Are you aware, over there, of the World's Deadliest War?

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"Eastern Congo is very, very unstable right now. ... There have been attacks and counterattacks between rebels and the Congo military." -Assistant Secretary of State Jendayi Frazer to CNN, November 1

At the time I wrote this October 28, only so much of the recent events had unfolded. Today on November 1 as I post this finally as I haven't had reliable internet connection until now, the current situation is on the CNN frontpage and has been in the news for the past week straight.


Far away from you on the dark continent a war has been raging in a country for a decade, a war that you or I may not be aware of at all. The violence and humanitarian crisis in the Democratic Republic of Congo, right now, is commonly referred to as the World's Deadliest War having claimed nearly 5.5 million lives, having displaced countless multiples more, and continues to take nearly 1,500 lives a day, 50,000 lives each month. Villages are being raided, looted, and burned. Countless women are being raped. Millions are living in what you think of as the typically sad, run-down excuses for "refugee camps" scattered around the region. Child soldiers are being heavily recruited. Let's just say that when you think of African warring and village raids, what you imagine after seeing Blood Diamond and Constant Gardener, really what you are picturing is the something like the current war in the Congo.

The situation in the Congo is heavily concentrated in the east side of DRC in the North Kivu region, technically where I am right now. In short for those of you unfamiliar, one of the primary conflicts in the war is between Tutsi rebels (after fleeing Rwanda in the 1994 Genocide) and Hutu extremist rebels (after fleeing Rwanda and persecution having committed the genocide.) The Hutus in a way are backed by the Congolese government, and from what I gather the Rwandan government unofficially supports the Tutsi rebels. The Tutsis refuse to cease fire as they claim the Hutus are still armed and dangerous in the region. The rebels have thus been raiding Congolese villages, in part to try to gain some sort of territory to live on or force the Congolese government to "control" and stop backing the Hutus. I am sure it is much more complicated than that.

When I say the situation right now is very volatile, I mean it is very volatile as in shit happens to be going down after my first night in Goma, the capital of the North Kivu region bordering Rwanda. I have impeccable timing. Let's say that had I known the following events would have suddenly erupted as so, I would have been bloody. BLOODY crazy to come to Goma right now, in this week in particular.


January: Rebels and governement come into some sort of peace agreement in Goma.

August: Rebels start acting up again, raids begin.

October 7: Rebels move closer into North Kivu. Goma sees raids but just 40 kilometers north; three villages are pillaged, lit on fire. Thousands flee to Goma refugee camps.

: I decide to stroll into Goma.

October 27: Sunday brings the collapse "of a tenuous week-old U.N.-brokered cease-fire between rebels and government forces." "A Congolese renegade group led by Gen. Laurent Nkunda seizes a major military camp and gorilla park in a renewed bout of heavy fighting."- CNN. Park rangers empty while fleeing for their lives.

Thousands flee fighting as Congo rebels seize gorilla park

October 28: "U.N. gunships battled rebels in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo in an effort to halt their advance on the village of Kibumba. The village of Kibumba is the location of a U.N.-administered internally displaced peoples camp (refugee camp), just 12 ½ miles (20 kilometers) north of the provincial capital, Goma. Thousands fleeing Kibumba spurred violent demonstrations in front of the U.N. compound in Goma. The group was angry that a 17,000-person U.N. security force has been unable to protect them from renewed bouts of violence in the country." -CNN. The attack results in several deaths in Goma.

U.N. gunships battle rebels in east Congo

October 29: Rebels advance within 12 miles outside of Goma.
Thousands flee rebel advance in Congo


Since then, people from camps north of Goma are fleeing to Goma and to havens in Rwanda and Uganda. Others are leaving Goma and streaming north. There are reports that some refugee camps for displaced people are being "forcibly emptied, looted and burned."

I am truly very sorry to those of you who have been sending me emails following my last post from Goma like a week ago in worry. I simply haven't had the time or access to write again since then due to days of rushed transit and some very strange adventures I have yet to post still.

What a time for me to be poking around in Goma, in the epicenter of the World's Deadliest War in the Congo. I will myself and urge all of you to try to care about what is happening right now in the Congo. I assure you it will not be difficult as it is on every 15 minutes on CNN and is all over the websites and other similar news broadcasts. For those of you fellow travelers that are wondering if it is "safe to go into Goma" just as I was wondering a week ago, I would say now, it is definitely, definitely not. Unfortunately the last week has brought about very pivotal developments that completely change the security and state of the region. The Congo is now being referred to as "quite possibly the most dangerous place on the planet."

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