A Fragile Situation

The hot sun beats down on Goma so I find cover in the shade of one of the many containers scattered through the HEAL Africa property. Kenaynandry, a forensic specialist from Nairobi, joins me. He cracks a joke about how hot it is in Congo and then goes off on a tangent about how awesome Kenya is. We dive into deep discussion about the issue of rape in the Congo and what DNA testing can do to help and then out of nowhere... BOOM!!

Kenyanandry jumps to his feet in fear, everyone walking across the Jubilee Centre parking lot freezes for what seems like a minute and they then start to move towards the area where the sound came from. I stay seated in the shade. I don’t know what just happened. Was there an explosion? Is something actually serious happening? What do I do in this situation? A wave of mixed emotions washes over me: fear, surprise, and excitement.

Kenyandry finds a higher vantage point and says to me with a smile, “some idiot blew up a car tire” he chuckles and hobbles down the stairs with his crutch in hand. For a split second I thought that my time in Goma was completely changed. I didn’t know what was happening. It was comforting to see that the sound of an explosion wasn’t “normal” I was not the only one startled.

There is still an anxious feeling here in Goma, especially around the holidays. Talking with Lyn, she mentioned that when strife and conflict break out it is usually around the end of November. A spark has not happened yet to start the fire of conflict.

I can’t wait around; worried about what might happen and think about when it may occur. People here take it one day at a time, little victories. The situation is fragile over here. From reading the news, small cracks are revealed. I just hope that nothing shatters while I am here.