DRC: Volcanic eruption may be imminent

Local radio are reporting that Nyamulagira volcano, near Goma, is showing intense activity, suggeting that an eruption may be imminent.  Cedric Kalonji shares a neighbor's theory about the cause of volcanic eruptions:

Bien que la ville de Goma ne soit pas directement menacée, tout le monde s’y prépare. Face aux éruptions volcaniques et aux dégâts qu’elles entraînent, chacun a sa théorie. La plus folle, c’est celle d’un de mes voisins, un vieillard qui a vécu plusieurs éruptions. « Les ancêtres sont mécontents, il faut trouver un moyen de les calmer », affirme-t-il. Le vieux va jusqu’à qualifier de maudit le quartier Office, le plus touché lors de l’éruption du Nyarangongo du 17 janvier 2002. « Ce quartier a été totalement rasé et englouti par la lave à cause de la prostitution, des vols, escroqueries, et autres dépravations de mœurs qui y avaient élu domicile. Cela ne plaisait plus aux ancêtres,  d’où la décision de le nettoyer », soutient-il.

Although Goma is not directly threatened, everyone is readying themselves.  In the face of volcanic eruptions and all the damage they bring, everyone has their theory.  One of my neighbors, an old man who has lived through many eruptions, has the craziest theory.  “The ancestors are unhappy, we have to find a way to placate them,” he said. The old man went so far as to explain the curse of  Office, the neighborhood most affect by the erupition of Nyarangongo on January 17, 2002.  “This neighborhood was completely leveled and swallowed up by lava because of prostitution, thievery, fraud and other moral depravations.  This did not make the ancestors happy, and that is where the decision to clean it up came from,” he said.

Suivant le raisonnement de ce vieux voisin, je me pose une question : Si ces ancêtres existent réellement et s’ils peuvent punir ceux qui se comportent mal , pourquoi n’interviennent-il pas afin d’alléger un tant soit peu la souffrance de cette population ?

Following the reasoning of this old neighbor, I asked myself a question: If these ancestors really exist and if they can punish those who behave badly, why don't they intervene to relieve, just a little bit, the suffering of these people?

2 comments

  • Alex Engwete

    The posts on Cédric Kalonji’s Congo Blog « Ba leki » (Lingala = the younger brothers and sisters) are now being written not only by Cédric Kalonji himself but also by 8 other young men and women from all four corners of the Congo. These 8 youths were trained on blogging in Kinshasa and receive a monthly stipend through funding provided by the school of journalism of Lille (France) as well as the British and French government agencies of cooperation. They all write under their “nom-de-plume.”

    This post on Goma being discussed here by Jennifer Brea wasn’t written by Cédric but by Bouboul, a “leki” who hails from Goma!

  • Thierry

    You are incorrect. This article is not by Cedric. It is an author named Bouboul. Cedric does not write on this site. It is a group blog.

    And why only the one source? Most of the articles on this Global Voices website always pull from many bloggers and I like that. For truth, the volcanoes around Goma are massive problems to all who live in the area and many more write about them then just this one person. It should not have been difficult to discover other sources, because this “article” is a simple link that is easier to read in completion on the congoblog website.

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