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The second school building on the grounds is already half finished. The wooden structure with the tin roof is ready and the foundation is laid. One by one the bricks for the walls are carefully placed. The students from the secondary level help with transporting the bricks from the kiln to the site. At the same time more bricks are burned on the campus for the next brick building. Each of these buildings will consist of 4 classrooms, making the school, along with the two classrooms of the first building, have a total of 10 classrooms made of durable materials. This gives the school a good future because the temporary school buildings, the old farm houses made of mud, will not last much longer. All the other farm houses that were not constantly repaired have collapsed, and it is high time to move the school into the new brick buildings.

So far all attempts were unsuccessful: even the governor of the region of West Kasai was unable to deter chief Mungamba from claiming half of our building materials and lots of money. André organized a meeting with the Minister of Education, Mr. Maker Mwumba, who himself comes from Tshikapa and knows the situation on the ground quite well. He believes that especially in this region of the Congo, where many people are nomadic, schools are very much needed. The nomadic conditions have a negative effect on the level of education of the children, which is why he welcomed our involvement with enthusiasm. The Minister of Education was shocked by the behavior of Chef Mungamba, stepped in, and after a week all our confiscated materials were returned. Now at last we can continue. Shortly thereafter, the Minister informed himself about the situation - A man with vision!

After the traditional Grand Chief's call for an absurdly high bribe brought the work on our third building to a stand still, we got to explore new ways to tackle corruption and lack of vision for development. In the mean time the displeasure of the village population of Mushapo with the behavior of the Grand Chief became so strong, that even the villagers themselves tried in various ways to influence him. For example, the new head of our school parent committee urged chief Muyeji to call his supervisor (chief Mungamba) and tell him firmly about the atmosphere in the village, namely, that the school construction should proceed without delay. Meanwhile, the administrator of the Kamonia region visited our school in Mushapo. When he heard of this dispute and also saw that we lost about 70 bags of cement because they cured, he also promised to get on the Grand Chief’s case. It's great to see how the local population stands up and fights for what is right.

As the Grand Chief from Mungamba still doesn’t show any understanding and the building freeze continues, we try from all sides possible to change the situation to make the Grand Chief give in. Gilbert telephoned Chief Mungamba but he still insists on us paying bribes. Another attempt was launched by Andre, who called the Governor in Kananga who was amazed that the problem was still not resolved and promised to get in touch with chief Mungamba and try to influence him in our favor. In Kinshasa, Wolfgang had a successful meeting with the German Ambassador, Dr. Wolfgang Manig and Mr. Stumpf, responsible for development cooperation. Both showed great interest in our project and offered their support. In the meantime Jean tried in Tshikapa to advance the necessary registration of our property at the Cadastre. There too was outrage over the behavior of the Chief Mungamba. With this new tailwind we are encouraged that the deadlock will soon be dissolved.

After the framework of our new school building was completed, we wanted to use the well-preserved corrugated iron roof from the old clay buildings that had collapsed and use them to make a roof for our new school building. But then unexpected the traditional Grand Chief of Mungamba, came into play as he sensed an opportunity to demand bribes before we could build on. His reasoning for this is so absurd that it even displeases us to publish this. Also mediating talks could not bring him to the realization that with his demands he forces a freeze on the construction and thereby harms his region. We are now trying different ways to influence him so that we can re-start the construction work soon and finalize the new school building as quickly as possible.  

The construction phase of the third school building has begun on the site south of Mushapo. The roof is ready. The roof was made first, so that the rest of the construction work can go on uninterrupted during the rainy season. This building will have four new classrooms of brick.  

We are planning on how the next two brick buildings can be built most efficiently. We decide on two long buildings, each with 4 classrooms. The new buildings will, together with the existing brick building on our property, form a U-shape. Right away new bricks are manufactured for this project. The men dig clay from the new pit and the women take them to the warehouse, where the clay is pressed. As soon as the bricks are pressed and have dried, they are burned.

After his arrival in the Congo, Jos first spends a month in Kinshasa in order to make important preparations. He visits our friends and supporters and gathers new materials and tools for Mushapo. On the way there, in Tshikapa, he buys food for the next month. He is accompanied to Mushapo by a team from "Denys", so they can see our progress on the project for themselves. With their truck, the "Denys" Team also transported 2000 liters of drinking water, cement, and diesel for the generator. The generator needed some repairs, a new battery and other parts that are not so easy to find out there. A not functional generator means no light at night, no charging of batteries, and no telephone or internet communication for some time.