Life in the Democratic Republic of Congo

Living on the lava field, Goma, D. R. Congo

To understand more about the current situation,
Jill and Tim suggest the following resources.

Books:

Hochschild, Adam (1999), King Leopold's Ghost. A Story of Greed, Terror, and Heroism in Colonial Africa (New York: Houghton Mifflin Company).
"A vivid, novelistic narrative that makes the reader acutely aware of the magnitude of the horror perpetrated by King Leopold and his minions." Michiko Kakutani, New York Times.

 

Wrong, Michela (2000), In the Footsteps of Mr. Kurtz. Living on the Brink of Disaster in Mobutu's Congo (New York: Harper Collins).
"...traces the rise and fal of the idealist young journalist who became the stereotype of an Africa despot. Engrossing, highly readable, and as funny as it is tragic, In the Footsteps of Mr. Kurtz assesses the acts of the villains and the heroes in this fascinating story of the Democratic Republic of Congo." Publisher.

 

Articles:

Jenkins, Mark (2008), ‘Virunga Gorillas. Murder Haunts Africa's Oldest Park’, National Geographic: 34-65.
An article exploring the impact of Rwandan and Congolese politics on the mountain gorillas in the Virunga National Park. JKHG.

 

Websites:

Talk to the Future's eleven minute video about Heal Africa and their work with the survivors of "the war within a war"--the rape of women and children in Congo. Also talks about what we can do to get involved with the survivors and take their lives forward.

HBO Documentary: The Greatest Silence: Rape in the Congo. A description of the situation and its treatment in this film.

HEAL Africa. The mission of HEAL Africa, located in Goma, D. R. Congo, is to provide holistic care for the people of the Democratic Republic of Congo: training health professionals, strengthening social activists and providing physical, spiritual and social healing. You can check their website for updates about the current situation in North Kivu. Their page on four ways to help is clear and easy to follow.

Amnesty Internation's Call for Action. Click here to send an email to Zalmay Khalilzad - Ambassador, United States Mission to the UN . The situation in the DRC remains on the brink of a humanitarian catastrophe. The priority at the moment is reinforcing the capacity of the UN’s peacekeeping force, MONUC, to protect civilians and to ensure people have access to humanitarian assistance. At least 250,000 civilians, most of them women and children, were displaced by the recent fighting. These people are in a desperate situation, without sufficient food, water, medical supplies or shelter. Call on the US government to ensure that the UN Security Council takes further steps to protect civilians in eastern DRC.

"You Will Be Punished: Attacks on Civilians in Congo." Click here to link to a 193 page report that documents in detail the deliberate killings of more than 1,400 civilians between January and September, 2009. Published by Human Rights Watch.

Orphaned, Raped and Ignored. New York Times Article by Nicolas D. Kristof. February 1, 2010. An accurate and depressing account of what is happening in Eastern Congo. For instance, "For Chance, the war arrived one evening last May when armed soldiers from an extremist Hutu militia — remnants of those who committed the Rwandan genocide — burst into her home. They killed her parents in front of her. Chance ran away, but the soldiers seized her two sisters, ages 6 and 12, and carried them away into the forest, presumably to be turned into “wives” of soldiers. No one has seen Chance’s sisters since."