There is no need for alarm clocks in Bunia with the roosters ordering you awake at 5:30. We need to allow the Woods first dibs on the bathroom, but breakfast is at 6:30. It is a nutritional start to the day with a large slice of papaya and a lemon slice, followed by a soy porridge. Add a banana plus sugar and milk. Soy is the highest source of available protein here.

The Woods asked the landlord to not repaint the house so it will look less attractive for thieves

The Woods asked the landlord to not repaint the house so it will look less attractive for thieves

Inside the home of Drs. Philip and Nancy Wood

Inside the home of Drs. Philip and Nancy Wood

The Woods arranged for the Finance Director, Joseph Rona Katawanga, to come to Bunia so we can work at their rented home, which is extremely convenient for us.

Working with Joseph Rona Katawanga

Working with Joseph Rona Katawanga

Joseph speaks five languages and does quite well with English. We take the morning to review the operational and financial reporting structures. It’s actually fairly complicated. Originally, there was one location at Nyankunde which made for simple accounting and governance. After the massacre in 2002, the operation was transferred to Beni. With an expansion to Bunia and then the return and rebuilding at Nyankunde, now you have a multi location organization with multiple operating units at each location (eg nurses training, pharmacy, laboratory plus hospitals). With seven supporting churches and multiple supporting charities (including Samaritan’s Purse and WEC among others, although we were surprised at the low percentage of revenue received from donors), governance issues become interesting. We will be making recommendations on their organizational structures.

We’ll spend tomorrow at the Bunia offices with Joseph to review various documents but we are really looking forward to our visit to Nyankunde on Wednesday to meet the Executive staff.