You are currently browsing the category archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ category.
According to Kijiji Cha Amani:
8 civilians brutally shot last night in Mbau by the alleged ADF, there would be 6 bodies of the pygmies, killed this Saturday morning in Mambalasa by the same alleged ADF. Mambalasa is located a few 2 km from Mbau
The photos that were forwarded have not been verified as being from the same incident.
Here is an audio discussion (en français et Swahili):
James Kataliko has proven time and time again that he is an honourable and compassionate man. He has proven it again. He was travelling with others near Lake Kivu, South Kivu when he learned of a local pygmy tribe. He used the terms indigenous and abandoned. As I understand it, these pygmies are essentially controlled by Bantu to work in Bantu fields. I hesitate to use the word enslaved but that sounds about right. While at a Pygmy village, James found Fatuma, a five year old girl who was very anemic due to malaria and malnutrition. She wasn’t expected to live much longer. Her parents had no means to get her medical attention.
With Fatuma’s family, James and his companions helped to carry her 8 kilometers through the jungle to reach a hospital. He had made a commitment to provide the needed funding for her medical treatment.
Once at the hospital, it was determined that Fatuma needed blood but they didn’t have a good match for her. It turned out that James was a match, so he rolled up his sleeve for her.
Doctors are now optimistic about her recovery.
James says that there are many other children with similar although less immediately threatening conditions in the area. We have sent funds to James to cover the expenses of his humanitarian efforts. Thankfully, just a little goes a long long way in Congo.
Can you help?
If you can help at all, I can commit to sending 100% of all funds received directly to James (via Western Union) and report on exactly what it was spent on.
https://www.paypal.me/bensincongo
After hearing of the terror that was endured in Kalondo, Mike and Michelle Gropp of Lead With Words of Beijing responded by providing funds for the beleaguered village. Saasita provided the local leadership by purchasing needed hygiene related supplies and making the challenging trip to Kalondo. Fortunately, Saasita felt that the situation was stable enough that the supplies could be delivered.
Disturbing news has emerged from Kalondo. Reports in Kijiji Cha Amani (a North Kivu news aggregator) indicate that Mai Mai rebels have overran the village in June and have occupied the Health Centre. Locals inform me that the nurses were ordered to not flee or their homes and the Health Centre will be burned down. Many local homes have already been burned and destroyed by the Mai Mai in order to impose control.
There are reports of the Mai Mai militia taking children to join their rebel group.
Adults over the age of 16 are being forced to pay 1,000 Congo francs per month while being forced to comply with Mai Mai demands for servile labour. Men who have objected and unable to escape are subject to 20 whips and a penalty of 100,000 Congo francs, if they have it.
We have supported the Health Clinic in Kalondo here, here and here. It has been subject to a vicious storm and repaired. It is the site of our My Chicken Give Me Eggs microfinance project. We had reported the earlier evacuation of the chickens when the Mai Mai were a threat.
Kalondo is roughly 30 km SSW of Butembo. I am communicating with locals to ask if there is any practical way to help out the villagers. The Congo army is engaged with the Mai Mai nearby, but currently Kalondo is considered as a safe haven for the rebels.
Kalondo medical supplies delivered
Families received two chickens (a rooster and a hen) with the expectation that they would return two chickens to the village the following year
On a day to day basis, Congolese in North Kivu province must deal with the threat of Ebola, the dangers from marauding rebels and bandits, the anarchy of virtually non-existent government and a sustenance standard of living. There is a reason the Bible does not tell us to Be happy. Instead, it says that we should Be content with all things, a much more practical option.
Indeed, no matter what the circumstances, life must go on.
In the past month, I have received multiple photographs of Congolese doing just that. Continuing with their lives and soldiering forward. They display remarkable internal fortitude that will put the vast majority of relatively wealthy Westerners to shame. We have much to learn from those persevering and living their lives with contentment in all circumstances. Here are those photographs:
From a primary school in Beni, celebrating the end of the school year:
From a Butembo church celebrating in the streets:
From the Mama Dorcas orphanage:
While I thought it always was an international health emergency, the WHO (World Health Organization) continually refused to declare the Ebola outbreak that. It had been considered just a regional issue. Today they declared otherwise.
The trigger for this declaration was the death of a pastor from Ebola. This pastor contracted the virus in Butembo and then travelled south to Goma (unaware of his condition) where he developed symptoms and was diagnosed. He was sent back to Butembo due to the superior treatment facilities there, but that is where he died.
There are two million people in Goma. Unlike Butembo and surrounding area which is relatively isolated from neighbouring countries, Goma is right on the border with Rwanda and has vastly greater transportation connections to Rwanda and elsewhere.
Before today, the WHO has only declared a public health emergency four times since the International Health Regulations, which govern global health emergency responses, were enacted in 2007. The first time was in 2009, with the outbreak of the H1N1 swine flu pandemic. The second time was in May 2014, concerning polio. The third time, in August 2014, came as the Ebola outbreak in West Africa was growing out of control. The fourth time was related to Zika in 2016.
Update: A good summary from MSF: https://www.msf.org/drc-ebola-outbreak-crisis-update
Other than through the exploitation of it’s abundant nature resources, Congo has been deficient in it’s ability to create wealth for it’s people. In Congo, most of Africa actually, the availability of capital to generate internal wealth has been lacking. The lack of both physical security and a reliable rule of law has caused much of the limited available capital to flee elsewhere. A health crisis certainly doesn’t help! Without these basic requirements of peace and law, no form of economic structure can possibly succeed.
Our entire Western economic system is based on capital being put to use in order to secure returns for the investors. These returns eventually accumulate and aided by intelligent taxation policies these accumulated returns benefit the greater society and not just the investor with capital. The West has generally succeeded, post World War II, because of our capitalist system which is reliant on physical security and strong rule of law.
Bens in Congo has always been a strong believer that the Congolese need to be able to create their own wealth and not rely on the generosity of foreign donations. We have responded to immediate needs, but our preference is to provide funds for things that can produce wealth when we are no longer around. Funds for sewing machines and chickens are good examples. But a stable peace is needed, first and foremost for economic progress. Responsible government must be in place that people can trust. Business contracts with a fair justice system must be relied on.
But meanwhile, people are enduring a tragic man-made situation in eastern Congo. To do our part, and with the help of James Kataliko in Butembo, we established and seed-funded a microfinance fund in order to supply some capital otherwise not readily available to small entrepreneurs. Our first three loans were all successfully repaid and the respective small businesses were advanced. Our latest loan was in support of a taxi service between Butembo and Goma, a route that quite recently was totally unsafe to drive. The loan supplemented available funds and enabled an upgrade to a newer and larger minivan. This small business is not without risks and perils, but it is the spirit of the small entrepreneur that will enable improved conditions for all in eastern Congo.
National Geographic magazine is renown for their photography. They have recently published an in-depth article on Ebola in Congo that deserves attention.
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/culture/2019/05/ebola-democratic-republic-congo/
James Kataliko assisted the author with translation work for seven days in order to make this article happen. I was pleased to recently supply James with a letter of recommendation for the prestigious French-African Young Leaders award. Good luck, James!
A woman mourns the loss of her baby
Bens in Congo 