Two Park Guards killed

There is horrible news from the Okapi Wildlife Reserve this Christmas. Two park guards, James; command officer, and Didi, were killed by poachers. They were on a patrol deep in the forest. Didi died of injuries, so his brave colleagues were able to remove his body from the forest today (4 days after the incident). James was killed immediately, and his body is still at least 2 days away from being removed from the forest. His body is being attended to by other courageous guards, who are helping to move it out of the forest and towards the road.

It is tough for all their colleagues, the park guards - who daily act bravely to protect the natural heritage of the Congo - knowing that death is an uncertain reality. It is much worse for the families of these two men. I don't know if they left widows or children, but assume they both did.

Will post more info when it becomes available. We hope now that they can both be properly buried as soon as possible.

Gorilla Tracking!

Kahuzi-Biega National Park in eastern DR Congo, is a World Heritage Site, due to its universal value to conservation. It used to harbor 75% of the eastern lowland gorilla (gorilla gorilla graueri), which is only found in DR Congo. The range of these gorillas was literally invaded by warring and anarchy over the last 15 years. Kahuzi-Biega was the scene of massive mineral exploitation - invaded by as many as 30,000 miners, all of who had to eat!
These gorillas were even hunted for bushmeat - killing many of the groups which had been habituated to tourism...very very sad.

However, park management has worked hard to counter negative forces - mining and rebel groups in the park, to protect its gorillas. Kahuzi-Biega was the site of the first gorilla group habituated to tourism - and here I am with the old man who was there at the beginning - Bwana Pilipili (basically his name is hotsauce or pepper :-).

Now tourism is open, and there are 2 groups habituated - including Chimanuka's group. His name means Eureka! - because after the war, park guards feared that all silverbacks had been lost, but he was found. He now is the silverback leader of 37 individuals! He and his 16 females very productive - now with 20 children, including 4 sets of twins! It is an amazing experience to spend a few minutes with gorillas - thinking about how they've resisted, how their Congolese protectors have persisted, and just watching them eat, play and watch you! Truly an international treasure.

Polar opposite neighbors

I'm currently in Goma - the gory- or hollow-named Congolese city on the shores of Lake Kivu. It is on the border with Rwanda, and filled with people, vehicles, and lava! Just 15 km from the city stands Mount Nyiragongo - one of handful of the world's active volcanoes which has a permanent lava pool in its center. It is a mirror image of those baking soda volcano sets that you should buy for Christmas, and people live ALL around it. On clear nights, a bright red glow can be seen from Goma and clear days reveal a constant steam.

In 2002, Nyiragongo erupted sending most of the city's residents fleeing as lava covered much of the city. To the west of Nyiragongo, and also in Congo, is a younger and even more active volcano Nyumalagira. As you move east, Congo shares two dormant volcanoes - Mikeno & Sabyinyo - with Rwanda. Then Rwanda & Uganda contain the 5 oldest volcanoes. All these dormant volcanoes comprise one of two blocks of the mountain gorilla's range!

Goma has horribly bumpy roads - hardened lava waits to be smoothed as people trip continuously. Goma has dealt with a lot in the last few years - receiving massive influxes of refugees from continuous conflicts. However, the huge UN presence has held up the hard-working, endurant local economy. Lava-block walls encircle new manses and there are many more under construction. There is not a lot of quiet around town. But one shouldn't expect quiet in Congo anyways!

Goma and its neighbor border town; Gisenyi, Rwanda; are nearly perfect metaphorical synonym's to the reputation of their respective countries.

As soon as you arrive in Rwanda, there is no more lava (did a volcanologist draw these borders?) and calm and order is restored. Where Congo has roads paved with lava' Rwanda has paved roads. Rwandan taximen hand a helmet to passengers! Gisenyi is a quiet resort town - very few people compared to the gigantesque, crowded Goma. There are artificial sandy beaches formed on its beautiful shore. Locals hit the beach and swim - boys practice flips off of hills, couples cuddle in the park, and expats and local middle-class go to resorts to swim in pools and water-ski. It has a very calming feel to it as opposed to the dirty, claustrophobia-causing, and intimidating Goma. Relations between the two countries are quite good now, and the border is open 24 hours a day. But given the choice, Congolese stay in Goma, and Rwandans stay in Gisenyi!

RIP - Papa Jeepay

November cruised by with lots of force (French for "strength") with Thanksgiving and preparation for a long voyage, on which I've already departed. Finally I've been lended a quiet night alone at the hotel - a good time to drink some red wine and give a little update.

My organization lost Papa Jean-Pierre JeePay last month - he was a veteran chauffeur for the last 18 years. He plied the sometimes impossible Congolese routes, the often impracticable logistics - to become the longest-lived employee in Epulu. He was 55 years old, a husband, and father of 3 boys, and friend to many. I didn't know him very well - but he was always polite, an exemplary worker, had a great laugh, and looked really cool in his Puma sweatsuit. His Swahili dropped off his tongue like oranges from a moving truck. The real heroes in conservation are people like Papa Jeepay - the people who commit to their job - not for glory - not for making a name for themselves as a scientist - but for their family and for their country. They grind everyday, don't really imagine what else they'd do, and don't complain too. He simply worked because that's who he was.

Last November, when Epulu's bridge collapsed, Papa JeePay was one of the unfortunate who flipped out of the crossing canoe on his way to work. I thought "Oh, thank God it was JeePay - he is strong as a horse, and could probably swim even Epulu River's mightiest rapids". He probably could - but maybe all the work seemed to catch up to him eventually.

Earlier this year, he had problems with a nerve in his leg. The morning of the day he died, he asked somebody to pray for him, saying his health wasn't very good. He worked so hard in a difficult environment, that he must have become very tired. He died suddenly of a heart attack on Nov 19. RIP JeePay - may you take a well-deserved rest. You should know you are missed and you did a great job for your family and your country.

Monster Trucks

As soon as one arrives in the Congo, its impossible to ignore the size of the trucks.  Immediately after crossing the border from Uganda, I saw the tallest truck I have ever seen.  It was piled maybe 25 feet high with clear plastic bags of clear plastic bottles.  My boss explained that the bottles are being brought to a local beverage factory.  EEK - whose gonna recycle all thos bottles???

Also, there are huge, huge petroleum trucks which ply the routes far into interior Congo.  It would be interesting to know how far petrol actually travels in from the east Africa coast (Mombasa, Kenya is the deep water port).  Surely to Kisangani, but maybe further down the Congo River?   It is far - which is a bit of ironic, because the mouth of the Congo River is on Africa's west coast which is extremely rich in oil resources (Angola, Republic of Congo, Gabon). 

The funniest truck I saw, was this huge truck stuck in the middle of the road - with a huge mudflaps that read "OH!!! GOD".  Its not really funny when I think too hard about the broken down truck...it really sucks.  But maybe I think broken down trucks are kinda funny like some Africans think people getting injured is kinda funny - looking at the other point of view is probably quite appalling in either case.  A goofy mudflap message, thats what made me laugh.  Though some of the old trucks still plying routes here ought to have been retired decades ago. 

Last year, an overloaded truck carrying illegal timber collapsed the bridge in Epulu village - cutting a National Road for a few days (until a crossing-method was devised), causing many delays and added costs for a whole month, which impacted the entire regional economy.  It was a lot shorter than the bridge-downing that lasted for almost 2 years and had been resurrected a mere month before Epulu's bridge-downing.  With a little luck, 2010 has seen no bridges falling down!  But the trucks are stiill huge! 

Differing viewpoints on leopards

Last week, a leopard was caught in Epulu. It weighed about 30 kg, and
was lured into a cage by a small puppy during the night. It had been
roaming around the village the previous nights. The population
demanded intervention from the traditional chief and park guards. A
trap was set and less than 24 hours later - voila, the leopard.

I rode up to see the leopard, hoping to see it alive, but it had been
shot by park guards. The entire village of Epulu nearly came to see
its carcass. Why all the intrigue? For a villager, the leopard
represents mystery and sorcery. The leopards are controlled by a
sorcer, who keeps them in his house, where to other villagers, they
appear as a dog. The sorcerer walks around with his leopard at night,
and if you seem him with it, he'll tell you the leopard is a dog. The
keeper of this leopard will die soon - within a week or two, but not
more. Finally, everybody will know who was the keeper.
Their viewpoint is that the leopard is an opportunistic hunter, who
will kill anything, even a man. The village chief had some sort of a
witchcraft cleansing ceremony with the leopard, before it was examined
and measured by the park guards. The meat was distributed and I don't
know what was done with the skin or body parts.

The leopard is the biggest cat in the tropical forest ~60kg, and the
top of the foodchain. Even for a conservationist, leopards are
mysterious - they are poorly understood because they are solitary,
shy, and moving all the time. Leopards routinely patrol their
territory - walking 25 or more km every night. Leopards are the only
predator (besides man) of the okapi and other large mammals of the
tropical forest. Of the 13 okapis in Epulu, the animals born in
captivity have shiny coats, perfect striped patterns on their
hind-quarters and well shaped ears. Those animals which had been
captured often have scratch marks which interrupt the striped
hind-quarters, ragged ears, and dull looking coats. The scratch marks
certainly come from a leopard - these swift predators stalk prey which
can be more than 4 times its size, ALONE - not in a pack.

This animal had a grave wound on its right front paw - he or she had
pulled himself out of a metal snare. The right front paw was
gruesomely mangled - maybe fractured, very tender and open to
infection. He or she was maybe three years old - 5 years away from
being mature. Leopards live at very low densities - and there may be
a few hundred total in the whole of the Okapi Reserve - which is
larger than the state of Connecticut.

The forests are growing emptier and emptier as a result of
commercialization of bushmeat hunting. Leopards are lured to villages
where they can opportunistically find a loose chicken, dog, or goat.
Near villages, risks for leopards are also increased - from being
trapped or injured by snares. They'll certainly survive most snare
wounds for a while, but they are then forced to stay close to villages
in order to survive.

Since ages and ages ago, villagers have fear of leopards as dangerous
man-eaters - and controlled by sorcery. They justify the killing of
the leopards to assuage their fears. It is difficult to cross this
gap in viewpoints - from conservationist to villager. Normal human
activities - or dark sorcery - could be responsible for leopards
searching for their death near villages. A hunter who let out a metal
snare will see the leopard's fur in his snare or will find that his
snare has been destroyed. Will he be able to acknowledge even to
himself that he caused the early death of king of the forest? If yes,
will he care? Or his he caught up in the sorcery rumormill too.
Rumors of other leopards persist - more sorcerers? or just more kings
of the forest in danger?

Epulu - the most historic village in DR Congo

The Congo is probably the last place one might think of as a vacation
place - or even historic place for that matter. But it is (or has
been) both! These days, you'd be hard-pressed to find any good news
about Congo in the international media to make you think so. But it's
just coming out of quite a rough patch. Things were pretty bright
around Congo in the era just before independence from Belgium in 1960.
Before going downhill - fast!

I'll just discuss Epulu before this time as its interesting enough for
a whoile post. This village was founded (not sure what that means)
when an eccentric American anthrolopologist named Patrick Putnam,
moved here in 1927 with his wife. He started building a hotel,
capturing animals and interacting with pygmies. He stayed in Epulu
until his death around 1953. Epulu is referred to as Camp Putnam on
old maps.

In 1952, a Portuguese named De Medina established the Okapi capture
station, managed for the Belgian colonial authorities. They started
capturing wild okapis to export to zoos round the world, while
maintaining a zoo in Epulu, which had 28 okapis, more than double now
here (13). Some savannah species were even imported to Epulu's zoo.
One American man who grew up as a missionary kid in northeastern
Congo, apparently got rid of their pet lion when it started to show
its wild instincts. It came to Epulu's zoo in the 1950s.

The only African elephants that have been successfully domesticated
for tourism come from Gangala-na-Bodio in the Garamba National Park.
(Aside: Garamba, a World Heritage Site, is in the northeast corner of
Congo - most recently famous for being the hideout of the Lord's
Resistance Army under Joseph Kony; and the simultaneous disappearance
of the last wild northern white rhinos). Anyways. 14 of these
elephants were brought to Epulu's zoo for some reason - apparently, to
consolidate the Belgian administration's domesticated or captured
animals. Verbal accounts say that these elephants were kept in cages
where my organization's offices are currently. The elephants would be
brought down the road a few kilometers and released into the forest to
eat for a few hours, then someone would blow a whistle and they'd
return to the road. I have no way of validating or disproving this
story of how they fed, but if its half true, its amazing.

A Belgian man named Davids biult Hotel Okapi - at a picturesque spot
along Epulu River, which drew crowds of Belgian colonial authorities
every weekend in the 1950s.

Colin Turnbull, renowned anthrologist and author, came to Epulu in
1958 or so, spent 3 years living with pygmies before writing his
seminal work "The Forest People". Turnbull's main wingman Kenge was
famous for years afterwards as a forest guide. His son Colin was one
of my most recent guides in the forest near Epulu.

After independence in 1960, Congo sunk quickly into political turmoil.
It became Africa's most important theater in the
Cold War. Patrice Lumumba was the first elected Prime Minister, and
quickly began courting the Chinese and Soviets. He was quickly
assassinated with complicity of Belgium, USA, the UN, and other
Congolese political factions. Lumumbist communist-leaning loyalists
did not disappear, rather they waged war throughout the eastern part
of Congo - the Mulelist Rebellion. The Belgians were long gone
already, but any intellectuals had assumedly cozied up to the Belgians
and were sought out and killed.

In 1968, the Okapi capture station along with all animals - was
destroyed. The okapi capture station and zoo was rehabilitated in the
mid 1980s under the Gilman International Conservation's Okapi
Conservation Project. It weathered periods of strife during Africa's
World War. It was twice occupied by rebels - 1996 and 2002 - who
allowed zookeepers to care for and feed the okapis. The population is
now 13 - and 2 okapis should be born next summer. Its not easy to
maintain anything in Congo - but all the efforts of brave Congolese
and conservationsts throughout the years have kept the Okapi Wildlife
Reserve and the okapi zoo - a site of national pride and world
heritage.

My view of this history is certainly seen through a western lens -
which I admit, is far from telling the whole story. But the story of
this village - even the western view - deserves to be told. Come and
visit and feel the magic and mystery of a the most historic village in
DR Congo.

Signe de vie (Sign of life)

Dear Friends, Family, and followers of my blog,

Please excuse my long hiatus from my blog.  I'll resume it shortly.  For a long time, I had nothing to say, just due to my inability to express my feelings about my experiences.  But I think its better for me to say what I can, even if its not profound, so you can know what's going on in DRC.  I get emails from friends sometimes which say - why don't you make any more sign of life (signe de vie)?  I hate to hear it really - but one thing I've learned is that keeping in touch is quite difficult despite the enabling technology.  To correct this, here is at long last - a signe de vie!

Since my last update in April, a lot has happened:

May:
-trip to Bunia, capital of Ituri District; between Epulu and Bunia, there is a rather abrupt transition from forest to savannah in Bunia, the elevation makes nights chilly

-visit from American friends to Epulu (Brandon, Chelsie and Megan) who teach at Christian Bilingual University of Congo in Beni; we visited the okapis, got attacked by ants, played bananagrams, hiked to the local inselberg, ate like kings & queens (thanks to two mamas doing the cooking!)  - They got to see another part of Congo and I got to share Epulu living with them.

June
-visit from the Myhres to Epulu - the Myhres are a missionary family who have lived in western Uganda (5km from the Congo border) for the last 17 years.  All four of their kids grew up in Uganda.  The two youngest - Julia (13) and Jack(12) came with Scott & Jennifer to help Jennifer complete one of her life goals - to visit the okapi.  Having lived through scary years of 1996-98 when a Ugandan rebel group attacked their home area of w. Uganda and then slunk back into the jungles across the border in Congo - it was nearly impossible (and uninviting) to visit eastern Congo.  They will soon be moving to Kenya, thus limiting this time as literally the only possible window for the visit. We had a perfect visit. Again, visited inselbergs and ate well courtesy of Mamas Asumpta & Marceline.
 
-we visit Nyankunde near Bunia - a mission station set up by African Inland Mission and other missionaries - which thrived as a nursing school, hospital, and well-known primary and secondary schools.  Nyankunde was destroyed in 2002 by an ugly massacre during the civil war (or African World War) - one of the only places in Congo where there was actually Congolese tribes fighting each other.  An older American couple carried out some of the early construction in Nyankunde between 1965-85, raising their kids there.  Now long after their kids have grown, they're back to rebuild some of the same buildings they built in the first place.  Amazing people - Rich and Ruth Dix.    

-leave Congo with the Myhres, watch world cup, go chimp-tracking, visit friends Carol, Zaituni, Godfrey, and Evelyne in Kampala

-arrive back in the USA after one full year away.  Back with Dad & Mom again!
-meet Brayden Haringa, newborn son of Matt and Samantha.

July 5 - Aug 6
-Spent 5 weeks studying French in La Ville de Québec, which quickly become one of my favorite cities.  Exploring old Quebec and making new friends gave me lots of practice opportunities.  My level was Enriched Intermediate - maybe a little to high for someone who has never taken a French class, but it pushed me and now I have a higher level of confidence.  In Quebec, I have found my new favorite vacation spot. Its got its own lovely and proud culture - not European or American.  I'll return there frequently to practice my adopted (and loved) second language - French. 

August
- visit from college buddies: Cory W, Steve & Emily - and young Henry! - we did Boston like it was their FIRST time!  Duck boat tours, fighting some redcoats, dunkin' donuts, perfecting the Boston accent, Boston creme this and that, lots of catching up and rehashing the days past
- trip to North Carolina to visit my dear sister Leah.  We hit the beach and slapped the bass big time.  Also got to meet Asher Frey, son of friends Craig and Rachel
- trip to New York to visit the big bosses and sleep a few nights in the Bronx Zoo - an odd place to navigate at night!.  Also I picked up 8 trunks which were my responsibility all the way to Congo. 

September
- back to Africa!
- back in Epulu, not much has changed -
-Minnie, our little cat had a little kitty of her own - called Kidogo, which is Swahili for "small"
-Ashley, a British chap, will be my roommate all year - he's great company!
-Joelle, our cuisinière's baby is 11+ months old, has a little ponytail, and is readying to walk and talk

Now I'm glad to be back.  There's a lot of work here in Epulu!  Also, my life here is pretty simple and I don't have the responsibilities of cooking, cleaning, or doing comparison shopping, buying piles of equipment!  I just work and enjoy village life.

Thanks for reading!  More soon - about Epulu, my home village; which is easily one of the most historic places in DR Congo.

Inverse Economics

Lately I've become increasingly aware of the confounding nature of economics in what is the nation-state of DRC.  Ancient tax policies from the era of an economic idiot dictator remain in place more than 12 years after his death.  The only taxes which exist are for international trade - of which a huge majority are imports.  To make up for it, there are so many taxes that companies usually evade taxes by using illegal means.  If they go by legal means - they pay bribes to get a little bit of relief from some of the dozens of taxes.  How much of these taxes go into actual human service development?  It is a rhetorical question I think... 

The "development" of the country is in the hands of Chinese who gave up a little of their fortune for a whole whole lot of the DRC's wealth.  Rumor has it that the DRC gov't hardly negotiated and the terms of the contract have not been revealed.  The gov't gave access rights to copper mines (for 25 yrs) for 9 billion dollars worth of infrastructure development in a country the size of western Europe that hadn't had any infrastructure development work for 30 years - until this contract was signed in 2005 or so.  So they need the 9 billion in infrastructure improvements, but its Chinese leading the road-building while Congolese provide the day labor.  The minerals are extracted and leave the country raw.  For a country that has so many minerals, a mineral processing industry would be a logical sector to develop, but just like the past 100 years, every commodity crosses out of Congo in nearly its rawest form possible.

World Bank projects fund the rest of the progress.  The president talks of 5 Building Sites (Cinq Chantiers) - Education, Health, Infrastructure, Employment and some other sector (should be electricity!?).  Its mostly nonsense, since there is basically 0 sign of all the chantiers.  None of the chantiers is visible outside of Kinshasa the capital - where the most powerful (or menacing) 8 million of DRC's 70 million residents live.  With all these new buildings and roads, who will maintain?  with which equipment?  Who will pay for it? 

On a micro-level, cultural practices still have a negative effect on the economy.  Polygamy is still somewhat common - with some grand patrons having 4 wifes and 10-20 kids depending on their virility.  Half of the kids are obliged to never finish or even attend school.  Also, brides must be bought for a hefty price depending on their beauty.  My young colleagues say the system is growing to treat women more and more like merchandise.  Once the payment is accepted, the groom has the responsibility to pay for the

While recently celebrating my birthday, I learned that the birthday person has to pay for their party.  If you expect presents you've come to the wrong place, because you get a whole lot more questions related to "why didn't you invite me to your party? / where is my beer? " than "how was your birthday?"  And its not like what goes around comes around, because most people don't bother to celebrate their birthday.  I can't say I blame them with the expense! 

There is certainly potential for economic growth with so many people struggling - access to any new item at a reasonable price could bring a fortune to a well-placed and well-funded businessman.  The reality is more that people come to Butembo to buy cheap shit from Dubai which usually breaks soon after the people leave.  Having no warranties, the people are obliged to come back and buy again the next month or the next year.  The businessmen maximise their profits, but the consumers are left to deal with the horrible options available to them.  Prices are high because demand is far far higher than the supply.  There is so little available startup capital, so people are stuck in poverty trap and can't pursue their ideas. 

Tourism - basically forget it - unless you're willing to pay for one of the most expensive visas in the world, be met by harrassing officials at the border, and deal with unreliable, uncomfortable or unreasonably expensive transport or lodging.  Look across the eastern border at Tanzania, Uganda and Rwanda who have none of the resources of the DRC (except the ones they got from there).  These countries have similar natural wonders and huge profits from the tourism sector because they are organized.  

Credit? - nope.  Insurance? - forget it.  Stable currency? - DRC uses the dollar - thats at least a good idea.
The major matters of human security - savings, retirement, health care, are only available to a very few and is nothing like what is available in the west.    

This accusing post is just meant to show the reality.  I often find myself feeling bad for people here.  What can people do other than to pray to God that things change?  The territory of DRC was originally set up to be plundered, and in effect, this has never really changed.  We must hope! 

Language Power

One of the premier ways world power can be understood is to look at the dispersion of languages and language speakers.  Nation-states are often synonymous with language groups.  The French, German, Dutch, Chinese, and Korean....while other nations are divided by their languages - such as Belgium, Switzerland...

In Africa, there are far more languages than a westerner (particularly the average American!) can fathom.  Every tribe - whether they be separated by a few kilometers or live symbiotically with other tribes, typically retain their tribal tongue.  Sometimes these languages are spoken by only a few thousand people.  Some are not written, and others are in danger of dying out with the elderly, particularly as other regional/national/int'l languages gain in importance. 

The Ituri forest has been home to groups of "pygmy" hunter-gatherers for thousands of years.  I hate the term pygmy, but there still isn't a better one to use.  During the Pleistocene ice age - Bantus expanded from modern Nigeria into the Congo Basin looking for agricultural land and started to live alongside the pygmies. The pygmies have often adopted the languages of their closest Bantu allies, because they depend on them for their basic livelihoods.  In fact, the perception that pygmies are completely reliant on the forest is utterly false - they get a slight majority of their caloric intake from the forest, while much comes from their relationship with agriculturalists.  Certainly, they still hunt and gather and prefer it very much to agriculture!  Their reliance on Bantus, and vice-versa (!) has presumably endured for hundreds and maybe thousands of years.  The Bantu languages typically garner more importance than the mother tongue and may lead to a language dying out.

In eastern Congo, Swahili is a bit of a lingua franca that unites a melange of dozens of tribes, but it is not really the mother tongue.  For at least the last 500 years, Swahili has evolved as a trad language between African tribes and Arab traders from the Swahili coast of Tanzania/Zanzibar and Kenya.  The language can be found inland as far as these traders were able to penetrate - centuries before the Europeans started to penetrate the central African jungles.

The DR Congo was drawn up hastily on a map during the 1885 meeting between European colonial powers, and now has 5 national languages - French, Kikongo, Tshiluba, Lingala follows the Congo river from the Atlantic coast to Kinshasa and 1000 miles upstream to Kisangani, Swahili unites the eastern provinces esp. the cities of Goma, Kisangani and Lubumbashi.  Since I've arrived in Congo, I've met several people who speak 4 or 5 languages - typically those who speak English have mastered Lingala, Swahili, French and maybe a tribal mother tongue. 

As an American (often synonymous with speaking only one single language), I have struggled to gain a passable level of French since I arrived here.  But when I talk with ladies or children in the village, or even try to follow a group of Congolese men sharing a funny story, I am often left marveling at the tones of Swahili but am not really understanding anything! 

Many Congolese complain that they are powerless with their colonizing tongue - French.  Belgium, left Congo as a Francophone country - and now Congolese cite the effects of colonialism regimes in the disparate levels of development between the Francophone and Anglophone countries in Africa.  Their neighbors Zambia, Rwanda, Uganda, Tanzania are all a bit better off than Congo .  They hope to eventually add English, as it perceived to be the dominant language-power and it is.  If a Congolese speaks English, they can't miss finding a job here.  Sure, Google has introduced search engines in many languages, but searching in English will undoubtedly give you the best results if you search for something technical, scientific, or business-related. 

So I am left being begged to teach people English while that isn't my job at all.  People who typically don't speak French, greet me with it, assuming their inherited colonial tongue is the way to communicate with a white person.  I'm also given huge smiles and the source of lots of laughs whenever I attempt the lovely Swahili.  It truly is the heart language of everybody here, and in the same way I am so refreshed to speak English when the chances come.

Follow up on baby Forest Elephant

I've been told that the Mama elephant was likely killed in the nearby forest and her tusks removed by poachers.  The baby elephant was then stabbed with a spear by an opportunistic villager.  The baby was buried this time, which makes three dead elephants in two months, including two babies. 

Five or more well-armed poaching groups are currently operating within the Okapi Reserve.  They are tasked and supported by the military - all the way to the highest levels of the military of Province Orientale.  The price of ivory continues to be high and RFO park management continues to be blocked by the relative political might of the military compared to the ICCN (Congolese Institute for the Conservation of Nature).  Until this will is changed or broken, or ivory prices decline, elephants will continue to be lost, and many park guards will enter into a very dangerous work environment.    

Conservation gains and losses

I must make a small disclaimer with this post....I can't speak with authority in matters of conservation. Despite working with one of the top conservation NGOs in the world - I often don't catch a lot of details or patterns due to my elementary understanding of the culture, context, and language. However, its pretty easy for me to identify the most obvious conservation defeats and conservation progressions when they present themselves, so I'll present them as accurately as I understand them.

On my way back to the Reserve de faune a okapis site, I stopped in another one of my organization's offices and happened to meet the chief warden of Mont Hoyo Nature Reserve. This reserve is the only intact forest that connects the easterly forests of Watalinga (DRC)/Semuliki (Uganda) with the more westerly Ituri forest of DR Congo - both of which have recently confirmed populations of the elusive okapi - the Watalinga has estimated only 50 animals left. Mont Hoyo was gazetted in 1948 and became popular with tourists to Belgian Congo. It is reknowned for its mountainous terrain in which is hidden impressive limestone caves. The surrounding mixed savannah and forest had harbored elephants, okapis, and other large animals. Much of the Mont Hoyo/Watalinga/Semuliki region has been off-limits due to insecurity since the first Congo Civil War began in 1997, when Mont Hoyo was completely abandoned and left unprotected. With the return of relative security, my organization is performing socio-economic surveys to assess local communities' perceptions of the ancient reserve. What are there livelihoods like? Where does their income come from? Would they support a protected area in their backyard after living for 13 years without a sense of one?

The chief warden has just received 20 guards to protect Mont Hoyo, and a Swedish NGO is rehabilitating the 13-km route into the Mont Hoyo reserve, where they'll also rehabilitate an ancient hotel. Further work includes working to delimit the boundaries with community participation, wildlife and botanical surveys to assess current state of the nature, and development projects to support neighboring communities. Success is on the way!!


Upon arriving in my site Tuesday evening, my colleague informed me of horrible news. He had just seen a baby elephant on the side of the road - 40 kms from the park headquarters - it had a bullet wound to its hindquarters and was unable to walk. The picture below shows the picture taken by my colleague. He estimated this baby stood about 1.2 meters tall - not sure how old that would make it - but my guess is certainly less than one year.




This second case comes only one month after a nearly identical case in the same general location. In early January, another baby elephant that had been shot was struck by a vehicle during the night, and left laying on the side of the road too - alive, but unable to get up and walk. My friend and park guards went to see it, and were very careful because the mother hovered and occasionally trumpeted from the shadows of the nearby forest. An agitated mother could charge and kill a person if she wanted to...

Eventually, the park management made the difficult decision to kill that first baby elephant and distribute the meat to neighboring communities. Unfortunately, there was not much they could do. The mother hovered nearby, and she could possibly be killed by poachers who were evidently nearby. Furthemore, violence could have broken out between the park guards and poachers. Best to have one dead elephant than possibly two and gunbattle.

These are disturbing events, especially now that its occurred twice in a little more than one month, in the same general location, and involving babies. Elephants have the longest gestation of all land mammals - 22 months!! - not sure about the length of whales gestation. A mother is able to produce babies between the ages of 8 and 20, so that leaves room for about a maximum of 5 if she's producing every 3 years....in all likelihood more like 3 babies in a lifetime. In terms of maintaining population numbers, its a lot worse to lose a baby than a mom whose already produced. The purpose of killing babies is a bit puzzling - is it by accident when trying to kill the mom - maybe, but wouldn't big mom be easier to shoot than the little baby? Mom has ivory tusks - baby has none. Mom has much more meat than the baby. Forest elephants usually move in small units - sometimes just a mom and a baby or two. I suspect in yesterday's case, that the mom was also shot or completely frightened off, because she was not found close by the baby. Are these poachers killing the babies to lure the mom to kill them too? Are they trying to get retribution at ICCN park guards for increased anti-poaching activities? Is a small market for elephant meat starting up? Difficult questions that don't have a clear answer...One thing is clear - the remaining elephants in our reserve are under serious continued threat. Many poachers are operating in the forest, and they must be defeated.

Also, if two baby elephants have fallen on the side of the 120km national road that cuts directly across the giant reserve which is 14,000 sq km, are there more cases in the forest that no one knows about? Very sad news and a conservation loss indeed.

Gravity

I'm in Kinshasa, and am realizing again its pretty darn difficult to do anything (quickly or at all) in this behemoth of a city.  Its got a sense of gravity that makes everybody tired.  There is traffic, dirt, pollution, trash, and general sense of tiredness - at least most buildings, cars, and manual laborers look very very tired.  There is no 9-5 rush like other world urban centers - it starts earlier and goes later and is full of delays all throughout.  Mid-day traffic jams are accented by the tremendous heat and humidity- especially if your vehicle's form of air-conditioning is wind thru the windows...   

I am glad I don't live here - and I have the blessing of returning to a petite village where there is none of the above chaos.  Furthermore, I don't have to sleep in a hotel room many more nights....where nothing works exactly how it was designed to.  The AC - the most vital of all items - has functioned mostly, and the backup fan system functions...but beyond that the sink and shower has never functioned, the toilet mostly functions, the tv has one channel which is a bit shaky, the lights in the bathroom have never functioned, the lights in the bedroom must be screwed in and screwed out with non-flammable/melt-proof material because the lightbulb is piping hot.  The electricity occasionally goes out and then it just starts to be boiling hot and its a good idea to head to the office nearby and pick up a cold beer on the way, hoping I can find a functioning fan at a minimum. 

The hotel's free simple breakfast contains baguette and butter, tea or coffee, I was told starts at 7.  But that is when the mamas actually start setting it up....which includes washing the tables, chairs, and dishes.  So around 8 oclock one can sit down for the baguette and coffee.  If you demand for an omelette, add another hour and can arrive at the office at 9 am.  Officially the office opens at 8, but everyone arrives more toward 9, and if there is rain - sometimes can't even make it in!  For every good route, there are 10 or 20 that are utterly horrible and full of holes and lakes when it rains.  With the horrible state of the routes, and the heat, vehicles have a tough tough existence. 

The transport is a wild mix of the nicest and worst cars you could imagine,
-some with steering wheels on the right side - good for Congo, many on the left - more difficult for Congo,
-brand new hummers and mercedes SUVs which just got shipped over
-ancient cars which probably were "mis au monde" in the early 80s and have no original paint and look like someone took a baseball bat to the body and windshield, but are still being limped along - or even pushed....
-oddities such as 3-wheeled Indian motorcycle taxis and the occasional 4-wheeler. 
-taxi-vans are like an aluminum box on wheels which have a few wood benches and if the windows are sometimes just a round hole cut through the metal body.  They frequently have a lopsided lean which makes me think they could just drop their wheels at any moment - judging by the cars in and on the side of the road, they often do.  The body of one taxi-van I saw was at least 10-degrees off from the direction it was traveling, making it look it look like it was just kinda skidding along.   

We were obliged to take my colleague's minivan for one day-long errand because our vehicle went ill.  The Univ of Kin is a long ways out of town and traffic made us take about 2 hours just to arrive there.  Then as we were working in the Cartography laboratory..the power would occasionally flicker and go out....so you need a backup system or plan for everything in this city!!

In Kinshasa, I was asked constantly for money - homeless street kids, security guards, waitresses, hotel workers...nobody has enough money to live in this terrificly expensive city, so they live very far away and take slow transport in and out of their work places, making their ledger line break into about an even 0.  Street-hawkers sell every sort of thing - tissues, water bags, shirts, clocks, belts, shoes, and my favorite are the really sweet maps! 

On rare occasions I find something which i think - wow, this is nice, clean, or aesthetically pleasing.  So when I think about what is nice, I must completely change my standards.  If you look around, lots of Kinois are smartly dressed and carrying on well.  The city is expansive and chaotic - people, traffic, and potholed streets in every direction for 20 miles it seems.  Why do people like to be in Kinshasa?  Because everyone else is - and that's got its own gravity.  Don't expect to find something nice, or to be on time, or to stay clean or not sweat.  Go with the flow, enjoy the craziness, sweat, smile, get dirty, try to fight the gravity.  Don't try to understand the chaos or you'll become overwhelmed.  Adjust and let it pull you a little bit. 

Christmas Miracle: the Bridge is fixed!

On December 20, the Epulu bridge was officially reopened by the governor of Oriental Province.  It took only 26 days for the Office des Routes to fix the bridge, which is record time considering the case of the nearby Komanda bridge.  That bridge took more than 2 years to fix, presumably because it was more than 4 times as long, other possible routes were available, and more than 500 people had work, and several corrupt officials directly benefited from the costs of transporting vehicles across the river. 

Let's hope that 2010 will mark an incident-free year for bridges, so that I don't have to make a predictive model of how long they'll take to fix, because that wouldn't be interesting all.

Variables include:
X = Other Routes possibly be taken
Y = Merchandise tonnage
Z = (number of people who benefit * 5) - number of people who suffer
ZZ = number of corrupt officials who benefit

Not interesting....

The fast action can be attributed to political will behind fixing this bridge because National Route 4 connects Orientale Province and there were no practical options for  goods transport but to continue crossing at the broken bridge site.  Thus, transporters had to pay officials for the right to offload goods, villagers to actually offload their goods, spend a night or two in town, and have another vehicle waiting on the other side of the bridge.  The effect of the bridge being out was increased prices of beer from Kisangani's Primus factory moving east to population centers like Beni, Bunia, and Butembo, while it also increased the price of food (beans, corn, and potatoes) and cheap Asian manufactured goods (tvs, stereos, flashlights, batteries) going west to Kisangani and even Kinshasa more than 1000 mi away. 

So Epulu is a little bit deforested near the river but not too much the worse for wear.  Many villagers were able to make some cash out of this whole disaster.  How can this be prevented from happening again?  It will take basic law enforcement, which is hardly easy in this country where most people live on less than dollar a day.