DRCongo: Children & Education - Ctrl.Alt.Shift

Millions of children and a handful of semi-decent schools does not add up in my books. Beyond the dusty feet and raggedy clothes, the young people I met in the Democratic Republic of Congo had a somewhat different glow to them; being so humble, warm, excited, and sadly blissfully unaware of how many of their guardians had lost out to a corrupt government and an ongoing African civil war. In years to come, I'll still look back at the photos, the interviews, and wonder what may have come of my Congolese brothers... though no doubt the DRC has not seen the last of this East London journalist. It is one hell of a trip, and one of my favourite days there is documented below in an article for Ctrl.Alt.Shift:

Postcards From The Edge: DRCongo
Monday October 27, 2008

Kids and Politricks

Today on the outskirts of Kinshasa in Kasangulu, we visited an organisation that focuses on reforestation projects. I can’t lie, I found the hour-long lectures reminiscent of mundane uni days - to put it simply, the snooze-fest was pretty dry. However, the overall journey and the people I met reinforced my intrigue and passion to explore and discover the ins and outs of this fascinating nation.

In the morning, our car got stuck on a mudslide on the way up to the village’s school and medical house. The four-wheel drive made little difference. We abandoned the vehicle and marched the rest of the distance. Thank God for my Adidas Adventure trainers, as only Lord knows how the locals trek the collapsing hills in their sandals.



Twenty minutes later, and we'd found a pitiful medical centre and conference area. I saw 10 wooden chairs, two small rooms and two and a half computers. The nearby school was also in a state less than perfect. No projectors, but prehistoric blackboards, dilapidated walls, no windows, just bars and kids hanging from them like inmates in a jail cell.



I asked translator and guide Felix M'Lenda if there were any intentions to refurbish the school. I also asked if there was any money available to help the situation. The guru of west Congo said: "Yes. Of course there is money, but the people in power will not help. Not because they don’t have the money, but because they do not care. They are selfish and take care of their own needs."

I proceeded to ask Felix about the next local elections, and their part in changing the country. Sadly, after saying "I hope they make improvements" he added "but I don’t want to talk about politics anymore. It really makes me want to pull out my hair."

Politics, greed and corruption are tender subjects for a man like Felix, who is witnessing his nation fall victim to its own riches (let's please remember that DRCongo holds more than half of the world's cobalt, 30% of all diamonds, 70% of coltan - a vital ingredient in mobile phones - as well as huge deposits of gold, copper and various other minerals).

According to Felix, the developing economic relationship between the Chinese government and the Congo depicts a third world being exploited out of its resources in return for the Chinese services of roads and railways - but as Felix claims, "what good are roads without cars to drive on them?" He states the grass-roots need the funding: the Congolese children, their schools and education. However, he slouched in defeat and reluctantly called the changing economy a "fair exploitation" of his people, as they will literally take whatever they can get.



Down the road we visited an IDP (Integrated Development Programme) called COABAC, which has trained over 10,000 people in bee-keeping and honey-making. The workers rely on such a job after having their villages pillaged by rebel soldiers during the "third world war" that erupted in 1998. Having had their cars, equipment, machinery and even bikes taken from them, the project is still struggling to help maintain livelihoods.



What a piss-take it was to then have 30 glowing and promising local children run up to me, fascinated by my camera and colleagues. Each one said they loved school, they loved church and had dreams and belief that is often hard to perceive in the UK. Fourteen year old Efrem wants to be a doctor, his friend Kimia wants to flex his muscles in the bricklaying industry and the force of six year old Marly will stop at nothing until he becomes the world heavyweight wrestling champion of the world. The smallest titch of the pack was pulling around a hand-made car he had made from shiny trash - blatantly the boy belongs in the engineering pits of Formula 1.



Back down to earth, Felix reminded me: "Most of these kids will never leave Congo. Most will follow in their father's footsteps and join the family business as honey-producers, fufu makers or farmers."

He wasn't being a party-pooper, just putting the picture in its true perspective. Felix added: "You see... people want to work, people like to work. But they have no means to work and grow." Suddenly those golden Chinese roads and railways seemed so irrelevant.

This article can be sourced here