The Rwanda Genocide that occurred in 1994 was one of the most recent large-scale genocides in the past 50 years.  The Hutu vs. Tutsi tribal conflict that many of us recall was horrific on so many fronts. The sheer numbers of dead (between 800,000 to 1,000,000), the nature of the butchery and the destruction of the country’s infrastructure had a lasting impact on that small central African country. The killings started on April 6, 1994, triggered by the Hutu President’s plane being shot down and l ..read more

This episode contains four (4) Short Stories. The first one is telling the difference between “who you know” and “who knows you”. Which is better in life and in business? Well, Short Story # 1 will answer that question for you. The second Short Story is about how to check for the freshness of chicken eggs. How to confirm they were or weren’t fertilized or rotten or not. It was quite a process. The third Short Story is about going down a 65 foot well, to assess what was damaging the buckets that pulled up the water. I describe the harrowing trip down and all the amazing stuff I found down ther ..read more

This episode is about teaching in a Congolese High School. The physical conditions of the classrooms, and lack of supplies and textbooks made the job extremely difficult for both the teachers and students alike. I was a high school professor at Institute Kimia in Gemena, D.R. Congo in the 1982-1983 school year. Having finished my sophomore year of college, I returned to Zaire / Congo and one of my roles was teaching 9th grade Chemistry and English. Trying to convey concepts in French, and having minimal textbooks or other school supplies was challenging indeed, as most learning had to be by b ..read more

This episode is about a gopher. Not the little critters that tear up golf courses and your back yard, but a specific role that I played for 1 year as a Gopher; as in “go-for this” and “go for that”. I tackled this job to essentially provide logistics support to our mission in Gemena, Zaire/D.R. Congo by helping with transporting fuel, people, freight and driving all over the region. In addition, I handled shopping when supplies were in the stores, immigration issues, meeting both our mission plane and commercial planes when they landed to coordinate peoples’ arrival and departure. Though not ..read more

Death, funerals, grieving and the associated rituals vary from culture to culture. This episode explores the differences and similarities as to how Americans handle end of life and grieving vs. how Congolese do. Though death is much more prevalent in Congo, they don’t prepare for it for cultural reasons. Then, when someone does die, the question of “who” caused the death must be explored, even if we would explain it away due to an illness or tragic accident. Americans suppress their grief while Congolese express their grief with considerable intensity. My thesis for this episode was to explor ..read more

This episode is the story of a special Lake in the NW corner of the D.R. Congo, Africa. It was called Lake Kwada. Kwada, in the Ngbandi tribal language means “Big Water”. The Mbanza tribe also has ties to this lake, as Kwada in their language means “Death Here”. More on that in the episode. Lake Kwada became a place of rest, relaxation, vacation, rejuvenation and restoration for numerous missionaries serving in that area from the early 1940’s till the mid-1990’s when the missionaries evacuated due to the civil war. This episode will take you from the finding of the lake, to the long process o ..read more

This episode is literally just a bunch of various hunting stories from Congo, Africa. Stories from the 1950’s until the late 1970’s are shared here in this episode. Hunting for and encountering Hippos, Guinea Fowl, Antelope, Monkeys, Chimps, Buffalo (and being gored by it) and other wildlife. Or how about almost being stampeded by a huge herd of buffalo at night? There’s also a story about the life-threatening danger we were exposed to being out in the jungles of Africa for days on end – a reminder of how we were blessed with minimal injury or death from said dangers. Then there is the myster ..read more

Hunting was a part of everyday life for a kid growing up in Central Africa. It was a source of food, a sport, and a deterrent to the African’s garden destruction. From a hand-made slingshot to a BB gun to a pump Sheridan pellet gun, then on to .22 rifles and .12 gauge shotguns, this episode recounts my journey with hunting in Congo. Hunting brought knowledge and survival techniques of the jungle and grasslands from my hunting guides. Many hunts were filled with adventure, grit, disappointment, and fatigue from walking all day. But mostly, they ended with some tasty meals. Guinea hen, antelope ..read more

  Soccer was prevalent overseas in the 1960’s and 1970’s before it gained a foothold in the USA. Growing up in D.R. Congo exposed me to the sport at a very young age and I grew up playing soccer almost every day. So when I came to the States in Jr. High and in High School, I was the most skilled player. Then I joined my college team and enjoyed a 4 year career. This episode tells my story of soccer and college career. It also features Mark Daniels, one of the best players to come out of our school in Congo. Mark shares about the culture of soccer and its impact on his life and career. Th ..read more

This podcast episode is actually the culmination of a Radio Broadcasting class I took at Saddleback College in the Spring of 2022. My hope in taking the class was to improve my podcasting efforts. I’ll let you be the judge as to if a semester of 4 hours a week actually helped. My instructor asked me if I wanted to do an extra solo show that was not part of the class curriculum. I jumped at the chance. So this episode is the solo show that aired live on June 30, 2022 at 7 pm on www.jazz885.org. I added an intro, my promo clip, and edited down a few of the songs, but hopefully you’ll enjoy list ..read more