Eye Witness Accounts

As previously mentioned, this is the first Westside team to enter the DRC. And the permission from the board did not come easily. It has been a process that has taken nearly 2 years. Part of the proposal drafted this year to the board in order to gain permission included accounts from people who know the area who could testify to it's safety. The board needed to know that they were not putting a group of Canadians in a harmful situation.

These are excerpts from a couple of those accounts:

The first is from another church STM leader in New Brunswick who last year began sending annual teams to the DRC:

“The reason we go to Lubumbashi in Southern DRC instead of other places, is to
work among displaced people—people who have fled the danger in DRC’s east.
Southern DRC is safe. Just follow the people. The reason they displaced
themselves to southern DRC is because it is safe.

“Even if fighting does flare up in the East, it’s over 1000 miles away—through
mountains and over terrible roads. The rebels certainly do not have air
capabilities. If they ever did try to come south, it would take them over a week.
News reports would pick that up, and we would simply cross the nearby border
back into Zambia.

“My team did not take extra liability insurance, and our waiver was not
sophisticated. The greatest way to manage risk on the field is to avoid acting
irresponsibly on the field. If your church’s leader acts irresponsibly, then you are
at risk.”

And this next excerpt comes from a man who grew up in Likasi who operates a flight service and travels regularly between the US and the DRC. This is what he had to say:

“You’d be amazed to see how many foreigners are in Likasi. If you go you will
see that the peace is there. You will sense the peace…BIG peace. The challenge
is in going around at night. You just need to find a good area to stay. There is not
this issue of people coming into your house in DRC.”

“The trouble in DRC is the fighting. Uprisings bring trouble. But the fighting has
never gone on in Lubumbashi or Likasi. That is in the Eastern part of DRC. The
Eastern part is scary. It is over 1000 kilometers away.”

Rukang added: “The people are tired of war. Working in Congo is easy because
the people are ready to receive you.”

That last part gets me.