The Personal Impact Of The Ongoing Violence
When I first visited the DR Congo last year, the main draw was hiking with the mountain gorillas in Virunga National Park. I was fortunate to do so, hiking to them twice while based in the Kibumba Tented Camp. Hiking within Virunga involves two sets of rangers, those there to protect your personal well-being, and those there to track and guide you to the gorillas. The first set have a pretty cut and dry mission, and any doubts of that are dispelled when you see the machine guns slung across their bodies. They escort you from Goma, the main hub of eastern DR Congo, up the N2 road, and to the park’s limits where they stay in a ranger encampment. The second group is a bit different. They are part tour guide, part naturalist, botanist and host - they are the rangers you interact with most. Last year those rangers who performed all of those duties were led by Augustino. He was short, with a commanding air about him, until he smiled and laughed and made you feel at home.
The second part of my trip last year to Virunga was to Tchegera Island. Cut off from the rest of the park, Tchegera is a collapsed volcano in the middle of Lake Kivu. All the remains is the C-shaped rim of its ancient cone. It’s narrow, secluded, and a place where visitors come to rest and Congolese come to join the regular weekend barbecues (for a fee) held by the VIrunga staff. When I came last year one member of the island’s staff stood out. He was kind, always concerned with your day and if more could be done, and when you got past the formalities - incredibly funny. Bizzy made an exceptional stay even more memorable.
Last week Jackie and I spent the night on Idjwi Island then traveled to Tchegera. It was the “vacation” part of our trip - a bit of relaxation sandwiched between hiking for eastern lowland gorillas in Kahuzi-Biega National Park and visiting with former rebels who now grow coffee on Idjwi. As soon as our pirogue landed on Tchegera and we stepped onto land, a familiar face greeted me. Offering a glass of “welcome juice”, Bizzy smiled. I immediately took out my phone and showed him the picture we had taken the year before, riding a pirogue off of Tchegera. He laughed, smiled, and gave me a hug; happy not only to see a familiar face, but one that recognized him.
On our second day we hiked (more honestly - walked) the island with a guide. Last year when I initially visited, there were no guides. But the island today was bustling with staff and we were the only guests. When we met our guide on the path above our tent, a short, authoritative and familiar man met us. I again took out my phone and showed this man a picture of him surveying the land of Virunga I had taken last year. Augustino was excited and immediately remembered the details of my visit more than a year ago.
I relay this because the war in eastern DR Congo is the worst it has been in a decade. The M23 rebels that overran Goma in 2012 have taken Rumangabo, 28 miles to the north. It held a UN base until last week, when the blue helmets conducted a strategic withdrawal to Goma. Rumangabo is also Virunga National Park’s main headquarters. Since the spring of this year, Virunga National Park (outside of Tchegera) has been closed to visitors. No gorilla treks, no chimp walks, no hikes up Mount Nyiragongo - no guests for Augustino to show the incredible place that is Virunga. In an attempt to keep as many rangers working, they have rotated them in and out of Tchegera. Augustino now spends his days showing what few visitors come to his new home the more than 50 bird species who live on the island, and its one rescued blue monkey, Uhuru.
Similarly, through conversation Bizzy revealed he is more or less stranded on Tchegera. Instead of his usual rotation of 10 days of works followed by four days off, he now works straight through. His home, and where his parents live, is Rutshuru. Rutshuru is well north of Rumangabo and has been controlled by M23 for some time now. Though his family is safe, it is not safe for him to travel there. So he works, and checks in daily, and prays for the war to end.
These men are lucky. They are not displaced, in a refugee camp or worse. But their lives are upended. The war threatens so much and take from so many. We can only hope that it ends quickly.
