It can't hurt ...

Next door to the MSF hospital in Gety, Uturi province, are a couple of colonial-era (I assume; they were among the most solid and architecturally interesting buildings I saw in the Congo) buildings. One is a mostly disused school, and wandering around, I heard music emanating from one classroom. I poked my head in the door and found a church singing group practicing for Sunday. When I asked if I could take a few photos, the group leader welcomed me in, and I managed to get off a few shots, record some digital sound, and shoot a short video clip. There's not a lot of music in the rural parts of the Congo - for most people, survival requires their full attention - so it was nice to hear and see people singing and playing instruments (the instruments you see in the photos are lyres, and go by that name in the Congo; they're handmade, of course).

Perhaps surprisingly, and according to Wikipedia, Christianity is the main religion in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, followed by about 80% of the population. Christians are divided between the Roman Catholic faith (about 50% of the total population), Protestantism (about 20%), and Kimbanguist (10%). Kimbanguism was seen as a threat to the colonial regime and was banned by the Belgians. Kimbanguism, officially "the church of Christ on Earth by the prophet Simon Kimbangu," now has about three million members, primarily among the Bakongo of Bas-Congo and Kinshasa. As well as being the largest religious organisation in the country with about 30 million members, the Catholic Church of Congo (Kinshasa) is one of the largest churches in Africa. The Congo has more Catholics than any other African country, and one of the highest proportions of Catholics.

[However], a clear delineation of religious affiliation into these membership categories can give a misleading picture of Congolese reality. The number of persons who can be categorized as belonging exclusively to one group or another is limited. Overlapping affiliations are more common. As with class identity or with ethnic identity, an individual's religious identity may be situational. Different spiritual traditions, agents, and communities may be sought out for assistance, depending on the situation at hand. For example, Christian students may employ sorcery with the objective of improving their individual exam scores or of helping their school's soccer team win in competition against their opponents. Sophisticated urbanites, faced with disease in a family member, may patronize indigenous healers and diviners. And Congolese practicing traditional African religions may also go to both established Christian clergy and breakaway Christian sects in search of spiritual assistance. In the search for spiritual resources, the Congolese have frequently displayed a marked openness and pragmatism.

Given the situation in which most people find themselves, it certainly can't hurt to gamble that (a) god might be watching, and decide to lend a hand.