Monthly Archives: February 2011

Goma, Nord-Kivu February 27th Most clubs and drinking establishments in eastern Congo remind you of the Star Wars Bar, or at least the Wild West: soldiers, diamond traders, Russian pilots, bar girls, aid workers. They are not necessarily threatening and … Continue reading →

Goma, Nord-Kivu February 20th 2011 Congolese videos have an endearing home made quality to them, all jerky hand held shots and awkward camera angles. But this one is something entirely different—whether inadvertent or not, it feels like film noir. I … Continue reading →

The Kivu Assistance and Reintegration Centre, Goma, Nord-Kivu February 19th 2011 The police truck must have been going pretty fast when it hit that telephone pole in Goma—it T-boned the front of the vehicle perfectly, slicing through the engine compartment … Continue reading →

The Heal Africa hospital, Goma, Nord-Kivu February 17th Hospitals are not joyful places, they underline knowledge of our own mortality and an African one can produce a range of emotions for a visitor. The main hospital in Goma, eastern Congo, … Continue reading →

Goma North-Kivu February 10th For a small city Goma does actually have traffic jams and a morning rush hour. As the traffic slows down the motorcycle taxi drivers—who are my main means for getting around town—are in their element, weaving … Continue reading →

The Kivu Assistance and Reintegration Centre Goma, Nord-Kivu February 10th One thing Bob Geldoff probably learned during his own development aid Odyssey is that no matter how slovenly or selfish someone might be in their normal life, there is nothing … Continue reading →

Goma, Nord-Kivu February 4th Goma’s central post office is a colonial era building built in a faux Norman modernist style from the 1930s with a steep pitched terra cotta tile roof, a large round turret anchoring one side and an … Continue reading →

Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo February 3rd 2011 In 1961 when US writer George Plimpton stepped into the ring and sparred three rounds with then boxing champion Sugar Ray Robinson as part of an assignment for Sports Illustrated, he both … Continue reading →