DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO: THE LAND AND THE PEOPLE

Years ago, I was working in a middle school in what was called the Resource Department (or what we called Special Ed when I was in school).  These kids were mostly learning disability kids who were in general classrooms, and my job was to sit in various classes and help these kids stay on task and re-explain things to them.  One social studies project was to do some basic research on African countries. One of my girls stood in front of the class and read her first sentence: “The Democratic Republic of the Congo is one of the most dangerous countries in the world.” And then she paused. At first I thought it was for dramatic purposes, but I think it was just nerves.  But what this girl (whose name I can’t remember now) will never know is how profound an opening statement is. Of course, I’m not quite sure this 7^th grader knew the magnanimity that statement holds when she said it.

The Democratic Republic of the Congo is a large country in central Africa, surrounded by Republic of the Congo, Central African Republic, South Sudan, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania, Zambia, Angola, and Angola’s exclave Cabinda. The Congo River is a major river that runs through this country, also lending its name to the name of the country.  It also shares part of Lake Tanganyika (bordered with Tanzania) and a small portion – about 17 miles – of the Atlantic Ocean on the other side of the country.  Straddling the equator, it’s the third largest country in Africa (after Angola and Sudan).

The earliest residents were thought to have been part of the Bantu migration. One of the first highlights is the Upemba culture (later to become the Luba Empire and then the Kingdom of Lunda).  The area they were established was rich in ores, so the development of copper and iron (as well as their part in the ivory trade) were key to their success. It helped them to have a strong economy and gave them a lot of wealth. Other empires such as the Kongo Empire and the Kuba Federation would have major impacts prior to and during the early days of European involvement. In the late 1870s, the Belgians took over and renamed this area as Congo Free State. It wasn’t such a good time: many Congolese died from disease and torture by the Belgians in their efforts to create a thriving rubber industry in concordance with the new automobile industry.  If you’ve read Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness (I did a few years ago), it’s set in Congo Free State.  In 1908, the Belgians officially called it a colony, renaming it Belgian Congo. This move was met with a lot of international disapproval. By the time the 1960s rolled around, Belgian Congo (like many other African countries at this time) started looking towards independence.  After some upheaval after independence was granted and a shift in leadership, it rested with Joseph Mobutu who named it Democratic Republic of the Congo. It later changed to Republic of Zaïre in 1971 (which is how I learned it growing up). Mobutu was against communism yet created a one-party system and maintained a system of embezzlement and corruption that lasted decades. In 1997, the name was changed back to Democratic Republic of the Congo, and the country had suffered two civil wars and several conflicts since the late 1990s.  These have been some of the deadliest fighting in history; a study in 2009 estimated around 45,000 are dying every month (upwards of 5.5 million so far), and a new study estimates that 400,000 women and girls are raped every year as a result of the prevailing sexual violence.

The capital city is Kinshasa, the city across the Congo River from the capital city of Republic of the Congo, Brazzaville. However, there isn’t a bridge built yet to connect the two – people use a ferry to get across. These two capital cities are the closest capital cities in the world (outside of Rome and Vatican City). While under Belgian control, it was known as Léopoldville, but when Mabutu took control, there was a large movement to “Africanize” the names of the cities, so it was changed to Kinshasa (named after an old fishing village that was located near the current site).  Kinshasa, incidentally, is the second largest French-speaking cities in the world, after Paris.  It’s also attributed as being the site of the earliest documented HIV-1 strain in 1959. 

Like nearby Angola and other African countries, the DR Congo is quite wealthy if you look at its raw mineral quantities. However, because the country suffers from so much corruption, it’s not able to mine it effectively. They have more than 30% of the world’s diamond reserves and more than 70% of the world’s coltan (used for making tantalum capacitors in electronic products).  They’re also the largest producer of cobalt and a large producer of copper as well as some other minor minerals.  Because of the civil wars and internal conflicts, many foreign companies have pulled their business operations out of the DR Congo until it becomes safer and its economy more stable. 

About 80-90% of the population consider themselves as followers of Christianity.  A smaller number of Congolese follow Islam (about 10% or so).  There is even a small number of people are members of the Baha’i faith, which was banned for a time during the 1970s and 1980s.  There are those, as in many other areas of Africa, who embody both animism and other indigenous religious ideologies with the mainstream religions.  However, many of the mainstream religious people condemn such practices and are especially harsh in dealing with things such as witchcraft, etc. 

French is the official language used in the DRC, thanks to the Belgians. It’s also used as a lingua franca in areas where there are people from different ethnic groups working together.  Of the 242 languages that are actually spoken by citizens of this country, only four have any special status: Kikongo (Kituba), Lingala, Tshiluba, and Swahili.  Dutch was also spoken during the colonial period since many Belgians also speak Dutch, but it’s not used much anymore, if any.

The country has a lot of areas in need of improvement.  Much of this is a direct result of the corruption at the top. Less than half of the country has access to clean water (only 27% in rural areas), and less than a quarter of the population has functional sanitation. They have a very high chance of contracting infectious diseases (including both airborne and waterborne), and their life expectancy is only 54 years old, but they average only 1 doctor per 10,000 people.  Only 2 out of 3 Congolese are literate (in any language). 71% of the population lives below the poverty line.  On the plus side, they’re the 7^th least obese country in the world.

Despite its dire situation, there are some cool things about this country.  For instance, they have a small space program believe it or not. Bonobos and eastern lowland gorillas are only found here as well. It’s said that locals (and probably more in rural areas) don’t take too kindly to taking pictures of people – they think when you take a picture of someone, you’re actually stealing their soul. I always find that even in the poorest of countries, there is always silver lining somewhere. When I tell people I’m on the DRC now, I either get blank stares or looks of pity like I just told them I buried my favorite cat. But I’m convinced it has much more to offer than being caught up in its horrific statistics regarding war and corruption. And after I found my recipes, I’m determined there is more out there.

Up next: holidays and celebrations

CHAD: THE LAND AND THE PEOPLE

Many things come to mind when I think the word “chad.” There are hanging chads, which were the bane of the 2000 presidential election here in the States. There’s the male name Chad – especially the baker Chad Robertson whose name kept popping up when I tried to search for “bread recipes from Chad.”  But what I’m thinking of is the country of Chad in central Africa and Lake Chad, for which the country is named after.

Chad lies landlocked in the center of Africa, surrounded by Libya, Sudan, Central African Republic, Cameroon, Nigeria, and Niger. The country is part of the Sahel region, just south of the Sahara Desert, and the top third is covered by the Sahara Desert. The country is generally flat, a thin layer of sand covers everything with random clumps of trees scattered here and there, like a giant threw handfuls of seeds out. Desertification is a problem in this country, with the Sahara extending itself like an unwanted houseguest and taking over what little fertile land there was. Even the capital city of N’Djamena (pronounced n-ja-MAY-nah) has sand spilling out into the streets, giving it the feeling of being a rural town, rather than the largest city in the country and a base city for non-governmental agencies in Chad and other nearby countries in central Africa – just across the river from N’Djamena lies Cameroon.  Lake Chad is also important to the country (and not just because of its namesake), but because it provides water for the four neighboring countries to it (Chad, Cameroon, Niger, and Nigeria). It’s a fairly shallow lake, so it’s sensitive to changes in the wet/rainy seasons.   

Chad is in one of the oldest areas of Africa; it’s been inhabited for over 2000 years, partly by the great Sao civilization. Not much is known about them since nothing’s been written down. The only things we know are the stories that have been passed down from generation to generation and the artifacts that they’ve left behind, mostly highly-skilled pieces of bronze, copper, and iron works. Later, the Muslim traders that came in and stole slaves from Central African Republic and Cameroon also hit Chadian villages as well. The beginning of the 20^th century brought French imperialism (most sources I read called it “French holdings,” as if taking over someone’s country and raping it for their resources were merely a business deal. Probably was.), which lasted for nearly sixty years. They officially won their independence in August of 1960.  Since then, they have been plagued with opposition wars, civil wars, insurgencies, battles, and coups.  Some of the fighting in Darfur spilled over the border into Chad as well. Like what’s happening in Central African Republic and other countries, getting food and medical supplies to those who need it is a difficult task in these areas that are controlled by the warlords and rebel fighters. Refugee camps are hidden away throughout the jungle with little access to getting inside or leaving.

As far as religion goes, it’s fairly a diverse country. A little more than half of the people are Muslim, and a little more than a third are Christian. There are other groups represented as well: Jehovah’s Witnesses, Bahá’í, animism, atheists and others.

Because of its location and history, Chad has two official languages: Arabic and French. While there are over 120 local languages that are spoken in villages throughout the country, one of the larger local ones is Sara, a language that is widely spoken in the southern regions of Chad.

The capital city of N’Djamena only has roughly a little more than a million people and about 1.6 million if you include the metro area – which makes it about the size of Philadelphia, PA. It was originally called Fort Lamy by the French, named after a French commander who had been killed in battle a few days before this. After gaining independence, the new government changed it to a more Afrocentric name, N’Djamena. It was based on an Arabic-named village nearby, meaning “place of rest.” It lies on the Chari and Logone Rivers. It’s become the center for government, center of business and trade, center for the arts, and the home to the country’s only university: the University of N’Djamena (classes taught in French) and the King Faisal University of Chad (classes taught in Arabic).

Statistically, this country falls toward the bottom of the list when it comes to human development and stability, making it one of the poorest and most corrupt countries in the world. They’ve got the 4^th highest death rate in the world: number one in maternal mortality, sixth in infant mortality. Almost half of the people don’t have access to clean water, only 13% of Chadians have access to adequate sanitation. These things contribute to a higher risk for diseases such as hepatitis A, typhoid fever, but also malaria, meningococcal meningitis and rabies. A third of kids under five are underweight. 35% of those 15 and old are literature in either Arabic or French (and that figure was closer to 25% ten years ago!). This makes it hard for people to move outside of manual labor, which is where most of the jobs that are even available lie. Because it’s such a poor country and most people don’t hold outside jobs, they don’t even calculate an unemployment rate. Although close to 80% of the people base their living off of some kind of agricultural work, there is some exportation of oil from the country as well. Despite this, it still relies heavily on foreign aid and assistance, but the corruption and instability in infrastructure hinders this aid from getting where it’s needed. The median age is 16 – which at that rate, I should be close to dying if not already gone – and I’m only 33.

Even though it’s had some rough history here and there, I’m convinced that it’s not all bad. There has to be something that’s pretty cool. (Unlike it’s weather which stays pretty hot. I checked on my Weather Channel app, and this weekend, the city of N’Djamena has a heat index of 125˚F. I’m pretty sure my freckled Scottish-German mixed skin would simply burst into flames.) The cuisine seems to be a mix of traditional African and incorporated French, which means we should be eating pretty well next weekend (if I don’t screw it up).  One of the best things that has been recommended to see in Chad is the Zakouma National Park. It’s become a refuge and protected area for much of the local wildlife. The best time to see them would be in March and April when the animals make their way to the watering holes. The rainy season comes in June through October which makes travel really hard, causing many creeks and rivers swell to twice its normal size.

Up next: holidays and celebrations