Missive from the Congo 016

Originally posted on Thu, 29 Mar 2007 21:06:59 +0200

For this week’s missive I will talk about trash collection. Another topic that will have you hanging on the edge of your seats I know. As you can well imagine, given the breakdown of most municipal services as a result of the years of war, there is no regular garbage pick-up. This, of course, is a problem. We generate a fair bit of garbage, as those of you who have to haul it to the curb on a weekly basis know full well. In addition, there is no formal recycling system either, which just compounds the problem of trash. So what do you do? Well, I can honestly say that I don’t know exactly what the average Congolese family does. However, given that they don’t buy much packaged food, or consumer goods in general, they probably don’t generate that much waste. At Canada house we have a trash pit/pile at the rear of the property. We have it emptied every six months or so at a cost of $50 USD. I’m not sure exactly where the trash goes, except away from our place.

Canada House garbage pit

As you can see, it’s time to empty the pit. Our property manager/go to guy contacted the trash haulers but was told that they didn’t have any fuel therefore they wouldn’t be doing any pick ups. Apparently it didn’t dawn on them that if they did the work they would get paid and hence have money for fuel. But anyway. So our trash will be taken away using oversized wheelbarrows that are used in the Congo move just about anything, up to and including the living room furniture.

The other thing that happens is that there is a very active re-use market. When you have nothing, even scraps for something are worthwhile keeping. For example, MONUC gives us drinking water in 1.5 litre bottles. MONUC doesn’t take the bottles back so there is a very brisk trade in used MONUC water bottles. My cleaning lady tells me that you can sell them in the market for about 40 Congolese Francs a piece. The further you go out of town, the greater the price. The same thing happens with the glass jars and many other items.

Garbage fire

Finally, what doesn’t get reused or hauled away in so form or other gets burned. At any given time of days there are dozens of little fires burning around town; in people’s yards, on the side of the road, in the back alley, or just about anywhere. Sometimes the smell is atrocious but I guess it’s better than letting things rot.

We get newspapers and magazines from Canada as a welfare support programme. Naturally we only keep so many on hand. A number of Congolese have asked me to give them used magazines. They claim to be avid readers. It may be true to an extent but I suspect they re-sell them. Or use them to wallpaper the mud huts. I don’t know. I just know we don’t put them in the trash.

In any event, I don’t have much of a moral for this story. Just, perhaps, to appreciate the garbage men a little more. You’ll miss them when they’re gone.

John

Missive from the Congo 015

Originally posted on Tue, 20 Mar 2007 20:39:58 +0200

Traffic police in Kisangani

A number of you have remarked on the fact that I haven’t send out a missive since the 12th of February. You have uniformly been generous in suggesting that it is no doubt because of the workload and other such factors. Well, the truth is I have gotten lazy… and I sort of ran out of ideas to write about. However, I’m all better now. So today I will write about traffic control measures. Doesn’t sound like much of a subject until you’re in a place where the rules a very different.

First of all, in Kisangani, there are no traffic lights. Well, that’s not quite true. There are a few but they all look like the one in the attached picture. I can’t imagine that they have worked in the last ten years at least. So it’s “who dares, wins” when you get to an intersection. Might, or size, also makes right. Since there is much more bicycle traffic than anything else, and I drive a big SUV, I usually don’t have to yield much. There is progress though on this front. I was in Kinshasa a few weeks ago and they had one traffic light working.

One of the few traffic lights
in Kisangani. Obviously
it's not working

Another important difference from North American standards is when the right of way is in doubt, the Congolese will flash their lights. This is not an indication that you can go. In fact it is the reverse. If you intend to take the right of way you either honk your horn or flash your lights. Either way it means get out of my way.

Now the city is not completely without traffic control measures. At the exit to the UN installations, there are little huts within which sit local policemen. They will signal you whether or not it is safe to exit. They have green “pass” signs and red “stop” signs. Little human traffic lights. There is also a traffic police booth on the main intersection in town. If the police officer is placed sideways to you, you can go. If he is facing you (or has his back to you), you have to wait.

The traffic police at the exit to the HQ

Then there are the traffic circles. There are quite a few of them and they operate on the French principle instead of the English. That is to say that traffic entering the circle has priority over the traffic already in the circle. It’s a recipe for disaster if you ask me, or at least traffic headaches, since any amount of traffic can enter the traffic circle but you can’t leave it as easily. It’s not too bad in Kisangani as we don’t have that much traffic but you do have to be aware that the car approaching on the right won’t stop for you.

In any event, that is it for today. I have four more missives to write after this one. D-38 and counting.

John