This is not the kind of post I usually write on this blog. This one is about the drama that is currently (and has been for a long time) unfolding in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, or DR Congo for short. It affects everyone who lives or has lived there, including Murhula Zigabe Guido, whom I got in touch with via LinkedIn a while as time ago as he is (now: was) upcycling organic waste inclusive coffee pulp for some time, and whom I got to know as a very active, humble and helpful person.
After I spoke to Murhula on the phone this morning, 7 February 2025, I asked him to send me a few lines and photos so that I could circulate them as far as my modest abilities allow. Here is what he sent me today: (Note: there are also 2 videos, one of child soldiers in action, one burning a man alive in a truck tire; due to the brutality of the videos I decided just to take screenshots):
“Hi everyone,
First of all, I would like to let you know that I have managed to escape Bukavu, my city. I am safe and I am grateful to God for that.
Bukavu my city has been turned into a battle field and the life expectancy is now of 24 hours.
Before leaving the city, the Congo army distributed guns to civilians. As I am writing, civilians have started to use them.
Now the city is under the control of the M23. After conquering the city, they did not stay in, they advanced to conquer new territories. They have no police to secure civilians in the conquered territories. There is chaos in the city of Bukavu.
I am a young man, I was born in war time and grew up in the war. I have become familiar with gunshots noise. Killing someone has become a game even children can play. Every five minutes, an innocent person is killed; every five minutes an innocent person is burned and the scene is filmed and shared on social media so that the neighboring avenue can know what is going on.
I have never experienced peace and it is like I'll not experience it in my lifetime. All this because Congo is so rich in minerals and the western companies have chosen to access it by pouring down the blood of people who live on those minerals.
Bukavu is isolated from the rest of the country. The consequences are unbearable: NGOs have left the country, banks have closed, money has lost its value, food is rare and charcoal cannot enter the city. Families are burning plastic shoes and plastic sanitary pads to cook food.
I used to convert organic waste into clean cooking charcoal, to rear Black Soldier Fly larvae by using coffee pulps and to turn BSF larvae frass into biochar. My clean charcoal was two times cheaper comparing with wood charcoal, used to burn for four hours and used to be smokeless. It was a relief not only for families who were buying but for those who were our distributors.
During the war, meaning in February 2025, my small company was attacked. Looters entered to take every valuable item. What they could not take, they destroyed it.
As I am writing, people are starving. We lack food. Hunger is killing people. Mainly in families with single parents.
If you are able to help even in a small way, please do.”
If you are able to help, you can contact Murhula either directly on LinkedIn, or you can send a note here to me.
More information about the conflict you can find on websites like UN News, Relief Web, ISW, BBC and many other sites.
