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"My children are without a father today because of war. Because of my personal history, I can’t accept that the population suffers the same thing that I have." |
The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has a long history of suffering and misery. In recent decades, a series of civil and region conflicts have devastated the nation and its people even further. The vast country has fabulous wealth and potential, but it is only now taking the first tentative steps down a long and rough road to stability and development.
Much progress needs to be made on all levels of society, and MAG believes in empowering locals to spur these needed changes. Moreover, MAG encourages women to play an integral role in the recovery efforts.
MAG invests in, trains, and employs staff from the local population in order to build a robust and sustainable national workforce. Around 96 per cent of our 3,000-strong workforce around the world is local staff, working to improve the countries in which they were born; and fifteen percent of these national team members are women.
Mami Mapala Mongongwa is one of three women that MAG employs as a female deminer in DRC. Mami has her feet on the ground and is working to move the country and herself forward.
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"If all these dangerous items left over from war are not cleared, the people are afraid to cultivate their fields, to go search for food or wood in the forests, and to go to school." - Mami Mapala Mongongw |
Demining is not a profession usually associated with women, yet thirty two-year-old Mami Mapala Mongongwa is one of three female deminers working for MAG in Equateur province. A mother of two young girls, eight-year-old Benedicte and four-year-old Kesthia, she is part of the technical team currently clearing the remnants of war in Gbadolite.
Five years ago, during Congo’s civil war, a stray bullet killed the father of Mami’s children. Pregnant with her youngest at the time, she suddenly found herself alone needing to care for two young children.
With a state diploma in social humanities, one might think that obtaining a job would be easy for Mami. Yet, gender inequality and social norms make it difficult for women to find gainful employment in DRC. "In our country, there are women who have studied and who have many degrees; but they don’t work because they are women."
As a means to provide for her daughters, Mami found temporary work as a cleaner at the United Nations in Bandaka and at the Independent Electoral Commission. This exposed her to many other working women, and she became inspired to seek out a better career.
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A technical demining team removing a stockpile of munitions and weapons stored by the Congolese Armed Forces (FARDC) in an abandoned Coca-Cola factory in Gbadolite, Equateur Province. |
"During the 2006 presidential elections, I saw many women from other countries coming to work in the different international organizations. I became friends with some women from Ghana who were in the military and who worked for the United Nations. I thought to myself, they are women who worked in the military which is usually only men. Now, they work for an international organization. That motivated me, and they encouraged me to seek out a better job opportunity."
"When MAG came to Gemena, I heard that they were recruiting deminers. People said that the work was reserved for men, but I wanted to apply anyway. When I arrived at MAG, they encouraged women applicants and wanted more women to apply. Many women were afraid to go, because they thought the job was too dangerous. They thought they might lose a leg or an arm; but I wanted to work, so I accepted the risks that came with the job."
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Gbadolite: a sleepy town with a violent past The sleepy town of Gbadolite lies along the Ubangi River in the far Northwest of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), near the border with the Central African Republic. Gbadolite is the hometown of Mobutu Sese Seko, the former President of Zaire (now the DRC), who ruled the country for 32 years from 1965 to 1997. From a small village, he built a town with concrete buildings, paved roads, several extravagant residences for himself, and the largest airport in Africa capable of receiving the Concorde. Although Kinshasa is the capital and seat of power, Mobutu often ruled over the country from his sanctuary in Gbadolite. In the spring of 1997, during the first Congo War, the forces of Laurent-Désiré Kabila and a coalition of allied forces from Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda, and Chad arrived in the town on their march west to overthrow the Mobutu regime. Heavy fighting and looting ruined Mobutu’s town and his palaces. Today, Gbadolite is isolated and somewhat forgotten, but the remnants of its violent downfall remain scattered across the region in the form of landmines and unexploded ordinance (UXO) – a legacy that continues to represent a significant danger to the population. A Community Liaison team from the Congolese NGO Humanitas Ubangi, supported by MAG, and a technical demining team from MAG are currently working in the area conducting Mine Risk Education, collecting information about dangerous areas, and ridding those areas of mines and UXO. |
"My children are without a father today because of war. Because of my personal history, I can’t accept that the population suffers the same thing that I have. If all these dangerous items left over from war are not cleared, the people are afraid to cultivate their fields, to go search for food or wood in the forests, and to go to school. Even the trucks can’t circulate; there is no commerce. For this reason, I want to do this job."
When MAG established its base in Gemena, 2,016 candidates presented themselves for the job of deminer. Sixteen, including four women, were chosen to take the training course. In the end, eight deminers, including Mami and one other woman, were offered contracts with MAG. Mami did not have second thoughts about facing the risks of her new job. "Because of what happened in my life, I didn’t have a choice. I wasn’t married, and there was no other work. So, I gave my all, body and soul, to this job. I had to do the training, and for this reason I wasn’t afraid of the risks."
MAG’s expert, month-long training fully equipped Mami with the skills she needed to perform. "During the training, I was able to understand the dangers. But, since we were well trained and followed the procedures, the risks are reduced."
Nevertheless, the work is demanding. To complete their tasks, the teams are often on long deployments in difficult circumstances around the region. Luckily, she has support from her mother, so she is able to deal with demanding work schedule.
"For me it’s not difficult to balance being a mother to my children and working at the same time. My mother lives with me now and helps take care of the girls when I’m away. I can afford to hire a housekeeper to help with the cleaning and cooking, and that also gives a job to another woman."
Working with MAG provides Mami with increased self-confidence and determination. "I’ve gained a great deal of knowledge working for MAG. It’s as if I was blindfolded before, and MAG opened my eyes to so many new things. Before, I didn’t even know what a mine or a grenade was. Now, if I find something on the side of the road, I know exactly what it is: if it’s a Chinese-made anti-personnel mine or a Russian-made grenade."
Mami is excited about her future career prospects with MAG. "I’m really interested in learning more, going further. I’m determined to keep going, and I hope to train to become an EOD: 2 [Explosive Ordinance Disposal training level]. That would be quite an accomplishment. It would be an honor for MAG if an African girl, or a girl from Congo, could reach higher levels."
Professional experience and ambition is not the only thing that Mami has gained from working with MAG. "Today, now that I have this work, I depend only on myself. Before, when I didn’t have work, if I needed to buy something for my daughters, I was dependent on a boyfriend or others. Now, I can take care of my children, and I’m self-dependent. I can pay their school fees, feed them, and clothe them."
Mami and the members of her team work hard to return their country to a safe and prosperous state, but they need your support. "For us, the teams who work in the field, we have the will to keep working. There is a lot of work to be done. If the donors keep supporting the teams in the villages and around the country, we’ll keep going until the job is finished. Then, we can cultivate our fields, produce our food, and return to a normal life."
[Photos: JB Russell]
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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).
