There's rarely a week goes by without there being a wedding in town. Bunia weddings are a riot of colour, noise and activity.

The bride wears white, of course. White dress, white shoes, white handbag, a bouquet of white silk flowers, tiara, headdress and veil.

No doubt the generous helping of sugar in the tea added to the animation, along with a lunch break where lunch was served, but the ISP students were genuinely excited about a two-day spiritual retreat. The singing was loud and fervent, the participation hearty, and the rapport with the speaker warm.

From my desk at the window of the library I could hear someone singing "She's a young thing and cannot leave her mother". How gratifying. The lyrics and melody had been absorbed and reproduced. Success. It was the latest song in the Tuesday morning folk singing repertoire.

What is teaching?

The students seem to think it's a stage play and they are the actors. They come to the classroom stage with their carefully prepared script of a lesson plan: 'Teacher asks pupil such and such...'  'Pupil answers such and such...'

In their OshKosh B'Gosh denim dungarees, little girls look so cute. But it's Osh Kosh My Gosh on seeing bigger girls in tight-fitting denim jeans. The times and fashions they are a-changing here in Congo. President Mobutu's democratisation decree in the early 1990s permitted women to wear trousers.

"Hey, Jesus, come and look at this!" said the angles as they peered over the edge of heaven to see what was happening below. "Isn't that just great? Those young people are having a ball." Jesus leaned over to get a good look at the group of young teens singing their number at the Easter service at Yambi-Yaya Church.