A good husband is one who has a bike.

South Kivu is the site of horrible massacres, mass rapes and marauding armed groups. Every few kilometres a memorial marks the site of a mass grave of victims. Here in the territory of Fizi, in the month of June and only in one village, 120 women were raped. Rape is a weapon of war here. In all of the Congo, I am told there are 45 rapes every hour. But people are returning despite all the violence. Returning to destroyed homes and fields, they are trying to put their lives back together. The area is spectacularly beautiful, but also holds many mineral resources, the reason so many different groups are fighting.

Two very eligible bachelors?

There aren't many roads, no railway to speak of and many goods are transported on the backs of women. So if you are a man with a bicycle, you are very popular. They use bicycles to transport everything. Most bicycles are imported from China or India. Anyone want to open up a factory here to build local bikes? Could be a profitable market and you could create many a happy home!


An interesting story to follow-up on: In this traditionally christian country, I notice a few mosques. Talking to a group of children, one tells me his name is Aboubakar, a name I would expect in Mali, but not here in the Congo. I asked an aid worker here about the presence of islam. He tells me it is ever since the UN soldiers arrived. Most soldiers are from Pakistan. "They have their official mission and a secret mission," he tells me. "They give 100 dollars to someone who agrees to convert to islam." 

African leaders meet in an exclusive area on an island in the Atlantic

Not many people have been to Equatorial Guinea, but most of the African leaders now have. Shuffled from their private planes along a private 6-lane highway, lined with their portraits, the leaders entered the area known as Sipopo. Each has his own villa overlooking the sea. I don't doubt the sincerity of many of the leaders, but this area seems to be at the heart of the problems that these leaders are gathered here to talk about: poverty and the income gap, education and opportunities for youth.

Just behind my hotel is, sadly, what one normally sees of Africa, dirt roads, shacks and people struggling to get by. And Equatorial Guinea is a rich country with gas and oil. The place is fairly clean and there is, I'm told, very little crime. There is a lot of construction going on. Like many countries in Africa, it has a lot going for it. They say this is the continent of the future.


That is, of course, if they, the leaders, can get things moving. Organising a good summit might be a place to start. I don't like to complain, but I can't say I've seen a summit meeting so badly organised. Only one person was in charge of people arriving at the airport. I had to wait 4 hours out on the sidewalk while others waited for their visas. Finding a hotel took hours. The first day, I was questioned and reprimanded, although politely, not to film because I didn't have the right papers yet (this is probably because the regime here is authoritarian and they are not used to cameras). Accreditation takes hours as well and, so far I have had 3 different accreditation cards. At one accreditation booth, the guy even asked me for money.

Pool at the 5-star hotel, said to be the President's.

But, in the end, things seem to work out and most people here are of a good nature and any conversation ends in a good smile. I'm not sure if that is good enough to discourage leaders from building their own private highways to the beach and to invest in their people's future.