Greetings from Beni!
It's a hot, sunny day here today... At least 95 degrees, in my opinion!
This afternoon I went from town to UCBC... I'd been there in the morning, but had to spend some time in Beni and at the house... So around 2pm I got on a moto for a ride underneath the hot afternoon sun.
My taxi driver started asking me questions (in Swahili of course) about my experience here and I told him that I really like Congo... That I think it's a beautiful country. And asked him what he thought about his country. He told me that it's not good, especially because there is so much hunger... He said that is the big problem that Congo has - hunger. So I asked him what can he / we do to change that... And he said work hard...
A few moments later several different UN (MONUC) trucks passed us on the road... I then asked him what he thinks of MONUC. I asked, "What do they do? Do they help with hunger? Do they give food? What do they do?" He (of course) could not say he saw MONUC helping or making a difference... He even went on the say that MONUC is taking from the country, from the people, and making hunger even worse.
This is something I'm hearing more often, and find myself affirming it... What in the world is the UN doing in Congo?
These thoughts were fresh in my mind after I arrived at UCBC... I pulled up BBC News on my computer and read the following article, which had a good section about MONUC in Congo. The author says that "the international community lacks a strategy for fixing this failing state." I think that is crystal clear in Goma - where the streets are lined with UN Soldiers, NGO workers and cars from both that clog traffic and polute the air.
Here is the article.
I am not saying that the UN should leave Congo. And neither is this article. But it's discouraging to see a huge operation like the UN, in a country... And yet you have to ask, "what is the result? What are they doing? Why are they here, again?"
It's pretty sad, actually... We watch the millions (billions) of dollars that the UN has for this operation get tossed into the wind.
Ah, please pray for this country. And those who have their hands in it. I pray that the men, women, NGOs and whatever other organizations / interests involved, would develop / have morals and honor in the way they act...
with hope,
Bethany
1 comment:
That is very well said Bethany. There's a Congolese journalist named Mvemba Dizolele who's got some interesting views. Speaking if failed states there's a shocking piece by the provost of Miami of Ohio about how much I a failed state Congo is in his opinion. I forgot what it's called but I remember it was in foreignpolicy.com
-Baraka
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