After Algeria, the Democratic Republic of the Congo is the second largest country in Africa, and it is also the home of the second biggest rainforest in the world. Blessed with vast natural resources and cursed by years of armed conflicts and the shadow of one of the most brutal colonial rules, it is a country of high rates of malnutrition, poor education, insufficient infrastructure, widespread sexual violence and vast inequalities. Producer of 70% of the world’s cobalt, it is also home of one of the largest human displacements in the world. The Eastern side of Congo has been labeled as the most dangerous place for a woman in the world, and DRC has not only the highest rates of intimate-partner violence in the world with over half of the female population over 15 experiencing physical violence but also the highest rates of sexual violence in the world (for women and men). Not much to celebrate. 

One of the most important lessons of this stop is to recognise the fearless work of Congolese activists, including gynecologist and pastor Denis Mukwege whose work has helped nearly 100,000 women who are victims of sexual violence. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2018 (together with Iraqi Nadia Murad) for their “efforts to end the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war and armed conflict”. 

But first, as always. Food.

Food: Five countries in one afternoon

When life gets incredibly busy and weeks are filled with final exams and end of year events, time slips through our fingers and there is less space for everything. We decided to organise a BIG Sunday afternoon for a few upcoming stops and celebrate Cabo Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, DRC and the Republic of Congo in one afternoon. This is not to say that these are similar countries or the same, it is just an opportunity to get people together for one big night and proceed on our Virtual Nomad path. Therefore this introduction will be the same for the five countries but each time the specific entry will focus on the country that the stop is about.

The African Afternoon gathers 30 people around the table, a mix of seasoned Virtual Nomads and delightful newbies. Besides myself and my partner JK, we have my children A (11) and L (17), NA (18) and their lovely friend CC (17). Then on their 12th stop are AK, DK and their adult child AK (their other child MK usually comes along but today she is unfortunately sick). Other seasoned Nomads are dear friends JD, KD and their son KD (15), on their 7^th stop. A 4^th stop for L* and her daughter S*, our first friends in Australia. A 2^nd stop for our resident Canadian CL (see the stop for Canada) and his beautiful family wife JJ and children EL (10) and SL (12). A Wonderful fellow European CB comes to her 2^nd stop with her delightful daughters JB (11) and EB (8), bringing her husband CBB along (his first stop). And then we are lucky to have six great newbies – a joyous family of four KFFJ (including children aged 11 and 13) and a lovely couple ER that lives next door. And then of course my stepchild FK (15) and CH, Special Adviser to Virtual Nomad – she has been to over 140 countries and counting, and always joins in between her travels. A wonderful group of amazing people, and everyone brings a dish. 

In this entry, I will only talk about the DRC and the Republic of Congo (RoC) food of our happy, hilarious, joyful, warm and inviting African Afternoon. Many of the food traditions are shared between DRC and RoC as they both sit along the Congo River and have Bantu and Central African cultural roots. Therefore the food entry for both will be the same.

Congo Poulet Moambe – Moambe chicken is particularly popular in both the Republic of Congo and the DRC to the point that it is considered a national dish in both countries (as well as in Angola). It is usually prepared in moambe (palm butter sauce) with spices such as red pepper. In the DRC it is often cooked with peanut butter and served with cassava paste (as we do). In the RoC the onion-based palm oil is mixed with tomatoes and onions with spices like chili and garlic. The sensational Moambe chicken prepared by JD looks wonderful and the Virtual Nomads report to the vegetarians in the group that it tastes amazing. JD’s recipe follows more the tomato-based, lighter version of RoC than the heavier, peanut-butter filled DRC version. Nevertheless, this amazing dish follows the culinary traditions of both countries. Poulet Moambe is a very common dish in the region, especially in areas where meat is more accessible. Where meat is scarce, it can be replaced by fish. 

Okra is a very typical ingredient in both countries and commonly served in a stew. Okra is farmed in both DRC and RoC which makes it very available to be used in cooking. For the African Afternoon, I decide to prepare an okra stew in the Congolese way. For the stew, I chopped okras and cooked them together with onions, tomatoes and garlic. I did not use palm oil which is the most common strategy, but apart from that I followed the recipe as faithfully as possible. I cooked the ingredients in generous peanut butter which gave the dish a creamy, thick and lovely texture. This heavier version of the okra stew is most common in the Western part of DRC and in RoC; in the Eastern parts of DRC it is typically much lighter and cooked in coconut milk rather than peanut butter. The result was quite successful and yummy, and further established the sense that the peanut butter, like in other Western African dishes from previous stops, really gives the dish more flavour and texture. As okra is not a huge hit among the Virtual Nomads, this dish was highly enjoyed, which proves my point about peanut butter. 

My daughter L (then still 17) and NA are in charge of preparing the  Congolese beignets with mango sauce based on the dough that I have masterfully, at least I hope, prepared. The dough is a bit sticky and that makes the preparation difficult for our clever young people. Beignets are the most typical dessert in both countries. They are known as puff-puff in Western Africa and mikate in DRC and RoC. Dough balls prepared and deep fried in oil,  usually served with mango sauce and mint leaves. The dough is a simple yeasted dough with flour, sugar, water, and optional milk. Our beignets were more flat than round, but the result was nevertheless well received. 

Another dish that I prepared for this stop was the Kachumbari Salad. It is a typical Eastern African salad made of fresh tomatoes, onions, cilantro and chilli pepper, with lime juice and spices. It is more common in the Eastern parts of DRC where Swahili culture is strong. The DRC regions where Kachumbari Salad is a typical part of the kitchen are North Kivu Province (its capital Goma is a major site of internally displaced people and in 2025 is under the control of the March 23 paramilitary group),  South Kivu Province (its capital Bukavu is also under the control of M23 in 2025) and Tshopo Province (its capital Kisangani is the country’s most important inland port after Kinshasa). The Kachumbari salad has a very refreshing taste and accompanies some of the heavier dishes of our African Afternoon. It is less typical of RoC and therefore not included in its country stop.

Plantains have a similar function in a Congolese kitchen (regarding both countries) as potatoes, maize or rice have in other countries. They are rich in fiber, potassium and carbohydrates. Makemba (fried plantains) is the most common form. Plantains have a similar texture to yuca, which we have tried in other Virtual Nomad stops. Fried plantains are often served as a side dish, just as they are for our gathering. AK is in charge of this dish and she brings a frier with her and prepares them in the front yard. She also uses a pepper sauce recipe for the plantains. She doubled it and used olive oil and jar chilli instead of canola and scotch bonnet chillies. She says it is because she had them and is of the opinion that canola is bad. The plantains were frozen and deep fried in peanut oil without any coating or anything extra. And they were delicious! 

CH brings Palm Wine – fermented low alcohol drink collected / tapped from trees such as raffia palm and oil palm. Raffia palm usually grows in swampy areas, whereas oil palm is spread around both countries. In DRC and RoC, Palm Wine is collected through tapping, or cutting the trunk and is usually consumed fresh, most commonly the same day it has been tapped. This is not of course the case of our Palm Wine which is a more preserved product, but it still has a clear distinctive sweet taste. It has low alcohol content and it doesn’t taste very different from coconut water. Palm wine has an important role in the social and cultural life in both countries. 

The Dark tale of an exploited land

The history of DRC is a history of greed, violence, and devastating, long-lasting conflicts and exploitation. Millions of people have lost their lives during the armed conflicts and millions of people lost their lives during the extremely cruel colonial rule of King Leopold II of Belgium. One of the minerally richest countries in the world is exploited and abused, with civilians always carrying the toll of the atrocities. It is really hard to summarise all the injustices that have rained on the local population during the last decades, and centuries. 

The first people to inhabit the banks of the Congo River were the Pygmees. Then the taller Bantu people arrived, as we have seen in other countries of the region. The Bantu had kingdoms that came and went. The powerful Kingdom of Kongo, (that existed from c.1390 until 1914, ending much weaker than it began) was ‘discovered’ by the Portuguese in 1483. As in other parts of Africa, the arrival of Europeans changed the course of history. Local kings, such as the the rulers of the Kingdom of Kongo, were involved in slave trade and in exchange received European luxuries, including guns and other firearms.

In 1885, the Berlin Conference granted Congo to Belgian King Leopold II which led to one of the most brutal and horrific colonial chapters in human history, with an approximate death toll of 10-15 million people. The horror stories of killed and mutilated people took a while to reach the ‘Western world’ but once it did, in 1908 Belgium finally took over the administration. Independence finally came in 1960 with Patrice Lumumba as the first Prime Minister. He was tortured and executed in 1961. In 1965, the country entered a US-backed dictatorship ruled by Mobuto Sese Seko, who named the country Zaire and used country resources as his own possession while the people suffered. He was finally ousted as the result of the First Congo War (1996-97) and Laurent-Désiré Kabila became the president. The Second Congo War, the deadliest conflict since WWII took place (1998-2003) and Kabila was assassinated in 2001 by his bodyguard. His son Joseph Kabila became the president and stayed in power until 2019. Over one hundred armed groups have existed in the country and the Human Rights Watch report (2025) indicates that more than six million people have died in DRC in ethnic conflict and disputes over natural minerals. Many multinational companies from around the world have tried to take their slices which has not helped the situation. A peace agreement was signed in June 2025. However, the violence has not stopped and local population has suffered murder, mass killings and sexual violence. 

The several armed conflicts, ethnic tensions, culture of impunity and deeply rooted patriarchy are some of the reasons for the widespread sexual violence in the country, the highest rates being in the Eastern parts of DRC. The provinces of North and South Kivu have staggering statistics, with 40% of women having experienced sexual assaults with a large proportion of girls under 16. As of 2025 only, several international reports (Action Aid, Save the Children, etc.) show that sexual violence have increased 16-700% depending on the province. 

Four books from the rich and diverse land of also unthinkable horrors

The terror of the colonial rule of King Leopold II of Belgium was largely ignored until the publication of the book King Leopold’s Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror, and Heroism in Colonial Africa by American author and journalist Adam Hochschild (1998; new edition, 2006). It was, at first, a controversial book in Belgium where King Leopold had been considered to be a “civilizing force” despite the evidence that his rule was one of terror, exploitation and abuse. The book exposed the horrors of colonialism, the tyranny and the atrocities towards the people in the Congo which had led to the death of approximately 10-15 million people (according to most estimates, the real number will never be known). This legacy of terror had been largely ignored for nearly a hundred years, buried under the political unrest and the effect of the cruel dictatorship in the country. The book reignited conversations around colonialism, systematic racism and economic exploitation of natural resources by foreign (and domestic) forces. 

It is a remarkable book. Thoroughly researched and really well written. It exposes the tyranny and cold calculation of Leopold but also the greed, lies and weaknesses of his supporters and of colonial, Western and domestic powers that have led to today’s tragedies. Good outsiders are very few and far between, but they are also given space and credit, including George Washington Williams who was one of the first to denounce the atrocities taking place under colonial rule, or E.D.Morel. Roger Casament and Alice & John Harries, as well as the nameless voiceless local people who Adam tries his best to find sources that give voice to them. It is really a remarkable book that should be mandatory reading on the abuses of power and greed that is not singular to DRC, but visible in so many places. I had wanted to read this book for a long time, and it is worthy of its praise. 

“When it came to war, my parents could shelter us from only so much. I knew the sounds of war before I knew how to do a cartwheel. I became accustomed to those sounds as a kid, I was never afraid of imaginary monsters at night, the monster I knew walked in daylight and carried big guns.” 

Sandra Uwiringiyimana belongs to the Banyamulenge ethnic group, sometimes referred to as the Congolese Tutsi. She is a survivor of the 2004 Gatumba massacre, an attack on a refugee camp in Burundi close to the border with DRC. The massacre was carried out by the Forces for National Liberation, a Burundi-based political party and former rebel group. Sandra’s family had escaped violence in her native DRC (South Kivu) and pushed the family into refugee status. Banyamulenge are ethnically linked to Tutsi in Rwanda and Burundi, and they predominantly speak Kinyarwanda. 

The book could be described roughly in two parts; first the description of Sandra’s idyllic childhood with her parents and five siblings, the threat of violence, the escape and the life as a refugee in neighbouring countries. The second part is about life in the United States, the race relations, the struggles as a refugee and finding a voice. 

It is a powerful memoir, written in quite simple and accessible language. It has its flaws and the overall quality is uneven, but it overcomes these obstacles with emotional power. I felt as engaged with the description of the stateless refugee status in Africa as the observations on race relations and what it means to be black African in the United States. It is another reminder of the emotional burden of forced otherness, and the absurdity of political and ethnicity based violence and discrimination. 

Fiston Mwanza Mujila took the literary world by storm in 2015 when the English translation of his debut novel Tram 83 was published. It centers around a club called Tram 83 in a fictional African city (that could be Lulumbashi where Fiston is from). Fiston currently lives in Austria where he teaches African literature and it is said that his writing is influenced by the turbulent times of his childhood and youth in DRC. 

The book itself is the sort of book that literature critics love. It has “fragmented poetic scenery” as one reviewer wrote. The text is frantic, twisting and baffling – and a bit hard to get into. There are two main characters: a corrupted, scheming, sex-crazy Requiem and an emotional, semi-intellectual writer Lucien. There is not much of a story, as the narrative is based on the language rather than a plot, and sometimes resembles a semi stream-of-conscious style or indeed, poetry. Female characters are mainly sex workers, single mothers or underage girls who serve as props to the story more than fleshed-out characters. There is a lot of sex in the book, especially easily-accessed sex offered by prostitutes through the “Do you have the time” proposal,  repeated a lot in the book. 

It is an interesting piece of writing and I can understand why many love it. It is fragmented, contains long lists of things and mixes poetic language with prose. It succeeds in linguistic acrobatics and musical narrative, a description of a decadent place and urban jungle that mixes prostitution with miners, politicians, students and drifters such as Requiem and Lucien. It is experimental and musical in its poetry which at times is effective and interesting, and other times gimmicky and tiring. When I read other reviews of the book, many say that the book describes the chaos of a modern African city very well, as if it was played by jazz music. I did not ever get fully engaged apart from interesting moments here and there.

“I don’t live in exile, exile lives in me”

“Not blood but the Congo River sloshes in my veins”
My last book for DRC comes again from Fiston. It is in the genre that is not my favourite, poetry, but I give it a try as it is dedicated to the Congo River and its mighty power. In this book, the Congo River is not only a mythological strong body of water but a witness to atrocities, violence, environmental damage and loss. The book contains 101 numbered “solitudes”, with different lengths and styles which makes the book feel more like experimental narrative than poetry, and that makes it more interesting for me. The solitudes are not only reflections of violence and destruction but also a cradle of longing for the past, longing for home and a sense of belonging (as Fiston lives in Austria). I read the translation in English so I might have missed some important nuances (there are words from Lingala and Swahili embedded in the text), but in general the language is graphic and intentional in its rawness.

Disappointing fiction and skillful documentaries

Film production in the DRC is scarce and evidently affected by the armed conflict and instability in the country. After independence, there were a few films made, but Belgian-educated, Congolese film pioneer Djo Tunda Wa Munga, revitalised the film industry by funding the first film school and first production company in Kinshasa. He left DCR as a child but returned at the end of the dictatorship of Mobuto Sese Seko. His first big gig in DCR was to be the production manager of a BBC series Congo: White King, Red Rubber and Black Death (2002) about the terror of the times of King Leopold II. Currently the film industry is slowly growing and there are about 36 film production companies in the DCR. Congo Rising and CongoFilmz are among initiatives to revitalise the Congolese movie industry. 

There is not much to choose from, but luckily I find access to six cinematographic products, some of which I enjoyed more than others. I am overall pleased that there is the possibility to see Congolese made film, and additionally happy to see the movies Sema, supported by Nobel Peace Prize winner, the amazing Denis Mukwege, and Downstream to Kinshasa, about the survivors of an armed conflict in Kisangali. The rest of the documentaries, the outstanding Viranga and City of Joy are also absolutely remarkable (and currently available on Netflix – 2025). Overall, it is the fiction that proves to be disappointing, as the documentaries are impactful and very skilled. 

Viva Riva (2010) by Djo Tunda Wa Munga was the first Congolese film filmed and produced in the DRC in 28 years. It was successful with critics and audiences alike, and won many awards, including several Africa Movie Awards and a MTV Movie Award (Best African Movie). It is a fast-paced crime movie with lots of sex, violence and action. A small hustler Riva steals from an Angolan gangster who enlists a lesbian commandant to find Riva. In the meanwhile, Riva falls for the wife of a Kinshasa gangster who he sees urinating (the wife, not the gangster) in a scene that is also shown to the audience and feels exploitative and unnecessary. What follows is a parade of two timings, betrayals left and right, every person for themselves and a lot of beatings, some gratuitous sex, overarching misogyny and a lil’ bit of domestic violence. Women in general are beaten and abused, the plot is not overly interesting and tries too much. The interesting bit is the portrayal of Kinshasa, the landscape and its people. I read several interviews of Djo and his intention of showing the dark side of Kinshasa, the side that everyone knows that exists but is not talked about. I feel that I did not need to see that, but there are quite a few enthusiastic people that did, based on the reviews the movie received. I can see the interest and value of this movie, but I did not enjoy it myself – except of course for the interesting urban landscape and its people, the aesthetics and glimpses of the environment.

The Six-Day War was a June 2000 confrontation between Rwandan and Ugandan armed forces around Kisangani, the capital of the Congolese province of Tshopo. The conflict resulted in more than 1000 dead and 3000 wounded. Downstream to Kinshasa (Dieudo Hamadi, 2020) is a documentary that follows survivors of the war on their way to Kinshasa to seek compensation. Many of them have not only lost family members but were wounded in the aftermath, several with one or more limbs missing. The documentary follows the community preparing the trip to Kinshasa, and their trip down the river (sometimes days in pouring rain) and then their stay in Kinshasa. Parallel to the trip is a theatre performance prepared by the survivors.

Dieudo is a Congolese filmmaker with a strong social calling and tendency to explore critical societal issues. He studied medicine before entering the film and documentary world, and his documentaries have won several international awards. He has achieved a very human and touching documentary that celebrates and underlines the bravery, spirit and strength of these people without infantilising, patronising or instrumentalising his subjects. It is a documentary about the tragedy of 2000, but also about the richness of individuals and the diversity of their characters.

There are several foreign-produced documentaries filmed by European and There are several foreign-produced documentaries filmed by European and North American film makers. While the intention of Virtual Nomad is to prioritise the local film industry, sometimes these foreign productions are worth a watch. This is the case of Virunga, a documentary on the park rangers of the Virunga National Park during the increased activity of the rebellion group M23, or March 23, and the plans of oil expeditions in the area of a multinational company SOCO. Directed by a British director, Orlando von Einsiedel in 2012, it did help to bring attention to the park, the last remaining living place of mountain gorillas, and stop the oil explorations. Virunga is a UNESCO World Heritage site and the rangers do an incredibly important and dangerous job in protecting the park wildlife and supporting restoration. Several rangers have lost their lives in the process. The documentary shows very touching moments, including a gorilla caretaker André Bauma (who is basically a foster parent to four small gorillas whose parents were killed by poachers) telling how his father, who perished in the neverending Congo war, taught him to love and care for animals. “Today I am doing what my father created in my heart when I was a little boy,”.. He says, when the armed conflict is getting nearer, that he is ready to die for the gorillas he takes care of. The documentary also follows three other people; park warden Rodrigue Mugaruka Katembo (who after fleeing from being recruited a child soldier later risked his life in exposing the SOCO corruption attempts), chief warden Emmanuel de Merode (who was shot in an assassination attempt in 2014 – he has received several awards and is the director of the Virunga National Park); and a French investigative journalist Mélanie Gouby.
Ndakasi, one the world’s most famous mountain gorillas, is part of the document. She died in 2021 and the photo of her dying in André’s arms is world famous.  The Senkwekwe Center where André works, is the only facility in the world for orphaned mountain gorillas.

(Photo: Getty Images) 

The situation in the park more than ten years later is not much better and conservation efforts are disrupted for safety concerns due to continuing armed conflict. Many parts of the park are closed, tourism has stopped and conservation efforts have suffered. Around 200 park rangers have lost their lives in protecting the park.

André’s and others work can be supported at: https://virunga.org/support-us/donate/

Sema by Machérie Ekwa Bahango (2020) is a movie made in partnership with the National Movement of Survivors of Rape and Sexual Violence in DR Congo. Sexual violence in the DRC is widespread and the DRC has long been labeled as the “rape capital of the world”. Sexual violence is particularly frequent in the Eastern part of the country and Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF – Doctors Without Borders) has reported an increase in sexual violence as a result of the armed conflict, in which the different parties use sexual violence as a weapon to terrorise local populations. The movie Sema shows not only the traumatic event of mass rape but also the stigma and impunity that often follows the rape victims. Raped women are abandoned by their husbands and families, and the children born out of rape chastised and isolated from the community. The victims trying to find justice see the perpetrators go unpunished and unharmed. The movie won Best International Film and the DC Independent Film Festival, and even with its flaws is a truly remarkable, deeply alarming and an important movie – from the region labeled as the most dangerous to be a woman in the world. 
It is based on the idea of Dr Denis Mukwege, Congolese gynecologist and a pastor, winner of a Nobel Peace Prize (2018). He is the founder of the Panzi hospital that treats women who have been raped by armed forces. He has been called “the world’s leading expert on repairing injuries of rape” and he is famous for working tiredlessly and nearly without rest to help as many victims as possible. He left DRC in 2012 due to a failed assassination attempt but returned in 2013 – and his patients paid his return ticket by selling pineapples and onions. His hospital has treated nearly 100,000 women and he is a fierce speaker revealing the consequences of rape as a weapon of war. It is hard to do justice for all the work that he has done.

Another foreign-produced documentary about the rampant sexual violence in the country and the important work of Dr Denis Mukwege is the outstanding documentary City of Joy by Madeleine Gavin (2016). Dr Denis and Mama Christine (Christine Schuler Deschryver) founded City of Joy, a training centre for female survivors of sexual violence. The centre trains 180 women every day to become leaders in their communities and give their means to survive the shame that follows sexual violence. 

The documentary shows the connection between the fight for mineral sources and sexual violence – where there is mining, there is an increase of systematic rape. Rape is used as a weapon of war, sexual terrorism as Mama Christine calls it. Foreign companies fund the militia who used rape and mutilation to break communities and bring shame to families. 

The documentary describes the horrific forms of systematic rape and the profound devastation  faced by survivors. Some of the stories are so heartbreaking that it is almost impossible to imagine someone could cause such suffering to another human. But while the documentary does not shy away from the individual stories of sexual terrorism, it underlines the compassion, empathy, joy and companionship that comes from taking collective and individual ownership of one’s story and injecting joy and love in survival. It is a remarkable documentary of remarkable people; Dr Denis (whose life due to the death threats is limited to travelling between the hospital and the City of Joy with seven bodyguards), Mama Christine and survivors like Jane, a fountain of joy and survival of the most unfathomable experience possible. (Mama Christine also has an impactful TED talk about the five tenets of the City of Joy for turning pain into power).

This Virtual Nomad stop has been devastating and heartbreaking but at the same time impressed by the outstanding human dignity and quality of those who unselfishly work for a better world through caring for others and the environment we live in. To learn more about these people has been the greatest gift of this stop.

Next stop: the Republic of the Congo