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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 1, 1981)
Page 6 Portland Observer, October 1, 1981 OBSERVATIONS FROM THE SIDELINES By Kathryn Hall Bogle The equator cuts a blazing knife across its central core and the fear some Congo river loops its water ways through the heart of it. That’s Zaire. The country of Africa south of Nigeria, south of the Sudan and south of Ethiopia, too. It used to be called the Belgian Congo— now it’s called the Repub lic of Zaire. The river that was the Congo now is called the Zaire. The river is not any tamer than when it was known as the Congo, but its great power is being harnessed here and there by modern man for his own uses. There are vast mines for Cobalt, diamonds and copper in the Shaba province of Zaire in its far southeast corner. For hundreds o f years copper has been worked and used for currency in this country. Con servative estimates, according to Lars Engstrom, a project engineer, set the known reserve of Zaire cop per at “ about 20 million tons.” With all that wealth in mineral re sources, what does Zaire need—or want? Power. Power—electric power. Power to refine all that copper domestically. Up to the present time Shaba pro vince, according to Engstrom, has obtained its electricity from local hydro generations whose capacity is now 500 megawatts, and a much larger block of base generation is essential. Zaire turned to the West, (France. Belgium, Sweden, the U .S .A ), in a search for guidance and leadership in electric technology. The West heard and responded to the African overture. The Bonneville Power Ad ministration was selected by the U.S. government to be one o f the federal agencies to assist in planning and advising on construction of a suitable hydro-electric complex to serve Zaire’s industrial needs. That was about 15 years ago. Now the transmission of electric power can travel across a major part of the country to Shaba by the con struction of the Inga hydro-electric complex, “ strategically planned to utilize the maximum runoff of the Zaire River system.” in February 1973, the Zaire gov ernment agency. Society Nationale d'Electricite (S N E L ) awarded the contract for the Inga-Shaba project to the consortium formed by Mor rison-Knudsen International Co. of Boise, Idaho; International Engin eering Co. of San Francisco; and Fischbach and Moore International Corp, of Dallas, Texas. These firms were responsible for the designing, engineering and construction of the transmission lines and terminals. Among the subcontractors have been ASEA of Sweden and General Electric of the U.S. The construction workforce num bered more than 4,000, a majority o f whom were Zairois. The con struction itself required about 150,000 tons o f material to com plete. Freighters brought the mater ial from the port of Matadi to Kin shasa, the capital. From there the materials were distributed along a tropical route by railroad where possible, by road (some miles of which had to be built for the pas sage, or by river barge if necessary. Other statistic reveal that a fleet of 300 heavy-duty trucks were used, 26 mounted cranes and four aircraft were brought into service. Helicop ters were used often in routine checking at designated points for in- A group of nineteen engineers from the Africen nation Zaire visited Bonneville Power Administra tion during a training mission to the United States. spcction. Nineteen engineers and techni cians from Zaire visited the North west in mid-September. Guests of the United States gov ernment in cooperation with the government of Zaire, the engineers came to the United States to visit federal electric power administrat ing systems in this country and io consult with U.S. engineers involved with power projects similar to their own. Leaving Zaire in January of this year, the 19 engineers, headed by Kalonji-Ngoyi, a senior engineer, were first billeted for seven months at l oretto Height College in Den ver. At this college, the men from Z aire were given further study in I heir profession and intensive ins- ti ik i ion in English. “ English is not emphasized in Zaire's secondary schools,’ ’ M r. Kalonji said, “ and with Zaire's in - creasing use of American tech nology and commerce, the Zaire government recognizes the value and benefit a facility in the use of English language would bring to the country.” Others among the 19 visitors ex pressed their happiness with the chance to learn English. Theirs is a French-speaking country, tney said, and all of them on the study tour arc fluent in this language. However, they also all speak Lingala. the mother tongue of Zaire’s president, Mobutu, in addition to their own district’ s mother tongue, giving them each competence in four lan guages or even five in some cases Side trips to other areas o f the U.S. were incorporated into the study tour. Smaller groupings of the original number spent varying lengths of time in Dallas, Texas, in Bismarck, N. Dakota and in Minne sota visiting federal projects in those areas before leaving Colorado for the Northwest. In the Northwest, Bonneville Power Administration took over di rection o f the touring group. Dr. E.C. Ogboubiri, from the BPA of- Dr. E.C. Ogboubiri of BPA (front row. left) coor dinated the Portland visit. (Photo. Richard J. Brown) fices in Portland, accepted the ap point ment to complete the instructive planning for the travelers while in this area. “ In our o ffic e s ," said Ogourbi- ri. “ we arranged a training and o ri entation program in high voltage electric power system pi act ices with special emphasis on problems they mas encounter their systems, and also how BPA approaches problems in their own systems. “ Although we recognize that Z aire’ s immediate need is the knowledge of the engineering opera tion and maintenance of their two direct current high voilage converter terminals and the direct current transmission link between Inga in the north and Kolwezi in the south, a distance of over 1,056 miles, the training at BPA was broadened icr~ include aspects o f electric power generation and transmission systems with which they may become in volved in the fu tu re .” Ogboubiri pointed out that the country of Zaire will have the longest direct current transmission lines in the world when the link between Inga and Kolwezi is completed. The study tour took the young men (their ages ran from 23 years to 38, to the Dalles Dam and to the Ce- lilo Converter Station where BPA’s Howard Farrington arranged a close-up of these installations. Far rington. who has worked in Zaire as a consultant o n -lh e-tite, also ar ranged that the visitors see the BPA Conservation Pilot Project: Wind Power. Located at Goodnoe Hills near Goldendalc, Washington, three Mod 2 's (wind turbines) cost $13 million to fabricate and install. They are the nation's first “ wind farm .” They, combined, will feed 7.5 megawatts o f power into the transmission network of BPA. From the Dalles Dam site, the 19 engineers were escorted by Ogbou biri to the Grand Coulee dam in Washington Stale where they spent a full day with engineers operating the (irand Coulee. Ogboubiri also arranged “ in- Local group offers repertoire hy Nathaniel Scott The Sojourner Truth Readers Theater and Dance Troupe forunder and director, Nyewusi Askari, said, “ The purpose of the theater is the elevation, preservation and presen tation o f the Black performing arts.” S TR TD T began in Apri' of 1981 and currenlty has seven adult per forming members: Nyewusi Askari,, founder/director; Ruby Burns, choreographer and dance director; and Ayanna Maisha, Evelyn Crews, Pam Smith, Vernon Ambers and Ajani Taylor. The theater also has a youth read ers/ dance troupe that consists of ten nine- and ten-year-olds whose first presentation, “ The Rhythm O f The Children,” written by Askari, will h- " - ’ formed in the near future for parents and select members of the community. Time, date and place will be announced in advance. The folding of the Black Reper tory Theater in Portland left the Black community with a gap. A gap that vastly curtailed the Black per forming arts. Askari, while reflect ing upon that, said, “ We are not a non-profit business. We operate as a business and have applied for a business license.” The theater will present the works of local artists, including actors and directors, but, “ Most of the things we will be dealing with are local things that the people of Oregon can identify with.” Askari said. “ If you have a situation and are going to support us on this, we will write, produce and perform the skit.” He said the skits w ill be per formed in 30- and 60-miriute seg ments at a cost of $250 and $400 re spectively, and can be utilized by schools, businesses, churches and social groups as educational enter tainment attractions for whatever event they may be holding. Askari has written six plays over the past eight years, including “ Blues in Z Sharp,” and “ Tomor row Where You Be?” , numerous poems, and has been a featured wri ter in the Black Collegiate Magazine and a staff writer for the Portland Observer. He said, “ The theater’s youth will develop leading skills, character and self-confidence. We stress that they are role models for the youths and we will also train other youths in the community that don’t have anything constructive to do to be technical people.” For additional inform ation and/or the theater troupe's presen tations, STRTDT can be reached at 286-2799 L et’ s hear it for the Sojourner Truth Readers Theater and Dance Troupe. house" workshops having to do with special communications and control systems as well as field maintenance, precedures and prac tices. In free time, the visitors took short sight seeing trips around Port land. They found shopping for ster eo equipment and other electronics an exciting part o f their visit and thought that prices were generalis lower than they had anticipated. Preparing to lly directly home to Zairc. many ol the study lour group expressed a wish to return someday to America X 0 D U S 4 d itc u /lu n a / a r u / 1639 N.E. Alberta PORTLAND OREGÙN 972 1 1 294 7997 From the Front Door by Tom Hom he From the Front Door, it is very important that American people learn to live with a belter understanding o f relationships, if they are to maintain a true sense o f freedom. I believe that all American citizens can prosper, even in today’ s economy it they would only understand that each body in nature is built to support its own weight We must learn to carry our own weight. In order to prosper, and not be dependent you must have a clear-cut purpose; you must be prepared to work, you must know your direction, and not be deterred; and you must be con sisient in your drive toward your purpose, and the main objective ot your purpose must be to cans your own weight plus a part o f those who are unable such as small children and senior citizens. Your spirit should radiate a positive altitude; your mind should think only ol good and lair treatment toward your neighbor; you should work toward an understanding ol your pre vein situation and live within your means. You should work from a base ol I ruth. Honesty and Wisdom projected through the Power o f l ailh lor the good o f others beyond voursell On Tuesday and Wednesday evenings at 7:00 PM at Exodus located at 17th and Alberta streets in Portland, Oregon, I will be speaking on “ The use of Truth and W isdom ” the main power source to self sustainment and life control. YOU ARE WELCOME. . BRING A FRIEND. A pubbt tarvica brouflht to you by H o u m ot Eoodui
