Global Voices Online

Why Congo Matters is a video by Emily Troutman who visited the Democratic Republic of Congo recently: “After spending a month in the Democratic Republic of Congo, I find myself speaking most often about the numbers: 5.4 million dead, 2,000 rapes per month, 17,000 UN soldiers, a war that started 15 years ago (or more?)…. “

Makambo shares his thoughts on his first field visit after the war in the Democratic Republic of Congo: “The eastern DRC near Virunga National Park went through some rough times due to the recent war. Consequently, field visits have been very limited. I am happy that I can now travel again in this region, which is slowly building its own peace.”

Don't forget your “Obama 2008″ sticker when passing through airport security in Africa, writes Emily who is visiting the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Congoblog [Fr] tells the story of two former child soldiers who are still waiting for the reintegration money promised by the government.  They survive by collecting garbage and grating cow horns to make Nkulo, a traditional dish.

David Sasaki writes a post about the Kinshasa Symphonic Orchestra saying, “This is exactly what I mean when I talk about art for the sake of art.”

Musengeshi Katata at Forum Realisance [Fr] calls Africa Must Reclaim Her Destiny, published by Harmattan in Paris, a “must read”.  Katata writes, “We have to stop believing in Santa Claus and take destiny in our own hands.”

In the DRC, Cedric Kalonji questions the Inspector General of the South Kivu police who, in a recent radio interview, pledged that the police were committed to raising revenue through security taxes or fees for the issue of public documents.   Kalonji writes: “While killings, lootings, rapes and murders, which are spoken of almost with a smile in South Kivu, have become trivial, I am tempted to ask what is really the role of the police.  Generating revenue for the coffers of the state or protecting people and their property?”

Jeremy writes about Staff Benda Bilili, a group of paraplegic street musicians who live in and around the grounds of the zoo in Kinshasa, Congo.

Cedric Kalonji describes Kinshasa after a heavy rain [FR].  The roads turn into lakes, but “high up in their 4×4s, the authorities are untouched by the problem, the result being that there is almost no support for making storm sewers or gutters.”