This post is a little late to due to a trip to Kalima, where internet was not available at all; and more internet failures. And it is also looong.
I have this habit (or hobby?) of making ‘top 5 lists’ of random things, mostly hypothetical and very rarely not; mostly made-up and compared with friends’ answers but sometimes better kept to myself. It is highly probable that I spend more time making-up hypothetical lists compared to other normal human beings… I therefore have my top 5 dream things-to-become (things-to-become, because I think the word ‘job’ is too limiting, and by ‘dream’ I of course mean not factoring in the quite consequential factors that are time, money, talent, and well, reality), top 5 books I wish I could literally jump into and set my feet in, top 5 songs I would want to have written, blah blah. You get the point.
But, as usual, I digress (this entry has a point, I promise). Since I’ve been in Kindu, I’ve found myself uttering sentences I never would have imagined I’d ever have to say out loud. So I decided to make a top 5 mental list of things I never thought I’d have to say. Mental, mostly because the list is/was mostly made up of the stupidest, random-est things (including things that will make me seem like a very, very odd girl). However, the other weekend the sentence that trumps all sentences-I-never-thought-I’d-ever-have-to-say was uttered: I was detained by the Congolese military for taking pictures of the sunrise over the Congo River. (That I was awake in time for sunrise is pretty unbelievable in itself, but I think being detained by the Congolese military truly trumps that.) What follows is a pretty long narration, so if you don’t feel like reading through it, skip to the photos here.
After I laughingly told the story of what happened to some people, I realized that saying I got detained or arrested made it sound much worse than what it was. Although I do appreciate that really, it could have been a lot worse. Being caught by officials in any foreign country is scary enough, but I think that being in the Congo, a country where strict security procedures are a must and where much of the country is still caught up in conflict, made it sound especially bad for others (not that it was a particularly pleasant experience).
I’ve taken a few photos of the river before, but I always imagined how beautiful it must look when the sun rises over it in the mornings. After my camera trials the week before, I decided to take photos of the sunset that weekend. So, I was (barely) up at 5 in the morning, and at the last minute I decided to bring one of our security guards with me because it was still dark, and I thought he could tell me where I could and could not take photos (he didn’t). We walked along the river and he told me that further down was better, so I walked on until I found the spot.
I remember thinking how peaceful and relaxing everything seemed, thinking that this was not a bad start to the weekend; and I remember that I had barely taken my first (blurry) photo when I heard someone talking to us in a raised voice. Now, at just after 5:30 am, this sleepyhead did not process what was happening until she looked up to see a very young man in all-army-green attire, from trousers all the way to his beret, looking at her very sternly. He was telling me off for taking photos of people and pirogues and everything in general without permission, asking what kind of person takes photos at that time of day. I tried to explain to no avail that no, I was merely taking photos of the sunrise and did not mean any harm or disrespect to anyone. At this point another young soldier joined in and they both started raising their voices even more, and to my frustration, began speaking in Lingala, the official language of the Congolese military (luckily, the guard I had brought with me spoke Lingala and therefore did most of the talking). As if that wasn’t enough, a group of local men joined the party, and a little crowd had surrounded us --- at one point I got a bit upset and said I can’t understand Lingala so I would appreciate it if they would switch back to French and talk to me and not my guard, and a couple of local men basically started shouting at me in the most arrogant tones ever, asking what it was that was sooo hard to understand, and then going on to explain what they thought the problem was.
At this point I was truly set to go home, sod the bloody sunrise, and just go back to bed. So I told them, okay-nevermind-sorry-I’m going home-we’re leaving-thank-you-i-don't-want-to-take-photos-now. But oh no, the moment I started to turn around, they said ‘NON! Toi, tu vas avec nous.’ I had to go with them to their office and speak with their chief. This is when I think I began to get scared and truly worried, being escorted (or arrested) by two young soldiers who still refused to tell me in a language I could understand what exactly it was they wanted. That the guard accompanying me simply shrugged his shoulders and said nothing didn’t help matters either.
In their office, I was sat down to wait for their chief who looked only a little older than the two previous soldiers. He spoke to me, saying that I needed permission to take photos in this area because it was their turf, they were in charge. Although he was visibly trying hard to assert their authority, the chief was unexpectedly polite about it, and I’d go as far to say that he was even shy and soft-spoken. Quite the opposite of his subordinates whose egos seemed to be bloated by their uniforms, with one of them trying to contribute to the conversation by telling me to bring them beer and cigarettes the next time I planned to take photos. I knew there was absolutely no point in arguing or defending myself (although I wanted to ask them since when the sun became their property). I just sat there and waited, waited, until they said I could finally go and that they have granted me permission to take photos. I was in no mood for photos but the guard with me said it was better if I did, since they were still watching us. And then just when you think it’s all over, they call the guard over and ask him for money.
So there’s the (looong) story.
Like I said, it wasn’t as bad as it sounds. To be honest, I don’t know what I think of it. (I know I don’t need to think about it and the lesson of being more careful should be enough, but if you’ve read previous entries then you already know that I like to analyze and over-think.) The standard reaction from this was that it was bit much for a bit of photography, that they were looking for trouble and easy money, that they were abusing their authority. And, I do think that too. But when I think more about it, I think I can understand how a newcomer, a foreigner with a not-so-tiny camera taking photos at 5:30 am, not so far from the military base, can be suspicious. I have been told more than once that the military are wary of foreign spies, and can be quite paranoid (I would never pin myself as the spy-type though. Undercover ninja maybe.), and I was not careful enough.
Also, just because I’m in the Congo doesn’t mean things are much worse than what they are in say, hmmm, oh, I don’t know, the Philippines? Where cops hide themselves and obscure traffic signs, waiting for a vulnerable driver to break the rules and give you the choice of giving them money or having your license confiscated, among all the other things they may do. Think about it. Just because this happened in the Congo doesn’t make the situation unique to this country or this setting or this state.
Just tiny thoughts. And I laugh about this now, but, truly, things could have been worse (just this week an NGO car was hijacked by the mai-mai for four hours somewhere in Maniema province), and I'm glad they weren't.
I was released with still a couple of minutes left to take a few photos of the last bits of sunrise.
And maybe I will share my top 5 sentences next time. I have to weigh how embarrassing they are first though.
