Mudaka (Moo-daka).....

I have been going out to this ‘village’ (pop. 25,000), all week. It is one hour from Bukavu. On Friday night we planned to go out in the evening to show the Jesus film. Around noon, we had a HEAVY downpour. On the way out of the city, there were areas where mud slides had covered part of the road.

When we got to Mudaka, we tried to drive down the mud road to the market. The 4X4 was slithering sideways and threatened to slide down the embankment. When we got part of the way down the road, there was a police truck parked in the middle. The team traveling with us, got out to try to track down the driver. When they were finally located, they tried to squeeze over so that we could pass them, but both vehicles had a difficult time to stay on the road, so, Raha backed out the way we had come in. You need to picture all these people slipping and sliding on the sides of the road, many many motorbikes coming and going and parked, etc. He is a extraordinary driver! He got us out and then back in!

This is one of the most distressing areas I have seen, so far. Many children and babies, with patches of hair missing due to starvation, children with rickets. Adults with more signs of starvation. Children standing in mud and slime up to their ankles. Many falling because of the slippery condition of the mud, resulting in mud-covered people everywhere. There were many disturbing things to witness, in every direction. 

So I will always remember the name of this village. I leave the name to the North American pronunciation....MUD-aka! When this was translated for them they had a great laugh!