Democratic Republic of the Congo

During our time in Rwanda, the Italians that we stayed with planned to take a day trip to visit an orphanage just across the border in the Congo. The Congo isn't the safest of areas, and while the city just across the border, Goma, is generally safe, it's not the type of place that you want to spend an extended amount of time. One of the Italians, Alberto, had previously worked with the orphanage, and now had brought back six of his friends to visit and to donate clothes and toys. It was a Sunday, so our day was free, and we decided to tag along.

We met the head of the orphanage, Kizungu, as well as a high-ranking military official at the border. However, it turns out that they had changed the entry requirements for foreigners just 4 days prior, and we now didn't have the necessary visa to enter. Not even the colonel of the army could help us out. So we were sadly turned away, and had to re-enter Rwanda. Fortunately, the head of the orphanage was able to bring the clothes and toys back to the orphanage, but everyone was really disappointed that we weren't able to go.

Fast forward four days. We're gorilla trekking with two other people. They happen to have a guide in Rwanda who is from the Congo. He also happens to claim that he can get them in. So on our second to last day in Musanze, we woke up and joined our two friends and their guide to head to the Congo. The catch was that in order to get into the Congo, it was gonna cost us an extra $15 each. To, uh, sweeten the deal for the border official.

And voila! The border is open! As we crossed the border, the change from Rwanda was immediately noticeable. Goma is somewhat of a modern day Pompeii. It was destroyed in 2002 by a nearby volcano, leaving mounds of volcanic rock in place of roads and houses. The commercial center has rebuilt, but the vast majority of landscape around downtown is still dominated by the rock. The people have rebuilt to a degree, making walls and houses out of the debris, but the prospects of a legitimate rebuilding effort seem bleak.

Our land cruiser struggled over the uneven "roads" of rock. We were met by a joyful and grateful man named Kizungu, who was the head of the small orphanage. The orphanage only began several years back in an attempt to bring children down from the northern province, where civil war has been prevalent. The orphanage now houses 16 children in Goma, but there are still over 200 left in the northern province, all staying in a two room house. They're forced to sleep on top of each other at night.

Given their poor living conditions, you would expect a troop of beleaguered children just trying to survive. But when we approached the orphanage, the children ran out and sang us a welcome song in Swahili (see the post below). They were standing outside their one room house, where children and teachers sleep alike. Floors made of volcanic rock, tattered mosquito nets and overcrowded beds, yet they still exuded a joy that you can only see in children.

The kids are lookin' mighty fine in their new clothes.

The house to the right is the orphanage. However, they've rented the land from a woman in the neighborhood, so the new house is hers. If you look behind the new house to the left, there is a wall. Behind that wall, Cathy and Teste are helping to build a new orphanage.

They welcomed us into their house, and we spent time talking to Kizungu, and struggling through French with his aid Auggie. Since we were only there for the day, we didn't have the opportunity to work much with the orphanage. We did, however, bring some balls to play with and bought some sweets from the store for the children. In fact, we bought a a large pack of "Obama Pops." Each individual sucker had a picture of Obama on it. It was pretty hysterical. And to cap it all off, when the kids learned that Obama was our president, they cut his head out of the wrapper, licked it, and put it on their forehead. So we had 16 orphans in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, who happened to be the best dressed kids in town with their freshly donated clothes, all wearing Obama on their forehead.

The children, despite their apparent situation, are extremely fortunate. Cathy and Teste have helped an immense amount in building the orphanage, and making sure that it has the funds to continue. The children have balls to play with and new clothes, as well as enough food for two meals a day. Most importantly, they all have free primary education at the local school. For an orphan in the Congo, they are very lucky.

It was still all a very moving experience. The living conditions are bad. The kids have nowhere to play with their balls, because there is nothing but uneven volcanic rock as far as the eye can see. Nonetheless, they are an extremely joyful group and they have excellent teachers who welcomed us with open arms. Kathy and I hope one day to be able to make it back to Rwanda, and if we do, we will absolutely spend a longer time with the kids in Goma.