Republic of the Congo

In Lusaka, Zambia, children spend their days crushing stones the size of a football, turning them into bags of powder and gravel which are used in concrete mix for construction workers to use. Approximately, in one week children can fill one bag, which are usually sold for 10,000 kwacha, which is less than $3.00. Very often, children complain about injuries such as broken fingers, impaired vision, a piece of rock hitting their face causing scratches in the eye, and a “heavy chest” which is an…

Just off from the mainland of Uganda there is an island, Ngamba Island. This island is small, and cut off from the rest of Africa, this island has become a sanctuary for monkeys and apes, according to the CNN article, Ngamba, the island of the apes” written by Tom Bouchier Hayes and Tom Page. This island is right on the waters of Lake Victoria and has a lush array of vegetation to offer. Chimpanzees today face exploitation from humans, whether it is through deforestation or traffickers, but…

Burundi is a small country that is part of the Great Lakes region bordering Rwanda to the North, Tanzania to the South and East, and the DRC to the West. There are three ethnic groups in Burundi, namely the Tutsi (14%), Hutu (85%), and the Twa (1%). The background of the conflict and peace processes in Burundi is an extremely complicated one, considerably obscured by the lack of consensus on the historical accounts presented by different actors. This review highlights some historical facts about…

Since the end of the 1994 genocide, the guilt card consistently has been used as an explanation of Rwandan foreign policy. While it might no longer be the dominate narrative, it still exists within more recent literature. There are multitude of academic scholars, such as Pottier , Reyntjens , Hayman and Lemarchand , who write on how the implementation of the genocide guilt card concept as one of the key policy tools for power within Rwanda’s arsenal of interacting with the international…

The movie “Shake Hands with the Devil” is a true story about the brutal history of the Rwandan genocide. It is originally a book that was written by Romeo Dallaire; who is a Canadian humanitarian, and retired senator, that served as a force commander of UNAMIR (United Nations Assistance Mission for Rwanda). The movie shows tragic scenes of how the feud between the Hutus and Tutsis affected their way of living harshly. Overall, the validity of the film is quite high, however, it contains…

King Leopold's Conquering and Exploitation of the Congo Adam Hochschild vividly tells the story of how King Leopold conquered and exploited the Congo in the novel King Leopold's Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror, and Heroism in Colonial Africa. The book is written in third person telling the story from the time Henry Morton Stanley was born to time of Congo claiming their independence. Hochschild discusses the horrific things that happened in Congo at the hands of King Leopold and how Henry…

The most endangered primate, the mountain gorilla, is a species that has endured countless conflicts that have damaged their chance of survival. The Congo is a nation rich in minerals and resources, but with that said, they are also a nation rich in corruption. Due to an influx of rebels and militias there has been an ongoing civil war, lasting decades. War and illegally mined goods has been disadvantageous to the living conditions of the Congolese people and to the Congo’s environment. Mountain…

Rwanda is roughly the size of Maryland. The Landlocked country of Rwanda is located in the eastern central part of Africa. Multiple neighbors that border Rwanda include The Congo, Burundi, Tanzania, and Uganda. Another border of Rwanda is one of its numerous lakes. Nicknamed the “Land of a Thousand Hills”, Rwanda’s landscape contains hills and multiple mountains each filled with steep slopes and valleys. Advantages that benefit this environment include two consistent water sources and easily…

The Sierra Leone Civil War began in March 1991 and ended in January 2002 after the signing of the Lomé Peace Accord three years earlier and the consolidation of power under President Kabbah. Under Foday Sankoh, the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) invaded Sierra Leone in March 1991 from the South in conjunction with Charles Taylor’s NPFL forces, in an attempt to overthrow President Joseph Momoh’s government. Since the government was unable to respond effectively to the RUF, and since diamond…

man with horrible acts. He mistreated the people of Congo. After the people of Congo stood up and fight, in 1960 was the Independence Day for Congo. Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba used Soviet Union to bring order, however with the support Mobutu had by the Americans he murdered the prime minister. Ever since the colonialism Congo has been suffering with war especially the people on the east side of Congo. The conditions the soldiers in Congo deal with is the same thing with O’Brien story.…