Bunia, Congo

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December 19, 2006

I flew back to Bunia in Congo with Jon on another trip, but this time stayed overnight. His job was to help a local church set up to show a Christian movie. We stayed with a Medair doctor in her large yet bare home. It had a feel of Africa with the red waxed concrete floors, long hallways, large rooms, but very basic. The water wasn’t on so I took a bucket bath in the morning to wash my hair only.


The church was out past the airport – just a long rectangle building sitting by itself on a knoll. Many of the people who attend are refugees from other parts of Congo. The “war” here was rarely in the news back in 2002 when it was at its height. I know almost nothing about it except for bits & pieces - mostly it was ethnic violence and Bunia experienced some of the worst of it which is why the UN presence is so heavy there. Marian, the Medair doctor, said that it is now the most peaceful it has been in 10 years since the recent election. The president won another term in office and it seems like it was a fair election, according to Marian.


Jon told me about an incident a few months ago leading up to the elections when the president’s entourage came through Bunia when he was there and commandeered his plane. They told him that he would fly all the president’s security detail to Aru. He told them he couldn’t do that as he already had a schedule and couldn’t fit it in. They informed him that MAF would never fly in Congo again if he didn’t take them. He did. Three roundtrips full, including machine guns and rifles. You don’t say no to an African president.