Life for the Congolese

We have two main means of communicating with the world at large, this blog and through our prayer letters, which we email to those who have asked for them. Naturally enough there is an overlap between the two and we end up apologising to those who get the prayer letter as they may have read much of the material on the blog. This time the apology is if they have already read what is below in the prayer letter!

In the last blog we said we’d try to describe something of the realities of life for the people who live in the DRC. We are here for just six months and are well aware that we can leave before then if need be. That is not the case for the people who live here. What we might find interesting, or hard, or different, is what the people in Aru have to live with day by day, they have no choice. We’re not going to attempt to describe a typical day for the people who live here, that would be wrong and naïve of us as we do not know. However, we have seen, and read, something of the context.

For example, if you live in Aru, it is not possible to get to the capital, Kinshasa, by road (or, indeed, to a lot of the country). The route is by air. So, when the bishop here recently travelled to Kinshasa he had to get to Arua in Uganda (about an hour). From there he got the bus to Kampala (eight hours) and then flew to Nairobi (Kenya) from where he flew to Kinshasa. Apparently, it is possible to fly internally but the planes are not scheduled and there are many stopovers of indeterminate length. The journey can take weeks. 

In essence, getting around is a problem. Very few people have cars here and the roads are awful. Fuel is much the same price as in the UK but wages (when they are paid) are significantly lower. A school teacher gets about £45/month, so a full tank of fuel is more than a month’s wages. Those who can afford it travel by ‘moto’, 100cc/125cc motorbikes. If you haven’t got your own moto people will ferry you, for a fee. Alternatively, people have bikes – the design of these bikes does not appear to have changed for many, many, years. They are of Chinese origin and make no effort to be lightweight, have no gears and, we have discovered, are far from robust! Some people also ferry people (or animals) on the back of these bikes (passengers sit on a cushion on the pannier).

Getting help from the police can also be problematic. A few months ago the son of one of the diocesan staff had gone to bed with his family. Someone, or some people, came to the house and, somehow, blocked the door so no-one could get out and then set fire to the house (which had a thatched roof). It amounted to attempted murder - fortunately the family were able to smash their way out and no-one was hurt, but the home was destroyed. No-one has seen anything like this in Aru before and no-one has any idea who did it or why. Consequently, it is not possible to resolve things with whoever carried out the attack. However, the matter has not been reported to the police, “What is the point, the police will always tend to blame the victim (‘What have you done to warrant this attack? You must have done something’ etc.) and, also, would require payment – state officials often don’t get paid their salary….

Gill and I have both involved in translating funding bids from French into English (I know, makes sense for Gill, but Pete??). One related to health education and the other to peace and reconciliation work.

It was clear, from health education bid, bids that many people, particularly in rural areas (where a lot of other organisations do not work) have little concept of good hygiene. The consequence is that all the usual water borne illnesses, and their severe consequences, are prevalent. This lack of hygiene with, often coupled with unclean water supply means that there are many avoidable deaths and serious illnesses. The aim of the project is, therefore, to develop improved water provision and, also, model good hygiene practice in school toilets (which will mean, in many cases, building toilets [long drop, not like western toilets] with somewhere to wash), teaching children how to use these facilities so they pass the message through to their families at home. The project is not imposing any of this but it has been developed by, and has the full support of, local communities.

The bid Pete has been working on relates to the peace and reconciliation work that is being undertaken. As it is part of the Commission for Peace, Justice and Reconciliation (CDJPR) work to report internationally on local rebel activity they have a good picture of what is going on and the bid gives quite a lot of background.

To the north of Aru, where many people have relatives and friends:

• There are increasing numbers of “armed bandits”. So, over the last few weeks a hospital was attacked at night and a motorbike rider robbed.
• There are hunters and poachers who seem to have a ready supply of weapons (sometimes, seemingly, supplied by the army). These include escaped LRA hostages who have managed to flee with their weapons who, instead of returning to their communities, have stayed in the bush and use their weapons for poaching and extortion

The general feel of this northern area “is one of a sort of permanent insecurity in the population that was previously very affected by the LRA”.

In addition to the problems caused by the rebels, poachers and bandits, in the north, there are significant land disputes. These are the result of;

There being many displaced people in areas in the North East

• An increased birth rate
• Trading disputes
• There being little fertile land

As in much of central Africa, land is very important here. Your land is part of who you and your family are. Consequently, ‘land disputes’ are not civil affairs conducted through solicitors and courts but are often violent. These disputes, between local communities, sometimes across the border with South Sudan and Uganda, are reported as leaving three people dead, a further 1,500 refugees living in Uganda, more than 1,000 being internally displaced and extensive material damage. Many of those affected are people who have already been displaced from their homes.

In summary, further north, there is;

Insecurity caused by the presence of the (LRA) rebels, local bandits, the army (FARDC) and poachers

• An increase in cases of sexual violence (including early marriage, marriage between the military and the minors, sexual exploitation of the kidnapped) by the rebels in the bush,
• Cruel and degrading treatment being carried out by rebels in the bush  on local populations and travellers
• An increase in poaching, with the complicity of some enforcement officers, workers within humanitarian organizations, the political authorities and members of the local population. This poaching is resulting in trafficking of resources from Garamba Game park (including ivory tusks, gold, diamonds and meat).
• Widespread crises and poverty in local communities (food crisis, dilapidated roads, fewer children attending school, poor health care, lack of humanitarian aid to the victims of armed conflicts)
• A lack of support to victims of conflicts, the displaced and the survivors in their reintegration into the community.

The above description does not include the actions undertaken by the rebel group around Kumuru, referred to previously. It is also not the only area affected by rebel activity. Just to emphasise, though, that Aru is perfectly safe and we are not in any danger! We found out recently that the Congolese army has been much more active in fighting the rebels around Kumuru and, it would seem, the rebels have given up and fled into the bush – at least for now.

Life for the Congolese is not easy!

However, you would not know that to meet them. We have not heard people complain about their lot, there seems an acceptance of life as it is and, at the same time, a recognition that if changes are needed it is not for other people to find the solution but communities themselves, and a confidence that they can. So, if the government is not doing what it should (and, it would seem it frequently isn't) the church works with communities and does it instead – or alongside what government work there is. Hence the diocesan work with education, leading on peace, justice and reconciliation, working against poverty, etc.

On a different note, as we may have mentioned, when it rains here it rains! Often the storm is accompanied by strong winds, which always seems to come from the same direction. We have discovered that the door and windows on that side of the house (where our living room is), are not exactly water-tight and we have a significant mopping up job to do afterwards!