One of these Congolese was born in 1882. At the time Van Reybrouck first met him, in 2008, this man was 126 years old. This Mzee's earliest memories go back until the early 1890s. Of course no birth record is available but Van Reybrouck was able to verify stories this old man told him and the people he had met through official and unofficial records from that time. This Mzee had lived through different eras from the Congo Free-state, Belgian's colonization of Congo, Independence, Mobutu's reign, until now. He died in 2010.
The Congo achieved independence in 1960. With its 50th Anniversary in 2010 approaching Van Reybrouck came up with the idea to write a history of the Congo going back until the first influences of the white man. Van Reybrouck's father worked in the Congo for four years before he was born in 1971. Not a very talkative man, the few anecdotes his father told him must have been enough to capture the young Van Reybrouck's interest for this immense country.
I like how Van Reybrouck chose to base a large part of his book on stories of ordinary people. He chose to do so in large part because he wanted to show history through the eyes of the people who lived it (like Howard Zinn's A People's History). Using stories also makes this history more personal. It is, for example, interesting to know that many people were killed in East-Congo in the years after 1994 (when a second genocide took place following the Rwanda genocide, this time with the Hutus as victims). More interesting, for me, is to hear the stories of victims about the atrocities and their perpetrators (or are they victims too?). There are moments in the book I really had to swallow hard and think: "How did and do we still let these things happen?" What is our responsibility? A question that is still difficult to answer for me.
Of course, these stories are colored. Colored by fear, arrogance, pride, hope, or despair. But that is what makes them so much more intriguing. It is the truth for these individual people about a country, their country, that has known most of its recent history colonization, war, autocracy, and more war. It is a story of outsiders taking advantage of its enormous mineral wealth (starting with King Leopold all through the Chinese today) and ordinary Congolese not having the strength to make sure their leaders do something good with the revenues generated from their country's mineral richness.
After reading this book, I still wonder, why? Why can they not be blessed with a good leader? I know that such developments take time but with the increasing scarcity in the world for minerals of which Congo has up to 80% of world reserves, the question is whether the Congolese will ever get the breathing space to go through such developments. Of course, these people should hold their own leaders to account. But can they do so in a country in which so many other countries around the world have an interest? Where stronger, better organized countries' interests are at stake? Maybe one glimmer of hope is the fact that the Congo also has the second largest area of rain forest in the world (after the Amazon)? Can that be turned into something positive?
Some Congolese have taken advantage of globalization despite their country's lack of leadership. But these people are few. Too many are still suffering atrocities on a daily basis.
Although this book was not necessarily uplifting, it is good that this book was written; that this history, this particular one (because, of course, there is more than one history) was told. The book is currently only available in Dutch but an English translation should be in the stores soon. For anyone interested in "A" history of how colonization, international development, and globalization affect a third world country, or for those interested in people's stories undergoing these events, this is a very valuable and fascinating book.
Have a wonderful week and I need a new read so give me some titles (Dutch or English)!!
Rose
Thanks for this very inspirational blog, Rose! It is hard to find a single answer about the reason why things are the way they are in Africa. What I noticed in the DRC was the great diversity of peoples and cultures all forced together into one country without regards of who historically hated who and who, etc. I think I once heard that there were 240 languages spoken in the DRC!! And then there's the question of the great heroes of independence that turned bad: Kuame Nkruma in Ghana, Jomo Kenyatta in Kenya, and of course Mobutu Cece Seko in the DRC. And of course, it is the people that suffer.
ReplyDeleteI have just finished reading A Bend in the River (funny how we were somewhat connected in our readings these weeks). It is the story of the Congo during the years after independence, as lived by an Indian expat. Although the book was published in 1972, you will find it current and so close to home. I'd be curious to see what you think about it.
Yes, after your quote from it last week, I already had it on my list, so will get it out of the library tomorrow. I will let you know!!
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