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At least 36 civilians are dead after a massacre just north of Beni. The main attack took place late Tuesday in Manzingi, a village 20 kilometres northwest from Oicha, while a pastor was also killed in nearby Eringeti.
All were hacked to death with machetes. The extremist Islamic ADF is being blamed.
President Tshisekedi, in his first state-of-the-nation address to Congress, last month said he had changed the army (FARDC) command in Beni and sent 22,000 troops to the region. The ADF are believed to number only around 450 but the local terrain has allowed them to evade capture. This attack was further west than usual, as the ADF originated in western Uganda and usually stay closer to the border.
Kesho Njema translates as Tomorrow is Better.
One of our favourite projects was “Kuku yangu, tenga yayi!” which translates to “My chicken, give me eggs!”
In that project, a village received 20 chickens. The village elders delivered a male and female to ten young families. The obligation of the recipients was to return two chickens a year later that could be distributed to another young or needy family. Our seed money to acquire the chickens is enabling local wealth accumulation in the form of chickens.
Keshi Njema is designed to repeat this concept with goats.
Under the supervision of James Kataliko, 11 goats were purchased for a Kihunde speaking community on the north-west shores of Lake Kivu, about 15-20 km west of Goma. People here badly suffered from MaiMai attacks but it has become calmer. BTW, Google Maps says that you would average a pace of 30 km per hour (18.6 mph) to travel and arrive from Butembo. That sounds about right!
9 are female and 2 are special male breeding goats. The goats were divided between groups in two villages who gave themselves competing names: The N’tsh (“love between people”) and the Mughole (“the wife of the King”). The females were distributed with the recipients having drawn by lot. The elders retain control of the males and will make them available on a rotation. (Ah, the life of a stud. Produce or you become a stew.)
It was agreed that the recipients should contribute $10 towards their goat. $15 was considered too much for the people to afford. The elders will manage this project that we expect will be sustainable. In return, the elders will provide salt licks that will encourage the goats to fatten up. A local goat costs ~ USD $80 to acquire and deliver. We would love to repeat this project if funds were available.
A special thank-you to Jack from Peterborough who contributed towards this project. Also a special thank-you to James Kataliko (shown below) who once again demonstrated his strong commitment to help make these projects happen. We couldn’t possibly do this from Canada without local help!
This video was shot in the same location. Enjoy!
In 2018, we started a resell business in the Butembo market from the liquidation of the water filter business. The business employs two women full time with a fair wage and has been able to grow their stock of inventory by almost 100% from re-invested profits. The business continues to flourish due to the commitment and good efforts of the women involved.
10% of earnings are directed monthly to support Dieula, an orphan who is now 5 years old. Her father died as an indirect result of Maimai intrusions and her mother then died while 3 months pregnant. Dieula is now living with a grandmother of limited means. I’m told that Dieula (Dieu Est là which translates to God is there) is in 3rd kindergarten, so they must start school young, yet from the photo mature quickly! Over the past two years, the Butembo market business has been able to take care of her schooling (school fees, uniforms, school bags and textbooks). I’m told that she is doing well at school with a promising future.
Bens in Congo 