Next week, Dean Lindstrom anticipates he’ll feel like he’s stepping back in time.
He’ll be surrounded by open-air markets, people cooking outside on open fires and interacting with the millions who use walking as their primary mode of transportation.
Lindstrom, who grew up a few miles east of Ranier, is returning to the Democratic Republic of Congo in central Africa on Wednesday to teach math and science at The American School of Kinshasa. It’s his second year in Kinshasa, the country’s capital, and although he is not actually time traveling, he enjoys the feeling of stepping into a world where the simple things are exciting.
“I’ve always liked to have a slower pace of life,” he said, noting that the slow pace of rural Minnesota is far from it.
The slow pace remains despite the large population — the city of Kinshasa is home to more than 10 million people.
Lindstrom’s interest in teaching in Africa for the last couple years began when he was in the Peace Corps teaching in Cameroon in the 1990s.
“I liked Africa and wanted to go back,” Lindstrom said.
He lucked out, he said. Most teachers who want international jobs prefer a country in Europe. Lindstrom attended a job fair in Iowa in which he had the opportunity to apply for a job at hundreds of schools across the world.
Since the Kinshasa school is certified as an American school, Lindstrom is able to teach in English. He didn’t have to take the time to become fluent in the native languages of French or Lingala. Still, many Americans are not interested in teaching there, he said.
“It’s much easier to get a job where most people don’t want to go,” he said. “It makes me sad a little bit that no one else wanted (to go to Africa.)”
Lindstrom finds it fulfilling in the fact that he is involved in other activities when he’s not teaching. He volunteers at the Kimbondo Orphanage in Kinshasa and plays the cello in the Kinshasa Symphony — the only symphony orchestra in Central Africa, and the largest one in the continent. The orchestra was recently featured on 60 Minutes, titled “Joy in the Congo.” The piece detailed the forming of the orchestra in which members salvaged old instruments and self-taught themselves the music. The music is a bigger joy to those who play, more than the joy that’s seen in the United States, Lindstrom said.
Before his work in Kinshasa, Lindstrom taught at Littlefork-Big Falls School for three years, and in Stillwater for seven years. His job in Kinshasa began last year.
What people in the Falls and surrounding area don’t realize, he said, is that it’s “a beautiful place” to visit.
“I think there’s a little bit of fear of Africa that a lot of people here have,” he said. “A lot of people who have traveled to Africa say it’s the most beautiful continent they’ve been on.”
The little things
Lindstrom not only enjoys the green, natural scenery, but the lessons he learns from the people who are native to the region. In the region, access to many things are limited. At his job, ordering teaching materials is a lengthy process — sometimes it takes months to receive basic things.
Lindstrom is humbled in helping at the orphanage — seeing the things that make the children happy teach him a different appreciation for life.
“People appreciate things when it’s not as easy to obtain, “Lindstrom said. “There are things we take for granted — people get excited about things we (Americans) would throw away.”
The children mostly accept the situation that they’re in, he said.
“They’re happy about a lot of the things we don’t get excited about,” he said. “The kids seem to love to be around adults because they don’t have the attention a child gets from a parent.”
One of his most memorable days at his job is a once-a-year trip that the children from the orphanage take to the American school he teaches at. The school is expensive to attend — it costs $18,000 a year in tuition, and most of the students are children of government employees or wealthy families. The orphans are excited to use the amenities — to play on the school’s soccer field and the opportunity to enjoy the food they eat that day.
“They get to take a hot shower — that’s really neat for them,” Lindstrom said. “It’s almost a highlight of the year for them.”
The children take bucket showers at the orphanage, he explained. He noted that the orphans do have a school to go to, but it’s not nearly as nice. “They get excited about the things kids here don’t appreciate,” Lindstrom said. “Here, when there’s a day at school set for fun activities, most kids won’t even bother to come.”
The country’s income gap is significant — most people are in poverty. Those who are poor are “very, very poor,” and those who are wealthy are “very, very wealthy,” Lindstrom explained. Those who are wealthy typically own diamond and mineral mines.
The 450 children at the Kimbondo Orphanage have lost their parents to war and disease. The orphanage is operated by a priest from South Africa.
“The whole country (Congo) has suffered through a lot of wars and rebel battles — it’s just started to recover from that,” Lindstrom said.
He added that the country was originally headed by King Leopold II — it was his “personal colony.” He came from Belgium and was “one of the most ruthless rulers,” Lindstrom said.
“It started out on a bad foot and the country has never really recovered from that,” he said. “It’s had a long history of suffering.”
Teaching a teacher
The life of the children at the orphanage is very different from that of his students, and it’s a learning experience for Lindstrom to be exposed to such a gap, he said. Children of missionary families or parents who work for the U.S. Embassy attend the school, and one-third of his students are native to the Congo.
“They’re very nice kids,” he said, adding that the school is diverse. “Altogether, we have kids from 21 different nations that attend the school.”
Lindstrom keeps a positive attitude about his experience there — the challenges are opportunities to him.
“When things aren’t quite as easy to get — when you can’t jump in your car and go to the store, or get from here to there, there’s a lot more interaction with people,” he said. “So when you’re walking, you bond with the people you see on the whole way to get there.”
Traffic is a hurdle in Kinshasa, and many roads are inaccessible, he said. While most people are stuck in the city, Lindstrom appreciates his access to a rental car from the school to drive about 15 miles for orchestra practice. He also appreciates the way he is treated in the orchestra.
“I was treated just like anybody else,” Lindstrom said. “I like that you come and you’re not sticking out. It’s great.”
Lindstrom’s experience in Africa is not one he planned on when he was in school. He attended the University of Chicago for his graduate studies in science, and thought he’d be working in a science lab, he said.
Growing up in the country in rural Minnesota has “been really nice,” he said. In comparison to an American city though, it’s relaxing being in Africa where there’s not much noise or air pollution.
“In the city there (Kinshasa) there’s not so many lights at night — even in the city you can still see the stars,” Lindstrom said. “The air smells really fresh.”
His roots in northern Minnesota are always carried with him, he added.
“Everything you learn from school and from your parents — including how you treat other people — you just apply it to everything else,” he said. “My dad taught me to always help out the underdog, and that’s what I do when I’m there.”
To Lindstrom, the school year goes by fast, and keeping busy doesn’t allow him to miss home much. Knowing he comes home for the summer takes away the thought of what he misses.
But he often thinks of the reverse situation — what people at home are missing.
“They’re missing out on an experience that I think is pretty fascinating,” he said.
