The Kasongos

The Kasongos are a large family from Congo who, after living for 15 years in a refugee camp in Zambia, arrived in the US in April. The father of the family died in a hospital in Zambia just before the family left Africa, leaving the mother pregnant with her 10th child- now a newborn with Down's Syndrome. The other children rage in age from 27-4. The children are all in school here and the young adults work to support the family while going to school to improve their English. The younger children speak Swahili and some French. The mother stays next to the baby at all times. I was told that she never leaves his side because they are all waiting to see if he will live.
Our family was invited to participate in a project to outfit their home with some basic household necessities and to provide the children with school supplies. The email request from a friend came while I was chatting with Kevin about the need we felt for our family to find something to do this holiday season that would turn our focus outside of ourselves and our own interests and concerns.
We visited the family Sunday night and delivered a few larger items. We had already sent school supplies with the group donation. Our plan was to bring in the furniture, visit briefly, and wish them a Merry Christmas.
When we arrived to be introduced, their rental house was freezing cold and there was a decided air of worry in the home. The older son was afraid to use the furnace and water heater because they made odd noises and because the family had been having terrible headaches when the heat was on. Wendy, our escort, became quite alarmed to hear this because she has been having headaches when she has spent time with them over the last few weeks. The family was keeping only the bedroom of the mother, newborn, and younger children warm with a space heater.
Kevin, Coral, & Steven brought the furniture in and then took our kids home. India stayed with me to check out the mechanical systems. It is a sad day when I am the most knowledgeable person around, but I was able to show Kitenge how to regulate the water heater and explained to him that all water heaters make funny noises. He thought it wasn't working because of the noise and the fact that they didn't have regular hot water. I was able to explain that it is a very small unit and not capable of providing hot water for so many people. The heater warmed the house when on, but of course there was no way for me to know if either appliance was emitting CO- a truly frightening thought.
I installed a CO detector in their home as Wendy and a neighbor tried to find a working contact number for the landlord, who is charging them $1000 per month -I hope this includes utilities. Wendy was inclined to call the fire dept, and I was interested in the help, but worried that they would evacuate the family on the suspicion of a problem. We discussed whether we could get everyone into our two vehicles.
The firemen really saved the evening. They were so kind. They did not detect CO or gas, but pointed out that we may have aired it all out before they came. They gave the family instructions on the use of the detector and gave them much needed reassurance. When we all left, the house was warm. I hope Kitenge left the heat on and that the events of the evening didn't make them all more afraid.
The Kasongos seemed friendly, patient, intelligent, and so, so foreign. I cannot even imagine what they must be thinking and feeling about all the experiences they are having- not to mention the daily snowfall!
There are several people in their neighborhood who seem to be consistently checking in on them. I was impressed with their spirit of service and genuine interest in the family. I would love to visit the Kasongos again, maybe speak a little French, and get to know them a bit. We would have been happy to participate in such a project at any time, but it was a great addition to our celebration of Christmas.
I returned to my own warm and festive home later in the evening. Diana O'Connor had stayed over part of the weekend to bake with me and visit some friends farther south. She had already left before I arrived at home. I went to bed with my tummy full of her delicious 'chocolate cluster' cookies and my mind full of the beautiful faces of the Kasongos.