A month ago, I visited a refugee camp in North Kivu Congo, and I was able to video a sort of snap shot of life there. I think it's a good piece to watch and meditate on a bit. It's also good to be aware of the Congo trajedy that's been going on now for over a decade on the international level. The link to the large version is here, but you can view the video below:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4412052351457972720&pr=goog-sl
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Monday, October 08, 2007
Renegade general abandons eastern Congo ceasefire
Here's the most recent news on the conflict related to the refugees I've been talking to here in Burundi, though they've now been moved, and their number has increased in Burundi to 7,000. We're taking a team of Frontliners to them next month. This also has the documented fact that I think escapes most western audiences that aren't looking for this sort of news, and that is that an estimated 4 million have died do to conflict in this region between 98-2003 alone. This is one of the more beautiful regions in the heart of Africa, but the level of suffering is un paralleled. I'm hoping to have a video up showing one of the camps soon.
KINSHASA, Oct 8 - Congolese renegade general Laurent Nkunda on Monday abandoned a month-old ceasefire in an eastern border province, blaming attacks by the government which in turn accused him of pushing the country towards war.
Nkunda's announcement heralded more conflict and suffering in Democratic Republic of Congo's North Kivu province, where fighting between his soldiers and government troops have already forced tens of thousands of civilians from their homes.
The province, has long been a tinderbox of ethnic tensions and clashes between the army and rival rebel and militia groups.
After fighting in the east in August and early September, the United Nations Mission in Congo (MONUC) announced on Sept. 6 a limited truce between the rebel Tutsi general and the army.
But fresh clashes between the two sides broke out last week and over the weekend, and U.N. military sources said fighting continued on Monday in several parts of North Kivu.
Nkunda accused the government army, which said it killed at least 35 of his fighters last week, of attacking his positions.
"There is no ceasefire. ... We have told ourselves we will no longer stand with our arms crossed while people are dying. We must react. We are soldiers," Nkunda told Reuters by telephone.
"MONUC thinks there is a ceasefire, but we've abandoned it."
In response, Congo's Defence Minister Chikez Diemu accused Nkunda, who says he is defending the interests of Congo's Tutsi ethnic group, of trying to "Balkanise" the country.
"He's playing a dangerous game. Now he's pushing us towards war," the minister told Reuters.
He added Congo would implement measures agreed with its Great Lakes neighbours Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi. He did not spell these out but the states have been discussing cooperation to counter rebel groups operating in eastern Congo.
ETHNIC ENMITY
Some of the recent North Kivu fighting took place in Virunga National Park, Africa's oldest park, forcing rangers to flee and putting endangered mountain gorillas there at risk.
Nkunda, who led a 2004 rebellion, accuses Congo President Joseph Kabila's government and armed forces of supporting Rwandan Hutu rebels -- traditional ethnic enemies of the Tutsi.
The largely Hutu Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) rebels are accused of involvement in Rwanda's 1994 genocide that saw the slaughter of 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus by a Hutu-led government and ethnic militias.
Kabila denies supporting the FDLR.
The North Kivu fighting has displaced tens of thousands of civilians and foreign relief agencies have warned of a fresh humanitarian catastrophe in Congo, which is still recovering from a 1998-2003 war that killed some 4 million people, mostly from hunger and disease generated by conflict.
KINSHASA, Oct 8 - Congolese renegade general Laurent Nkunda on Monday abandoned a month-old ceasefire in an eastern border province, blaming attacks by the government which in turn accused him of pushing the country towards war.
Nkunda's announcement heralded more conflict and suffering in Democratic Republic of Congo's North Kivu province, where fighting between his soldiers and government troops have already forced tens of thousands of civilians from their homes.
The province, has long been a tinderbox of ethnic tensions and clashes between the army and rival rebel and militia groups.
After fighting in the east in August and early September, the United Nations Mission in Congo (MONUC) announced on Sept. 6 a limited truce between the rebel Tutsi general and the army.
But fresh clashes between the two sides broke out last week and over the weekend, and U.N. military sources said fighting continued on Monday in several parts of North Kivu.
Nkunda accused the government army, which said it killed at least 35 of his fighters last week, of attacking his positions.
"There is no ceasefire. ... We have told ourselves we will no longer stand with our arms crossed while people are dying. We must react. We are soldiers," Nkunda told Reuters by telephone.
"MONUC thinks there is a ceasefire, but we've abandoned it."
In response, Congo's Defence Minister Chikez Diemu accused Nkunda, who says he is defending the interests of Congo's Tutsi ethnic group, of trying to "Balkanise" the country.
"He's playing a dangerous game. Now he's pushing us towards war," the minister told Reuters.
He added Congo would implement measures agreed with its Great Lakes neighbours Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi. He did not spell these out but the states have been discussing cooperation to counter rebel groups operating in eastern Congo.
ETHNIC ENMITY
Some of the recent North Kivu fighting took place in Virunga National Park, Africa's oldest park, forcing rangers to flee and putting endangered mountain gorillas there at risk.
Nkunda, who led a 2004 rebellion, accuses Congo President Joseph Kabila's government and armed forces of supporting Rwandan Hutu rebels -- traditional ethnic enemies of the Tutsi.
The largely Hutu Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) rebels are accused of involvement in Rwanda's 1994 genocide that saw the slaughter of 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus by a Hutu-led government and ethnic militias.
Kabila denies supporting the FDLR.
The North Kivu fighting has displaced tens of thousands of civilians and foreign relief agencies have warned of a fresh humanitarian catastrophe in Congo, which is still recovering from a 1998-2003 war that killed some 4 million people, mostly from hunger and disease generated by conflict.
Anniversaries
Moi belle femme et moi celebrated four years of marriage. We had our anniversary celebration just one month after the actual date. This is a gross improvement for us, as we used to be celebrating our anniversary with different people all together. I would go camping with Andy Whipps, and Trina would go camping with a bunch of High school kids. This year we had a team from a church visiting, and I was with them and Trina was busy with her new job, then we split off to different countries for a while, then we both landed back in Burundi, and committed ourselves to the idea that we should go out and celebrate our anniversary if we get some time and aren’t too tired. The day finally came, (though Trina was very tired) when we were both free (we had to make the choice to be free) and we went for an excellent steak dinner and talked about our lives, our plans, how we don’t feel like grown ups, and how we don’t really know what’s in store for our lives, because our plans keep changing, or we don’t have any plans. It was a good time, with some good food. Unfortunately I don’t have a picture of Trina and I. Usually we’re both behind the camera so we don’t have shots of ourselves (Trina, maybe you can send me the shot of us that’s on your desktop.) But this anniversary got me wondering. What do other people do for their anniversary? What was a favorite anniversary memory for someone? What do people like to do for their anniversary? Do most North American married people celebrate their anniversary, give me a percentage maybe? Go ahead, and leave a comment with your thoughts, or give me some suggestions on good things to do for anniversaries. I want some good thoughts and suggestions fellow bloggers. I want to hear from you single bloggers too. Lay it on me. I’m ready. Trina, we’ve talked about Zanzibar for year five. Let’s stick to that plan. Oh, and if any of you have pics of Trina and I together, you can email some to me if you like. You guys are a bit of alright.
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