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