Here’s the latest from Minembwe. Sorry for the big delay in communication but sometimes “Africa happens.” If anything can go wrong in the DRC, sadly, it will. Rather than explain the past three months, I will fast forward to the present.
I’m the only one of us in Minembwe at this point in time, and probably for many future points in time. In Minembwe, the cow poo here, what is left of it since most of the cows have been stolen, has truly hit the fan.
Miles and I made it up to Minembwe via the helicopter on December 6. Things were horrible the entire time Miles was here as the DRC army soldiers would kill civilians, and then the civilians (or somebody else?) would kill a soldier. The current army commander over the region wants to chase everyone out of here for whatever nefarious reasons. These revenge killings went back and forth until the day that Miles was supposed to leave, December 20; on that day the commander of the army here brought in another 1,000 or so soldiers to destroy the Local Militia and there was a big battle. The Local Militia are local guys, trained and led by former DRC army officers. The Local Militia (who are not soldiers) were raised up almost four years ago to fight off the rebels, and sometimes the DRC soldiers when they behave badly. Sadly, I need to note that the Local Militia haven’t always behaved in honorable ways as well, but they make the people feel safe.
Thankfully, Miles was able to fly out on the UN helicopter the following day after that first big battle and is now back in Bujumbura with the family. Sadly, while Miles was waiting to get on the helicopter that day, he and I watched a DRC soldier die just before the soldier was to be loaded onto the helicopter; this soldier had been mugged and beaten to within an inch of his life the night before.
So, it’s been crazy tense up here, especially with all the extra soldiers around. On Christmas Day, there was an attempt by the local pastors to negotiate peace with the commander of the army, but sadly he is an evil young man looking for power and said his decision to rid the area of the Local Militia was final. On Thursday, December 29, the army set out to chase away the Local Militia, but miraculously, the Local Militia beat the army back, even pushing them off the base that the army occupied near the airport, which is very close to our house. All morning you could hear “pew pew pews” and “kabooms” off in the distance, but eventually the fighting made its way toward me and the battle ended sometime after it had come about 2,000 feet from our house.
