KISANGANI - The Children of Eastern Congo tells the story of two young people from the same region around Goma: child soldier Isaac and activist Rebecca. The first was barely thirteen when he became a kadogo, a recruit of rebel leader Laurent Kabila. The latter was once the youngest political prisoner when she stood up with other youth activists against Kabila's policy. Why did one choose the weapons and the other the words? Did they stay true to their mission? How universal is their story? 

And who will make it? The child soldier, dragged along by false promises? Or the activist, stubbornly fighting for basic values? In twenty-five years of reporting on Congo's most explosive region, Katrien Vanderschoot looks for answers, trends, causes and solutions. And she gives the last word to the Congolese themselves.

A haunting story about being chosen and choosing, about insight and purification, about the freedom of the individual and the coercion of a community, about dependence and resilience, about hypocrisy and authenticity, about fatalism and hope.

Supported
€ 3.500 allocated on 13/10/2021.
ID:
FPD/2021/1864
Grant:
Pascal Decroos Fund

Publication

BOOK

  • Title: De kinderen van Oost-Congo
    Subtitle: Bevrijden met wapens of woorden
    Editor: Pelckmans
    Pages.: 324
    EAN: 9789464015447
    Date of publication: 09/05/2022

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