flying uncertainty

Goma is definitely not a quiet city. From the crowing roosters in the morning to the crashing thunder at night there is nonstop noise. However one sound is prominent through out the day, planes. Goma has a small airstrip that doesn’t ever seem to rest. Planes pass over the city approximately every 15 minutes.

With all of the air traffic going on it is hard not to ask the question, what is in those planes? They can’t possibly be all passenger jets flying people in for a weekend getaway in the eastern Congo, can they?

Today, a woman from Canada, a victim of a chimpanzee attack, dropped into critical condition. There was an imperative need for some sort of air evacuation, yet despite the constant buzz of planes overhead it was surprisingly inaccessible. Unfortunately we were unable to organize a flight and she had to travel 3 hours by land accompanied by an expat doctor to Kigali.

My imagination runs wild when the planes fly overhead. Are they full of diamonds? gold? coltan? UN VIPs? The list goes on and on.

In a region that lives in the shadow of social and governmental uncertainty it is hard to accept that it has a constant, efficient link to the outside world; maybe it is the air travel that creates the uncertainty. Even when presented with a medical emergency, other, more “important”, things take precedent. The airstrip in Goma seems to provide more questions than answers. I hope I am able to answer a few of them in the next several months.