Rumble: Congo - putting a face on the misery

You have met Cyprien, one of my dearest colleagues, before on The Road. "Citoyen Cyprien", as I jokingly call him, currently works with us in South Sudan.
You might remember his from this heart warming story from Aweill. What you might not have realized is that Cyprien was born and raised in East Kivu (DRC), which now is engulfed in violence once again.
I wrote to him today. I wanted to know how his extended family and friends in East Kivu, in the midst of the violence, were holding up.
I want to share his answer with you. It puts a face on the misery people in Congo endure. It puts a face on the avalanche of numbers poured over us.
When we speak of 2,000,000 people affected by the recent violence in Congo, we have to remember each of these 2 million people is an individual, with a life. With children, parents, friends, all affected by what we read about. We have to see the face of the violence to understand its impact.
Here is what Cyprien wrote:
I am sad. I have worked in Goma, Bukavu, Kisangani and Uvira. I know the places they are talking about on the radio, I personally know some of the people shown on the TV carrying whatever they could pick-up from their belongings. Fleeing for their lives.
I feel devastated. I am appalled and i am thinking of maybe taking some leave without pay and go back to Congo and see if I can be of help somehow, somewhere. I do not have yet a proper plan nor the channel or institution through which i would offer my voluntary services. But the shock-waves sent by news and images are too strong for me to resist.
If you are disturbed with the situation, you can imagine how much I am. Since 1993, I have shared almost half or my salary with my people in paying school fees for some Congolese kids whose families could not afford school fees.
Every month, I contributed to maternity fees for ladies who give birth to babies that are sometimes kept captive until mothers can afford the hospital bills. I paid dowries for young people who were willing to build families through marriage and who could not afford the dowry, or their clothing for the marriage ceremony. I have shared food and shelter with some of them during the previous conflicts.
Many of these people were strangers to me, but have become close friends because we have shared those tough times. I did do all of this because I love my country, and that gives me so much hope. Seeing it all collapse simply kills me.
I know how far what is happening can go. I have experienced it first hand. I understand how acute is the suffering of our people.
I know that the soldiers on the front lines are not paid their salaries. I know schools are closed and that kids, the future of Congo, are not attending classes. I know how many women, the biggest Congolese workforce, are being raped by the belligerent. I know our minerals are being looted and used to buy guns.
I know that DRC is under an arms embargo and that our government can not buy army equipment while the rebels are equipped with the latest military hardware. I also hear that some peace keepers are in many cases the trouble makers. I can not explain to myself why out of 17.000 peacekeepers available in Congo, only 800 are deployed in Goma.
I can go on and on. I am sad. I feel helpless.
Bottom picture courtesy Walter Astrada (AFP/Getty Images)Post a Comment
To avoid spamming and profanity, comments will only show up after I (manually) clear them.
Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)All Time Popular Posts
Becoming an Aid Worker
Close to my heart
Previous Posts
- ▼ 2008 (572)
- ▼ November (73)
- News: On World AIDS Day, 8,000 will die.
- Rumble: Our social project takes a flight....
- News: UN compound attacked in Baghdad
- News: Few guests show up at UN poverty jamboree
- Rumble: A twisted mind
- Picks of the week: Photoshop and Google Maps Outdone
- Rumble: Hero rats detect landmines, tuberculosis
- News: OneWorld votes for "People of 2008"
- Rumble: Flying remains an adventure
- News: Renewed fighting in Congo
- Rumble: The Road's Kiva project 8: Khursheed Anwar
- Picture of the day: Chaos at Bangkok airport
- Rumble: Design specification
- Rumble: Dilbert of the day.
- Rumble: The Wall Against Hunger
- News: Nov 25 - International Day for the Eliminati...
- Rumble: The Road's Kiva project 7: Kim Houy Lach
- News: The State Of the World Today...
- Rumble: Information Technology in Evolution...
- Rumble: It is cold here...
- News: Bill Clinton - Charity only goes this far.
- News: Ecuador commercializes the rain forest. By n...
- Rumble: Art from the girls
- Rumble: Knowing when to duck
- Rumble: The Road's Kiva project 6: Ganna Shkirta
- News: US foreign aid and impartiality. A bad score.
- Rumble: One of the reasons I like the job I do
- Rumble: Web 2.0 and African farmers
- Rumble: The Road's Kiva project 5: Sopheap Chun
- Picture of the day: Soldier of the Congo
- News: Global recession and aid: Bad outlook for th...
- Rumble: Living in Italy - Part 5: Itanglish
- Picture of the day: A busy day
- News: November 19 - World Toilet Day
- Rumble: The Road's Kiva project 4: Teresa Mamani
- Picks of the week: Firewood, humane investment and...
- News: NATO escorts food aid shipments to Somalia
- News: Congo - a picture that changed a life
- Rumble: I love flying
- Rumble: Sunset this evening
- Rumble: The Road's Kiva project 3: Fatuma Jumbe
- Rumble: Living in Italy - Part 4: Customer Service
- News: Bush goes, Oil Drops
- Rumble: Meet Becks. Development worker in Madagascar
- News: "Aid hampered in East Congo", but what does ...
- Rumble: There are moments you just have to trust t...
- News: "Art or Aid" might be the question at the UN...
- Rumble: There are moments you just have to trust t...
- Rumble: From Antarctica to Africa's micro financin...
- Rumble: our 200,000th visitor to The Road
- Rumble: Rome after the floods..
- Picture of the day: The Future of America?
- Picture of the day: This is your life.
- Rumble: Change Starts Here - The Score Card
- Rumble: The Indiana Jones of World Hunger
- Picture of the day: UN-protected or Unprotected?
- Song of the day: Miriam Makeba’s last song
- Rumble: Shells, dreams and what got me to travel
- Rumble: Today, Bloggers Unite for Refugees
- News: Situation worsens for Somali children
- News: Congo's rebels open new offensive
- Rumble: Update on The Road's Social Project
- News: Did your laptop cause the war in Congo?
- News: There is hope for the world, after all...
- Rumble: Congo - putting a face on the misery
- Rumble: The Road's Kiva project 2: Essofalafia
- Rumble: Why do I care about Congo?
- Change Starts Here - The Road's Social Project
- Rumble: Hurricanes Ike and Hanna in Haiti
- Rumble: Rome in fall
- Rumble: Hadrian's villa
- Picture of the day: Pakistan earthquake
- Rumble: Relevance or UN-Relevance?
The Road by subject
..9/11 (8)
..accident (4)
..activism (31)
..adventure travel (69)
..advertising (10)
..advocacy (30)
..Afghanistan (54)
..Africa (142)
..agriculture (30)
..aid work (139)
..aid worker (104)
..aids (7)
..aircraft (14)
..airlift (4)
..airports (21)
..Al Qaeda (2)
..Albania (2)
..Algeria (4)
..Angola (2)
..Anguilla (6)
..animals (6)
..Antarctica (11)
..Apple (6)
..ARC (6)
..architecture (4)
..art (3)
..Asia (37)
..astronomy (2)
..Atlantic (6)
..Austria (6)
..Avian bird flu (1)
..Balkans (8)
..Bangladesh (5)
..BBC (2)
..Belgian Coast (3)
..Belgium (37)
..Benin (2)
..Berlusconi (4)
..bhutan (2)
..biofuel (10)
..Blackwater (2)
..blogging (47)
..blogs (7)
..Bolivia (1)
..books (20)
..Bor (13)
..Brazil (1)
..Brindisi (14)
..British Virgin Islands (9)
..Brussels (5)
..Brussels Airlines (7)
..building (4)
..Bujumbura (2)
..burglars (3)
..Burkina Faso (6)
..Burundi (2)
..Bush (24)
..cairo (2)
..Cambodia (4)
..canada (5)
..Canal Hotel (4)
..Canary Islands (1)
..cannabis (1)
..Cape Verdes (1)
..carbon credit (2)
..cargill (3)
..Caribbean (42)
..cars (8)
..cartoon (11)
..CCAFS (16)
..censoring (4)
..censorship (6)
..Central African Republic (4)
..Central America (2)
..CGIAR (7)
..Chad (3)
..charity (6)
..Chechnya (3)
..child soldiers (1)
..children (22)
..China (16)
..cholera (1)
..cigarettes (3)
..climate change (35)
..Clipperton Island (4)
..coca cola (2)
..coffee (3)
..cold war (12)
..Colombia (4)
..colonialism (1)
..computers (5)
..conflict (4)
..Congo (10)
..corruption (6)
..Cuba (1)
..culture (3)
..cyclone (8)
..cyclone Nargis (4)
..Cyclone Sidr (4)
..Czech Republic (2)
..Darfur (28)
..deportation (2)
..desertification (3)
..development (38)
..discrimination (3)
..dogs (6)
..Dolomiti (7)
..Dominican Republic (8)
..DRC (33)
..drought (5)
..drugs (2)
..Dubai (32)
..Earth Hour (4)
..earthquake (15)
..East Africa (2)
..East Timor (2)
..economy (35)
..Ecuador (1)
..education (5)
..Egypt (3)
..El Nino (1)
..elections (18)
..emancipation (9)
..environment (70)
..Eritrea (1)
..ethics (2)
..Ethiopia (8)
..EU (2)
..expeditions (12)
..facebook (2)
..family (9)
..FAO (5)
..fashion (5)
..FITTEST (3)
..Fiumicino (8)
..Flanders (8)
..Flickr (1)
..flooding (26)
..Florence (2)
..flying (55)
..food (31)
..food aid (16)
..food convoy (3)
..food crisis (38)
..France (1)
..fraud (3)
..FreeRice (5)
..Fregene (27)
..fund raising (16)
..G8 (1)
..game (6)
..Gates Foundation (1)
..gay (2)
..Gaza (23)
..gender (4)
..genocide (13)
..Georgia (3)
..Ghana (6)
..GIS (1)
..global warming (21)
..GMO (7)
..Goma (3)
..google (6)
..GPS (9)
..Greece (4)
..Grenadines (3)
..guantanamo bay (1)
..Guatemala (3)
..guest post (1)
..H1N1 (3)
..Haiti (29)
..Halliburton (2)
..ham radio (15)
..Hawaii (1)
..health care (2)
..Heard Island (3)
..helicopters (2)
..heroin (1)
..history (1)
..HIV (2)
..Honduras (2)
..Howland Island (3)
..html (7)
..human rights (37)
..Human Rights Watch (3)
..humanitarian (173)
..humanitarian aid (10)
..humanitarian work (154)
..humour (128)
..hunger (53)
..hurricane (5)
..ICC (4)
..ICRC (2)
..ICT (38)
..IDP (3)
..IFPRI (2)
..IFRC (5)
..IMF (2)
..immigration (13)
..India (24)
..Indonesia (1)
..inflation (7)
..internal (67)
..Internet (22)
..interview (8)
..iphone (4)
..iPod (2)
..Iran (25)
..Iraq (40)
..Islamabad (8)
..Israel (26)
..Italy (192)
..Ivory Coast (1)
..justice (1)
..Kabul (4)
..Kenya (21)
..Kinshasa (2)
..Kiva (34)
..Korea (1)
..Kosovo (15)
..Kuwait (5)
..land mines (1)
..legend (2)
..Lesotho (1)
..Libya (10)
..life (1)
..living in Italy (18)
..lyrics (5)
..machines (2)
..madagascar (4)
..malaria (1)
..Malawi (5)
..Malaysia (1)
..Mali (4)
..malnutrition (2)
..maps (2)
..MDG (6)
..media (17)
..men (2)
..Mexico (1)
..micro-financing (43)
..Microsoft (7)
..Middle East (74)
..military intelligence (2)
..monsanto (6)
..MONUC (2)
..Morocco (1)
..movie (2)
..Mozambique (4)
..MSF (7)
..music (33)
..Mustique (1)
..Myanmar (7)
..NATO (2)
..Nepal (3)
..Nevis (1)
..news item (396)
..Nicaragua (2)
..Niger (2)
..Nigeria (4)
..NOAA (1)
..Northsea (2)
..Nuclear (2)
..Obama (8)
..Ogaden (1)
..oil (12)
..OLPC (2)
..Oostende (5)
..Pacific (8)
..Pakistan (30)
..Palestine (25)
..Palestinians (5)
..Palin (1)
..pandemic (3)
..Paraguay (2)
..Parker Range (1)
..Paulo Coelho (1)
..Paypal (2)
..Peace Corps (1)
..peace keeping (9)
..Peru (1)
..Peter I Island (6)
..Petit St.Vincent (1)
..Philippines (6)
..photography (6)
..picks of the week (17)
..picture of the day (68)
..pictures (233)
..PKK (1)
..plane crash (4)
..planes (12)
..poetry (1)
..politics (31)
..poll (1)
..pollution (32)
..poppy (1)
..poverty (55)
..press freedom (8)
..privacy (2)
..propaganda (2)
..prostitution (1)
..proverb (2)
..publicity (7)
..Puglia (1)
..quotes (10)
..racing (6)
..radio (2)
..rap (1)
..recycling (2)
..Red Cross (5)
..refugees (24)
..reggae (1)
..relief work (106)
..religion (4)
..remote places (73)
..Reporters Without Borders (1)
..RIP (9)
..road safety (2)
..Rome (60)
..RSF (2)
..Rumbek (1)
..rumble (582)
..Run for the Cure (1)
..Russia (4)
..Rwanda (1)
..RyanAir (1)
..sabbatical (7)
..Sabena (2)
..Sahara (1)
..sailing (47)
..Saint Lucia (3)
..sanitation (3)
..Sarkozy (3)
..satire (30)
..Saudi Arabia (3)
..school feeding (1)
..science (1)
..security (28)
..Senegal (1)
..Serbia (2)
..Sergio De Mello (1)
..sexual violence (9)
..Seychelles (6)
..shells (1)
..Sierra Leone (1)
..Singapore (1)
..skiing (15)
..Skype (2)
..slavery (3)
..SN Brussels Airlines (2)
..snapped (37)
..social media (11)
..social project (36)
..software (1)
..Somalia (28)
..song of the day (17)
..South Africa (2)
..South America (1)
..South Sudan (33)
..South Tyrol (13)
..Soylent Green (1)
..space (3)
..Spain (1)
..special forces (1)
..spying (2)
..Sri Lanka (11)
..St.Barts (4)
..St.Eustatius (1)
..St.Kitts (3)
..St.Lucia (6)
..St.Martin (4)
..St.Vincent (2)
..Statia (3)
..STI (1)
..stories (68)
..storm (4)
..Sudan (68)
..Swine Flu (10)
..Syria (1)
..Tajikistan (2)
..Taliban (7)
..Tanzania (4)
..TBC (2)
..technology (53)
..terrorism (29)
..Thailand (2)
..theft (1)
..tips and tricks (19)
..Tobago Cays (2)
..Togo (1)
..torture (2)
..trade liberalization (1)
..training (1)
..transatlantic (7)
..translations (3)
..travel (166)
..travel stories (91)
..trucks (4)
..Turkey (3)
..Tuscany (19)
..TV (12)
..Twitter (10)
..UAE (28)
..Uganda (17)
..UK (5)
..Ukraine (1)
..UN (105)
..UNDP (4)
..UNDPKO (12)
..UNHCR (4)
..UNHRD (5)
..UNICEF (6)
..UNRWA (1)
..UNV (1)
..urbanization (2)
..USA (111)
..USAid (3)
..Vatican (5)
..Venezuela (2)
..Venice (10)
..video (162)
..Vietnam (1)
..volunteering (5)
..walk the world (4)
..war (114)
..war crimes (9)
..war profiteering (4)
..waste management (6)
..water (12)
..weapons (2)
..weather (14)
..Web 2.0 (4)
..West Timor (1)
..Western Sahara (1)
..WFP (48)
..WHO (2)
..women (20)
..World Economic Forum (1)
..World Press Photo (2)
..world water day (2)
..Worldbank (2)
..writing (4)
..WWF (1)
..yachting (28)
..Yemen (2)
..youth (1)
..Zaire (1)
..Zambia (3)
..Zimbabwe (21)
Recent comments
Feeds and Tools
An extensive list of syndication and feed readers for our blog, you find here
What's New?
On Facebook? Follow: The Road, AidNews, AidResources, Humanitarian News, News on Green, AidJobs and NonProfitBlogs.
The Road's Home Delivery
I also published this
My Ebook Short Stories
In the past 15 years, I travelled through, lived or worked in over 100 countries. I met many people, lived through memorable moments which I captured in these stories:
● Reader's Digest of "The Road"
● Introduction to "The Road to the Horizon"
● Nights on Deserted Islands
● The Children of Ambriz
● The Real "Out of Africa"
● Goma, the Scent of Africa
● How Cigarettes Once Saved My Life
● Ambush
● Wapi Yo?
● The Ugly Duckling
● Kadee
● Abby One and Abby Two
● The Man with the Air Conditioner
....On His Head, Shot at us
● Once, I went to Mpulungu
● On Earth As It Is In Heaven
● Once Upon a Fine Antarctic Morning
● Shit No Go, We No Go!
● A World Apart
● Italians, the Art of Flying and
....the Laws of Probability
● Scene of War
● The Pizza Place on the Corner
● The Adventures of Little Herman in Kosovo
● In Pace
● Lost Connection
● TV Censorship - The Pakistani Way
● The US Special Forces Have Arrived!
● Wild Cannabis and "Oh Baby!"
● How We Conquered the Mountain
● Ham Radio, Anyone?
● -"M"- Requiem For Baghdad
● The Day I Got Deported from the US
● The Day the Groom Got Deported
....from the US
● Pero. Tears for My Friend
● One Love!
● Doing Good to Others
● 250 Boats Facing the Same Direction
● We Are All Going No-Where
● "Yo Man!" - The Mother Watch Rap
● Letter to a Mum: Spoiling Innocence
● Have I Lost It Or Just Found It?
● How Bad Can Your Luck Get?
● Home - "Le Plat Pays"
● The Jihadis - A Close Encounter with
....the Terrorists
● From Sand to a City
● What's in a Gesture?
● The Dudettes
● Itanglish: Italian Food in English
● The New Woman in My Life
● My Life in Four Bags
Written by friends:
● This Man...
● Murphy's Law in Sudan
● How Deep Is the Deep Field?
● The Pit Latrine?
● Twenty-Four Hours in Aweil
● The Theory of Relativity
● The Forces of Nature
● The Perfect Balance
● The Driver's LicenseChange Starts Here
$97,700
...is what our blog raised thus far for micro-finance loans via "Change Starts Here". Follow the progress. Make a difference and:
Links
As the years went by, I collected a large amount of blogs and websites I like:
● The largest collection of blogs by fellow aidworkers you'll find anywhere
● Resources for aidworkers
● News sites specialized in aid, humanitarian work and nonprofit causes
● Expats, travellers, adventurers and people with their heart in the right place, you can find here
Other interesting blogs to add? Let me know!My Inspiration
Check out the videos clips that inspired me over the past years: Videos about aid work and advocacy.
Music always was a main source of inspiration for me. This is a list of my all time favourites.
Here is a selection of my favourite books, or browse through my library. I frequently comment on books I read.
Travelling makes me wiser. All the pictures I collect along the Road of Life, I store in my Flickr library.
I collect, scan, read, browse, absorb, digest and discuss news topics to learn, understand and broaden my views.
About Me
The Legal Bla-Bla (Just in Case)
This blog expresses my personal opinions, and not those of my current or past employers.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License: Please re-use any material for non-commercial purposes, but link back to this blog.Kind people supporting The Road to the Horizon:
Find out how you can sponsor The RoadSpecial Interest Sites
● UBA - Union of Belgian Amateurs: what's up in the Belgian Radio Amateur world.+/-The Road's Dashboard
The Road directory entries
The Road in the Blogosphere
Log in
New
Edit
Customize
Dashboard
© Blogger template The Business Templates by Ourblogtemplates.com 2008
Back to TOP
0 comments:
Post a Comment