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Does the Western world really care about the problems in Africa? Yesterday, the European Ministers of Foreign Affairs couldn’t come to an agreement to send in troops as a reinforcement for the Monuc Peace Keeping Force in Eastern Congo. Despite the fact that incredible cruel things are happening each and every day in that region. United Nation’s Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon has been pleading the European Union for help, the Belgian government is in favour for doing so, but, apparently, there is no enthusiasm within  Europe to help solve the problems over there. Can they really be solved? That’s the big question.

When I was travelling through that region in 1989, a lot of people of the older generation, locals who had lived when the “white man was ruling the country”, asked us when we would come to take it over again? “Because”, they said, “when you were the Bwanas (bosses) over here, we had education, we had public transportation, we had roads, we had health care, we had hospitals, we were happy…” Their words.

It hurts to see that a region that could be one of the richest in the world, has become one of the poorest in the same world. Ok, there is no oil in that area, but there are diamonds and many other minerals like cobalt and coltan which the Western world loves so much. And if the local people are not able to run their country themselves, shouldn’t we take our responsability to help them?

What strikes me as well is that there is absolutely no solidarity amongst the African countries as well. The Mugabes of the 21st century are only interested in robbing their countries and becoming as rich as possible themselves. Somalia, Darfur, Zimbabwe, the area of the great lakes in central Africa… all desperate places where human tragedies are happening each and every day.

But while the politicians are talking in the beautiful conference rooms of the world, women and young girls are being raped by soldiers. Rape is used as a weapon to destroy whole generations of fellow human beings.

One of the clips below was filmed in Bukavu, Eastern Congo, a city that I visited as well. A long time ago, this used to be one of the most modern cities in Africa, at the boarders of Lake Kivu, a beautiful area. Today, it has become a centre of horror.

When will we take action in order to help these people? After all, don’t we have a responsability as human beings?

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