Triplet baby update

Now we remember why we've never liked to cross the border into Congo at Kasumbalesa! We had a long circuitous route between and behind buildings to find the office to stamp us out of Zambia. That went relatively well after we found the right place. Then the fun (??) began! We were escorted into a small room where the immigration officer began examining every page of our well traveled passports. Beside him seated on a grubby floor littered with trash were 5 young men tied together with rubber strap handcuffs. We have no idea what that was about. After enduring the loooong examination of our passports, he decided we needed to obtain photocopies of 2 pages in our passports for him to keep. So our good friend Kasongo who met us at the border scurried off to get the copies. When he returned it was decided we needed to go to another room. So we trooped into another little room with a new immigration officer. He even sent for his big boss to come. Together they decided we needed a letter of invitation to enter the country -- never mind that we had already spent $75 for a visa! So our friend Kasongo patiently wrote a letter of invitation for each of us. Then, surprise! They needed extra copies so again Kasongo hustled off to get copies. They finally released us and said we needed to have our yellow cards checked at the health area. We were concerned about this since my yellow fever vaccination had expired and my doctor recommended I not receive another one for health reasons. I did have an official letter from the doctor explaining this and they loved the letter head, official stamp, etc. and praised the letter. What a relief! Then they looked at Jac's. Oh, my, they did not like what they saw. His vaccination had not expired but the last entry said he had received a booster which they pointed out "was not the real thing." Three hours after the saga began and $10 later we were finally allowed to leave. I'm sure they were disappointed they did not intimidate us into a higher bribe.

After we arrived in Lubumbashi, we met with our good friend Chama Chola that has delivered many many babies in the Congo. We asked about the triplets she so heroically delivered last year and she said it was sad news. There were two boys and a girl. One little boy died at 2 months and the other one died at 8 months. The little girl, however, is doing well. So much for the weaker sex theory!! Chola said she thought the problem was primarily related to the mother's inability to feed 3 babies since she was not well nourished herself. We were sad to hear all 3 babies did not make it but we're still so proud of Chama for doing her part and bringing them safely into the world. Lots of other stories to tell but they will have to wait....