“What are you going to do in Congo? Who is going with you? Why are you doing this? How can we follow your adventure?” These are questions that all four of us have been asked many times. The answer to the last question is easy: here! (and via our instagram humasol_to_matadi). Every week we will share our little successes, mistakes, funny moments,… accompanied by beautiful pictures that capture the Congolese atmosphere.
Now what will we do there? After chilling at the pool of the Cana hotel in Kinshasa for a day, we will go to the home for single mothers of our partner Mama Lufuma in Matadi. There we will install a solar panel installation with batteries so that the sewing, cooking and pc courses of the centre can take place more frequently. The solar installation will also power a phone charging station. As a result the entire neighbourhood will have access to electricity even during a blackout of the grid. Next we are also going to build a pump installation to pump up the water from the local well so that the people don’t have to use the dangerous way down anymore.
Finally, who are we? A somewhat existential question that people can often write a whole biography about. Fortunately, we are efficient people and we like to keep it short. An introduction to our partner Mama Lufuma and the people on site is for another post, but for now enjoy this short meet with us and you may greet us in the comments.
Lars is the organisational mastermind of the team. He is also the biggest professional when it comes to making excel sheets, especially for solar panel installations. Furthermore, Lars likes sports, music and mechanical installations. He is a civil engineer of the purest kind. As a control engineer, he likes to stay in control but he is not afraid of a little (or big) adventure.
Julian is the team’s electroman. His knowledge of electrical components is invaluable to the project. Furthermore, his excellent dancing skills betray his connection to the country Congo. Both his mother and aunt grew up there and he can’t wait to finally discover the country himself. Moreover, this member of the team is also a sporty bird who combines various sports such as fitness, judo and running.
Adriaan is the team’s eternal atmosphere creator. This brand new bio-engineer always has a smile on his face. He is essential to the social environment component of the project. Just like Lars and Julian, this member is also sporty. He plays indoor football like a retired pro and he’s also occasionally the authority on the field as a referee.
Elisabeth may be the only woman in the team, but she stands her ground. As a senior member of the team, she has the most years on the counter but not necessarily the most knowledge. For example, at the beginning she only knew the names of the electrical components from the invoices. She is mainly the socio-economic brain of the team, but as a bio-engineer she also pays attention to the impact of the installation on the environment. Just like the rest of the team, she likes sport. In addition to daily cycling trips from Deinze to Ghent, she boulders weekly.