office where I lived in the Ituri District. The Canossian Sisters/VOICA keep a P.O. Box in Arua, Uganda, which is about one hour away. However with the unpredictability of border control, it can take up to three hours to get into Uganda. Depending on the customs officer you pay either $5 or $50 for the day’s visit. Corruption never seems as terrible when it is in your favor…

 

The dilemma, however, was not shipping to Congo but rather shipping from Congo to the U.S. Margaret was quoted at nearly $400 to have the box of handbags mailed out of the country—this was not promising. The mission is to give the women profits from BOMOI BAGS; not spend it all on shipping. I decided to wait until the end of August when short-term volunteers from Italy make a trip to Aru, Congo. It was better to take the project slowly and save money than to rush the process and spend too much. As the summer months went by, I continued to be in touch with the women via VOICA volunteers with Facebook, Gmail, Skype, etc… Margaret arranged for Elena, an Italian volunteer from Brescia, Italy to pack all the BOMOI BAGS in her suitcase, return home and send the package to my home in the U.S. I spoke often with Elena and she also shared her enthusiasm for this project!

 

 

I had my doubts – after almost a year of having the project idea, to its actual reality was almost unbearable. Thankfully, I acquired a great deal of patience when I was in Africa; knowing that eventually everything (God willing—if it is meant to be) will fall into place.

And so it did.