From Goma to Bukavu and Panzi....

Tuesday morning was Panzi-Bukavu big day. We were going to get picked up at 5:30am to make the 7:10am boat. Even though we had tickets purchased and “reserved” seats; if you do not show up by 6:30am, your seats are given away and you have to buy a new ticket – Congolese Law. Certainly the travelling on the car from the Heal Africa home to the docks was the equivalent of having a strong cup of coffee. Given all the bumps and the road conditions, we were so awake by the time we got into our destination. It was interesting seeing the UN Soldiers (who are mostly Indian citizens on duty who take these risky type of jobs due to the very good retirement pension) jogging close to the docks, wearing plain jogging type of clothing as oppose to easily UN identified type of clothing. If it wasn’t by the guard with the big “riffle” with a UN band around him, it would have been tricky to identify who they wear.
As we got to the dock a swarm of “helpers” were willing to assist us. Note for next visit: Bring really small bills ($1)….We were so focused on getting crispy $20 and $10 notes that didn’t plan that well on the small change and everything in this area is dollarized. (Even though the exchange rate to the local money is 800 Congolese Francs to the Dollar). We had to pay our first bribe of the day to the first “greeting” officer and who wouldn’t give us back our passports unless we contributed to some money. The next stop then got stopped on our way to get in. Unfortunately by this time we were on our own without an interpreter and several people around us were asking us to leave our luggage with them, some even were wearing look alike military uniform, after a little bit of heckling with them, the boat captain got sympathy for us, since he intervened and made us get on the boat with all of our luggage. This is certainly not a friendly place for the typical adventurer who is on its own.
The boat ride from Goma to Bukavu took about 5 hours. Once inside, there was no reservation and were free to sit anywhere. We picked 2 seats that seemed close to one of the doors to the deck. As the boat departed we didn’t realize that our area came with “fancy” DVD entertainment, and a very unique audio system, which consisted of a massive speaker which was located atop our seats. Given the volume of the ride, the DVD’s were played at a ridiculous high volume, so the awaiting rest we had look forward didn’t happen.
The Kivu lake was just gorgeous; you could see some small islands around, but it’s quite impressive to see the flora of this country. The landscape was just stunning (video to come soon). As we got into Bukavu, Gilbert, (our logistics guy from Search for Common Ground - SFCG) awaited for us with the indispensable 4x4 Land Cruiser.
Bukavu is quite a large city with over 1million people living here. It’s surrounded by huge mountains and has an incredible view to the Kivu lake. This area needs major development, the roads are catastrophic, the bumps on the roads were quite record-breaking. I think Elayne’s head was constantly touching against the roof of the 4x4 J.
As we arrived to SFCG, we were greeted by Lena, the Director of SFCG in the Congo. That afternoon she took us to see the drumming performance of ASO – a local NGO run by Juvenile, a very sweet Congolese man, who has focused his work with youth coming from some of the conflict areas such as former child soldiers and survivors from the ongoing internal war. Lena, who is also a professional Ethnic drummer, gave a large piece of her drum collection (which she amassed over the years) and taught the children under Juvenile some of the drumming. Over the last year or so, these children have taken it up on themselves (and with the assistance of both Lena and Juvenile) to keep practicing to the point that their performance was just incredibly moving. For about 30 minutes, they entertained us with some of the most incredible drumming I have heard. They danced for us and even did a little bit of performance theater. These group has both male and female members creating a very balance ensemble. The one member that caught my most attention was this very sweet young man, who was born with no hands and was playing so beautifully. This experience was beyond description, we took lot of footage but due to the VERY SLOW internet connection here, the clips are very tricky to download. (will try to post them this weekend).

Both Elayne and I were deeply moved by such beautiful performance full of energy and passion. Tomorrow wednesday, we will be seeing ASO @ Panzi where they have been going to perform for the women there for the last 2 months. Starting Friday, Elayne will train ASU on drama therapy and trauma, more to update soon...........
SVL