H.O.P.E.
Posted by Jayne Pilot
Congo Crisis – the forgotten War
Dr. Jean Michel Kayumba a new member to the Brampton Rotary Club spoke on Monday, July 21st on the Congo Crisis – the forgotten War. He was born in the Congo, was a family practitioner for 12 years in South Africa before moving to the United States working for the Maine Centre for Disease Control and Prevention. In 2014 he moved to Canada and lives in Brampton with his wife and four daughters.
The Congo, a country located in Central Africa, has a population of 75 million people and borders the Republic of Congo, Central African Republic, Sudan and Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and Tanzania to the East, Zamia and Angola to the south. It is the second largest country in Africa by area and the eleventh largest in the world.
The Civil wars devastated the country and resulted in the deaths of over six million since 1997. The death toll is due to widespread disease (HIV/AIDS) and famine now and reports indicate that half of the individuals who have died are children under five years of age. The worst place for a child or women to be born is in the Congo, with poverty at the rate of 80% with no access to clean water, sanitation and basic healthcare. They are the most vulnerable and the victims of this war. Children if they live, at the age of 9 are taken into the army, women are raped at an astonishing statistics of 48 women per day. The life expectancy in the Congo is 47 years, while in Canada is around 82.
Dr. Kayumba pointed out the 5 keys to understand about the CongoL
1. The affairs of the Congo have not been determined by the people of the Congo, but by multi-national mineral companies, war lords from the militia groups and supports for the wealthy minerals used by countries around the world.
2. The Congo is rich in precious and strategic resources – hydroelectric power with the potential of 100,000 megawatts, 80% topsoil, one of the largest rivers and second largest rainforest in the world. Its mineral resources include copper, cobalt, coltan Colombo-tantalum: Coltan (used in electronic devices), uranium, tin, manganese, gold and diamond.
These resources are being extracted by armed militia in DRC at any and all cost, including the rape, torture, slaughter and enslavement of innocent people for leverage in the mines.
3. Their challenges are both internal – Mai-Mai militias groups, DRC army (Democratic Republic of Congo), Rebel groups: CNDP, M23, RDC, AFDL and external – wars with Rwanda, Uganda, Burundi, Angola, Zimbabwe, Namibia Armies, and Rebel groups: LRA, FDLR.
4. Congo is central to the future of the African continent
5. Congo is blessed with enormous natural and human potential.
The Congo not only threatens the livelihood of those who live there, but it is threatening the world’s biodiversity. It’s rainforest is second to the Amazon, comprising 107 million hectares of unique wilderness.
What Can You as a Rotarian Do? Dr. Kayumba challenged the members to be a part of the solution to be a Peace Advocate. We all own electronic devices that are made from the minerals from the Congo. We can raise our voices to have companies who profit from these resources from the Congo, put back into the Congo to help the people to live. Those interested to be a part of an advocate committee can contact Dr. Kayumba at 647-716-1506 or jeanmichelkayumba@gmail.com
What Can You as a Rotarian Do? Dr. Kayumba challenged the members to be a part of the solution to be a Peace Advocate. We all own electronic devices that are made from the minerals from the Congo. We can raise our voices to have companies who profit from these resources from the Congo, put back into the Congo to help the people to live. Those interested to be a part of an advocate committee can contact Dr. Kayumba at 647-716-1506 or jeanmichelkayumba@gmail.com