Crocs For Orphan Tots: Planes, Boats and Automobiles!

Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Planes, Boats and Automobiles!

Congolese Lady on the Island of Idjwi

The journey from New Brunswick to the Democratic Republic of Congo is a long one. Here is our travel itinerary:

The Snow in Arthurette, New Brunswick

On Tuesday morning, April 1 we will load up all the Crocs that have been collected in Canada will be loaded into our car and we will drive 7 hours to Clinton, Massachusetts where all the Crocs collected in the USA have been collecting. These too will be loaded up and on Wednesday morning, April 2, we will drive the hour to Logan International Airport in Boston where we will get on a plane to Atlanta, Georgia. In Atlanta we will have a 2 hour transit after which we will board a plane for a 19 hour flight to Johannesburg, South Africa--we board the plane at 15h45 on Wednesday afternoon in Atlanta and we arrive in Johannesburg at 16h45 on Thursday! We will spend the night in Johannesburg and then on Friday afternoon we leave for a 5 hour flight to Kigali, Rwanda. We will spend a day in Kigali before driving 4 hours across the mountains of Rwanda to the city of Gisenyi on the north end of Lake Kivu.

On the way we will cross the Nile--Congo continental divide at an elevation of 2800 m (9240 feet).

Mount Karisimbi on the Nile-Congo Continental Divide

In Gisenyi we arrive at the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo. The cities of Gisenyi, Rwanda and Goma, DR Congo are dominated by Mt. Nyiragongo one of the world's most active volcanoes.

Mt Nyiragongo

After crossing the border into Congo we will take a boat for four hours across Lake Kivu to the Patmos Children's Village on the island of Idjwi.

Patmos Children's Village on the Shores of Lake Kivu

We will arrive at the Children's Village 5 days after we left home and after 43 hours of travel!! We will have left the snow of New Brunswick for the tropical quietude of the Island of Idjwi in beautiful Lake Kivu. Yes it is a long ways from New Brunswick to Congo!!!

Gardens Around the Patmos Children's Village

Patmos Children's Village
on the Island of Idjwi in
Beautiful Lake Kivu

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About The Project

Purpose: To provide durable footwear/shoes in the form of used (or new) Crocs or Croc-like shoes for 200 orphans and school children in need in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Africa. Orphans range in age from 3-18y/o, so we can use all sizes of Crocs.

2007: We took over 10 pairs of crocs last year and they are still holding up. The director of the orphanage contacted us and told us that they are the best shoes they have ever had and the orphans are so happy to have them.

Next Trip: Dec 2008 is the next planned trip to the orphanage. The plan is to spend New Years with the children of the orphanage.

The last trip in April 2008 was a great success despite the luggage and crocs not arriving until the team was already on their way home. 135 crocs were transported over to the children with this particular trip. Many projects were worked on and there was a lot of work done on assessing need and developing new project plans to meet those needs. See PROLASA's web site for details.

There was supposed to be a trip in Oct 2007, but war and unrest in the area was to blame for the cancellation of that trip.

How many pairs have been collected for the next shipment? 665 pairs and counting.

Total pairs collected to date? 756 pairs and counting.

Who are we working with? Two non profit organizations PROLASA Canada and International Childrens Care in the USA. Both organizations are working together to help provide medical care, housing, food, education and clothing to these orphans.