Chapter 20: As The Lights Grow Dim

Day 20 of the Rebel Advance

John stood on the clinic's stoop as he surveyed his surroundings. Last night's rain storm had left the area soaked and muddy. Although that would make it easier to sink tent poles, it also meant that the camp's evacuees would have to walk and sleep on mud-covered ground during the first night of their journey. Yet another sign of an inauspicious start to our plans, he thought bitterly to himself.

He closed his eyes and rolled his shoulders back and forward in an effort to release the tension that had been building ever since yesterday's almost disastrous outcome. As he relaxed his body, he forced his mind to focus on more positive thoughts.

It was around 8:30am, and the day had not yet become hot. In fact, it seemed as if day was promising to remain quite comfortable. Not only was the sun not as hot as it had been yesterday, but there was a refreshingly cool breeze was blowing in from the East at a pleasant speed.

Kem and the others were still in back finalizing their plans for the camp's move, and as he thought about her he remarked that she seemed quite recovered from yesterday's ordeal. She hadn't even reiterated her desire for him to return to Chicago without her.

Yesterday evening, after she had went to sleep, he had risen and written a lengthy document with explicit directions. Then he had sought out Charles and Abe for their signatures. He knew that the document, his final Will and Testament, would have to be witnessed in order for it to be considered legally binding. If something were to go wrong over the next few days, he didn't want his father to suffer or be inconvenienced by having his family's vast fortune enter the Illinois state court system in probate.

John had called the FedEx office around 8:00am this morning to confirm that they were still picking up packages, and they had replied that a driver would stop by the clinic sometime before Noon to collect the envelope.

Beep...Beep...Beep.

John was brought out of his thoughts by the sound of three succinct honks. As he looked up he saw an amazing sight consisting of what appeared to be no less than fifteen small pickup trucks of various colors, models, years, and conditions. In the lead, was a white beat-up Datsun driven by James Obono who was smiling widely from behind its wheel.

With a wide smile of his own stretched across his face, John abandoned melancholy thoughts about his Will, and he jumped off the stoop to welcome his friend with a firm handshake and a warm hug.

The commotion caused by the appearance of this mini convoy brought people from inside the clinic running out to see the spectacle, and among them were Kem, Charles, Uwe, Abe, and Angelique.

Abe saw them and called out proudly, "There are twenty trucks here including my own! People from my Church…some are from a Mosque," he explained. "Then there are friends of theirs from other Churches and even some of their family members. They all wanted to help as best they could. We figured that we could put two maybe even three people in the flat beds of these trucks. That means that we should be able to complete moving your triage group by late afternoon," he stated happily. And it was easy to see that he was elated by the fact that so many locals had answered his call for generosity.

Angelique and the others finally made it over to where John and James were standing. She was so happy and astonished by James's accomplishment that she hugged him tightly and gifted him with one of her rare beaming smiles. He blushed shyly before gently pulling away from her.

"Oh," he said suddenly as he remembered something, and he walked over to the second and third trucks in the convoy. "In the back of these trucks are extra tents. Unfortunately, we could only find eleven. However, we found five very wide and very long couverture," and he used his hands to try to describe the word's meaning.

"Tarps?" John offered.

"Yes, yes tarps," Abe answered enthusiastically. "Five tarps and several poles." He shrugged his shoulders and said, "Hopefully, this will be enough."

"It's amazing," Angelique gushed, but then her face resumed its typical serious expression. "Unfortunately, we have one more issue. Part of the plan devised yesterday calls for orphaned children five and under to remain here at the clinic. I can understand that it would be difficult and extremely slow for you to take these children sixty miles on foot," she said sympathetically. "However, there are apparently fifty-nine such children, and I simply don't have the resources to care for so many children who are that young," and even though her statement sounded harsh, everyone could see that she was clearly anguished by her predicament.

"Can't we use some of the other patients' relatives to look after the children?" John proposed.

"And who will supervise them to make sure that they are doing a good job?" she countered. "Who will be around to supervise the supervisors at all hours of the day to make sure that they are not taking advantage of their charges?"

James scratched his bare chin thoughtfully for a second, then an idea appeared to come to him. "If you can spare a driver and a truck," he began, "then I think that I might be able to find a solution."

John arched an eyebrow as he wondered what miracle James thought that he could pull off this time. "Yeah that should be fine. Do you think that you will need any help?"

"No, no, no" Abe answered heartily. "Just keep the children at the camp. I think they'll be easier to find that way, and it will keep from adding to the chaos that is about to erupt here," he stated with a wide grin and Angelique smiled at his small joke.

"So what do we do now?" Charles asked.

"Well, we told the camp's leaders that we would be there around 9:00am," Kem said energetically. James's accomplishment was also more than she had expected, and she felt invigorated by his success. "We just finished finalizing our plans," she said. "Abe is going to stay here at the clinic with Angelique so that she will still have at least one experienced person around. In the meantime, Charles, Uwe, John, and I will go to the camp to help oversee the evacuation. Any questions?" and she looked at James and John to see if they agreed. When they nodded their heads, she said enthusiastically, "Then let's get started."

Charles and John removed the tents, tarps, and poles from the lead trucks and placed them beside the clinic so that Abe and some volunteers could begin setting them up. Then Charles called out directions to the drivers in French, after which he and Uwe hopped into the back of the James's truck, while Kem and John jumped into the back of the second one.

Normally, the refugee camp would have been able to see the dust trail caused by so many vehicles from over a mile away. However, since last night's rain had made the road muddy, the camp actually heard the vehicles approach before they saw them.

Children waved excitedly at them, and a group of five adults started walking in the direction of the convoy. When the trucks stopped and parked, John jumped out of the back of the truck he had been riding in and helped Kem down.

"Bon jour," she said over his shoulder. She apparently recognized the group of adults that had come out to greet them. When she saw the curiosity on John's face she explained, "These are the camp's leaders."

John smiled, introduced himself, and shook hands with each man. Charles and Uwe soon made their way over to them, and as they conversed with the leaders in French, John walked off to take a closer look at the camp.

The camp was much more organized for the evacuation than he would have thought possible. The numerous tents that had defined the camp's existence had been taken down and the families appeared to have been organized into small groups that were laid out in five long rows that extended back beyond what his eyes could comfortable count. Each group sat around a collection of belongings; pots, tents, blankets, and other items that were stacked in tidy piles.

It turned out that the five leaders were actually representative of villages from five different cultural areas of the Kivu region. Each leader had skillfully used their influence and respect to organize the large camp, including the new arrivals, into a manageable, movable entity.

John smiled in admiration at their unexpected efficiency, then walked back over to where Charles, Kem and Uwe were still conversing with the leaders. He found that the conversation was proceeding in rapid French sentences. Even though he could only understand a few words of what was being said, he had no difficulty comprehending the consternation and deepening frowns on the faces of the leaders. At first they shook their heads in what appeared to be doubt and concern, however by the end of the conversation they nodded in resigned agreement and walked away.

"What did they say?" John asked.

"Well," Charles said tiredly, "they're troubled by the loss of the big transport trucks and the change of plans. The new plans will mean that families are going to be split up and separated by sixty miles." He glanced down at his feet before continuing. "However, they're extremely grateful for our persistence, and they've agreed to the changes. In fact, they're going to announce the news soon."

A few minutes later, it appeared that the leaders were ready to address the camp's citizens. John watched mesmerized as each leader surrounded themselves by a group of six teenage-looking children. After listening to instructions given by the leaders, the children separated and stood at specific points in each of the five rows.

One leader stood up, presumably the one with the loudest voice John thought, and he began to address the camp in short statements in French. After each statement, he paused. This was apparently a cue for the first child in the row to begin speaking. Once that child had finished, the next child would speak and so on, in what appeared to be some type of relay.

"What are they doing?" John asked.

"It's impossible for the people in the back to hear what is being said in the front," Kem explained. "So the children are acting as runners. It's their job to convey the message all the way to the back of the camp."

John nodded appreciatively; once again, he was impressed by the camp's organization. He was also impressed by the attentiveness of its more than seven thousand citizens. During the entire announcement, there were only two outbursts. One occurred when the situation with the convoy trucks was explained. A woman in the front had called out loudly that she didn't understand why the government was not doing more to help them, but the leader who was speaking had responded by stating that such concerns were of no real help now. There was a low murmur as the people discussed what had been said, but in the end the camp's residents seemed to resign themselves to that explanation.

The second outburst occurred when it was announced that women with three months or less to go in their pregnancy would be separated from their husbands and other children, and that ill, bed-ridden people would be separated from their relatives as well and taken to the clinic. On hearing this, a louder murmur swept through the camp. There were tears and cries of anguish however, in the end, the camp's citizens soon accepted that the decision was probably for the best. Thirty minutes after the leader had started speaking, he concluded his speech and the camp readied itself for the move.

The leaders walked back over to where John, Kem, Charles, Uwe and James' volunteers had been patiently waiting.

"Are you ready my friend?" one of them asked Uwe in French.

Uwe nodded because he knew that it was time to leave. He and Charles had driven the leaders to the new campsite a few days ago so that they could inspect it personally and give it their approval. Now that Uwe was familiar with its location, it had been decided that he would accompany the main group of evacuees. Since the group contained over seven thousand people, everyone thought that at least one doctor should be available in case anything went wrong on the sixty mile journey. In addition, all of the leaders would accompany him in order to help oversee such substantial numbers of people. In the meantime, Kem, Charles and John would take charge of the more than seventy orphans and escort them to the camp at a slower pace.

Uwe looked at Kem and gave her a quick hug. Then he turned from her so that he could shake hands with Charles and John. Since Uwe's group would be moving much faster than they would, he knew that it would be days before he would see any of them again. As he walked away with four of the leaders, Uwe turned back towards Charles, John, and Kem, and he gave them one last smile.

The leader who had addressed the camp remained behind for now. He introduced himself in French as Penda. He said something else in French that John couldn't quite make out, and then he proceeded to lead them and the convoy of trucks towards the middle of the right outer line. As Penda pointed with his hands, John finally understood what the man had been saying. This was the location where the triaged group that would go to the clinic had been organized.

John knew what had to happen next. He sprung into action and started directing people in broken, but comprehensible, French to help load the trucks with the bed-ridden evacuees. While he did that, Kem organized the pregnant women into a group and told them that she would help them walk to the clinic.

It was a ten mile journey, and that was a lot of walking for any pregnant woman, and she knew from personal experience that it would be especially difficult on those who only had a few weeks left in their term. However, Kem hoped that all of the women would be able to accomplish it successfully; especially if they took the journey very slowly and rested ever half mile or so.

Even though her group started out before the trucks did, it didn't take long before the trucks were passing them over and over again as they traveled between the camp and the clinic and then back again.

The truck that John was traveling in passed Kem and her group of mothers all day. Each time his truck went by, he blew her a kiss and waved wildly out the window at her causing her to shake her head and laugh. The third time he did it, the driver spoke up and said in French, "A beautiful woman."

John smiled. He was happy with himself because he could understand the phrase in French, and because of the man's observation. "Merci," he said as a charming, boyish grin appeared on his face. John had thought that would be the end of driver's comments, but the man didn't stop there.

He said something else in French and, this time, John only understood a portion of it. He looked confusedly at the man. The driver smiled, laughed, and then he said in heavily accented English, "A beautiful woman can make a man do many foolish things."

John laughed deeply and shook his head. He was certain that his father would agree.

Dusk was starting to fall as Kem finally approached the clinic with her group, and she was very thankful that the weather had remained extremely pleasant. If it had been hotter they might not have all made it. Even with the pleasant weather, it had taken them nine hours to travel the distance.

Along the way, she had understood the sacrifice that many of James's friends were making. Although there were only ten miles between the clinic and the camp, the constant travel and the loads that they were carrying, had taken its toll on several of the vehicles' engines. Some of the trucks had broken down completely, leaving the drivers to push them off to the side of the road and to hitch a ride with one of the other trucks. Kem shook her head and she prayed that the drivers' families would not be adversely affected by the loss of their transportation.

Still, even with the breakdowns and unanticipated loss of vehicles, the trucks had stopped passing them by late afternoon; and Kem knew that that phase of the evacuation was complete.

Now that she had reached the clinic, she looked around at its changed surroundings. It was starting to resemble a mini-camp itself with its collection of tents and tarps and evacuees. Kem asked a few questions, led the women to a spot that had been reserved for her group, and then set out to find John. She wasn't certain if he was at the clinic or back at the camp, but she hoped that the former was true because she could really use seeing his smile just about now.

As she climbed the stairs of the clinic's stoop to check for him inside, John suddenly emerged with a wet cloth in his hand and he immediately placed it on her forehead.

"Oh," she sighed tiredly, but gratefully. "That feels good." After a long moment, she asked, "How did it go with you?"

"Well, I was done by 4:30, and I almost went back to be with you," he said as he kissed the top of her nose, "but I decided to stick around here and help Angelique get organized."

She smiled and squeezed his arm lovingly. "Good," she said, "I'm sure she needed the help." Kem started to permit herself to relax under the cool cloth, however an uninvited thought entered her weary mind. "We have one more thing to do tonight, don't we?

"Sorry, but yeah," he said empathetically because he knew that she was exhausted. "We have to find out what we're going to do with the youngest orphans," and as he said this last part he started pushing her tired body towards a truck that was waiting for them. "Charles and James are already at the camp and their waiting on us."

John and Kem reached the camp about ten minutes later. Kem hadn't seen the area since that morning, and she was struck by how empty and desolate it looked. However, now that the wide swath of land was practically barren, it wasn't difficult for them to spot the children, James, Charles, and a few strangers and their vehicles. Once John and Kem joined them, they were given an update on the plan.

"I found the solution," James responded and he seemed tired but happy. "These people," and he pointed to the strangers around him, "are going to take the children into their homes. They'll feed them and try to keep them safe until other arrangements can be made."

John shook his head in disbelief and then smiled. James was nothing short of a miracle worker. However, as John considered the commitment that these people were about to make, he began to wonder about something and he pulled James off to the side and closer to him.

"Can you ask them something for me in French?" he asked in a low tone.

"Sure," James answered even though he was a bit puzzled by John's actions.

"Ask them if food and supplies will be tight?"

James looked down at his feet briefly because he already knew the answer to that question, but he asked it anyway so that he could appease his friend's worry. The group laughed lightly in response to the question.

However, after the laughter died down, one man came forward and James translated his reply. "He said that it will be very tight, of course, and they already have families. However, these are children in great need and they feel that they should help."

"So," James continued, "they have recalled a local proverb. 'A small bird may fend for food in the husks whilst its heart is in the grain.' They have decided that they will make the necessary sacrifices so that they can be that grain."

John looked at group of strangers again, and he saw that even though they were afraid of the hardship that this decision might mean in the days to come, they were still smiling and they were still willing to do what they could for these young children.

John turned to James and said, "The bag is in Angelique's safe keeping." At first the statement caught James off guard, but a second later he understood exactly to what John was referring.

James began to object, but John cut off his protests and said, "Use what's in it to help these people."

James contemplated him carefully for a moment before giving him a heartfelt brotherly hug. "I'll only use a small amount of the money," James promised, "and I'll bring the rest with me when I see you at the new camp in six days."

"Don't worry about…"

"I'll bring the rest," James insisted firmly in his deep voice.

John smiled. In six days, James would meet Uwe, Charles, Kem and him at the new campsite, so that he could collect them and drive them back to Kisangani.

John and James walked over to the youngest of the orphans so that they could start getting them situated with their new guardians. While they worked on that task, Charles and Kem went about the process of preparing a camp fire, and cooking so that the remaining seventy-three children could be fed and then put to bed.

Since it was already dark, it made sense for Charles, Kem, and John to spend the night with the children at the old campsite, instead of returning to the clinic. The next day, they would start out at first light.

Forty minutes later, James and his friends were ready to leave. Farewells and best wishes were exchanged, then Kem watched as the tail lights of the last truck dimmed until they were no longer visible in the thick, heavy darkness of the Kisanganian night.

This was it, she thought and she resigned herself to two sobering facts that would be true for the next few days. From that moment on, she, John, and Charles would be on their own. And from that moment on, they would be able to rely only on each other in order to get these children and themselves to safety.