Disaster-Focused Headlines from the Congo Often Hide Signs of Progress

Jul 13, 2018 | Molly Bergen
View Original

In the Democratic Republic of Congo’s (DRC) northwestern city of Mbandaka, health workers spent recent months racing to contain the latest Ebola outbreak — including the first urban cases in the country since 1995. While the crisis appears to be abating, 28 people died from this bout of the disease. Meanwhile, more than 1,200 miles east in Virunga National Park, on May 11 ranger Rachel Masika Baraka was killed and two British tourists and their driver were abducted by armed attackers, forcing Africa’s oldest national park to once again close to tourists. (The tourists and driver have since been released.) And just last month, new data revealed that tree cover loss reached a record high in DRC in 2017, increasing 6 percent from the previous year.  

These types of disaster-focused headlines are what most of the world reads about the Congo. Global attention on the DRC’s challenges is important, but this type of reporting doesn’t tell the whole story. Instead, it helps fuel public perception that the place is beyond hope, and ignores the fact that the country has good news, too — and that every day, the people there are going about their lives as best they can.