I've been on the Congo border numerous times now, approaching it from different places along the Albertine Rift both in Uganda and Rwanda, but never ever truly ever actually inside of the DRC. This is the beginning of a series of stories of border encounters, with wishful hopes for an actual border crossing in the very near future.
The Semuliki Flats
North of Semuliki National Park are the broad flat open flood plains of the Semuliki Flats, sparsely populated homeland of pastoralists, who are likely outnumbered by their cattle. They live largely in small grass thatch and mud huts. I wonder that their homes don't disintegrate with the heavy downpour that turns these flat lowlands into mud plains and wetlands during the rainy season, but somehow they survive.
I was there in the hot hot heat of the dry season which meant that we could actually visit the border. When the land dries and hardens over then vehicles, animals and bicycles can pass. The rest of the year, these communities are cut off from all else around them and are left to fend for themselves and their cows. We (the Community Conservation Warden, George, and his driver from Semuliki NP) met at the District Office, which I found via the new road that the Chinese are building. Multiple times I was stopped, which is good because I had no idea where I was going really and needed directions or at least confirmation that I was headed the right direction. The road is still under construction, but there's no other way really, so they'd wave me through. Some of the Chinese workers would look at me, probably wondering where I'd come from because I look an awful lot like their one of their own.
The District Office is actually part of the local school. It's a new district (lots of districts are popping up, especially around elections), so they don't really have any infrastructure yet. I met with some of the officers and talked to them about water and transboundary conservation issues. Then I piled in the big green UWA pick-up with George and the driver and we started across the flats, through the bush, following old tire paths of previous wanderers. Homes were scarce. Mostly, it was flat barren land with your dry grass and scrub here and there. Eventually, we reached a small trading center, a conglomeration of small semi-permanent buildings in the middle of this vast dry land. As we came, so did the people. We quickly identified the local chairmen and I sat in a small dirt shop with them and villagers crowded around for an interview.
They told me how water is scarce in the dry season and they have to fetch from the River Semuliki, which is getting polluted from up-source users (ag run-off, cattle, bathing, laundry, etc.). That's also their primary water source in the rainy season. They're also losing land to the River Semuliki.
River Semuliki is the border between Uganda and the DRC. This means that it's a "live" border, changing with the shifting patterns of the river itself. When the river flows slightly to the right, so goes the border to the right. With the larger population and higher instances of land cultivation on the Ugandan side, there is a severe problem with riparian erosion. The Ugandans are constantly losing their lands to the river and bit by bit, the River Semuliki is flowing deeper and deeper into Ugandan land.
One day a homestead may have crops along the riverbank, the next day, their crops are in the Congo. To regain access to their lands, they ford the river and offer a goat to the venerable chief (local leader) on the other side, who then lets them continue farming. The land remains Congolese, but at least the crops aren't all lost. Most people in this area can tell you a story of lands lost to the ever-changing River Semuliki.
They can also tell you that the erosion is happening because of land conversion. Some time ago the National Environmental Management Authority came in and constructed a make-shift fence some distance from the riverbank and told all the people that they couldn't farm beyond the fence. During this time, the vegetation regained its position along the banks of the river and the erosion was curtailed. The villagers told me that they know the fence is effective, but that the poles have rotted and it is falling apart so people are encroaching the riverside again. They wanted my help, a.k.a. they wanted my money to help them buy poles and they wanted me to rebuild the fence for them.
I replied that it seems they already know the solution and the problem. If the people cannot be controlled without the presence of a fence, then they should repair the fence. There must be local materials that would make suitable poles and from there, the only thing that would be missing is a little labor and a little will. That was the help that I could offer.
The Semuliki Flats
North of Semuliki National Park are the broad flat open flood plains of the Semuliki Flats, sparsely populated homeland of pastoralists, who are likely outnumbered by their cattle. They live largely in small grass thatch and mud huts. I wonder that their homes don't disintegrate with the heavy downpour that turns these flat lowlands into mud plains and wetlands during the rainy season, but somehow they survive.
I was there in the hot hot heat of the dry season which meant that we could actually visit the border. When the land dries and hardens over then vehicles, animals and bicycles can pass. The rest of the year, these communities are cut off from all else around them and are left to fend for themselves and their cows. We (the Community Conservation Warden, George, and his driver from Semuliki NP) met at the District Office, which I found via the new road that the Chinese are building. Multiple times I was stopped, which is good because I had no idea where I was going really and needed directions or at least confirmation that I was headed the right direction. The road is still under construction, but there's no other way really, so they'd wave me through. Some of the Chinese workers would look at me, probably wondering where I'd come from because I look an awful lot like their one of their own.
The District Office is actually part of the local school. It's a new district (lots of districts are popping up, especially around elections), so they don't really have any infrastructure yet. I met with some of the officers and talked to them about water and transboundary conservation issues. Then I piled in the big green UWA pick-up with George and the driver and we started across the flats, through the bush, following old tire paths of previous wanderers. Homes were scarce. Mostly, it was flat barren land with your dry grass and scrub here and there. Eventually, we reached a small trading center, a conglomeration of small semi-permanent buildings in the middle of this vast dry land. As we came, so did the people. We quickly identified the local chairmen and I sat in a small dirt shop with them and villagers crowded around for an interview.
They told me how water is scarce in the dry season and they have to fetch from the River Semuliki, which is getting polluted from up-source users (ag run-off, cattle, bathing, laundry, etc.). That's also their primary water source in the rainy season. They're also losing land to the River Semuliki.
River Semuliki is the border between Uganda and the DRC. This means that it's a "live" border, changing with the shifting patterns of the river itself. When the river flows slightly to the right, so goes the border to the right. With the larger population and higher instances of land cultivation on the Ugandan side, there is a severe problem with riparian erosion. The Ugandans are constantly losing their lands to the river and bit by bit, the River Semuliki is flowing deeper and deeper into Ugandan land.
One day a homestead may have crops along the riverbank, the next day, their crops are in the Congo. To regain access to their lands, they ford the river and offer a goat to the venerable chief (local leader) on the other side, who then lets them continue farming. The land remains Congolese, but at least the crops aren't all lost. Most people in this area can tell you a story of lands lost to the ever-changing River Semuliki.
I replied that it seems they already know the solution and the problem. If the people cannot be controlled without the presence of a fence, then they should repair the fence. There must be local materials that would make suitable poles and from there, the only thing that would be missing is a little labor and a little will. That was the help that I could offer.
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