Missive from the Congo 013

Originally posted on Mon, 15 Jan 2007 08:36:54 +0200

Now you see it.

This week I though I would talk about water. It is not a subject we give much thought to in Canada but it is always a subject of discussion here in Kisangani.

Let’s start with the weather. In the Congo, as in much of Africa, there are two seasons; dry and rainy. We are currently in the dry season which started in mid-December and lasts through to the end of March or so. Then comes the rainy season. Then the next dry spell. Then the next rainy season. When I arrived in late October, the rainy season was in full swing. It rained a lot. Two of the pictures attached are the view of the river from the HQ. They are from the same vantage point, taken minutes apart. Notice the river. Now you see it, now you don’t. That’s how much it can rain.

Now you don't.

It rained so much that we were very concerned that some of our installations were going to get flooded. As an indicator of the rise and fall of the mighty Congo, I have included two other pictures taken by others. They were taken from different angles about one month apart. Take a good look at the pier in front of the old factory.

Now let’s talk about city water. Kisangani, unlike most other places in the Congo has a water filtration plant and does provide water to most residents. Now we, the international community, do not drink the water but we use it for washing and such. It is not dangerous per se, but like many places in the world, it takes quite a while to get used to the local bacteria. The provision of water, as with electricity, can be patchy. Naturally the water plant needs electricity to run so when the power goes out so does the water. Also, like most other government employees, the waterworks employees have just started getting paid again but they have years of back wages owed to them. Last week they went on strike to demand their arrears. The flow of water in the town stopped for two days. There are a handful of natural springs in Kisangani, but with well over half a million people in town, you can imagine they got very busy very quickly. There were reports of fights with injuries at one of the springs. People also die when the water stops, but not from what you think. There have been numerous cases in the past of people, mostly kids drowning. Yes drowning. The people go down to the river to wash but most Congolese can’t swim. So they walk out into the river to wash, or they lather up their young children, and then they slip in, or drop the soapy child, and they get swept away by the strong current and drown. As far as I know, there were no reported cases of drowning this time.

Water level during the rainy season

Finally drinking water. As I mentioned above, we do not drink the local tap water. The UN provides bottled water produced by its own military water filtration plant. So we drink that though we were recently admonished not to take the UN water home as it is provided for consumption in the office only. We receive a daily subsistence allowance with which we should buy our water for home use. Yeah right. There is no way the local economy could supply the necessary volume of bottled water given the number of internationals here.

There is apparently a black market for UN water. A number of the local staff have been caught selling the UN bottled later. The chief administrator told me of going to a restaurant and asking for a bottle of water. Lo and behold what does appear on the table but a bottle of UN water, label and all. He drank the water but refused to pay for it.

Water level during the dry season

This will be last missive for a few weeks. I am going on leave to South Africa. I will resume my missives on or about the 12th of February. Thanks and keep the comments coming.

John