Nice story.

Last Friday we met again with Professor Chimanuka Bantuzeko; he is professor at one of the universities here in Bukavu and in 2007 he was responsible for the surveyors who were send out to do the baseline survey. We already met with him several times before that week as we would like him to also do the final survey. Under very difficult circumstances he and his team pulled off an amazing job in 2007; surveyors had to cross rivers filled with crocodilles (but, of course, without bridges), surveyors had to walk (or cycle, or use the motor) for days to reach villages that were randomly selected by us for sampling, surveyors were kidnapped for days by a multitude of different rebel organizations (a.o. the Interhamwe), etc.

It was Friday evening – the evening before Macartan would leave – so we went for a Primus in one of the local bars (Belvedere). Within two hours we had consumed several beers and several additional Congolese – friends and students of Professor Chimanuka – had joined our table. It was great.

For example, one of the people that joined was Alain; a surveyor for the 2007 baseline survey. For the survey Professor Chimanuka sent out the surveyors in teams of two – one man and one woman – and Alain had some nice stories to tell. He talked about how they had to cross rivers filled with hippos and crocodilles. He told us how they walked for a day up to their belly in the mud to cross a 3-kilometer swamp. Finally, he told us how they had to flee one village in the night because an Interhamwe commander ‘fell in love’ with his his fellow (female) team member. Then Alain got a smile on his face and told us that... the two of them recently got married.

Not only is it a nice story, it also gives an idea of just how amazing this data is. Not only is the content extraordinary (see here), so was (and is going to be again) its collection; placing a heavy burden on us to use it well.

Alain now works for a company in Bukavu that buys minerals (casserite, coltal, gold, etc.) from miners in Shabunda; one of Sud Kivu’s territoires. They fly in the resources at Kavumu Airport (the military airport to the north of Bukavu) and then transport this in trucks to Bukavu where it is to be sold. I arranged with Alain that somewhere in upcoming days I will join him for a day to his work; to learn more about the process of arrival/selling/processing/buying of natural resources first hand. Looking much forward.

Last Wednesday.

Wednesday we visited our two other Voix des Kivus' villages; both are located in Sud Kivu's territoire Kalehe. Two things:

Douze

Five months ago - when launching the project - we gave the phoneholders a codesheet in Swahili and French; each event has a unique code and we asked the holders just to send these codes. Completely unexpected over the last five months, in addition to the codes, Voix des Kivus received over 250 textmessages in Swahili.


Because time was limited last Wednesday, we picked up our 3 phoneholders in village 1 to talk with all six at the same time in village 2. When driving from village 1 to 2 a big FARDC truck with several FARDC soldiers the age of my little brother passed by. As a response one of our phoneholders screamed through the car "douze"; i.e. the code for the presence of FARDC troops. We all knew exactly what that number meant and we had a good laugh.


Rainy season


Around 9 out of the 12 months it is rainy season here in the Congo. Around Bukavu, for example, from mid-May to beginning August it is dry; the other days it rains. Although it hadn't rained very heavily for a while, our car slipped quite a bit during the day (especially fun on top of mountains). And even 4x4s get stuck once in a while:

Finally a post again.

After a busy but great week, finally a post. Macartan was in town and we did a lot of work; among others for our Voix des Kivus project that we launched last summer.

In 4 villages in Sud Kivu we have 3 people who send us textmessages about what happens in their village. After five months these 12 so-called phoneholders have amazed us; they have send over a 1,000 messages giving a detailed and real-time picture of what happens on the ground. This information can then be used by the development community for action, it provides high-quality data for academics, and people in rural villages are finally given a voice.

Last week we were in the field for several days to talk to each of our phoneholders. In brief, they are really enthousiastic about Voix des Kivus. In addition, yesterday we gave a presentation at the weekly United Nation's OCHA meeting where the whole development community of Bukavu is present, and from them we obtained similar reactions. Consequently, the number of Voix des Kivus will be increased in upcoming months.

Tuesday

On Tuesday we left very early so we could visit both our villages in Sud Kivu’s territoire Walungu. The first village is located on top of a mountain and after a 2.5 hour drive we reached the mountain’s foot. Because we knew that even our 4x4 could not drive up the mountain, the phoneholders walked for 3 hours down the mountain to meet us. After talking with them for several hours we left for our second village where we had another several-hour talk with the 3 phoneholders there. These meetings with the phoneholders were very informative as we discussed many issues. Importantly, the phoneholders are proud to be part of the project.

Shortly before it got dark we arrived in Walungu Centre where we had a Primus in the local pub, and after that we had dinner and slept in the village’s church. Macartan, shortly before all this, got himself a haircut in Walungu Centre’s beauty salon (the house in the middle of the picture below):



This picture is taken while standing in the door of that same beauty salon:

Back in Congo.

I am back in Congo, and loving it.

After an only 25 minute flight from Kigali I arrived around 9am in Kamembe. After receiving angry looks from several customs officials - I had put my passport in the washingmachine and the DRC visa wasn't really very readable anymore - I was able to cross the border.

The first hours were spent on the usual: arranging accomodation, a radio and a simcard with credit (trust me that is more difficult then it sounds). So, for all those people that desperately want to call or text me (hi mom!), my number here is: +243995200724.

Although most expats are still gone, I spent lots of time catching up with people I still knew from the summer. I also met our Voix des Kivus Field Coordinator for over two hours regarding work, I made several appointments for next week when Macartan is in town, and then spent time working behind my laptop; yep, for this blog this the more boring part of my time here. More on that later.

After doing some groceries shopping I just arrived in IRC House 5; the same house as last summer. Ok, so let's see, my first impressions:

• The holes in the road have grown.
• Such friendly people here.
• Salted peanuts, bananas and a coke with real suger is really truly the best lunch there is.
• The house and office are the same as last time; only with many different faces.
• I seem to survive with my french.
• It's mainly warm during the day and for about 2 hours a day it rains. Awesome.
• And yes, I'm drinking my evening gin tonic again. Regarding this one more thing:

Following its instructions, malaria pills have to be taken together with food. Last summer for two months I think Simon and I never took it with food. On the other hand, we did always take them with alcohol. I just remembered that while taking my malerone with a gin tonic. :)

A quick note.

A quick note from Kigali Airport; I'm boarding my plane to Kamembe in a few minutes. At arrival - I hope - an IRC 4x4 will take me across the border.

Up to now all is going well; without delays we did Amsterdam -> Nairobi -> Bujumbura (Burundi) -> Kigali (Rwanda). The only thing worrying was that the flight attendent from Kenya Airlines kept on saying during her safety talk: "In the likely event we loose cabine pressure, ...". :)

Two quick other things. First, I got an email this morning from Dan De Lorenzo. He produced a film from footage gathered in August while he was on mission for UN OCHA. He sent me the video, but I don't have bandwidth to download it. The film premier is this Friday, 12-2, at a policy forum at the International Peace Institute. Secondly, I should actually use Twitter; knowing there is so often no internet connection.

First post. Let's talk money.

My first post is from exotic... Oudewater in the Netherlands. I'm still at my parents' place; it is 11am, I fly at 9pm from Schiphol. Let's see, my first post. Let's talk money.

I'm switching jobs: bye meager PhD salary, hello over 8,000 US$ per month for being a Congolese MP. And, of course, this does not yet include extra money for being part of committees, travel, etc.

In the Netherlands an MP gets around 7,000 euro (9,000 US$), but this country is also a tiny bit richer. People here earn on average around $40,500 per year; in the DRC this is around $330 (both are in PPP)!

And while the Netherlands is just a little bit smaller than the Congo (the first is green on the map below), the government does have a bit more to spend: yearly revenues and expenditures are around $400 billion. The DRC government, on the other hand, earns around 700 million and spends around 2 billion (numbers from the CIA World Factbook).

Ok, one more number: 760 million dollar. Anyone? The revenue of the movie Avatar after only 2 weeks; more than the yearly government budget of one of the world's largest countries. Fuck!

Coding in the Congo.

Later this evening I leave from Schiphol to Bukavu for a month of field work in the Democratic Republic of Congo. That is, Amsterdam -> Nairobi, Nairobi -> Kigali, staying over one night in Rwanda, Kigali -> Kamembe, and then by 4x4 crossing the Rwanda - DRC border.

As many of you know I kept a blog when I was in the DRC last summer. I will do the same thing now. For upcoming month I will therefore not post here but at Coding in the Congo.

Austria vs Congo, books, TV5 Monde.

I was in Austria a week ago. Many Austrians drive really big cars, live in well-kept buildings, etc. Why? Those high mountains are perfect for rebel groups to hide from the government, and it must be/ must have been very difficult for the government to project power. Why do Austrians living in isolated houses at the top of mountains far away from military and police sleep without worries, while people in the Congo (or in Africa for that matter) do not? Why is Austria developed and peaceful, and the Congo not? Sure, I can give a laundry list. But it did struck me.

When in France and Austria I did not have too much time to read. I did read something:

• Poisoned Wells: The Dirty Politics of African Oil is a good book written by Nicholas Shaxson's who - after working for many years in Africa - discusses how oil is hurting the African continent. Especially France get's its ass kicked.
• Frederick Forsyth’s Dogs of War's is a novel set in imaginary Zangaro where richness are found in the Crystal Mountains. Interestingly, and probably not by accident, the latter is also a range of mountains that the Congo River has coursed its way through (located approximately 200 miles east of the Atlantic coast).
• Already mentioned in a previous post, but Adam Hochchild’s King Leopold’s Ghost is a fantastic book.
• Allah N'est Pas Oblige by Ahmadou Kourouma - a book I got from my supervisor already a while ago in order to learn French - is a first-person narrative by a West African child soldier who recounts his experiences in Liberia and Sierra Leone. Nice book.
• I also bought Deception Point by Dan Brown and Foundation 2 by Isaac Azimov in French, I started the first.

Talking about French; I am now going to say something positive about France. TV5 Monde has a webpage called "Apprendre le français", which gives not only the newsvideos, but also their transcript, several games, etc. A great tool to study the language.

Rene Lemarchand and Les Larmes du Soleil.

Rene Lemarchand

Chris Blattman linked to a review written by Alex Engwete (who btw keeps a very interesting blog) about René Lemarchand’s new book “The Dynamics of Violence in Central Africa”. Lemarchand is a ‘biggy’ when it comes to research on Africa; being especially a specialist on the Great Lakes Region.

Les Larmes du Soleil

Some days ago I watched Les Larmes du Soleil. Sounds interesting, but it is nothing more than “Tears of the Sun” in English (while in France I bought some movies to keep my French up). It is a bad Hollywood movie about Africa in which Bruce Willis is a good old American-style hero. He is a US soldier sent to Nigeria to get an American citizen during a period in which the country falls into chaos after a bloody coup. Of course, Bruce Willis not only brings back this gorgeous-looking American lady, but in the meantime he also saves the lives of countless civilians including the son of the late president and the last in the royal bloodline of the Igbo people. However, despite all this there is one thing that sticks with me (paraphrasing):

Nigerian to Bruce Willis: “May God be with you”
Bruce Willis: “God already left Africa”

Six things.

• Just found some picutures from Pieter Hugo's Nollywood series. I am not sure I like them. He notes that "the situations are clearly surreal, although they could be real on a set". Quite a few of these pictures, however, could actually be really real in Africa!
• Laura Seay - the author of the excellent blog Texas in Africa - has a page with tips on conducting research in the DRC. Although I have much much less field experience, much of it sounds very familiar. Thanks!
• So last Tuesday I went to the Rwandan Embassy to get a visa; luckily I could sit down and wait for it. I forgot a book and therefore closely studied my itinery. At the back of the page STA reminded me that I "had chosen not to purchase the STA Travel Protection Plan". And that if I would purchase the STA Travel Protection Plan within 14 days of making your deposit or initial trip payment, I would received additional protection for... terrorism. I am really curious how they do that. :)
• If you put your passport in a washingmachine (see here), you do have a lot of empty pages again. Awesome!
• Macartan (my supervisor) is teaching a course on violence next semester at Columbia. I'm also his RA and one of the things I therefore just did was reading through the Syllabus. First, it's going to be a great course. Second, it also reminded me of an interesting article by Jared Diamond that I read in the New Yorker already some months ago (note: the article received lots of critisism).
• In a few days I will be heading to Bukavu in Eastern Congo. Mom, please don't read this.

King Leopold’s Ghost and Apocalypse Now.

I just read Adam Hochchild’s King Leopolds Ghost. It deals with the exploitation of the DRC (then the Congo Free State) by King Leopold II of Belgium at the end of the 19th century. Not only gives the book an impassionate account of the attrocities commited by the Europeans in order to obtain ivory and rubber, but also of people like George Washington Williams, William Henry Sheppard and especially Edmund Dene Morel who make the world aware of these attrocities.

King Leopold’s Ghost

There were several things that caught my attention; one of them was how similar the situation is now compared to then. Two examples:

First, the Belgians made use of forced labor to obtain ivory and, especially, rubber. The book discusses in much detail how women were kidnapped so that the men had to collect rubber, and the harse punishments if not enough rubber was collected (villages were burned, right hands chopped off, women raped, etc). It shocked me how similar this is to messages we receive today from Voix des Kivus where we consistenty receive messages indicating how villagers are forced to carry loads for FARDC or FDLR troops into the forests. Other reports confirm this as well. In a recent report from Global Witness regarding mining in the DRC they note how “Local human rights organisations have reported cases where civilians have been arrested and tortured for not complying with soldiers’ orders to work for them, for not satisfying their military “bosses”, or for denouncing extortion, theft of minerals and other abuses by themilitary.’ (p. 39)”

Second, Edmund Morel – who a.o. led the campaign against slavery in the Congo Free State – found out about the attrocities while working for Elder Dempster (a Liverpool shipping firm) in Antwerpen. He noticed that ships leaving Belgium for the Congo carried only guns, chains, ordnance and explosives, but no commercial goods, while ships arriving from the colony came back full of valuable products (ivory and rubber). I hope you all saw the movie “Darwin’s Nightmare”...

Apocalypse Now

The book mentioned that the movie Apocalypse Now - a movie about the Vietnam War – is based on Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness. So, yesterday evening I watched the movie; it could not have been more obvious:

Apocalypse is set in a beautiful country, but where conflict is rife (like in the DRC). The US soldier takes a boat up the Nung river [the Congo] to find Colonel Walter E. Kurtz of Special Forces [yes, they even kept the same name] who went insane [Conrad’s Kurtz also went insane and is also lording over a small tribe as a god]. At minutes 1:15 and 2:20 we see stakes with severed heads on it [the same is what Marlow sees when looking at Conrad’s Kurtz's house via his binoculars]. To make things even more obvious, when Colonel Kurtz dies he screams “The horror! The horror!” and shortly after that we see that he wrote in his book "Drop the bomb. Exterminate them All". In Heart of Darkness Kurtz screams the same thing when dying and had written down "Exterminate the brutes!".

The question now is why? Is Francis Ford Coppola indicating that the US regime was like the one of Leopold II? Does he want to show us the darkness of the human psyche: "the heart of an immense darkness"? Or did simply think (correctly) that using Heart of Darkness would bring in lots of money? It is a great movie.

Passports don't like washing-machines.

First, I'm flying on January 5th to the DRC via Kigali where I'm staying over 1 night. I therefore need a visa. Today I was contemplating whether to go through the hassle of going to the Rwandan Embassy in the Hague, do the paperwork, etc. or just to go to Kigali airport and buy a visa at arrival, of course, with the possibility that the latter is not possible. About an hour ago I decided to go for the latter. Second, when we travelled together, my ex-girlfriend would often tell me how badly I took care of my passport. I don't have a protection cover, I just keep it in my trousers, from the outside one can't see it is an EU Dutch passport anymore, etc.

There we go:

I just took my passport out of the washing-machine and spend about 30 minutes with my mom's hairdryer trying to save my visas and stamps. Yep, I had forgotten to take my passport out of my trousers. Luckily, I can still see that it is me on my US visa and the words on it are quite readable. Fortunately, the Dutch part is made of a washing-machine resistant material. And, magically, the DRC visa - which is nothing more than a stamp - also survived soap and bubbles. I do miss 20+ stamps. Especially the stamps one gets at US customs (the ones where they write an "F1" inside the stamp) are noticably absent. At the moment, I have a lot of lonely "F1"s in my passport. :)

So:

First, I think I will be going to the Rwandan Embassy tomorrow. Second, as always, my ex-girlfriend was very right.

Google and the FDLR.

Most rebel groups have a website. Of course, also they have to spread their 'noble' objectives to the wider world. Also, the FDLR (the Forces Démocratiques de Libération du Rwanda) has a website. In their own words, the FDLR are [things within square brackets are mine, the rest is from the FDLR website]:

"[mainly Hutu-based] Rwandans [living in Eastern Congo] determined to defend their motherland [Rwanda] kept under constant threats of extermination by a tyrannic and barbaric [Tutsi-based] regime [in Kigali, Rwanda]. The FDLR are a response to contempt, arrogance, ruthless and bloodthirsty repression, and fascism of the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) [the current Tutsi-based ruling party in Rwanda and led by the country's president Paul Kagame] and to the opposition by the RPF to diverse initiatives taken in favour of a political dialogue, open democratic activities, and respect of fundamental human rights in Rwanda."

Especially the last sentence is informative. I must have been wrong then for all that time; I always thought that the FDLR was accused by many (human rights workers, the UN, and countless Congolese civilians) of mass rape, murder, forced recruitments, child soldiers, using slaves to illegally exploit minerals, etc.

When I typed in "FDLR" into Google this evening I got the following message:

FDLR - [ Vertaal deze pagina ]
Deze site kan schade toebrengen aan uw computer.
FDLR, easy homepage, Homepages erstellen ohne Programmierkenntnisse, site dynamique sans programmation.
www.fdlr.org/
- Vergelijkbaar -

The second sentence means "This site can damage your computer" in that beautiful language Dutch. Is Google indirectly telling us something here?

Back in the Netherlands: finally internet again.

After three weeks without decent internet, I am sitting on the couch with a cold Dutch beer and final read - instead of quickly scan - my favorite news sources:

• Africa is a country; a great source on about everything with regards to Africa; especially the more cultural things.
  
• Congosiasa; a great blog with information on Congo.
  
• Chris Blattman is professor at Yale, does very interesting work, and he keeps a great blog. How every academic should be.
  
• IRIN news; humanitarian news by OCHA.
  
• Project Syndicate; lots of commentary by often really good academics.
  
• Reliefweb; a UN website that provides information to humanitarian relief organizations.
  
• Texas in Africa; blog by Laura Seay; great commentary on Africa.
  
• Wronging Rights; brilliant commentary on serious issues.

From these sources (I know, I just recycle), hereby five interesting things:

• For my dissertation I am, among others, interested in natural resources and it's relation to conflict. I read the solution to Congo's mineral problems... drones! Of course, I should have thought of that.
• On a much more serious note, last summer Simon and I befriended a very bright Congolese student; he is studying to become a priest. Already some days ago he sent us an email on recent attacks on Catholic priests and nuns in Eastern DRC. The above sources wrote about it as well, one linked to this. Please also read the post by Texas in Africa who discusses the importance of the Catholic Church in Eastern Congo.
• Some nice pictures and postcards from Africa.

• In my previous post I had a link to a documentary regarding DRC's gold on CBS' 60 minutes. Please also check this out for three problems with the documentary.
• Finally, Chinese in Africa. Indeed, last summer when I was in the DRC, each public goods project - although few in number - had at least one Chinese walking around there as well.

Four things I like (a belated post).

• A short movie on the DRC's gold on CBS.
• A recent International Peace Institute event with SRSG Mr. Alan Doss as guest.
• The UN ends Kimia II. Finally!
• A recent report by Human Rights Watch on Eastern Congo.

Eurolines.

I’m in rural Austria with limited internet connection. It was quite a trip to get here from Montpellier (>24 hours in public transport): 1 tram in Montpellier, 3 busses to get to Munich, and 2 trains to get to Fuegen. As always, the bus part was interesting.

It had snowed for the first time in France the evening before, and the bus’ window-heater didn’t work (the bus came from Spain). Also, we were stopped by German police for passport control. Both made me miss my train in Munich. We drove at night, which doesn’t mean one can sleep because the bus driver has to stop every 2 hours or so for a break; i.e. lights on. On top of this, I had to change bus twice; i.e. waiting in the freezing cold on an empty parking lot praying that the next bus will arrive soon (of course those busses also had delays).

But this is usual for travelling by Eurolines bus; that’s why it’s cheap. And, despite all this, it was not a hellish ride, because there is something else usual about these rides.

I sat next to an interesting German girl my age and we had a long chat; not in English or German, but in French. Right in front of us sat a boy and a girl; she from Germany studying Spanish and he from France studying German. A bit later during the trip I overheard their conversation: she was teaching him "naamvallen".

Some years ago The Economist wrote that (paraphrasing) while the European Commission had done its fair share, it was especially the cheap airlines and buscompanies in Europe –Ryanair, Eurojet, Eurolines, etc. – that benefits European integration. It was that thought that kept me warm while freezing at the parking lot in Lyon and Karlsruhe. ;)

Montpellier.

Because I want to be a proper Africanist I have to speak French; not only the language of love, but also the language that is spoken in 31 African countries. I forgot most of my high school French so here I am, taking classes for two weeks in Montpellier, France.

Montpellier is a gorgeous city from the Early Middle Ages first mentioned in a document of 985. The city - the capital of the "Languedoc-Roussillon" region - is relatively small with around 250,000 inhabitants. Thank you Wikipedia. I've been here now for about two weeks; unfortunately with very limited internet connection. Hereby some pros and cons of Montpellier:

pro: walking
I love to walk around late at night when there is nobody on the street (it clears my head and makes me think). Montpellier is perfect for this with its many small narrow streets, old buildings, etc.

pro: books
I found two really massive bookshops! One of them even has a large amount of second-hand books. This all in addition to many antique bookshops I've seen. Hurrah!

con: pooh
Unfortunately Montpellier kept one bad Medieval habit: there is pooh lying all over the place.

con: closing times
My school here - Accent Francais - closes at 6pm. And the internet cafe - together with most other shops in Montpellier - closes at 8pm. How I miss New York.

Do I have nothing to say about Montpellier's culture, nearby-located villages, etc.? Actually, no. I'm taking the ‘intensive’ package here: class in the morning, (private) class in the afternoon, dinner with hostess in the evening to practice speaking, and homework after that. Of course, work for Columbia continues, so I try to do that at night.

In a few hours I hop on a bus that brings me to Muenchen, Germany (arriving the next morning). From there I take a train to Jenbach in Austria where I plan to meet up with my family (mom, dad, brothers, aunts, uncles, granny, cousins, etc.) to spend a week together in Austria. Can't wait.

Au revoir la France! Hallo Österreich!

Books & All Things Must Fight to Live.

Yesterday morning I arrived at Schiphol airport; first a month in Europe and then finally back to the DR Congo.

In Europe: 1. I'll study French (tomorrow I'll be heading to Montpellier for two weeks), 2. Work on R (I took John Fox's "R and S-Plus Companying to Applied Regression" with me), 3. Work on causal inference (I also took Morgan and Winship's "Counterfactuals and Causal Inference" with me), 4. Prepare for the Congo.

For in the DRC I packed quite a few books (I know I should have bought a Kindle):

• Adam Hochchild's "King Leopold's Ghost"
• Ben Okri's "Famished Road"
• Samual Popkin's "Rational Peasant"
• Frederick Forsyth's "Dogs of War"
• Adam Roberts' "The Wonga Coup"
• Robert Klitgaard's "Tropical Gangsters"
• Nicholas Shaxson' "Poisoned Wells"
• Bryan Mealer's "All Things Must Fight to Live"
• Dambisa Moyo's "Dead Aid"

I finished Bryan Mealer's book already in the airplane from New York. Bryan Mealer worked and travelled for three years in the Congo and wrote about his experiences. A very impressive piece of work! I do hope the other books are not that good, otherwise I am out of books before I arrive in the DRC. ;)

Flatland (again).

A short addition to my previous post on Flatland, I just read this on Wikipedia:

"Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions is an 1884 satirical novella by the English schoolmaster Edwin Abbott Abbott. Writing pseudonymously as "a square", Abbott used the fictional two-dimensional world of Flatland to offer pointed observations on the social hierarchy of Victorian culture."

Nice!

Visa for DR Congo.

The day after tomorrow I'll leave New York for 2+ months: two weeks in France to study French, one week in Austria to ski, one week in the Netherlands with family, and then for more than a month back to Eastern Congo for work. I can't wait.

Of course one needs a Visa to enter the DRC. Last time I took the official route, which took lots of time and lots and lots of paperwork. For example, the website notes that an invitation from somebody in the DRC is necessary in order to obtain a Visa. The document I obtained in the summer contained 5 stamps (including one of a notary public) and a large number of signatures.

Following the advise of my professor, this time I took a different approach. I went to the DRC Mission at the United Nations myself yesterday. They asked me for a letter of invitation, which I told them I didn't have. They then asked me for information on where I would stay. So, I wrote the following on a document:

[name of a friend]
IRC House #5
Quite close to Lake Kivu
Bukavu, DRC

She took the piece of paper, looked at what I wrote down, thanked me and tomorrow I can pick up my passport with Visa. Awesome!