DID YOU KNOW?

• That there are pygmies in the the Democratic Republic of the Congo? In fact one was brought to the Bronx Zoo in 1904 where he was placed in the monkey house and helped to attract 40,000 visitors a day.
• The DRC is a vast country the size of Western Europe the home of 60,000,000 people.
• It is geologically rich and was know for its large reserves of cobalt, copper and diamonds.
• The uranium which was used to make the atomic bombs which broke the back of Japan in WWII came from the province of Katanga in the Congo.
• Lubumbashi is the largest city in the Province of Katanga and is the home of the airport where I will land. The airport was under siege by rebels in February of this year. It took the Army several hours and many bullets to quell the riot.

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  TWO LITTLE GIRLS ARRIVED SAFELY IN SACRAMENTO THIS MORNING.
  

The Countdown Begins.

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Tomorrow is the 8th of August; on the 8th of September I will be boarding a plane to Virginia.  I will arrive there Thursday evening to spend a long weekend with Ann Terry and Hannah.  

The following Tuesday I will board an Ethiopian Airlines plane and will be off to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia via Rome. From Ethiopia, I go to Malawi which is the smallest and poorest country in Africa. Then on to Lubumbashi in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The DRC is the largest country in Africa.

A Little History…

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In the 19th century Europe began to divide up the African Continent. Each country staking out a portion of the continent. King Leopold of Belgium laid claim to the Congo.  Note that it was not Belgium as a country claiming a large chunk of Africa, it was the king saying this is my private fiefdom.  The Capitol of the country was modestly named Leopoldville.

Under the colonial rule of Belgium the country prospered; it was served my many airline and ships.  It was attractive to many tourist .  Railroads and highways crossed the country. Bridges forded the major rivers of the land.

Things began to change in the 1950’s.  Stability and prosperity fled before invading armies. Hospitals, churches and just about every standing building became pocked with bullet holes.  Natives fled to the bush to live under starvation conditions. Pilots of incoming flights found the tarmac runways were full of divots. It is safe to say the heart of Africa was broken and civilization beg an to die.

Each day the continuing turmoil claims 1,500 lives.

The rite of passage into manhood is not getting a driver’s license or being issued a well earned diploma.  For boy soldier it is being issued an AK-47 which brings with it the the right to rob, pillage, kill and rape. The Congo has been heralded as is the most dangerous place in the world for a woman to live—rape is a weapon of warfare.

Recently someone asked if me if I was not afraid to go to such a place.  I told the man that I was more fearful of staying at home.

I hope that I have not depressed you.