what the future holds?

This week has been difficult as far as internet access and Wednesday, a block from the internet, met my teammate, C, who had left ahead of me, on the street. All the shops were closing (many had just opened) including the internet as the government wanted to encourage people to attend a large military pomp ceremony sending the invited Rwandan troups back home. There was much fanfare (I didn't attend but watched part of it on TV as we had grid power for part of the day) and the troops paraded back over the border. The joint mission is officially over and the agreed upon timeline was respected - this is very important for president Kabila to regain popularity in the war ravaged Kivu provinces. What's next remains to be seen.

The mission was successful, according to the diplomats, as the FDLR have been forced out of many areas they held, however they are still here and a joint effort between the UN forces MONUC and the DRC military (FARDC) is expected to continue - however, MONUCs mandate is to protect civilians and we had a final off the record meeting with MONUC political affairs yesterday which clarified a bit their position, mandate and resources, as well as the fact that the public announcement was the first they'd heard of this new joint iniative. They had been clearly disinvited from this most recent offensive.

However, what's next? Monday, our team visited a hospital to meet with and get the stories of, several survivors of an FDLR retaliatory attack. This is one of just a handful (presumably not reported abroad) and more are expexted now that the Rwandans have left. This war is not over.

I've posted some photos below but warn that they are graphic and not easy to view.

The first photo below is of a 36 year old woman and her 3 year old who both suffered gunshot wounds, and the next two are of a 32 year old woman and her 14 year old daughter who were severly burned when the FDLR set fire to their home and village last week, before opening fire. This was a village that had been under FDLR control and is about 100 km from Goma. The husband of this family escaped with a toddler without injury, but a two month old baby and 3 year old died in the fire. They were two of the 10 casualties in this village. In another ward, we met two men from another village that had been attacked - here it was unclear who the attacker was as they were dressed in military uniform so could have been Congolese military, CNDP or bandits. The old man's house had been attacked and he was asked for money - not having any, he refused and was shot and beaten, his arm broken by the butt of the gun - but survived. The other man was a younger man, who's infant son had been shot by a stray bullet.

I hesitate to post the photos but the survivors asked that their stories be shared and welcomed photos. They want people to know that this isn't over. These survivors were carried by neighbours to the closest MONUC base who then transported them to hospital in Goma. Our meetings this week, at which we continuously raised these attacks were clear that this is just the beginning of the retaliation and there is potential for great suffering of the civilians living in these former rebel areas, particularly if MONUC and the FARDC (which is corrupt, ill trained and lacking discipline) are not able to hold the ground they have recently won.

That is a bit of what the future might hold here. This will be last blog from Goma as I travel tomorrow morning but I will write again from Toronto. If you would like updates on any of the stories I've mentioned please email me directly and I am happy to provide more information that I wasn't able to put on the blog - in particular, the student killings I mentioned, there is more info available and a possibility to support the student body in the coming months.

My own future here is unclear, whether I'll be back remains to be seen. I have been deeply touched by the people I've met who've been willing to share their stories, both of pain and of hope and of courage to work for peace. It is difficult to leave at this time of particular vulnerability. There is much I'd like to do but alas I am only one person.

So, travel commences tomorrow and I will write again on my return to Toronto next week.

in peace,

a.