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| Kinshasa |
Democratic Republic Congo DRC is so gigantic that it is quite
difficult to win a more or less
reasonable impression in a few weeks.
Many areas are not really good to visit since for many years as there
are quite a few civil wars, especially in the eastern areas Ituri and
Kivu, which are the formerly tourist areas with all the mountains and
the mountain gorillas. So, on my trip I visited only one very small part
of DRC, and all that on the western, "safe" side. The capital of
Kinshasa is currently a gigantic building site with a lot of dust, too
many people, too many cars and smog. Also really hot. Of course also not
safe, when it comes to criminal activity, raids and extortion by
corrupt officials, policemen and soldiers. It is easy to realize all
this as a tourist. Our hotel was in the centre, it was relatively clean
and secured by day guards and night watchmen.
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| King Leopold from Gelgium |
There is not so much to see in Kinshasa. We organized our visa for
Republic of Congo RC, visited the arts market, where there are great
masks and other tourist stuff and were often in Lebanese restaurants.
The ethnographic museum with all old masks, music instruments and
statues of king Leopold and Stanley is one of the most interesting
sights. In Kinshasa, we had to pay attention with taking photos. Though
supposedly the old system was abolished that one needs a written
confirmation to be allowed to take photos, but not all policeman or
soldiers do know about his new policy. In whole DRC there are incredibly
lots of uniformed people, who are paid extremely badly and take every
chance to improve their low salary by a "donation", a so-called
"motivation" or a present called a "cadeau". The first time we
encountered this, was right at the border, when the international
vaccination pass is controlled – people with the right document give
only a small motivation, those with only a written confirmation but not
the correct pass give a donation, those without everything pay a lot….
And things like these happened each day.
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| Bus to Kikwit |
After 4 days in Kinshasa we had organized all important things and we
were ready for the journey to Kikwit. Quite a few people may ask now:
Kikwit – where is that and what is there so important to see that one
travels 525 kilometers? According to our guide book Kikwit is only known
for a disastrous Ebola outbreak 1995, which caused nearly 200
deaths.The only other thing, the guide book speaks about, are a few
waterfalls further away.
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| Road to Kikwit |
Neither Ebola nor the waterfalls were the reason for our trip there,
but we had an invitation of Vincent and Celine Uluma to visit them in
Kikwit. Vincent has worked one year ago in Guenzburg, the town I grew
up, as a doctor. At this time, there were some clinic materials
discarded in this hospital – things for OPs, beds, cupboards, medical
devices, etc. Will say, a lot of things, they do not have in DRC and
were urgently looked for. So, the idea was born to send these things,
nevertheless, by ship and truck to Kikwit. The transport costs were paid
by Lions Club in Guenzburg. After a long journey, the objects arrived
at Kikwit and are used now at several medical centers in the area. When
the Lions Club Guenzburg got to know about my trip, the idea arose
immediately to get me into contact with Dr. Uluma. However, I had not
thought, that he invites us immediately to come to Kikwit and to stay
with him and Celine, his belgian wife.
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| Travelling in DRC |
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| Vincent Uluma |
In Kinshasa, we found out, that in the mornings, there are coaches
going to Kikwit from a bus stand near the international airport. So, we
went there shortly after 7am. There were quite a few busses, all of them
for Kikwit. We had more than a closer look on all the vehicles and
selected the best looking bus, which already had lots of passengers. We
thought, this would be the earliest departure then. It took some time to
get started, gigantic loads were delivered and loaded on the roof. This
was about 1 pm. Then about 2 pm our backpacks followed on the roof of
the bus and shortly after we left. We knew from Vincent and Celine that
it would take about 10 or 12 hours to get to Kikwit, which is about 525
kilometers from Kinshasa. So we prepared ourselves on an arrival at
night. But once again everything came different than expected. At last
we left Kinshasa about 4 pm, after we had spent some time in a garage
and in a gas station. More or less 10 kilometers out of town we had a
breakdown – a thing of an hour. 5 kilometers later was the next hold, a
spare part had to be brought – well, good that we were not jet far from
Kinshasa. After the part was delivered and was inserted, we went on in
the darkness. There we still thought, okay, for Vincent and Celine it is
better if we arrive early in the morning as in the middle of the
night….. In the morning around 5am, the bus broke down completely –
right in the middle of the worst part of the road. At that time, we did
not even cover half of the distance to Kikwit. Most passengers prepared
themselves for being stuck for several days in the bush, waiting for
another spare part and a mechanic to arrive from Kinshasa or Kikwit.
Those with money (not many) looked for some other transport. Therefore,
we walked with full luggage to the next village. There was a coach,
which was just about finished with its repair. This coach was laying
here already for 5 days (not really a proof for a good vehicle), but now
it was repaired, and so hopefully in better condition than before and
hopefully also better than our first coach. There was also not much
choice anyway. We had to pay half a fare per person again and continued
our trip.
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| Landscape around Kikwit |
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| Transport of goods |
After other 8-hour journey we arrived in Kikwit after a total of 27
hours. Blond hair is something not seen often in Africa, so the
immigration officer in Kikwit found us immediately in the coach and
started asking disagreeable questions. Of course, the aim was a gift, a
bribe or whatever. But short after our arrival, Celine arrived and got
out us there! Mrs. Uluma is already well known in Kikwit, and
immediately the haunting was over! We had a great time in Kikwit with
Vincent and Celine. We learned a lot about DRC, its history, geography,
the people and politics. And of course its great nature, this country is
blessed with. When, finally, the country will stop its wars, people
could live very well here in the countryside. Of course, the streets
need an improvement, also transport. Poverty is big in this country,
people are really going hungry to bed here, children are malnutrition
and there are many illnesses. There is also a lack of spiritual food, if
it is only a cinema. In Kinshasa there is one again, but this might
also be only one in the whole country. King is, who has a television,
above all at times of the Africa Cup of Nations, when one could really
make some money on entrance fees!
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| Farmer |
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| Lady from a village |
We spent 10 days in Kikwit, a town with about 1 million people which
seems, however, more like a big village. In the city centre, there are
gigantic mountains of mud and sand. With every rain, the mud mountains
on the streets grow. The trees, which held on the earth earlier, were
cut down and illegal huts were built instead. Since then more and more
mud slides in the streets of the town. In Kikwit there is 6 times per
week electricity – three times in the mornings for 3 hours, three times
in the evening for 3 hours… Richer households and also some of the
medical centers (however,
not all) have a generator. Of course, we
visited with Vincent many of the medical centers, in which now equipment
from Guenzburg is used. Over and over again I also bumped into aluminum
boxes of Munk technology in Guenzburg. Everything what was delivered is
in use and makes the life of many people here a lot easier! Thanks to
those in the clinic and Lions Club Guenzburg, who made this possible. I
do not want to know at all, how the situation would be like without all
that…. Several times, we went with Vincent in the bush, visited the
farm, which is supposed to produce fresh meat for the clinic in the
future, we looked after a patient, who lives 120 kilometers away and
went to a meeting in the biggest hospital of the area. To see this big
hospital with a sister took us 3 hours! One day we could combine the
visit of a patient with the visit of the waterfalls of Kakobola. These
waterfalls are really gigantic and for sure are rarely visited by
tourists.
After 10 days it was difficult to say goodbye to Vincent and Celine.
At this point, I would like to thank you so much for your hospitality
and patience with our questions. We had a great time in Kikwit and I
hope very much that we soon meet again in Europe!
