Chapter 23 - Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo

From Rwanda Toto walked across the border to Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo. While I only spent part of a day in the country, I think it's important that you know a bit about the second-largest country in Africa.

Until recently the Democratic Republic of Congo was called Zaire. Before that it was called The Congo. You might wonder why we don't just call it The Congo again. Well, it's neighbor is called The Republic of Congo, so we have to be more specific to know which of the two countries in Africa called 'Congo' that we're actually talking about! Sometimes people differentiate them by saying 'Congo' followed by their capital city. 'Congo - Kinshasa' is the Democratic Republic of Congo while 'Congo - Brazzaville' refers to neighboring The Republic of Congo. Sometimes people in Africa just refer to the Democratic Republic of Congo as "The DRC." Confusing, isn't it?

While Kinshasa is the capital of the same country that I visited, it might as well be a world away from Goma on the far eastern border of the DRC. The Democratic Republic of Congo is a huge country, as large as Western Europe. And because it has a large, dense jungle in the middle of it, you can't even drive from Kinshasa in the west to Goma in the east. There are no working roads connecting the two for tourists. You can only fly.

Because of this distance and a history of poor leadership, Goma doesn't have much of a working government. In fact the Democratic Republic of Congo only became democratic recently. "Democratic" means the citizens get to vote directly for their leaders. For decades the country was ruled by Mobutu Sese Seko, a corrupt and bad dictator who renamed the country "Zaire." A "dictator" is a non-elected ruler with absolute power over a country, and usually acts in violent ways to maintain that power. The country had a four-year civil war at the end of Mobutu Sese Seko's life and afterwards optimistically renamed itself the Democratic Republic of Congo. However, they only held their first elections this year. The day I visited was a couple of weeks before the final run-off election, so I saw advertisements and T-shirts for presidential candidates like the one in this photo. While we often take elections for granted, being able to vote was new to the people of Goma. I could tell they were enthusiastic about having the right to elect their president for the first time.

Another thing we take for granted is that a volcanic eruption won't send lava flowing through our town. Well, the people of Goma can't take that for granted, either! In 2002 the Nyiragongo volcano that towers over Goma erupted. (You can see the volcano in the background of the motorcycle photo above.) The lava flowed right through town, over the roads, businesses and homes. In fact, I walked by this school where the lava just missed the school building, flowing through the fields where the kids play during recess! Can you imagine lava flowing past the windows of your classroom?

Because there was no local functioning government, some of the streets still had lava flows over them. People just drove over the lava, making the roads quite bumpy and very dusty. Several furniture businesses destroyed by the lava flow in 2002 just set up shop again on top of the hardened lava like the one in this photo double click on it to enlarge the photo). Unfortunately the threat of a new eruption remains, as the volcano is quite active. In fact, if I had time, I could have made a two-day hike up to the top of the Nyiragongo volcano to see a bubbling cauldron of red-hot lava! I'm told it looks like something you'd expect to only see in a movie.

So hopefully now you know a bit about the very large and interesting Democratic Republic of Congo. The next time someone mentions the 'Congo,' you can confidently ask, 'Which Congo are you talking about? The Democratic Republic of Congo or Congo-Brazzaville?' They will think you are quite the Global Nomad!

Travel Questions about the Democratic Republic of Congo:

1. What was the name of the country before it changed its name to the DRC?
2. What is the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo?
3. How must tourists travel between the capital city and the eastern city of Goma that Toto visited?
4. Define 'democratic.'
5. When did the Nyiragongo volcano erupt most recently?
6. If you hiked up to the top of the volcano today, what would you see?

Global Nomad Questions on Democratic Republic of Congo:

1. Draw a picture of you at this school in Goma.
2. The DRC is the second-largest country in Africa. Do a cybersearch to find out which country is the largest in Africa. What is the third-largest African country behind the DRC?
3. As one of the largest countries in Africa, the DRC borders many other countries. Looking at a map, list all the countries that border the Democratic Republic of Congo.
4. For older students:
   Do a cybersearch about the dictator Mobuto Sese Seko and write an essay about why the country suffered under his corrupt leadership.