Scribbles

Why I am so touched with the recent violence in DRC (Congo)? I worked in East Congo, in Goma to be precise, early 1995 right after the Rwanda genocide. I wrote the short story “Goma, The Scent of Africa” in The Road’s eBook about my experiences there.

Later on, I worked in the regional office in Kampala, Uganda and was actively involved in the relief operations in East Congo after the -then- rebels headed by Kabila, headed from Uvira northwards, pushing all the refugees out of the camps and dispersing them into the jungle. That was 1996-1997.

The picture above is from that time, in Kisangani. But it could have been taken yesterday. The violence is the same. The human suffering is the same.

That is why I care about Congo.

Update: (10 minutes after I posted the above)
This press article just came in: Aid convoy finds east Congo refugee camps empty. This is exactly what happened in 1996-’97. I am so pissed off. Once again, the international community saw this coming, and stood by. Watching.