Rwanda
My trip started with the 6 hour bus ride from Cyangugu (just across the border from Bukavu) to Kigali. I had to come to Kigali to fly to Kenya, because Congo doesn't have any international flights (except for one that goes to Ethiopia, for whatever reason). I was happy to spend a little time here because Kigali is a nice city. I saw the new Star Wars. I ate at a restaurant kind of like Chipotle. I went to the Genocide Museum. I even walked around at night (Kigali is really safe). It was great. After a few days here, I flew to Kenya. I was in Nairobi for 10 days, after which I few back to Kigali.
I spent New Years backpacking in Nyungwe National Park, in Rwanda. A few friends and I hiked the Congo-Nile divide trail, a 26 mile hike that took us three days. It's called the Congo-Nile divide because on one side of the trail, the rainfall goes to the Nile River, while on the other side of the trail, the water goes to the Congo River. It's a rain forest, so we got rained on a lot, but it was still a great trip.
On the third day, we visited a field and a small stream that some consider the source of the Nile. There is a lot of controversy around where the true source of the Nile is, but I choose to believe it's this spot (since that's the one I happened to visit). Discovered by the German scientist Richard Kandt, the water that falls on this field and goes into the stream eventually reaches Lake Victoria. Because this is arguable the longest tributary, it's called the source of the Nile.
Kenya
I've written before about the surreal feeling I get when I cross the border between Rwanda and Congo. This feeling was doubled when I got to Kenya. Nairobi is similar to a modern western city. There are lots of highways (the traffic is awful) and tall buildings and shopping malls. I suddenly had access to all those things I've missed over the last year like cheap internet, reliable electricity, and hot showers. Nairobi also has lots of good restaurants, so I ate pretty well. The other nice thing about Nairobi is that there are a lot of mzungus, so I don't attract quite as much attention as I do in Congo. It was nice to be able to walk down the street without everyone staring at me.
The first couple of days, I stayed at a backpackers hostel, where I met a number of interesting characters. After these few days, I moved over to Amani Gardens, a beautiful guest house that was formerly owned my Mennonite Mission Network. I stayed there with Indy Miller (an old family friend) and her friends Tarik and Laura. I also hung out a lot with my friend Johnny, who just happened to be in Kenya visiting his sister Vanessa (who used to work for MCC in Congo). I did a few tourist things, but spent most of my time just hanging out.
The Congo and it's Leaders
After the holidays, I crossed the magical boarder that changes everything, back into Congo. I walked across that crappy bridge (the nice one still isn't open, but it seems like they did some work on the crappy one), and suddenly the internet is 10 times more expensive. There are big holes in the road and the electricity comes and goes. Water comes rarely, and often only in the middle of the night. Everyone stares at me like I'm a magical alien that can fix these problems, or at least give them 500 francs (50 cents). It's good to be home.
I purchased a book in Nairobi called Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity, and Poverty, written by Daron Acemoglu and James A. Robinson. I'm hoping that the book will help me understand how so much can change from simply walking across a border. The authors blame these economic disparities on inclusive or exclusive economic conditions, which are created by inclusive or exclusive political structures. They describe how because of specific historical conditions, western countries were forced to adopt inclusive political and economic policies, which allowed people to profit and those societies to get richer. Basically, inclusive and business friendly conditions create wealth. Congo is most defiantly not business friendly.
The book says, "to be inclusive, economic institutions must feature secure private property, an unbiased system of law, and a provision of public services that provides a level playing field in which people can exchange and contract." (74,75) The book later goes on to name Congo as one of the best and most depressing examples of why it's extremely difficult for countries to grow under extractive policies. Since the founding of this country by King Leopold II 100 years ago, the government has primarily existed as a tool for extracting wealth. This is why there are no government services and everything is more expensive and less good. Government corruption requires the complicity of many people throughout the country, but the ultimate blame falls on bad leadership. That problem is currently being worked on, but change does not come easily.
There was supposed to be an election last year, and according to the constitution, the current president is not allowed to run for a third term. There was not an election because the governmental body responsible for organizing the election (CENI) was badly managed and did not prepare the voter database in time. Obviously, this ineptitude is far too convenient to be a coincidence. The current president has been in power for 15 years now, and he's not eager to leave. There is speculation that he is particularly worried about losing his fortune or being criminally prosecuted. His net worth is estimated at $15 billion. This number seems crazy high to me, but it's hard to know for sure. We do know, thanks to a recent Bloomberg report that him and his family members have connections to over 70 different businesses throughout Congo. Anyway you look at it, he's a billionaire in a country where two-thirds of the population lives on $1.90 per day. So people are kind of upset about the whole election not happening thing.
There were two major agreements throughout the last few months, between the Presidential Party and the Opposition. The first one was mediated by the African Union and signed last September. This agreement said that presidential elections would not occur until 2018 (Sad!). Some people considered this agreement invalid because the negotiations did not include two of the primary opposition leaders Etienne Tshisekedi and Moise Katumbi. This arm of the opposition, led by Tshisekedi, continued to threaten protests and accused the president of disrespecting the constitution. There was major concern that the country would devolve into chaos following December 19th, the day, when the president was constitutionally required to leave office.
Following December 19th, there were major protests during which at least 34 people were killed by government security forces. A number of activists were also arrested (at least 9 are still in jail). Throughout this period, a conference of catholic bishops called CENCO was mediating a second negotiation, this time including the opposition party led by Tshisekedi. These negotiations resulted in a second agreement that was signed around New Years. The second agreement says that there will be a presidential election by the end of 2017, and that the current president will not run for a third term or attempt to change the constitution. The agreement was signed by senior officials within the presidential party, but the president himself has not signed or made any type of public commitment to the agreement. There are reports that the president told catholic bishops he was committed to the deal, but obviously he is trying to create wiggle room.
It's hard to tell whether the presidential party will honor this agreement. There are still many challenges to overcome in the next year, but it is possible that if the right pressure is applied, both by the Congolese people and the International Community, we will witness the first non-violent transfer of power in Congo's history. This would be a historic moment that might change both the Congo and Africa for the better. Congo is such a large and resource rich country, that with the right leadership, it could become a major player in the future. It all depends on the willingness of leaders to cooperate over the next year. Nobody knows what will happen if the elections are not held soon.
Walls and Imagination
I just finished reading a book called The Moral Imagination: The Art and Soul of Building Peace. The book is written by John Paul Lederach, a person who has spent many years working in areas where people are affected by violence. There is a strange contradiction within this book, that reflects a greater contradiction within the world. It emerges from a chapter titled "On the Gift of Pessimism."
This chapter focuses on conversations Lederach has had over the years, with people who live in violent places. He writes about the cautious attitude that these people tend to have. He includes a list of rules that he has often heard from people in these situations. One particular rule really stood out to me:
"To survive violence, create walls and retrench. Plan to do it for a long time. don't give your walls up easily. You will likely live to regret it." (Lederach, 54,55)
It stood out to me because it contradicts everything Lederach says in the rest of the book. Walls are all about closing yourself off, while the rest of the book is focused on opening yourself up. Lederach's method seems to be strongly focused on listening, paying attention to multiple viewpoints, and opening oneself up to the unknown. The contradiction comes down to this question; are walls/frontiers/borders good or bad?
We see this debate everywhere. The most obvious current example is Trump's promise to build a wall between Mexico and the United States. Some say we have to have borders, while others question the necessity. Another famous example is the West Bank Separation Wall between Israel and Palestine. Liberal Human Rights advocates seem to abhor these walls, but conservatives calls them necessary. Lederach seems to be saying that people who have lived through conflict would agree with the conservatives. My impression is that many Africans would agree with the conservatives as well. Walls are everywhere in Africa.
I've talked a lot already about the power of borders in Africa, but there are also many other types of walls. A lot of houses in Africa have walls around them, with razor wire or broken glass on top, to prevent burglary. Another type of barrier is this sort of tribalism that exists throughout Africa. Tribe is like family here. People are expected to lookout for other members of their group, often at the expense of other groups. The most pertinent example of this is the way government leaders tend to favor their tribe, giving them the best jobs and lots of other advantages. It can be a major problem, because less qualified people tend to find themselves in high up positions.
Another example. While I was in Nairobi, I had the chance to see my Congolese host brother who is studying architecture at the University of Nairobi. He told me that he faces challenges at the school, because he is a foreigner. He said that people are unhappy to see him doing well, and he fears that it will be hard for him to get a good internship. This is the problem from the book I mentioned before, Why Nations Fail. Africa as a whole would be better off if people were able to cooperate and compete in a healthy way, because the collective pie would get bigger. For the individual, walls may be beneficial, but collectively they hold us back. My host brother is an intelligent and hard-working young man, so it's disappointing to see him held back by these things. But then, his house in Congo has a wall around it too.
The secret is to find a healthy balance between these two sides. Walls are a necessity and have existed throughout human history, but we are also all connected, and the world as a whole will be a much better place if we remember that, and try to help each other. I like to think of liberals and conservatives as two weights, counterbalancing each other and holding the world together. Obama seems to have pushed the capacities of American Foreign Policy to a new level of openness, focused on globalism. Trumps America First Policy may turn out to be an equally large step in the other direction. This concerns me. Trumps attitude will benefit America, but will ultimately leave the rest of the world less well off.
The thesis of Lederach's book seems to be that we will ultimately need to take the risk of tearing down walls, if we are going to move forward. It pairs up well with the thesis from Why Nations Fail, which says that societies do better when they are politically and economically inclusive. But being open is scary. What if we get hurt?
Conclusions
This stuff all ties together. It feels like a rabbit hole, but I think there is a floor. I haven't finished Why Nations Fail yet, so I'm gonna have to leave this as "to be continued." I will definitely come back to the question of why Congo is so poor? For now, one more story.
This story is good news. I no longer have to wake up in the middle of the night to collect water or carry plastic jugs of water up my stairs, because my new boss installed a super cool water pump system at my apartment. This is how the world gets better. Talented individuals look at something and say, "I can make this work better." So my life got a little bit better this week. Thanks Clair, we're so happy you're here.
Anyway, here are some pictures from Kenya and Rwanda. Also, there's a little treat at the end.
Vanessa and Johnny were nice enough to invite me to visit an elephant orphanage with them. It's a place that rescues baby elephants that lost their parents for one reason or another. This guy is probably 1 or 2 years old.
This guy was also at the orphanage. He was super friendly, so I got to touch his skin. It felt hard like rock.
This is a tall building in Nairobi.
And this is me on top of the building.
At the national museum
Indy and I found this Chameleon while we were hiking.
That's Nairobi off in the distance.
I saw a lot of signs like this around Nairobi. I never called, but it was good to know I had the option, just in case.
Dr. Kamuna doesn't offer revenge, but he can help with family affairs, whatever that means.
We found a lot of these giant worms in Nyungwe National Park. Our guide said they're called rain worms.
This field and stream are the long sought after source of the Nile.
There's a fantastic story about Werrason and his involvement in the Congolese "beer wars" in David Van Reybrouck's book Congo: The Epic History of a People (the book I summarized in my last post). It turns out that the entire book is available online here. Chapter 13, which features the story about Werrason is available here. The story about Werrason starts about half-way through the chapter.
