Denise

Hotel Bunia

Had the chance to spend a couple of nights in the Hotel Bunia this week, in the town of Bunia (not recommended as a holiday spot) in Ituri province. The room was $35 a night, and the price included a mosquito net (with holes) over the bed. It did not include a flushing toilet, nor a door that latched properly. The restaurant, which I did not eat in, is supposed to serve decent Indian food (the owners are Indian), and there's a pool table in the outdoor bar/carpark. Given the thickness (thinness) of the walls, though, the good news is that the guest rooms are supposedly a weapons-free zone.

Hatari Ya Kufa

Snapped this danger sign on the door of an electrical closet in a hospital in North Kivu (eastern Congo).

Since 1998, millions (that's a word worth rereading when applied to human lives rather than government bailout funds) of people have died in the Democratic Republic of Congo as a result of war injuries (gunshots, stabbings, burns and more), disease and starvation. In a series of mortality studies, the International Rescue Committee (IRC) estimated that 3.3 million people died in Congo between 1998 and 2002 alone as a consequence of war.

Since that time, the death toll in Congo has slowed, but remains horrific (today an estimated 1,000-1,200 Congolese die EVERY DAY from violence, disease or starvation ... compare that to the death toll on 9/11 if you believe human lives should be valued somewhat equally). The majority of deaths are from diseases that are preventable and easily treatable. If only people had access to clean water and reliable medical care.

The malnutrition is mostly a result of people's fear. Where there is fighting, people can't cultivate the land. They hide instead, hoping to stay alive until the next period of relative peace. And of course it's children who suffer the most from malnutrition, since their bodies have very specific needs in order to grow. More on malnutrition in a later post ...

"Hatari Ya Kufa"? Yes, but electrocution is the least of your worries if you're living in the Congo.