For friends and family interested in following my daring six week long adventure in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, you are in the right place and it starts here! Follow along as I take you with me on my 2020 final year medical elective journey!

Background info

My father spent his childhood in Congo (DRC) and subsequently returned with my mother in 1985 after completing their studies. They lived in Katana, a small farming village close to Bukavu in east Congo, where my father worked as mechanical engineer for the Katana cement factory while my mother worked and taught at the district hospital Fomulac (medical doctor), began a pasta factory for malnourished children and did research on the microbiological transmissibility between tourists and the mountain gorillas of the Kahuzi-Biega national park.

They left in 1995 due to the deteriorating and dangerous circumstances during the civil war and moved to Cameroon where I was born in 1997. It has been a lifelong dream of mine to return to the place I’ve heard endless stories about luscious green forests, massive crystal-clear freshwater lakes, face to face encounters with silverback mountain gorillas and the friendliest people in Africa!

35 years later and the perfect opportunity to return has come my way! UCT lets medical students in their sixth and final year undergo a medical elective of their choosing anywhere in the world. I instantly knew I wanted to trace back my parents’ footsteps and experience it all in the flesh.

 

Thus began 8 long months of travel planning, email requests, visa appointments, vaccinations and Ebola tracking. I managed to secure a six week clinical elective at Panzi hospital in Bukavu. Panzi was founded and is directed by world-renowned gynaecologist, human rights activist and 2018 Nobel Peace laureate Dr Denis Mukwege. He is the world’s leading specialist in the treatment of wartime sexual violence and a global campaigner against the use of rape as a weapon of war.

Getting here

I took off from Cape Town international airport on the fourth of January 2020. Four flights and 28 hours later I finally made it to the Rwanda/DRC border (pictured above).

The reality and excitement of this amazing adventure finally hit me as I walked, in awe, along the border bridge over lake Kivu, accompanied by a close family friend and old colleague of my dad.

Cape Town → Johannesburg → Lusaka → Kigali → Kamembe → Bukavu 

However, there was no time to rest as we immediately set off north to explore Katana and make full use of this Sunday afternoon (05/01/2020) before I commence work tomorrow. We jumped into a bakkie (pickup truck for all the non South Africans/Belgians reading this), dropped my luggage at Lodge Coco where I’ll be staying for the next six weeks and started along the slow and bumpy road to Katana!

Katana

The roads are in shambles and it takes us two hours to cover the 45 kilometres between Bukavu and Fomulac. However, the nature is breathtaking and I forget all about the fatigue slowly setting in. We exit the car and enter the most enchanting little clinic encircling a peaceful courtyard. We’re greeted by an old clinician who immediately recognises my father’s friend and the “Mzungu” travelling with him (Bantu term used in the African Great Lakes region to refer to people of European descent). His eyes lit up with joy the instant he finds out I am the son of Dr Nini Thiry and he begins reminiscing about the good old times. This heartwarming introduction is followed by a rapid tour of the clinic and short walk down the road to L’institut D’enseignement Medical Fomulac/Katana (The Fomulac/Katana Medical Teaching Institute), where my mother lectured nursing students back in the day.

We jump back in the car and head down the tortuous hill to the shoreline of lake Kivu. Next stop, the Katana cement factory my dad ran. It’s a short five-minute drive and we pass a local market. A quick stop to greet one of the elders and I’m immediately made to feel at home once again when he smiles from ear to ear upon hearing the son of Luc & Nini Thiry is visiting. He doesn’t quite remember their first names but my parents are fondly remembered as “Monsieur Kawasaki et madame la docteur” (Mister Kawasaki and Madam Doctor). This is no coincidence as my dad used to drive around exclusively on his little Kawasaki trial motorbike all over the region. We continue down the road to the factory located on the edge of the lake.

Three kilometres further down the road we take a left turn onto my parents’ old driveway and I’m once again blown away by the view and beauty of the area. We grab the house keys and enter a house that feels very much untouched since they left. My father’s friend/colleague, Anicet Ntabaza, tells me the very fridge and stove that my parents used 35 years ago is still running and we’re having lunch here! A strange mix of happiness, gratitude and a touch of sadness runs through my bones as I try and imagine what it must have been like to live in this very house, wishing my parents were here to relive the moment with me. We head down the lusciously green backyard down to the water’s edge. Everything here seems to grow as soon as it hits the ground. It stands in stark contrast to the terrible drought currently experienced back home in the Klein Karoo. The water looks extremely inviting and I strongly regret not having had time to change into shorts after the flight. I make a mental note that I have to return here for a sunset swim during my stay.

 

We head back to the house and are greeted by an elderly gentleman, Papa Silvain, who helps to prepare lunch. He looks to Anicet wondering who this “Mzungu” is and his mouth gapes open when he realises who’s come back to visit him. He stretches his arms out, closes his fists and mimics a person riding on his motorcycle while asking me in Swahili “ni baba yako mzazi Kawasaki?” (is your father Mr Kawasaki?). We laugh, smile and hug after I reply that I am indeed the son of Mr Kawasaki!

I can’t help but admire the impact my parents seem to have had in this region and dream of making just a sliver of that difference to someone’s life during my elective here!

We all enjoy a quick lunch on the stoep before returning to the car and driving back towards the hospital where Mr Ntabaza says he has a surprise to show me.

Now this requires a little bit of a back story: Mr Ntabaza is around 10 years my parents’ junior and used to work under my father back in the time. They became close friends and my parents had the honour to officiate their wedding in 1988. Mr Ntabaza succeeded my father at the factory once they left in 1989 and went on to have numerous children, whom are studying abroad in Rwanda, Canada, USA and South Africa. One of his sons, Arnaud, studying engineering in Cape Town has become a good friend of ours. Mr Ntabaza’s kindness and hard work shines throughout the day. He has played a pivotal role in organising this elective and I’m honoured to be shown around Katana by such a beloved person everywhere we go.

Back to the surprise. We make a turn onto a new road that follows the curvature of the lake high above the water level. I look down and notice a large and beautiful piece of land manicured with a beautiful mix of palm, coconut, banana, mango and jacaranda trees to name just a few. He looks back at me and says “welcome to my property!”. We park on the side of the road and head down a long driveway to this breathtaking plantation. He gives me a tour and joyously explains when and where every tree was planted. He looks out proudly onto the lake and describes how he hopes to retire soon and build a house on the property. We joke around a little about my parents moving-in next door one day (maybe not so jokingly dad)! We call it a day well spent and start heading back the treacherous 2 hour drive to Bukavu.

I finally make it back to Lodge Coco, under a powerful tropical thunderstorm. The pouring rain and smell of dust settling brings back fond childhood memories from Cameroon and Nigeria while I unpack, get my things in order for tomorrow and grab a quick dinner at the local resto. Hospital shift starts at 07:00 and runs till 17:00. It’s already 2am and I seriously need to get to bed. I hope you enjoyed this glimpse into my life and elective and follow my journey!