Goma

So we travelled over to the Congo on thursday and friday. It took just over three hours to get to the beautiful resort town of Gisenyi on the shores of lake Kivu which glistened a turquoise blue with the rolling hills of Kivu in the near distance. Behind us was the Virunga range and the massive volcano Nyiragongo loomed through menacing clouds across the border.

We crossed the Rwandan border without hassle and within a few minutes. Proceeding through the Congolese border was somewhat different. Justin our hero was called into a dark back room and soon after we were too. In a tiny room which was taken up mostly by a table and the fat congolese Commissioner behind it we squeezed in with all our bags to be questioned. He was a short well dressed many with a old bullet wound on the back of his head and his round focused face never betrayed a smile or any sign of hope. He asked me in French what we were doing here I acted like I didnt understand because I didn't know what we were supposed to say so he got frustrated and Justin took over. Justin continued the conversation in Swahili but we could tell from his face that it wasnt going well. In the end we got out alive but ended up paying $50 each per day to be in the Congo normally it should be $35 or cheaper.

After that blow we got some boda bodas, its worth noting here that boda bodas in Congo are completely different from anywhere else mainly because they are dodgy as and two the roads are insane. A few years ago Goma was completely covered in lava from the Nyiragongo volcano this wasnt the best thing for a road. To make matters worse my boda boda ran out of gas leaving me behind the rest of them strangely I wasnt worried I was just hoping I didnt have to walk but we got gas and caught up with the Justin, Dave and Chris. It kinda hit we were in a war zone when a attack helicopter with all its weaponry flew over our head was so surreal.

We arrived at the Mugunga refugee camp a couple of miles outside Goma. The camp holds over 8,000 refugees mostly children probably 6,000. There were dozen of children at the gate to meet us and quickly swarmed us. We walked over to the camp leader's unhcr clad tent and he told us a bit about the tent. We then went outside and talked to the people in the camp and they told us of the horrors they faced. Most are starving to death, some our wounded from the conflict, all have lost family, and all are deeply traumatised one girl couldnt even speak after the horrors she saw months ago. Now there is seven camps around Goma holding roughly around 100,000 refugee most face starvation, no medical facilities and deeply traumatised.

What was the most shocking thing about seeing the camps was not the dying children but the fact the there was UN and aid agency trucks everywhere and yet these people were dying right in front of them. One UN peacekeeper was lounging on the back of a pickup as other white aid workers drove around in $30,000 jeeps. It almost seems its not their job so what the hell are they doing? it is so frustrating yet it is so humbling to see the people in the camp praise God and to be able to smile and laugh after the hell that they had been through.

We got a min taxi back to the border was unbelievably bumpy. Some guy tried to pick pocket dave as we got boda bodas to border but his pockets were empty. Got back to the border through the ash and the haze we thought it was near dusk but when we crossed into Rwanda the sun came out it was like coming from hell paying off the passport Commissioner as purgatory and Rwanda was so like paradise the fruit bats, the fanta, food, beautiful lake and the safety. The Rwanda passport officer actually said to us "Welcome home" and we were happy to be home.

Our plan was to go back in on Friday but because we were ripped off we had no more money left on us but Justin wa able to go back in and get supplies and food for some 200 people in the camp. Its so little but will probably save a few lives the question is what the hell is the UN, UNHCR and the dozen of other aid agencies doing except lining their own pockets?