McDowell House Restoration Progress Report
Evangelical Congregational Church of Angola, August 2007
Angola is currently situated between two historical events that will determine the future of the country to a great extent. The Memorandum of Luena, April 2002, marked a crucial point in the peace process in Angola, a process that many people consider as being irreversible. The elections that are expected to be held in 2008 will be the first serious test of whether the peace that finally arrived after decades of civil war will hold.
Evangelical Congregational Church of Angola
August 2007
Angola is currently situated between two historical events that will determine the future of the country to a great extent. The Memorandum of Luena, April 2002, marked a crucial point in the peace process in Angola, a process that many people consider as being irreversible. The elections that are expected to be held in 2008 will be the first serious test of whether the peace that finally arrived after decades of civil war will hold.
In the meantime, the people of Angola are building up their own lives and the country as a whole. In doing so, they show great determination, vigilance, good will, and creativity. They have to because the problems they are confronted with are numerous. In the provinces, poor infrastructure and high unemployment rates are current additional challenges causing many young and older people to migrate to the capital city, Luanda, hoping for a better life.
Other stumbling blocks people face include the fear people sense in speaking out on politically and socially sensitive issues, the lack of perception about the concept of citizenship, and limited understanding about the role of civil society vis-à-vis the government.
Despite this, there are positive signs of change happening. One of them is the existence of social structures that are non-governmental, set up by local communities and churches, which seem to be functioning effectively in the provinces. This is exemplified by the establishment and existence of schools and training centers by the Evangelical Congregational Church of Angola (IECA) that function well (in Sumbe, Lobito, and Lubango) with little or no external funding. Of course, not all these structures function well, but these are encouraging examples that can function as best practices. Another positive aspect is that due to the relative stability in the country, there is a growing number of provinces that can be reached by car. It is in this context that IECA has played and still can play a distinctive role in society.
This report presents the findings of the Restoration of the McDowell House Project, which was implemented by colleagues in Huambo. Colleagues in Luanda did the redaction and translation of the report.
I. Name Project/Program/Country and local:
McDowell House – Angola, Elende Mission Station – Huambo Province
II. Date of Report: August 28, 2007
III. Period covered by this report: 3 Months (April – June 2007)
IV. Please include the following in your report:
a. What are the accomplishments of this project/program during this period?
The Elende Evangelical Mission Station was founded in 1906 by the American Board for Overseas Missions. This Mission Station celebrated 100 years of existence last August 2006 in a mixed atmosphere: happiness on one hand, and sadness on the other. Happiness, because after more than 25 years, the community and members of the neighboring areas of the mission station were singing and praising Almighty God in a climate of peace. Sadness, because the Mission station where thousands and thousands of Angolans were educated and healed, was lying in ruins. In order to recover some of its infrastructure, IECA leadership indicated the following teams of people to rebuild the McDowell House:
- Reverend Tarcísio Pedro Chokombonge
- Reverend Tonito Satanda
- Reverend Paulino Kalueyo
- Deacon Adelino Muachenge
The accomplishments of this project during the period April – June 2007 are as follows:
- Technical evaluation of the current status of the McDowell House in order to have accurate costs, or at least an idea of the amount of money needed to restore the house. This evaluation was crucial because it gave us an opportunity to know which old material should re-used and what should not. However, in the pictures attached to this report you will discover a big part of the material cannot be re-used, as it is completely deteriorated.
- Technical Personnel recruitment followed by construction material purchases such as: cement, stone, and so forth. The transportation of these materials was done through hired trucks, while members of the team used borrowed cars to reach Elende.
- The removal of old tiles and the replacement of a new roof structure as indicated in photos attached into the Portuguese report.
b. What are the challenges?
During the implementation of this first phase of the project many challenges were faced. The first one was the lack of qualified bricklayers in the surrounding villages to the mission station. To overcome this stumbling block the team was obliged to hire two professionals from Huambo city about100 km (62 miles) from Elende. Therefore, these people have to be fed by the project, adding more financial responsibility.
Another challenge is to recover people’s Christian and spiritual life. The Evangelical spirit is almost disappearing.
Lack of a four-wheel drive vehicle to facilitate trips from Huambo to Elende and back to Huambo is the biggest challenge. The indicated commission depends most of the time on others’ availability to monitor and evaluate the project progress.
c. What are the plans for the future of this project/program? What changes will be made?
There are few changes as we are just starting to renew people’s lives and the rehabilitation itself. We need to do some things in order not to lose some nurses and teachers who are leaving the Mission Station to purchase homes in other places in order to have vegetables in their meals, because people are no longer growing and developing gardens. So, the plan is to continue rebuilding the house and good practices, values, attitudes, and behaviors which disappeared during the long period of civil war. Once done, changes will start to flow.
d. Share a story of a participant or group of participants in the project/program. What good news did the project/program bring to lives of participants?
The good news is the fact that we are now able to talk about rehabilitation of the McDowell’s House after a long time in disrepair. This is a signal of hope for villagers and professionals such nurses, teachers, and the pastor who is taking care of the church there. Even though we do not have yet a particular story from somebody, this fact is relevant enough. There is no doubt that with peace covering the country, things will improve in the forthcoming days in Elende.
e. Provide a brief financial report of how Global Ministries funds were used for this effort. Please also include any other pertinent financial information about this project/program.
Amount of money received at the Project bank account in Namibe: USD 9.000,00. This amount does not include bank expenses of 1 percent and other fees related to transfer. Till June 2007 the expenses were USD 4,330.00 as indicated in the financial report. The remaining balance of USD 4,670.00 was used from July up to the current days. This report is to come.
Received from: The Evangelical Congregational Church in Angola (IECA)
Processed by: Office of Resource Development
Global Ministries
P.O. Box 1986
Indianapolis, IN 46206
Tel: (317) 713-2555
Fax: (317) 635-4323
Email: gifts@dom.disciples.org
August 2007