Umuzungu's in Goma

It’s July 7th, there is so much to say, I don’t know where to begin. We left Kigali on the 3rd to travel around the country. The first stop was Ruhengeri to see the gorillas. Raffi and I had quite the experience to say the least. The office ended up over booking, so we were in a group on our own with five soldiers and a guide. They took us on a route that was not usually traversed because all the other routes had been taken by the other groups. We climbed for four hours, a portion of which was a steep jungle and a soldier using a machete to cut through the various branches and plants. We finally made it to the gorillas. Needless to say it was magnificent and well worth the treacherous climb.

The next two days were spent in Gisenyi with Daniel’s family, which was just like being at home and much needed. Despite what my mother, Eloge, and many others had advised, we crossed the border into the Congo with the help of Daniel’s family. In a mere few hours, I began to comprehend the contradictions and corruption that seems to be widespread in the region. Apparently to get through we had to leave our passports with the Congolese border agents. We questioned whether we would see our precious passports again. Apparently Canadian passports sell for around $200 US in the Congo. Thanks to Daniel’s cousin there was no problem.

We drove through the streets of Goma, which according to me, looked worse than the World Vision adds you would see on television. Because of the devastation of the volcanoes in 2001, everything had been completely destroyed. People’s homes were built on black volcanic rocks, there are apparently anywhere from 8 to 15 people living together per house. Due to the violence in other parts of the Congo, many have fled to Goma, so it is totally populated with people who have no means of survival. It is bleak and overwhelmingly depressing. In Rwanda, everyone seems happy to see muzungo’s (white people), even if they are struggling, they seem happy. They run after us, wave at us, want to be around us. In the Congo, no one seemed happy, especially when seeing us.

Perhaps what is even more depressing is the hypocrisy of it all. After passing through the bleak streets of Goma, we reached Lake Kivu where beautiful mansions stand along the water. The Congo has a vast amount of resources, including gold, diamonds, and many minerals. The divide of wealth is unlike anything I have seen. It seems that very few are profiting off of the richness of the country, while the rest fight to survive on a daily basis.

Meanwhile, the head of MONUC (the UN mission in the Congo) stays in one of these mansions. MONUC has a mission of 20,000 in the Eastern region of the Congo, and spends one billion dollars per year to run the mission. We saw blue helmets around Goma who literally sat on tanks and did nothing. After passing the border back into Rwanda, we met drunk MONUC peacekeepers who asked to get their pictures taken with us umuzungu’s. I have always had a skeptical view of the UN, even though I am aware that it is all we have to deal with major peace and security issues. I now have even less faith in this corrupt and bureaucratic “peacemaking” institution. As someone said, it is an international mafia.

To explain the past few days of travelling around this country would be impossible. Seeing the gorillas, visiting Goma, listening to a survivor on the hills of resistance in Bisesero, and seeing mummified bodies at Murambi has left me feeling very confused and unsatisfied. I want answers. I have many questions that no one seems capable of answering. Perhaps I will never find answers. What I do know is that I am even more motivated to learn about this region. I don’t know if I will ever understand it, but I will certainly keep trying.

Off to Hotel Milles Collines for happy hour!!
Sara