Aktive Direkt Hilfe e.V.

The situation in Kasai, the province where our school in Mushapo is located, continues to be overshadowed by terrible reports. It is difficult to describe the exact facts and background of this humanitarian catastrophe, but the following can be said from various newspaper articles (i.e. on Google: “Who’s in Congo’s Mass Graves?”) and from personal reports of our friends and some Congo experts: • Over 1 million people from the province of Kasai have fled, to Angola, into neighboring provinces in Congo etc. • Brutal massacres have been reported by eyewitnesses in some villages. So far 80 mass graves have been found. More than 3,000 people have been killed as a direct result of this conflict. But in this recent article the UN reports: “The actual number of murders is probably much higher than the official figures…” • The terrifying approach of the armed people resembles the one in the East of Congo, with the aim of dispersing the population in order to exploit the resources more easily. Kasai is known for its many diamonds. In view of this situation, we can only hope and pray that more international attention will move the government towards finding a peaceful solution. Until then, not only are our and the other schools and health centers in the region brought to a halt, but innocent people will continue to die and are driven away. Instead of letting ourselves be discouraged from helping other needy people, we are thankful for what has been achieved so far: • Since the beginning of our project in 2011, nearly 2000 pupils have attended our school. They will not forget how someone from abroad built them a school, set it up and made it possible for them to receive free schooling, while now their own country men drove them out. • The children will be able to continue to receive further schooling in their new places of refuge. • Our teachers keep receiving salaries from the government in spite of the fighting. • Through this project, our team has gained important experience on how to build development work in the rural areas of Congo, where the need is the biggest. These experiences can help us and others with similar projects.

The situation in the Kasai provinces, where our school is situated, has changed a lot. In this formerly peaceful region, late last year fighting erupted between the followers of Chief Kamuina Nsapu and government forces, causing hundreds of lives on both sides. The unrest spread from one area to others which made it unsafe for Wolfgang and Jean to travel to Mushapo. Even two white UN experts were kidnapped and killed there recently. In the meantime, several militia groups attacked cities and villages in the different Kasai provinces. In the middle of April, Tshokwe tribesmen from the village Mungamba chased away all none-Tshokwe people from Mushapo and the surrounding villages. This included our school director Pierre and 8 out of 10 teachers who had to take refuge in Tshikapa, the capital of this province. The attackers wounded our teacher Mukendi in his arm with a machete. These bandits also looted what they could take with them. Thankfully, 13 new mattresses of our health center, the photo-copy machine of our school and the generator of our camp were saved. A government office opened in Tshikapa, where people can file complaint about the materials which they lost in the lootings. Gilbert contacted the former Minister of Education, Mr. Maker, who told him that we should not be discouraged as he believes that things will slowly calm down in the area. We have to wait for peace in the region before our teachers can return to Mushapo.

In order to plan the trip to Nioki we had a meeting with representatives of the BBK NGO who we want to work with on a new project in Mabala, 7 km East of Nioki. We would like to build a Primary School there and will see step by step how the project develops. We need to buy and register a piece of land and choose the right person who will be trained as an overseer of the work there by our local manager Jean, who will oversee this person and the new project, just like he is doing with our school director Pierre in Mushapo.

A lot of legal paperwork have to be done, like completing the registration of our Congolese association “ADH Congo Asbl” and the renewal of the registration of the land in Mushapo. He faces the typical challenges of Congo, but is able to meet old and new friends who are helping him in our work. He had a meeting with our ADH Congo members Gilbert and Francois and talked with Jean about his health and future role in our project. Thank God Jean’s health is stable enough that he can be more active again, while based with his family near Kinshasa. He is planning to make a trip with Wolfgang to Nioki and will travel alone to Mushapo this year as we face a new challenge in some parts of Congo including in that area. New rebel groups are causing trouble and fight with government forces. Even armed bandits roam the area between Tshikapa and Angola, where Mushapo is situated. Last week they shot two motorcycle drivers when they wanted to escape from them. This lead us to a decision that it is not safe for Wolfgang as a white man to travel there right now.