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Adventures of a Retired Armchair Traveler
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sometimes i visit these: Get Congogirl updates emailed to you / Bloglines Congogirl link / Congogirl's Links List on My Del.icio.us / Where IS DR Congo, anyway?? / Congo Daily / good summary article on DR Congo / Samantha Power's article, "Bystanders to Genocide" / Dizolele / Cedric Kalonji's photo blog / Extra Extra / Nayembi / Thirteen Wildlife Blogs from DR Congo / Babycatcher / Global Voices / Helene in RD Congo / ID Land - adventures in international development / John's Blog / Kim Gjerstad in Congo / On Safari with el Jorgito / The Salon of News and Thought / This is Zimbabwe / Bluehaired Mary / African Path / Global Bioethics Blog | |
May 2008
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Uganda to provide electricity to DR Congo I just do not understand this. Kabila has made a deal with Uganda to purchase electricity? What about investing in the DRC's infrastructure instead, perhaps getting that dam up to speed so that excess electricity would be an asset that could be used domestically and sold to other countries in the region? I am no economist or electricity expert, so it's possible that it is logistically impossible for hydroelectric power produced farther west on the Congo river to be transported to the northeast, but still - it seems that the DRC government should consider where to invest and think about investing in its own resources. Uganda to earn Shs119billion in power export to Democratic Republic of Congo Tags: africa, dr congo, news |
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DRC news: sexual violence and progress toward peace There have been allegations in the past of UN peacekeepers sexually assaulting civilians, and it's in the news again. I'm sure we'll hear more about this in the future. It's happened in other countries, and the mission in DRC continues its mandate, so I don't think these accusations are over. Also, IRIN has an analysis of the progress toward peace in the Kivus, and the International Crisis Group has a new report out entitled Congo: Four Priorities for Sustainable Peace in Ituri. For a taste of the report, check out these recommendations from the executive summary to the gov't of DRC and to MONUC (another fourteen to other parties can be found at the site, full report in French):
Tags: conflict, dr congo, monuc, sgbv |
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HIV and conditional cash transfer schemes The other day I read about this scheme in Tanzania, which would essentially give people money for not contracting STIs over a period of time. There is are some thoughts on this with links to a number of articles on the Global Bioethics Blog here. The concept of conditional cash transfers is new to me, although not to many. Here's a link to a number of papers produced following CCT projects. CCT has been used in a number of contexts, some as a replacement for food supplements or vouchers, and some as a reward for positive health or education based behaviors, i.e. encouragement to mothers to ensure that their children go to school and stay in school. I think the main objection that resonates with me regarding the Tanzania project, backed by the World Bank, is the idea that this "reverse prostitution" is the only way to reduce transmission of HIV, i.e. that we have to pay Africans to not get HIV because nothing else has worked. What a derogatory thought. As well, I have heard that emphasis on reduction of partners and faithfulness has actually been very effective, though I don't have a reference at the tips of my fingers. This success could be related to the fact that some studies have shown that the tendency of Africans to have more than one concurrent partner increases the likelihood of transmission to more people because the virus is potent when first transmitted, and multiple concurrent partners means multiple people exposed during this potent period. ETA: Oh right, I meant to post this to ![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/community.gif){kind=small} hivnews. I'll leave it here but sorry, you'll see it there too if you're a member.Tags: africa, hiv, news, public health |
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Bush's last ditch effort to leave a legacy Last night I was listening to NPR. Bush is going to the Middle East again, to help put together a "description" of what a Palestinian state would look like, since he has realized that it will not actually become a state before the end of his term. What will this description resemble? Well, all we really know is that it will not look like swiss cheese! Tags: middle east, news, us
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US court allows apartheid claims This is interesting: apparently the Supreme Court cannot accept the case because its judges own stock in some of the corporations that are implicated!!!! The US Supreme Court has said it cannot intervene over the rights of apartheid victims to sue companies for damages. It said there was potential conflict of interest, as four of the nine justices had ties to the firms involved and could not rule on the case. By law, at least six justices must sit for the Supreme Court to hear a case. As a result, it could only uphold a lower court ruling allowing a lawsuit to go ahead against firms accused of aiding South Africa's apartheid system.
( Read more... ) Tags: human rights, racism, us |
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Two news articles about extractives in Congo FRENCHMAN DIES IN CONGOLOSE MINING TOWN LUBUMBASHI, Democratic Republic of Congo, May 9, 2008 (AFP) - A French dealer of precious stones has died in a Congolese mining town after being detained for having invalid papers, a diplomatic source said Friday. The man, in his 50s, was arrested on Wednesday by the Congolese authorities in Lubumbashi, the capital of the southeastern province of Katanga for overstaying his visa. ( Read more... ) Congo outlines $9bn China dealBy William Wallis, Africa EditorPublished: May 9 2008 18:09 | Last updated: May 9 2008 18:09 The government of the Democratic Republic of Congo has unveiled details of a controversial $9.25bn agreement that pledges millions of tonnes of copper and cobalt to China in exchange for roads, railways and other infrastructure. The deal, finalised last month, could prove one of Beijing’s most ambitious forays into Africa yet. On paper it secures 10.62m tonnes of copper and 620,000 tonnes of cobalt for resource-hungry Chinese industries, but this is dependent on overcoming operational challenges that are as great as anywhere in Africa.
( Read more... ) Tags: africa, china, dr congo, extractives, news |
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Nutrition support These are a few of my colleagues in Kinshasa, working at a hospital with our pediatric HIV program (volunteers, counselors, and doctor).  The program used to receive support from the World Food Program, which provided nutrition kits to all people living with HIV/AIDS. I am not sure why WFP stopped providing this support, other than the fact that it is probably very expensive, but they did. Many folks do not have adequate nutrition in the first place, and with HIV and medications if they are on antiretrovirals, their situation can be even worse. At the moment, our program does not support all people with HIV, or even all children with HIV. We are providing a nutritional package for malnourished and severely malnourished children only. The storage of materials is on the left, and the package is on the right. This represents one month's allocation of oil, sugar, maize, soy flour, and powdered milk.   The main drawback, in addition to not reaching all children or all people living with HIV, is that even with proper counseling and emphasis to parents on the health of the infant, it's pretty clear that a family is not going to deny these supplies to other children or family members. Without additional supplies/funding, however, it's a bit of a conundrum. Tags: dr congo, hiv, job, kinshasa |
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Penis Theft Panic redux It's pretty amazing that nobody commented on Penis Theft in Kinshasa, but despite the lack of popularity of this topic, I have more to say about it... We were having a nice dinner last night, two girlfriends and I, when one of them said, have you heard about the penis snatching? The other one chimed right in, and I admit to being completely in the dark. My colleague is conducting a training, and apparently her counterpart here in Kinshasa said that his wife had warned him to be careful of public transport. It is likely that he could be a victim of sorcery without knowing merely by being bumped on the bus. This would result in his penis disappearing, perhaps not to other people, but he himself would not be able to see it. Shrinkage is another possible sign of sorcery. He told his wife he would be careful and then reported that apparently men had taken to protecting themselves by walking around town with a Bible down their pants. Tags: africa, dr congo, kinshasa, news |
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Zum Zum Zum Zuma Zum Zuma Zay Firstly, Zimbabwe's ruling party has been confirmed as the winner of the first of 23 constituencies to complete a recount of votes after March's election. Secondly, The leader of South Africa's governing ANC party, Jacob Zuma, has refused to blame Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe for recent poll-related violence. Thirdly, I am very happy that my no-Zuma icon gets some play. Tags: africa, elections, news, south africa, zimbabwe, zuma |
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"Undiscovered" villages in DR Congo being found with GPS From BBC: Hundreds of villagers are helping to map parts of the Democratic Republic of Congo where thick forest and conflict have prevented effective mapping. Rainforest Alliance is hoping that recording the presence of these villages will aid the government's decisions in allocating logging concessions.  Tags: africa, dr congo, extractives, technology |
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That plane that crashed in Goma Thanks to those of you that asked after my health following this: The plane took off but crashed soon after in a marketplace, damaging stalls and residences. Hewa Bora was one of the few airlines that most of my acquaintances at most organizations based in DR Congo were still willing to use. ETA: The last airline that I flew within DR Congo, Bravo Air Congo, a Spanish company, has gone out of business. My colleagues told me an awful story of the day they thought they were going to die, coming back from Equateur, due to several problems during the flight. They landed only halfway home in a different town and had to be picked up later. The NYTimes article about yesterday's accident mentions the plane crash that happened in Kinshasa in October 2007, which was near one of my project sites.Tags: dr congo, news, transport |
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Taxis painted like flags  A few months ago, someone told me that there was a new requirement in Kinshasa that taxis paint their vehicles (whether car or van) in the colors of the flag so that they were identifiable as transport vehicles rather than private. I didn't quite believe them, but it's obvious that over the past few months, this is exactly what has been happening. I suppose it's useful as a passenger to be able to tell a taxi from a private vehicle. Where else would you confuse these? Certainly not New York City. Although once in New Orleans, somebody tried to jump in the back of my friend's bright yellow vehicle... But I suspect the primary motivation behind this move is so that officials can identify drivers and charge them fees. Tags: dr congo, kinshasa, photos, transport |
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Earth Day is coming up on April 22 I found this out from Barnes and Noble, who sent me an online coupon to try to entice me to buy recycled paper journals, notebooks, "The Green Book," "The World Without Us," etc. Save the world through earth-friendly consumption! Here's an idea for Earth Day - keep that cash in your pocket, save a tree and go to the library! |
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There's a first time for everything I've only lost a bag once before coming to DR Congo. I flew from the US on United to Europe, and the bag never made it out of Dulles for some reason, so it obviously missed the transfer in Brussels. The other bags that were checked at the same time came through, but I had to wait 8 days for the last one. I had about given up when someone finally wheeled it into the office. Last year, I was working with a consultant that flew from Detroit and had some crazy under-an-hour transfer time between Amsterdam and Brussels (this was how we were able to get the first class ticket down to ~$8000 rather than ~$14000). Obviously his bag did not make it. I said, don't worry, it will arrive in 8 days. He called SN Brussels each day and had a difficult time concentrating on work. He had me take him shopping and charged new clothes to the project. You have no idea how difficult (or embarrassing) it is to find tighty-whities in Kinshasa. He chalked it up to loss and was very upset that there had been a 'sensitive document' in the bag. He blamed his need to shop for new clothes on the fact that we had asked him to bring a couple things for the project in his carry-on. Sure enough, his suitcase showed up on the 8th day. This time, I had to bring items for the project so most everything else went into the checked bag. I would say that my bag being missing is a good argument for checking more than one bag, despite the fact that travel is a big pain, because it's much less likely that an airline will lose both. I thought I was being efficient packing everything into one bag this time. The mysterious part is that my bag made it with me as far as South Africa, but now it's been gone for 2 days. I won't start to lose hope till 8 days have passed, even though this is the SN Brussels timeline and not the South African Airways timeline. I hardly ever hear of people losing bags within Africa; most of the time, it happens on the flights originating in the US. This is the first time I have had a problem with a bag I've checked in Africa making it to its destination. And the disappointing part is that the brownie mix and sandals that I brought for friends are in there, as is my computer charger, not to mention more pairs of pants. I can buy a new toothbrush, but clothing is another thing entirely - usually when I go to the tailor, that takes 8 days. Last night I sat around at home wrapped in a bedsheet so I could wash my one pair of jeans. They were almost dry by this morning when I put them on... Tags: dr congo, job, kinshasa, travel | |||||
