02:00 Start
BRUNO LOKUTA, HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVIST ( LA VOIX DES SANS VOIX = THE VOICE OF THE VOICELESS )
02:14 The life of the Zairian people is worse than the life of an animal in the woods. An animal knows that, when it wakes up, it will eat and that it will sleep again. But the life of a Zairian is so unsure. He doesn't know if he will wake up, if he will find something to eat, if he will be able to do something , where he will sleep tonight.. A life full of fear and uncertainty.
ETIENNE NDONGALA, PROF. ECONOMY OF THE KINSHASA UNIVERSITY
02:45 If there wasn't any informal economy, the Zairian people would be death. You would have landed at N'djili airport in a peoples' desert. The wages of the public servants only cover one percent of their total expenses. Food, rent, electricity and then I'm not counting the medical and the costs for clothing.
Voice Over
There is no Article 15 in the constitution of Zaire. Yet, article 15 is the most important law in Zaire. It rules almost every aspect in the life of the Zaire people.
Article 15 : "Help yourself!"
03:38 TITLE : ARTICLE 15
Voice Over
Zaire counts 43 million inhabitants. It's the biggest Central-African country. Until 1960 it was a Belgian colony. After the coup of 1965, Mobutu Sese Seko took power. In the first years of the Mobutu-rule, the country knew a period of prosperity. But soon Zaire is sucked into a hole of everlasting misery. A country which is rich in raw materials, is now one of the poorest countries in the world. Zaire is a political failure. 24th April 1990 Mobutu decides under international pressure to change his political course and to work on genuine democratic reforms. Suddenly there was new hope for the people of Zaire.
Marshal MOBUTU SESE SEKO, PRESIDENT OF ZAIRE.
04:36 I announce you that I will leave the unitary party, The Mouvement populaire de la Révolution. This way I'm giving the possibility to choose a new leader. Please, understand my emotion.
Voice Over
Mobutu announces a multi party system. For a moment it seems that democracy is coming at last. But, now six years later, the Zaire people still wait for the renewal of the regime. The government has fallen apart. Mobutu rules over his own business empire and leaves his country without destiny.
BRUNO LOKUTA, HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVIST ( THE VOICE OF THE VOICELESS)
05:31 If this situation continues, this non-stop misery and the other inhuman conditions that we live in, if this continues for some years then this situation will result in a second Rwanda. Even worse. The United Nations must help the Zaire people to achieve democracy in their country. As soon as possible. Every Zairian is a pacifist, but our patience has reached the limit. Now it is a game of life and death. Or we react as free men and choose to live or we choose to die.
Voice Over
Almost every Zairian has no means to make money. In the streets of Kinshasa we come across the so called, " black markets ". This informal or parallel economy is the answer of the Zairian citizen who doesn't expect anything from the government and takes care of himself.
Robert makes aluminium cooking pots and he sells them. Every day his children are in the streets searching for aluminium.
ROBERT
06:46 The material often comes from garages, old airplanes and boats.
Voice Over
Every month he earns 50 pounds. Too little to survive on.
ROBERT
07:06 With 10 pounds I can live for 2 days. After 2 days I'm out of money.
Voice Over
With the money that the men earn, they can't support their families. The "Mama's", the mothers, have the most important role in the survival story of the Zairians. Every day they go on the streets to sell their goods.
MOTHER 1
07:37 I come here every day. I'm beginning at 06.30 AM until 11.00 PM.
MOTHER VIVIANE
07:45 We live from day to day. Today I may earn 2 pounds. If tomorrow I haven't made any money, then we sleep without having diner.
Q : So, some days you eat nothing at all ?
Of course. Like today. From this morning we didn't have anything to eat. Most of the times we only eat at night. After a whole day of work for ourselves.
Voice Over
Here in Kimbanseke, a backarea of Kinshasa, the market women come together. They prepare the goods that they want to sell on the markets.
MOTHER VIVIANE
08:32 This is the toothpaste that we make. It's made out of fruits, lemons. We dry the fruits and mix them with the eggshells. We use this against caries. You have toothpaste and we have this.
09:15 The mothers earn something like 2 pounds a day. This is not enough. We are very poor. We can't satisfy the needs of every family member. If one of them becomes sick and we would have to pay the hospital expenses, no we wouldn’t be able to.
Voice Over
This is the mother of 10 children. Despite her heavy household she sells every day at the local market.
MOTHER MARIE
09:54 I'm supporting the family. My husband is out of a job. I carry all the costs. I make sure that the family can survive. Look at the state of our house. I don't have any money to fix it. I wouldn’t know where to get the money. I'm selling nuts. I have to do this. If I don't do this we wont have any income.
BRUNO LOKUTA, HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVIST ( THE VOICE OF THE VOICELESS)
10:27 This is what we call the Zairian miracle. It is thanks to the informal sector that we survive.
Voice Over
Only 2 of the 43 million Zairians work in official enterprises. The , CSZa, (Confédédaration Syndicale du Zaïre) the national union of Zaire, is the biggest union of Zaire. The CSZa wants to fight for the few rights which protect the workers.
Michel Lumwa is the union's delegate for the Bralima brewery. The majority of the 1400 workers are member of the CSZa. The CSZa managed to obtain special wage guarantees.
MICHEL LUMWA, CSZA DELEGATE
11:22 The wage for a simple worker can be compared with the price of 10 cases of beer.
Voice Over
The inflation in Zaire is gigantic. The wages of the workers are linked to the price of the beer. For them : 10 cases of beer which makes 40 pounds. The buying-power and the living standard can be maintained.
MICHEL LUMWA, CSZA DELEGATE
11:57 This way the wages are indexed. When the price of the beer gets up, the wages will rise immediately. This without any negotiations between syndicates and employers.
Voice Over
The CSZa also obtained these special wage guarantees for the cement enterprises and some other industries. The syndicate delegates of Bralima achieved the guarantee that all medical costs would be paid by the employer. In a country without any form of social security this is no redundant luxury.
After the military pillage of 1993, there are not many factories like Bralima left which are still in production. According to CSZa-administrator, Guy Kolela, many Zairians started to work in agriculture. The CSZa wants to have a grip on the informal sector.
Guy KOLELA
12:48 We can't protect the rights of the employed without considering the mama's here in Lutendeli.
Q: What does the CSZa want to achieve here in the countryside?
A: We'd like to teach the maman's how to cultivate manioc. How they can make the soil fertile. They have to learn how to manage their money once they return from the market. How they save money, how to plan a family budget. There's power in unity. They exchange views and the mama's learn how to survive.
Voice Over
Because the official structures no longer function, the women of Lutendeli are thrown on each other. Zaire is alive with all sorts of initiatives initiated by ordinary people. This way there has evolved a diverse array of social movements. It's when these could unite that the Zaire people has a chance of survival.
Bruno LOKUTA
13:56 The idea of solidarity has remained alive among the people. I who have nothing to share will give all I can to my friend, my neighbour. They give more than the rich. It 's a way of life and thinking that still survives among the "little" people.
Voice Over
Every morning the “pousse-pousseurs" ,the cart pushers, carry the loads of the trucks from the countryside to the markets.
OKITA
14:40 Kinshasa couldn't exist without the cart pushers. Without them there wouldn't be a market. You've seen the conditions of the roads. The trucks have nowhere to go. Without the cart pushers there is no economy.
Voice Over
Okita is the chairman of the association of cart pushers. Formerly they were considered the commonest of people.
Atusasdi cart pusher
15:11 They treated us like cattle. We didn't have any value. The cart pushers ("the push-push") weren't important. The cart pushers (push-pushers") hid their faces because they didn't have any value.
(a push-push is the vehicle; the push-pusher the person who commands the p.p.)
OKITA
15:35 Sometimes after work, the cart pusher had earned a little money. The 'gendarmes' would stop them and took everything he had. Unbelievable. Cars just drove them off the roads, they refused to stop and no suits would follow. Seeing this it was inevitable to organise, to have an organisation as to defend the rights of the cart pusher.
Voice Over
The society of cart pushers has now 54,000 members of which 20,000 in Kinshasa. Each cart pusher pays weekly 5000 New Zaires , something like a penny, to finance their society, the ACCZ. With this money the ACCZ finances a workshop, a little hospital and training facilities.
Okita
16:26 To assist our members we make the carts ourselves. We give them the necessary credit to have them. They can work and every day they can pay the loan back. After 12 months they are the owner. This way they can evade the extortions from some cart-pusher who rent them.
16:50 This dispensary is a initiative of the cart pushers. They've collected some money, bought medicines and hired a medical assistant. When a cart pusher becomes ill and he has no money he can be taken care of here. When he has earned enough money, after a few days, he can pay.
Atusasdi
17:12 We also receive a training how to handle the carts, how we have to take care of ourselves, how to raise our children, how to manage our finances: because we don't earn money everyday. The association has a tremendous value for us.
Voice Over
100 km from Kinshasa fisherwomen of the village Maluku. Here 82 women got themselves organised.
Josiane is the last one to have joined the group. On her own she can't survive.
Josiane
18:17 I need help. I don't have enough means. My husband has passed away and I remain alone with my children. There’s no way I could manage alone. In one word, I live in misery. Even with the fish I catch I can't survive.
Voice Over
Mama Makele is the initiator to organise the women. In this village the majority of the men are jobless. United the women can do more than on their own.
Woman
18:44 Together we find the strength. We can't remain alone. If one of the members has a problem then the others help. For example: someone has died. A coffin costs a lot of money. By getting united we can share the cost. A funeral costs at least 100 pounds. We have a treasury. Each month everybody brings in like 40 pennies (if there are 100 pennies in a pound).This amount barely compares the need.
Maman Makele
19:20 This is the market in Maluku where the women sell their fish. It's fresh and is being cut to pieces. The fish is wrapped in tree leaves prior to smoking. One packet costs about a pound.
19:30 Under these huts the people who have the fish can rest and eat the fish at their leisure. Most of the customers are from Kinshasa.
The mama's sell the fish for the same price, this way there's no competition and no dropping of the prices that would be a result of this competition.
Voice Over
With the money they bring in together the women buy new canoes, nets and fishhooks. But they have more plans in store.
Mama Makele
19:58 We want to raise enough money to open a school. We want to take care of the orphans in the village, of the young unemployed. With the necessary money we want to train youngsters with no outcome for the future and teach them our profession. This way they too can live from fishing.
Voice Over
Sending their children to university is for most Zairians an impossibility. One year of university costs about 100 pounds. The students look for ways to pay their studies.
Blaise is a last term law student . He is the secretary of the village Kiduku.
Blaise
21:01 Kinduku wants to bring together professors, students and the employees of the university of Kinshasa, to live together. The government can't pay the studies. This is the reason that everybody here works on the land. Some even raise pigs. With these activities they can make a living, they pay their studies and employees can also feed their own families.
Blaise
21:49 We want to set an example. Other students follow our lead. The present trend of the market notwithstanding there are many students about on the campus. They no longer expect anything from the government, they work with their own hands. No work means no food and no studying.
singing children
22:32 "Welcome, we receive you as friends. Feel at home"
Voice Over
University students of Kinduku began a primary school where their children and those of the people working at the university can come to be taught.
Blaise
22:55 Students and parents work to pay the costs of the school. The government no longer pays anything. Kinduku means: "friendship and solidarity" and this way we organise all our activities and this school: solidarity.
Voice Over
Some 5 kms away children receive their education at the state primary school of Mikondo. The conditions are terrible. There aren't enough places for the children to sit. Textbooks are practically non existent. Government subsidy remain behind.
Director of the school
23:37 We haven't been paid for over 4 months. Our salary is out of date, doesn't answer today's need.
Q: How much would that be?
30,000NZ, 1 pound, I myself earn 2 pounds. In fact we ask for a salary of $100.
This would be 3000 New Zaires
24:07 Q: You mean 3,000,000?
3 million, yes.
Voice Over
Monthly the parents pay the school 4 Pounds. With these the teachers are being paid. Often the headmaster has to go a long way to get the money.
School director - Headmaster
24:22 I threaten the children with exclusion from school. I send them home for a few days until their parents pay up. The schoolbooks and the buildings are all paid by the parents. If we don't do anything , we'll get a country full of illiterates. And in tomorrow's world we'll need intellectuals to replace the elite and ourselves.
Bruno LOKUTA, (la voix des sans voix)
25:05 The Zaire government only supports the most privileged. They do everything to oppose a unity between them and the people. They even deny the misery the people live in. In the government one sees not only politicians, the military hierarchy is also represented as a part of the bourgeoisie. We even suspect them to be no Zairians. They live without feelings, they spill money like water. And all this while beside them are walking people who can't afford a decent meal a day.
Voice Over
AIDS is one of the major death causes in Kinshasa. Some 310 000 men and women are HIV positive. The 30,000 who are already in an advanced state of the illness receive no help.
These woman are all HIV positive. They have organised themselves as "Les Femmes Plus" (the + women). In this workshop they make clothes they sell afterwards on the market. Every month they make a little more than 350 pounds. With this money they 're able to buy medicines and food for the 151 aids patients in the neighbourhood.
Mama Bernadette is the one who started "Les femmes Plus"
Maman Bernadette
26:46 The aids patients are left to themselves, family and friends have deserted them. Often the reason is ignorance. They think that by touching them they will trap the disease. The aids patients are left behind.
Jeanne
27:05 Without "mama directrice" I wouldn't be able to go on. This woman
supports me through thick and thin.. She gives very valuable advice. By
sticking together I found back the courage to live.
Marie Jeanne
27:36 Aids patients don't have to count on any support of their government. We hope they will think of us and consider us humans. We're living creatures like anybody else. We have accepted our situation. Here we live secluded, we can't transmit the disease anymore. We want to set an example. We want to fight and encourage our friends. The government too has to support us.
Mama Bernadette
28:24 In the people of Zaire there’s this traditional humanism. That has never burnt out. That shall never cease to exist even in the worst of miseries. A brother remains a brother, a sister still is a sister, misery or no misery. Real friendship reveals itself in hardship. If I were rich I would like me because of my money. But this woman has nothing. I’m visiting her now and this has to do with love. I don't visit her because she has money. This is the real Bantu - humanism. The sick and the orphaned have always been attended to in Africa. This is the reason why all these associations exist: to keep this spirit of Zaire humanism alive.
Mama Bernadette
29:38 Zaire is a land of hope. I'm certain of it. We'll see the sun come shining through. We have intelligent and good men here. What we have gone through here has awakened us only to show the richness of possibilities we have. The women have NGOs, before this wasn't possible. This shows that the Zairian, on every level has the possibility to achieve something. Every side has to show it's good will. And that is not always so abundant. If everybody shows what he has learned , then this country will rise again. But if egoism will triumph then we'll sink further away.
Singing children
30:42 "Life is beautiful, life is beautiful, oh yes, my friend? ( repeat)...."
31:14 Ends
BRUNO LOKUTA, HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVIST ( LA VOIX DES SANS VOIX = THE VOICE OF THE VOICELESS )
02:14 The life of the Zairian people is worse than the life of an animal in the woods. An animal knows that, when it wakes up, it will eat and that it will sleep again. But the life of a Zairian is so unsure. He doesn't know if he will wake up, if he will find something to eat, if he will be able to do something , where he will sleep tonight.. A life full of fear and uncertainty.
ETIENNE NDONGALA, PROF. ECONOMY OF THE KINSHASA UNIVERSITY
02:45 If there wasn't any informal economy, the Zairian people would be death. You would have landed at N'djili airport in a peoples' desert. The wages of the public servants only cover one percent of their total expenses. Food, rent, electricity and then I'm not counting the medical and the costs for clothing.
Voice Over
There is no Article 15 in the constitution of Zaire. Yet, article 15 is the most important law in Zaire. It rules almost every aspect in the life of the Zaire people.
Article 15 : "Help yourself!"
03:38 TITLE : ARTICLE 15
Voice Over
Zaire counts 43 million inhabitants. It's the biggest Central-African country. Until 1960 it was a Belgian colony. After the coup of 1965, Mobutu Sese Seko took power. In the first years of the Mobutu-rule, the country knew a period of prosperity. But soon Zaire is sucked into a hole of everlasting misery. A country which is rich in raw materials, is now one of the poorest countries in the world. Zaire is a political failure. 24th April 1990 Mobutu decides under international pressure to change his political course and to work on genuine democratic reforms. Suddenly there was new hope for the people of Zaire.
Marshal MOBUTU SESE SEKO, PRESIDENT OF ZAIRE.
04:36 I announce you that I will leave the unitary party, The Mouvement populaire de la Révolution. This way I'm giving the possibility to choose a new leader. Please, understand my emotion.
Voice Over
Mobutu announces a multi party system. For a moment it seems that democracy is coming at last. But, now six years later, the Zaire people still wait for the renewal of the regime. The government has fallen apart. Mobutu rules over his own business empire and leaves his country without destiny.
BRUNO LOKUTA, HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVIST ( THE VOICE OF THE VOICELESS)
05:31 If this situation continues, this non-stop misery and the other inhuman conditions that we live in, if this continues for some years then this situation will result in a second Rwanda. Even worse. The United Nations must help the Zaire people to achieve democracy in their country. As soon as possible. Every Zairian is a pacifist, but our patience has reached the limit. Now it is a game of life and death. Or we react as free men and choose to live or we choose to die.
Voice Over
Almost every Zairian has no means to make money. In the streets of Kinshasa we come across the so called, " black markets ". This informal or parallel economy is the answer of the Zairian citizen who doesn't expect anything from the government and takes care of himself.
Robert makes aluminium cooking pots and he sells them. Every day his children are in the streets searching for aluminium.
ROBERT
06:46 The material often comes from garages, old airplanes and boats.
Voice Over
Every month he earns 50 pounds. Too little to survive on.
ROBERT
07:06 With 10 pounds I can live for 2 days. After 2 days I'm out of money.
Voice Over
With the money that the men earn, they can't support their families. The "Mama's", the mothers, have the most important role in the survival story of the Zairians. Every day they go on the streets to sell their goods.
MOTHER 1
07:37 I come here every day. I'm beginning at 06.30 AM until 11.00 PM.
MOTHER VIVIANE
07:45 We live from day to day. Today I may earn 2 pounds. If tomorrow I haven't made any money, then we sleep without having diner.
Q : So, some days you eat nothing at all ?
Of course. Like today. From this morning we didn't have anything to eat. Most of the times we only eat at night. After a whole day of work for ourselves.
Voice Over
Here in Kimbanseke, a backarea of Kinshasa, the market women come together. They prepare the goods that they want to sell on the markets.
MOTHER VIVIANE
08:32 This is the toothpaste that we make. It's made out of fruits, lemons. We dry the fruits and mix them with the eggshells. We use this against caries. You have toothpaste and we have this.
09:15 The mothers earn something like 2 pounds a day. This is not enough. We are very poor. We can't satisfy the needs of every family member. If one of them becomes sick and we would have to pay the hospital expenses, no we wouldn’t be able to.
Voice Over
This is the mother of 10 children. Despite her heavy household she sells every day at the local market.
MOTHER MARIE
09:54 I'm supporting the family. My husband is out of a job. I carry all the costs. I make sure that the family can survive. Look at the state of our house. I don't have any money to fix it. I wouldn’t know where to get the money. I'm selling nuts. I have to do this. If I don't do this we wont have any income.
BRUNO LOKUTA, HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVIST ( THE VOICE OF THE VOICELESS)
10:27 This is what we call the Zairian miracle. It is thanks to the informal sector that we survive.
Voice Over
Only 2 of the 43 million Zairians work in official enterprises. The , CSZa, (Confédédaration Syndicale du Zaïre) the national union of Zaire, is the biggest union of Zaire. The CSZa wants to fight for the few rights which protect the workers.
Michel Lumwa is the union's delegate for the Bralima brewery. The majority of the 1400 workers are member of the CSZa. The CSZa managed to obtain special wage guarantees.
MICHEL LUMWA, CSZA DELEGATE
11:22 The wage for a simple worker can be compared with the price of 10 cases of beer.
Voice Over
The inflation in Zaire is gigantic. The wages of the workers are linked to the price of the beer. For them : 10 cases of beer which makes 40 pounds. The buying-power and the living standard can be maintained.
MICHEL LUMWA, CSZA DELEGATE
11:57 This way the wages are indexed. When the price of the beer gets up, the wages will rise immediately. This without any negotiations between syndicates and employers.
Voice Over
The CSZa also obtained these special wage guarantees for the cement enterprises and some other industries. The syndicate delegates of Bralima achieved the guarantee that all medical costs would be paid by the employer. In a country without any form of social security this is no redundant luxury.
After the military pillage of 1993, there are not many factories like Bralima left which are still in production. According to CSZa-administrator, Guy Kolela, many Zairians started to work in agriculture. The CSZa wants to have a grip on the informal sector.
Guy KOLELA
12:48 We can't protect the rights of the employed without considering the mama's here in Lutendeli.
Q: What does the CSZa want to achieve here in the countryside?
A: We'd like to teach the maman's how to cultivate manioc. How they can make the soil fertile. They have to learn how to manage their money once they return from the market. How they save money, how to plan a family budget. There's power in unity. They exchange views and the mama's learn how to survive.
Voice Over
Because the official structures no longer function, the women of Lutendeli are thrown on each other. Zaire is alive with all sorts of initiatives initiated by ordinary people. This way there has evolved a diverse array of social movements. It's when these could unite that the Zaire people has a chance of survival.
Bruno LOKUTA
13:56 The idea of solidarity has remained alive among the people. I who have nothing to share will give all I can to my friend, my neighbour. They give more than the rich. It 's a way of life and thinking that still survives among the "little" people.
Voice Over
Every morning the “pousse-pousseurs" ,the cart pushers, carry the loads of the trucks from the countryside to the markets.
OKITA
14:40 Kinshasa couldn't exist without the cart pushers. Without them there wouldn't be a market. You've seen the conditions of the roads. The trucks have nowhere to go. Without the cart pushers there is no economy.
Voice Over
Okita is the chairman of the association of cart pushers. Formerly they were considered the commonest of people.
Atusasdi cart pusher
15:11 They treated us like cattle. We didn't have any value. The cart pushers ("the push-push") weren't important. The cart pushers (push-pushers") hid their faces because they didn't have any value.
(a push-push is the vehicle; the push-pusher the person who commands the p.p.)
OKITA
15:35 Sometimes after work, the cart pusher had earned a little money. The 'gendarmes' would stop them and took everything he had. Unbelievable. Cars just drove them off the roads, they refused to stop and no suits would follow. Seeing this it was inevitable to organise, to have an organisation as to defend the rights of the cart pusher.
Voice Over
The society of cart pushers has now 54,000 members of which 20,000 in Kinshasa. Each cart pusher pays weekly 5000 New Zaires , something like a penny, to finance their society, the ACCZ. With this money the ACCZ finances a workshop, a little hospital and training facilities.
Okita
16:26 To assist our members we make the carts ourselves. We give them the necessary credit to have them. They can work and every day they can pay the loan back. After 12 months they are the owner. This way they can evade the extortions from some cart-pusher who rent them.
16:50 This dispensary is a initiative of the cart pushers. They've collected some money, bought medicines and hired a medical assistant. When a cart pusher becomes ill and he has no money he can be taken care of here. When he has earned enough money, after a few days, he can pay.
Atusasdi
17:12 We also receive a training how to handle the carts, how we have to take care of ourselves, how to raise our children, how to manage our finances: because we don't earn money everyday. The association has a tremendous value for us.
Voice Over
100 km from Kinshasa fisherwomen of the village Maluku. Here 82 women got themselves organised.
Josiane is the last one to have joined the group. On her own she can't survive.
Josiane
18:17 I need help. I don't have enough means. My husband has passed away and I remain alone with my children. There’s no way I could manage alone. In one word, I live in misery. Even with the fish I catch I can't survive.
Voice Over
Mama Makele is the initiator to organise the women. In this village the majority of the men are jobless. United the women can do more than on their own.
Woman
18:44 Together we find the strength. We can't remain alone. If one of the members has a problem then the others help. For example: someone has died. A coffin costs a lot of money. By getting united we can share the cost. A funeral costs at least 100 pounds. We have a treasury. Each month everybody brings in like 40 pennies (if there are 100 pennies in a pound).This amount barely compares the need.
Maman Makele
19:20 This is the market in Maluku where the women sell their fish. It's fresh and is being cut to pieces. The fish is wrapped in tree leaves prior to smoking. One packet costs about a pound.
19:30 Under these huts the people who have the fish can rest and eat the fish at their leisure. Most of the customers are from Kinshasa.
The mama's sell the fish for the same price, this way there's no competition and no dropping of the prices that would be a result of this competition.
Voice Over
With the money they bring in together the women buy new canoes, nets and fishhooks. But they have more plans in store.
Mama Makele
19:58 We want to raise enough money to open a school. We want to take care of the orphans in the village, of the young unemployed. With the necessary money we want to train youngsters with no outcome for the future and teach them our profession. This way they too can live from fishing.
Voice Over
Sending their children to university is for most Zairians an impossibility. One year of university costs about 100 pounds. The students look for ways to pay their studies.
Blaise is a last term law student . He is the secretary of the village Kiduku.
Blaise
21:01 Kinduku wants to bring together professors, students and the employees of the university of Kinshasa, to live together. The government can't pay the studies. This is the reason that everybody here works on the land. Some even raise pigs. With these activities they can make a living, they pay their studies and employees can also feed their own families.
Blaise
21:49 We want to set an example. Other students follow our lead. The present trend of the market notwithstanding there are many students about on the campus. They no longer expect anything from the government, they work with their own hands. No work means no food and no studying.
singing children
22:32 "Welcome, we receive you as friends. Feel at home"
Voice Over
University students of Kinduku began a primary school where their children and those of the people working at the university can come to be taught.
Blaise
22:55 Students and parents work to pay the costs of the school. The government no longer pays anything. Kinduku means: "friendship and solidarity" and this way we organise all our activities and this school: solidarity.
Voice Over
Some 5 kms away children receive their education at the state primary school of Mikondo. The conditions are terrible. There aren't enough places for the children to sit. Textbooks are practically non existent. Government subsidy remain behind.
Director of the school
23:37 We haven't been paid for over 4 months. Our salary is out of date, doesn't answer today's need.
Q: How much would that be?
30,000NZ, 1 pound, I myself earn 2 pounds. In fact we ask for a salary of $100.
This would be 3000 New Zaires
24:07 Q: You mean 3,000,000?
3 million, yes.
Voice Over
Monthly the parents pay the school 4 Pounds. With these the teachers are being paid. Often the headmaster has to go a long way to get the money.
School director - Headmaster
24:22 I threaten the children with exclusion from school. I send them home for a few days until their parents pay up. The schoolbooks and the buildings are all paid by the parents. If we don't do anything , we'll get a country full of illiterates. And in tomorrow's world we'll need intellectuals to replace the elite and ourselves.
Bruno LOKUTA, (la voix des sans voix)
25:05 The Zaire government only supports the most privileged. They do everything to oppose a unity between them and the people. They even deny the misery the people live in. In the government one sees not only politicians, the military hierarchy is also represented as a part of the bourgeoisie. We even suspect them to be no Zairians. They live without feelings, they spill money like water. And all this while beside them are walking people who can't afford a decent meal a day.
Voice Over
AIDS is one of the major death causes in Kinshasa. Some 310 000 men and women are HIV positive. The 30,000 who are already in an advanced state of the illness receive no help.
These woman are all HIV positive. They have organised themselves as "Les Femmes Plus" (the + women). In this workshop they make clothes they sell afterwards on the market. Every month they make a little more than 350 pounds. With this money they 're able to buy medicines and food for the 151 aids patients in the neighbourhood.
Mama Bernadette is the one who started "Les femmes Plus"
Maman Bernadette
26:46 The aids patients are left to themselves, family and friends have deserted them. Often the reason is ignorance. They think that by touching them they will trap the disease. The aids patients are left behind.
Jeanne
27:05 Without "mama directrice" I wouldn't be able to go on. This woman
supports me through thick and thin.. She gives very valuable advice. By
sticking together I found back the courage to live.
Marie Jeanne
27:36 Aids patients don't have to count on any support of their government. We hope they will think of us and consider us humans. We're living creatures like anybody else. We have accepted our situation. Here we live secluded, we can't transmit the disease anymore. We want to set an example. We want to fight and encourage our friends. The government too has to support us.
Mama Bernadette
28:24 In the people of Zaire there’s this traditional humanism. That has never burnt out. That shall never cease to exist even in the worst of miseries. A brother remains a brother, a sister still is a sister, misery or no misery. Real friendship reveals itself in hardship. If I were rich I would like me because of my money. But this woman has nothing. I’m visiting her now and this has to do with love. I don't visit her because she has money. This is the real Bantu - humanism. The sick and the orphaned have always been attended to in Africa. This is the reason why all these associations exist: to keep this spirit of Zaire humanism alive.
Mama Bernadette
29:38 Zaire is a land of hope. I'm certain of it. We'll see the sun come shining through. We have intelligent and good men here. What we have gone through here has awakened us only to show the richness of possibilities we have. The women have NGOs, before this wasn't possible. This shows that the Zairian, on every level has the possibility to achieve something. Every side has to show it's good will. And that is not always so abundant. If everybody shows what he has learned , then this country will rise again. But if egoism will triumph then we'll sink further away.
Singing children
30:42 "Life is beautiful, life is beautiful, oh yes, my friend? ( repeat)...."
31:14 Ends