"There was an explosion that knocked Benoit down. People nearby came running when they heard the explosion. Sanza had been killed on the spot. Benoit lay in his field bleeding. People put Benoit on a bicycle and transported him seven kilometres to the nearest hospital. Benoit had metal fragments in his neck, his arm, his ribs and his hand was badly broken."
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"We are not in a position to know where or what these dangerous items are. We often bring our children with us when we work in the fields and they can easily find these unexploded devices. They must be removed." - Benoit Sangoline [Photo: J.B. Russell] |
In 2003, Benoit Sangoline was a 26-year-old farmer working his land in the town of Gbadolite, in the northwest of the Democratic Republic of Congo, to support his young family. One morning, with his cornfield ready for harvest, he went to his field to begin collecting corn with his younger brother.
As he began working, his brother went to the nearby forest to collect mushrooms. At around 11 o’clock, a group of men passed by to go hunting wild game in the forest. Among them was Benoit’s friend Sanza. The 22-year-old Sanza called to his friend to come along, teasing and egging him to join the group. Benoit refused his friend’s pleas because he needed to work his fields.
As Sanza moved away to rejoin the hunting group, he stepped on something next to the heavily-used path that ran along the edge of Benoit’s field and led to the forest. There was an explosion that knocked Benoit down. People nearby came running when they heard the explosion. Sanza had been killed on the spot. Benoit lay in his field bleeding. People put Benoit on a bicycle and transported him seven kilometres to the nearest hospital. Benoit had metal fragments in his neck, arm and ribs, and his hand was badly broken.
By the time Benoit reached the hospital he had lost a great deal of blood. Doctors were afraid of excessive hemorrhaging, so they closed his wounds without removing the metal in his body. Benoit spent eight days in hospital. When he had recovered a little, he found out that someone had stolen his entire harvest.
Gbadolite: a crumbling relic |
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Equateur Province in the northwest of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) was the stronghold of Mobutu Sese Seko, former president of Zaire (now DRC), who ruled the nation for 32 years. During the later years of his reign Mobutu oversaw the running of the country largely from his hometown of Gbadolite, near the border with the Central African Republic. In the spring of 1997 when the forces of Laurent-Désiré Kabila and a coalition of forces from Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda and Chad marched across the country from east to west to overthrow Mobutu’s regime, Gbadolite was naturally a primary target. Heavy fighting occurred throughout the region, leaving the area polluted with landmines and unexploded ordnance. Gbadolite today is a crumbling relic of its heyday under Mobutu’s patronage. Aside from the occasional MONUC flight that touches down, the airport that was once the largest in Africa, capable of receiving the Concord, lies abandoned. Roads in and out of the town are only accessible by four-wheel drive vehicles in the dry season. Few trucks are able to reach the town. The people of Gbadolite and its environs are isolated in a remote enclave and rely essentially on what they can produce for themselves. Remnants of Congo’s first war make farming a risky prospect in Equateur Province. |
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Benoit is left-handed. The shrapnel embedded in his left hand damaged bones and nerves leaving his hand stunted and difficult to use. He was no longer able to hold or use the tools necessary to work as a farmer. Since the accident, every rainy season when there are daily thunderstorms Benoit can feel the metal in his body reacting to the storms and suffers as a result.
Benoit slowly recovered from the accident and its devastating consequences. His wife began selling things in the market in order to live. The church and extended family members also assisted Benoit, his wife and their four boys. Eventually he got a job teaching Latin and French at the Gefumba Institute.
“The area where my land was located corresponded with strategic points during the war,” says Benoit. “It was a passage where enemy soldiers could pass from the other side of the forest. The explosive devices that were left over after the war are extremely dangerous. The majority of people depend on the land, on agriculture, for survival.
“We are not in a position to know where or what these dangerous items are. We often bring our children with us when we work in the fields and they can easily find these unexploded devices. They must be removed.
“What I know of MAG is that they have the capacity to localise and destroy these deadly things so that they don’t pose a danger to the population. It’s work that helps the population and protects them from danger.”
Benoit believes that as long as people continue to be at risk from landmines and unexploded ordnance, organisations like MAG need to undertake the difficult task of cleaning them up and destroying them.
“It is the wish of the population that MAG has a permanent presence here to help the population, because there has been decades of war and many more of these dangerous devices remain. Since I fell victim to these weapons, I wish to call to men of good will, like the organisation MAG, to help people like me who were traumatised and still suffer the consequences of the accident. I call on them to come to our assistance.”
By J.B. Russell
Links:
- Why does MAG work in D.R. Congo?
- MAG D.R. Congo microsite - find out more about MAG's work in the country
- 'Journey through Africa's dark heart' - a MAG DRC slideshow
- Donate to MAG online - more than 90 per cent of MAG's income is spent directly on clearance programmes
- Other ways to Get Involved - shop, run, walk, skydive, drink wine...
- Click on Tags below for related articles
15 April 09
MAG's work in DRC is supported by: Belgian Ministry of Foreign
Affairs; DFID (UK Department for International Development); Dutch
Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Guernsey Overseas Aid Commission; Office
of Weapons Removal and Abatement, U.S. Department of State; Sida
(Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency).
