International Save the Children Alliance
Joe in Democratic Republic of Congo
by Rewrite the Future Communications Manager, Joe Hall
Au revoir
So suddenly, that was it. I was leaving Congo to return home to London. But not without getting across the country first! Just making it from Goma (eastern border) to Kinshasa (far west) involved one stop -- or in fact, two stops (Mbuji Mayi and Kananga) I found out just as I was standing on the tarmac by the plane (no-one was quite sure why the route had been changed). So it became an eight-hour, three-leg plane ride just to cross from one side of the country to the other!
But that wasn't it. I wanted to see more of Kinshasa, the big sprawling capital city that holds as many people as London (well, more or less -- between 6 and 8 million, but again no-one's quite sure). There are a lot of children on the street in Kinshasa -- which is a problem if you're one of them, as there's a law from the 1950s that says you're automatically a "delinquent" if you're a kid on the streets at night, and can be arrested and locked up. Meeting homeless girls who had been living on the street, I could see why we are providing centres where they can stay, get a meal and be safe. If they're not there, then they would often be exploited or work as prostitutes to get the money just to live -- it's hard to say just how bleak that is for a twelve year old girl.
At this point, I have an apology. I stopped taking photos in Kinshasa. I was absorbed by the stories, and tired of seeming like an outsider, pointing a camera all the time. ...The woman who ran the centre for girls on the street telling me about "bon gout" ("good taste"), a kind of hooch that some of the girls would drink on the street -- we established that the only ingredient you could count on being in it was kerosene. Yes, kerosene -- that's a kind of oil you burn for heating. ...The children I heard were being accused of witchcraft because they wet the bed. Yes, because they wet the bed, or looked a little funny, or something bad had happened to the family and it was a way for certain corrupt priests to make money by charging for an "exorcism".
There was clearly an incredible amount that needed to be done to help these children too -- and I was glad to see we were part of it, not just people like me from London but a combination of our (mainly) Congolese and a few international staff working together. One piece of good news before I left was that a new child protection law was going through Parliament and was in the Senate -- we're hoping it passes, it would be a brave and important step for children in Congo.
For me, for now, time was running short and I needed to get on my plane back home. I was looking forward to seeing friends and family again... but it was heartwrenching leaving the wonderful people in our team. And I kept thinking of all the things I hadn't yet been able to do and the support we need to keep working for children there.
What felt strangest of all was that I was just getting used to being there... and now I was going. "Le monde est plus proche" ("The world is closer") said an advert for a mobile phone company in Kinshasa airport. It is, I thought. But not much -- the rest of the world feels pretty far away. If you have read this far in my blog, I hope it's brought Congo a little closer to you -- and I also hope that you'll help us make a difference for the children of Congo. Thank you for reading. (And if you're missing out on photos of Kinshasa, give this a try.) Au revoir.