Monthly Archives: January 2011

Goma, Nord-Kivu January 28th “Club des amités!” “Les combatants de Jungle!” “Club des amités!” “Les combatants de Jungle!” It is 6:30 AM with the sun beginning to light the dusty, dirty, urine smelling Stade des Volcans (Volcanos) football ground in … Continue reading →

Goma, Nord Kivu January 25th Rounding a corner in the Cirque Sportif informal settlement in Goma there is a rumble up ahead, with some kind of fight going on. A crowd has formed a circle, just like a schoolyard fight … Continue reading →

Goma, Nord Kivu January 25th Many things can pass through your mind as you walk through an informal market in Africa. They are noisy and chaotic with squawking animals, crowds and burning rubbish in the street. One can choose to … Continue reading →

Goma, Nord Kivu January 24th We haven’t walked far from the hotel before there is a huge crash up ahead followed by a thud. A moto-taxi has just been run over and the driver and passenger are in the intersection, … Continue reading →

Scaling up the Kivu Reintegration Centre.  Goma, Nord Kivu January 21st The director of the UN’s demobilisation operations, or Disarmament, Demobilisation, Repatriation Rehabilitation and Reintegration (DDRRR) in Eastern Congo, arrives late for our meeting which takes place in a porta-cabin … Continue reading →

The Kivu Reintegration Centre, Goma Nord-Kivu January 20th Once you’ve passed the dreaded accreditation process at the hands of intelligence and got yourself settled, there is actually much to appreciate in Goma. The attractively laid out colonial city, with its … Continue reading →

Goma, Nord Kivu January 18th The situation of North Kivu is definitely better now than my last visit a year and a half ago—if still violent and conflict ridden—but Goma itself has not necessarily changed for the better. The corruption … Continue reading →

Rwanda-DRC Frontier at Goma, January 16th 2011 Walking alone across the frontier into DRC I am met at the guard post by Ferdinand Benge-Luendo, my friend and counterpart. It is an emotional moment: I haven’t seen him in 18 months … Continue reading →

Kigali to Goma Jan 15th 2011 That a capital city is not the country is something to keep in mind, and once you have departed Kigali and entered the hills and mountains of rural Rwanda you are face to face … Continue reading →

Getting ahead, looking past the past, Kigali Jan 8th-15th 2011 Those getting on board the plane tell you something about the destination you are going to. The flight from Johannesburg to Kigali on Rwandair, the country’s small but oddly endearing … Continue reading →