Apr 05 2008
Villager missing for a week
This is Balemba. We’re quite worried. A villager from Rumangabo, where we live, has been missing since last Monday. He went up to Bukima, on the edge of the Gorilla Sector, to cultivate his crops, and has not been seen since. It’s about a four hour walk from Rumangabo to Bukima, and many of the villagers who fled Bukima when the fighting started had started doing the long walk back to their fields every day to tend their crops. They sleep in the valley, because the rebel territory is considered too dangerous.
However, since last weekend nobody has been going back to Bukima. Befor this incident, the FARDC (the National Army) troops caught two rebels who were in government controlled area where we are. The FARDC officers told all the villagers not to go back to Bukima to cultivate incase of retalliations by the rebels. Unfortunately this one villager did not get the message and went anyway. We’re trying to get all the information we can but it’s very difficult.
There have been many cases of villagers going missing in the rebel held area over the past six months, and never being seen again. It’s terrible, because the villagers have nothing to do with this terrible war, they are only the victims. They have to cultivate their crops to survive, but take huge risks in going behind enemy lines. We will start to report on these disappearances, because it is one of those things that nobody hears about.
Daily news from the conservation frontline by Innocent and Diddy, and other Congolese rangers risking their lives to save mountain gorillas of the Virunga National Park in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo
Very distressing news Balemba. I will keep my hope that this villager will be found safe and sound, but the fact that many other villagers have gone missing, is clearly not a good sign. I saw a documentary on Congo last night and it is so sad to see the innocent victims of war. Their only hope is to have peace so that they may restore their lives and livelihoods. One of the women villagers said “We have nothing without peace.” I thought that was so poignant. I hope for peace. Lisa
So sorry to hear about this…wonder what happened? So much tragedy there every day…many things unnoticed by the rest of the world….things are so messed up these days it is depressing!!!! I hope this man will show up somehow!
Balemba - this is just terrible to hear. Our thoughts are with his family. Take great care all of you. The people of eastern congo are in our thoughts every day.
Here’s an interesting article: http://news.aol.com/story/_a/fatal-heart-disease-in-apes-puzzles-zoos/20080405154709990001
Lisa
Yeah, heart disease in captive gorillas is a HUGE problem. We lost two silverbacks in a matter of days at the National Zoo because of it. It was awful. People were in the Ape House crying and there was one man who was particularly close to Mopie and he never came back to the zoo. He was too heartbroken.
Lisa Stevens is the assistant curator for primates and giant pandas at our zoo. She’s a former colleague of Dr. Lucy’s, as well as Dr. Susan Murray who’s one of the “gorilla girls” - female vets working to solve this problem of heart disease in our captive gorilla population. The database they’re building will be extremely valuable. We have to have a healthy, genetically diverse captive gorilla population because we aren’t making a lot of progress - yet - saving the wild populations.
As much as I love observing our gorillas and orangs, I rarely go to the Ape House because the behavior of the other human animals is so upsetting. They show NO respect for these beautiful and intelligent cousins of ours and I feel bad for the gorillas and orangs who can’t escape the obnoxious behavior of human animals.
s.
Here’s a link to the WaPo story about gorillas and heart disease: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/13/AR2008031303673.html
s.
Sheryl, I understand what you are saying about people showing no respect. I oberserve the same thing when the kids and I go to the Los Angeles Zoo. It’s disturbing and sad. Thanks for the link. I’m going to check it out. Lisa
Sheryl, what can we do in our own communities to educate people about the treatment of gorillas and orangs that are in captivity? I do find that many times it is lack of knowledge/education that make people act the way they do. I know that I would be willing to speak up and help educate people at our two large zoos in the Twin Cities.
Dee
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Balemba this is terrible news. This link is to a BBC story about what the harassment and attacks that are ongoing and forcing people out of the hills and into Goma. I hope he is ok. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7303406.stm
As everyone has already said, this is a terrible state of affairs, but unfortunately it’s now all too common. I’m the BBC correspondent that produced the story Paula mentioned… and the conclusion we left with was that the militias seem to have adopted a policy of clearing the countryside. We heard far too many accounts of villagers being harassed, raped and even killed whenever they went back to work their fields. (Sheltering in towns by night and returning to farm by day is a pretty common survival strategy across a lot of Africa’s conflict zones.) The harsh fact is that although it’s a dangerous practice, a lot of people don’t feel they have much choice if they want to eat. But even more disturbingly, the militias have also begun targeting NGOs trying to support people living close to their farms. The net effect has been to drive civilians out of rural areas and down towards Goma. In fact, the displaced people have even begun to resettle a lavafield that last hosted refugees from Rwanda’s genocide more than a decade ago! the simple fact is that unless there’s a committed international response to this, neither the people, or the wildlife, will get any peace.
Paula, thanks for the link to that story. Peter, thank you for your words regarding the situation and also covering this story. More people need to know about what is going on there. More people need to care and write to their respective representatives regarding this situation and demand that action be taken. I have and I will keep writing. Thank you. Lisa
Just wondering how things are…it has been awhile since any news here………??
Peter,
Your words are very true. Without international help, I fear nothing will change, but eastern DRC doesn’t seem to blip on any radar. Perhaps it’s so complicated it’s ‘best left alone to sort itself’. G4G is UK based with several MPs kept in touch, but if we can ever team up, do contact us.
linda@g4g.co.uk
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