“They are cannibals.”
Great, the myth of the Mai Mai grows. “Do you have proof of this?”
“Oh there is proof all right, up in Ituru. The farmers have proof.”
I never get a clear answer about this “proof,” but alleged cannibalism is definitely NOT on my agenda, so I let it drop. Inside, I am seething. We had an opportunity that was squandered. These villagers were probably hungry and as a result, probably involved in poaching. To get a lift from the environmental ranger (our ICCN guard) would have gone a long way towards building a tiny bridge into the village. These are his people. I sensed Guard was willing, but his British Muzungu boss said no to the ride. This encounter was a microcosm of the great societal rift in DRC.
Some environmentalists are fighting for wildlife, while ignoring the humanitarian crisis that is the real cannibal–swallowing what is left of human decency. Add to this to a lawless society loosely run by an under trained, underpaid, competing alphabet soup of militia groups and local police. Whoever has the biggest gun wins. Simple. The Mai Mai stay in business because men cover their fear by making the “enemy” larger than life. Myths of cannibalism and child soldiers protected by witchcraft are powerful fears. Meanwhile, the women tend to the fields and the animals, while the men and boys, rape, kill, burn, poach and pillage.
I am not ignoring the hard truth that 4 million have died in Africa’s World War. The roots go back to colonialism, but it is time for everyone—that means US, USA– to step out of the past and determine the future. When humanity runs down the road towards us, will we spin our wheels and run the other way—leaving them with eyes wide open and staring as we leave them in the dust? Will we dig ourselves into an even deeper rut with fraudulent foreign aid programs that show our “humanity” while we are responsible for hundreds of thousands dead and dying in the oil fields of the Middle East? The cost of the Iraq war, properly applied, could rebuild this Africa, and the money squandered could fix out veterans hospital programs here at home.
Leaving stories of conservation-funded militias behind, the next mess is the disposition of USAID funding for "landscape" projects.
The litany present on my pilfered video record was given to U.S. authorities upon my return. It was reconstructed from still photos that were overlooked. The ten hours of video would be unimpeachable evidence of what the Congolese had to say about our programs. The following is a list of what was observed and what was said on the tapes. What was most interesting was that the "university" is located a days walk from Lubero, literally in the middle of nowhere, instead of near a population center. Upper class Congolese view this “university” as the laughing stock of the community. “You Americans come over here and throw away money like it is paper,” one Congolese told me.
"What will you do to help us?" the Congolese pleaded. All I could do was promise that I would get the videotapes to my elected officials--an empty promise.
The situation at the "American University" confirmed stories of fiscal irresponsibility and more. Teachers have been working without pay for the last five months. One professor said that his children, who live in another village, have not been able to go to school and that his family was running out of resources because there was no income. When asked why he wanted to stay, he said that he "had hope" that the school would get funding again. Responding to a follow-up question about his living conditions, he said it gets very cold at night, but that he "was getting used to it." A visit to the teacher's living quarters is recorded in still photos. It is no wonder he was cold at night, since there was no ceiling or decking and the wind could enter his tiny room from either end of the building. In addition, the academic director lives in a green tent made of tarp. When asked why he stayed, he replied that he "had no choice." Hope was not part of the equation for this highly educated scientist.
Buildings are unfinished; piles of bricks made by the "orphans" and villagers have weeds covering them. The villagers signed over their land with the hope that they would have an infrastructure, a real community center. What remains is the ruins of their hope. Piles of stones that villagers brought to the site were covered in mud that had washed down the rainy slopes.
A visit to the girl's dormitory was heartbreaking. The halls reek from poorly constructed latrines, the corridor is black as night in midday, the roof leaks, and it costs $110 a year ($98 a year is the average income) for the "privilege" of living in a slum. Covered with inches of dust, uninstalled toilets are piled next to latrines that overflow into the hallway.
The radio station beams conservation propaganda to the surrounding villages. When I told the staff about Radio Okapi, the UN sponsored communication network in DRC, they were surprised that outside programming (world news) was available. Information is power, and these people are powerless. As the Native American artist Buffy St. Marie wrote: "The tricked and evicted, they know what I mean."
The community health clinic was a house of horrors, but the best the local nurse had to work with. A political operative who viewed the photos said he would not want to have a boil lanced there, let alone surgery. The staff there has not been paid in five months either. An examination of the drug cabinet showed the Pfizer logo on tattered boxes, stacked on top of the meager drug cabinet. Vials of the chemical contraceptive Depo Provera were on the shelf, which supported stories that local women were allowed to use the clinic only if they were chemically sterilized. Condoms were available, but not emphasized, even though that is the only way in which the plague of AIDS will be slowed in this country. These community health programs can be viewed as a form of sanctioned genocide. The USAID "family planning" program in Africa is worth its own investigation.
The "community clinic" nurse was told, and believes, that the local population must be reduced for fear of over-population and because it is unhealthy for a woman to have babies one after the other. AIDS is not fully emphasized, and AIDS is the real scourge of Africa. With the average life span being 44 years, the population is certainly sustainable. What conservation organizations want is more habitats for themselves and the gorillas, and a possible tourism base.
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