A donor from Oklahoma has come forward offering to rebuild several bridges in northwest Congo, working together with the Paul Carlson Partnership. As a first step, he is providing the funds for an engineer to spend 10 days in the area in September, assessing need and feasibility along several possible roads.

One route the engineer will look at is the road between Karawa and Businga. The problems on this road gained attention in March when a truck loaded with PCP medical supplies and medicines heading from Karawa to Loko and Gbadolite went through the Lumba bridge east of Karawa, killing two women passengers. (See photo above. Another donor has already made a gift to help rebuild this bridge.) 

Another possible route would be the road from Gemena southeast to Akula, which is a port town on the Mongala River. From there, goods can be carried by boat down to the Congo River and on to Kinshasa.

The third road being considered is a stretch between Bokada and Goyongo, which is just west of Bosobolo. The CEUM has a small hospital at Bokada, one of the four that are assisted by the Paul Carlson Partnership's annual operating grant to the wider CEUM medical system.

The donor who will invest in these bridges has been generous to the PCP over several years now. A businessman himself, he understands that restoring sustainability to this area depends on access to markets for cash crops and other products -- and that means bridges.

Many bridges in the Ubangi were destroyed or seriously damaged in the civil war from 1998 through 2002. Others, especially those made of logs, deteriorate over time and heavy usage by trucks. (The second photo shows the Lumba bridge, taken at an earlier time.) Yet bridges are essential in this region that is webbed with small rivers throughout.