Bunia

No, Bunia is not the name of a special meal, or a typical congolese expression. Bunia is the capital city of the district of Ituri, Province Orientale, in the north of North Kivu.

a street in Bunia

The district of Ituri is 60,000 km2 (six times the size of Lebanon), with around 5 millions inhabitants. For several years now, there has been heavy fighting in this part of Congo. The situation has calmed down a bit now but still, it is quite an unstable area. The population has suffered heavily from the conflict, massive displacement of population has taken place and significant humanitarian operations are being carried out here. This is where I start my field trip that will take around 10 days. The aim to familiarise myself with this environement, meet with the agencies we are funding, and prepare the humanitarian response for this year.

landscape in Ituri (on the way from Goma)

Bunia is surprinsingly quite a nice town, very different from Goma (of which we'll tell you more soon). No lava all over the place here. Today was meeting with officials. I meet with Petronille (yes, this is really her first name), the district administrator. She explain me the current situation, especially the current military operations that are taking place by both the Congolese army and the MONUC (UN peace keeping force). They are trying to dismantle the various militia that have been harassing and looting the population for years. The situation in Ituri is on the improvement, but there is still a long way to go before coming to a complete stable situation. Time flies and I spend 2 and half hour with Petronille. At some point we are interrupted by journalists who want to interview her. She is very different from any other politicians in Congo (certainly because she comes from the civil society). Speaking straight, not hiding difficulties, but also giving message of truth, that the situation in here is not as hell as most media usually depict it. The rest of the day will be spend with other agencies, in order to deepen my understanding of the current situation. Tomorrow will be different. We will go south, to visit an area where NGOs we fund are assisting displaced people and people returning to their homes. Whist I am doing all of this, Rita is in Goma, busy with thousands things, including looking for work.

Petronnelle and the journalists

Bunia n'est pas le nom d'un plat special, ou toute autre expression congolaise, Bunia est la capitale du district de l'Ituri, en Province Orientale, au nord du Nord Kivu. C'est ici que je commence ma visite terrain qui devrait durer une dizaine de jours. Je passe la première partie de ma journée avec Petronille, la 'prefet' du district. Nous discutons pendant plus de deux heures et demie; elle m'informe des derniers événements du district et notamment des opérations militaires qui ont lieu par l'armée congolaise et les forces UN de la MONUC, qui tentent de démanteler les différentes milices qui pulullent dans cette région et qui pillent et violentent les populations. Petronille est un personnage à part au Congo, une politicienne qui vient de la société civile, et qui ne pratique pas la langue de bois. Elle parle des difficultés rencontrées, mais donne une vision non édulcorée de la réalité, et moins noire que la plupart des médias, qui ont tendance à dépeindre une situation d'enfer. Nous sommes interronpus durant notre entretien par des journalistes qui souhaitent l'interviewer, jeu auquel elle se plie bien volontiers. Nous passons le reste de la journée à d'autres RDV, afin d'afiner notre compréhension de la situation actuelle. Demain sera différent. Nous irons dans le sud, visiter une zone où une ONG que nous finançons assiste les populations touchées par la guerre.

View of Goma and the lake Kivu