The sorcerer-children of Kinshasa

In the Democratic Republic of Congo, children whatever their age, can be pushed to the streets or deliberately abandoned, they are as many targets of family anger and fear.

Then, they are called sheges, a name most often synonymous with "sorcerer-children"because their families think they have brought misfortune down on them: a mother fallen victim to AIDS, ill infants, a wedding that does not happen, work not found...

In a society gradually falling apart, scapegoats have to be found...

Sheges of Kinshasa: the sacrified children of a wounded country.

Photos and text ŠDominique Viger/LightMediation Contact - Thierry Tinacci - Lightmediation Photo Agency +33 (0)6 61 80 57 21 thierry@lightmediation.com

1826-02: On the vast Gambela market, street children work menial jobs, the condition for merchants to tolerate their presence.

1826-01: At the "open" center for girls in Irebu. Residents often literally fall asleep directly on the floor exhausted as they are by a day of odd jobs, prostitution, arguments with other sheges over the few

1826-02: On the vast Gambela market, street children work menial jobs, the condition for merchants to tolerate their presence.

1826-03: On the vast Gambela market, street children work menial jobs, the condition for merchants to tolerate their presence. This young boy has cleaned the stalls of the market early in the morning to make

1826-04: At the Gambela market. Solange has long lived on the streets. She has experienced hunger and has contracted a number of illnesses. She has long kept to herself until she let ORPER take care of her.

1826-09: At the Kimbanguist church, the prophetess accuses a 14-year old girl of being a witch. The girl and her grandfather are said to go all the way to the Angolan border where her ever sicker mother lives alone.

Nased on a few facts reported by the grandmother, the prophetess accuses her of being responsible for her mother's illness.

1826-06: The "awakening churches" grow on the fertile soil of poverty and belief in spirits. There are 10,000 such churches in Kinshasa. One thousand dollars is enough to obtain a licence to open a church.

1826-07: The "awakening churches" grow on the fertile soil of poverty and belief in spirits. There are 10,000 such churches in Kinshasa. One thousand dollars is enough to obtain a licence to open a church.

1826-12: At the Kimbanguist church, the prophetess reveals to the family that sorcery has taken hold of the children. Instead of going and buy fish with the money a cousin has given them, they went and bought

1826-05: At the "open" center for girls. Sarah and her friends. They come and go as they want or depending on the small jobs they can secure to buy a few things. After a few months they might want to

1826-14: The candle and water will "allow" to determine if the young boy "harbors" a sorcerer. The "prognosis" is negative.

1826-08: At the Kimbanguist church, the prophetess accuses a 14-year old girl of being a witch. Based on a description made by the grandmother who laments the illness of her daughter, the prophetess accuses

1826-09: At the Kimbanguist church, the prophetess accuses a 14-year old girl of being a witch. The girl and her grandfather are said to go all the way to the Angolan border where her ever sicker mother lives

1826-10: At the Kimbanguist church, the prophetess, "carried away" by her prophecy, slaps young Fatou.

Based on a few facts reported by the girl's grandmother, the prophetess accuses her traveling to the

1826-11: At the Kimbanguist church, Fatou, 14, has her head shaved before the congregation who listen to another prophecyÉ It is the first stage of the exorcism. The sorcerer spirit is said to get into the body

1826-16: Reagan, the "spiritual doctor" of the Kimbanguist church suck in the "evil" which has taken hold of this days old infant. He "frees" him of a few sorcerer's stones.

1826-13: At the Kimbanguist church at the heart of Kinshasa, the prophetess detects the presence of a sorcerer spirit in this young girl.

1826-14: The candle and water will "allow" to determine if the young boy "harbors" a sorcerer. The "prognosis" is negative.

1826-15: This infant was born a few days ago and "evil" is said to already be in him. Laid on a chair "dedicated" to Simon Kimbangu, the founder of the church, the infant is sprinkled with water and thus

1826-16: Reagan, the "spiritual doctor" of the Kimbanguist church suck in the "evil" which has taken hold of this days old infant. He "frees" him of a few sorcerer's stones.

1826-23: On Sunday, the day of the celebration of the lord at the Kimbanguist church. Member of the congregation each donate money to thank not only God but also the preacher and the prophetess through whom the word of God is expressed. Thee faithful are asked for money two or three times.

1826-17: At the Kimbanguist church, prophetesses sprinkle children and adults with water. This ritual is thought to drive spirits away or to prevent their intrusion.

1826-18: This wealthy mixed-blood woman is married to an European and has made several visits to the Kimbanguist church after experiencing persistent stomach pains. The prophetess diagnoses that evil has

1826-19: This wealthy mixed-blood woman is married to a European and has made several visits to the Kimbanguist church after experiencing persistent stomach pains. That day, she is "delivered" of an egg,

1826-20: Reagan, the "spiritual doctor" of the Kimbanguist church sucks in the "evil" which has taken hold of this pregnant woman. The spirit expresses itself through stomach pains. Before going to the hospital

1826-19: This wealthy mixed-blood woman is married to a European and has made several visits to the Kimbanguist church after experiencing persistent stomach pains. That day, she is "delivered" of an egg, one of the expression of a sorcerer spirit.

1826-21: Reagan, the "spiritual doctor" of the Kimbanguist church sucks in the "evil" which has taken hold of this man. Before going to the hospital which is too expensive for many, many people seek healing with

1826-22: Reagan, the "spiritual doctor" of the Kimbanguist church sucks in the "evil" which has taken hold of this man. He spits blood that he seemed have sucked from the stomac. Before going to the hospital

1826-23: On Sunday, the day of the celebration of the lord at the Kimbanguist church. Member of the congregation each donate money to thank not only God but also the preacher and the prophetess through

1826-24: The choral during the sunday mass at the Kimbanguist church.

1826-30: A young boy in prayer at Mama Commandant's church in a poor section of Kinshasa.

1826-25: On Sunday, the day of the celebration of the lord at the Kimbanguist church. Member sof the congregation each donate money to thank not only God but also the preacher and the prophetess through

1826-26: Sunday mass at the Kimbanguist church.

1826-27: Mama Commandant, who leads an awakening church denounced for the exorcisms it submitted children to. The broadcasting of a film denouncing the activities of her church seems to have led her to

1826-28: At Mama Commandant's church, women bow down when it comes to expel evil from one's body.

The broadcasting of a film denouncing the activities of her church seems to have led her to exert more

1826-34: There are increasing numbers of girls among sheges. They use drugs and are often under the influence of older kids who can both act as protectors and procurers. They are targets of choices for military personnel.

1826-29: A young boy in prayer at Mama Commandant's church in a poor section of Kinshasa.

1826-30: A young boy in prayer at Mama Commandant's church in a poor section of Kinshasa.

1826-31: At the "open" Popokabaka center for boys at meal time. Some of these youths are former kadogos, child-soldiers.

1826-32: At the "open" center for boys before the collective meal. The two teenagers have made enough money to cook their own meal.

1826-45: At the "open" center for girls, each resident has her locker. It is the only personal space for these girls rejected by their families who have sometimes spent years on the streets before arriving at the center.

1826-33: Many sheges originally were former child-soldiers who arrived in Kinshasa in 1997 with Kabila and other warlords. Feared by the population, accused of being violent, of stealing, they were left to

1826-34: There are increasing numbers of girls among sheges. They use drugs and are often under the influence of older kids who can both act as protectors and procurers. They are targets of choices for

1826-35: Sheges, boys and girls, bathe in a river of Kinshasa. The banks are covered in the trash left by recent heavy rains.

1826-40: About fifty boys aged 3 to 17 stay at the Centre Monseigneur Munzihirwa created by Jesuits in 1995 and headed by Father Bakwem. They attend classes and practice manual and sports activities. The

1826-47: At the "open" center for girls in Irebu. Residents often literally fall asleep directly on the floor exhausted as they are by a day of odd jobs, prostitution, arguments with other sheges over the few Congolese francs they have managed to earn. This center is the first stage on a process which can allow them to stay off the streets.

1826-36: Monday to friday, the ORPER bus co-financed by UNICEF patrols the streets to dispense basic care to the sheges. The youngest are happy to see the bus come by. For many it is the only moment of

1826-37: Aboard the bus that patrols the streets to bring a little care to the sheges. Near an international hotel of central Kinshasa, Mr. Stany, a nurse, reminds the girls of the risks they are exposed to if they

1826-38: In Kinshasa, preachers draw thousands of people to the Grand Stade promising healing, visas to foreign countries, profitable jobs, the eradication of AIDSÉ thanks to God's willÉ in exchange for

1826-39: About fifty boys aged 3 to 17 stay at the Centre Monseigneur Munzihirwa created by Jesuits in 1995. They attend classes and practice manual and sports activities. The educators also try to reunite

1826-50: Evening at the Irebu center. One of the older girls has taken to liking this infant abandoned at the door of the center a few days earlier.

1826-41: About fifty boys aged 3 to 17 stay at the Centre Monseigneur Munzihirwaa, notably financed by German Jesuits.They get up at 7:00, eat porridge at 10:00 and receive their only full meal of the day at

1826-42: At the "open" center for girls, Florence, Yvette, Merveille and SasadĂŠle play a little before leaving the center. They can come and go at will depending on the small jobs they are able to secure

1826-43: Mama Mapasa, one of the educators, has just arrived at the "open" center for girls. She sings and dances immediately followed by the girls who are happy to see her.

1826-44: At the "open" center for girls in Irebu. Residents often literally fall asleep directly on the floor exhausted as they are by a day of odd jobs, prostitution, arguments with other sheges over the few

1826-45: At the "open" center for girls, each resident has her locker. It is the only personal space for these girls rejected by their families who have sometimes spent years on the streets before arriving at the

1826-46: At the "open" center for girls, each resident has her locker. It is the only personal space for these girls rejected by their families who have sometimes spent years on the streets before arriving at the

1826-47: At the "open" center for girls in Irebu. Residents often literally fall asleep directly on the floor exhausted as they are by a day of odd jobs, prostitution, arguments with other sheges over the few

1826-48: At night at the "open" center for girls, after the daily dances and songs. Jeanette, the educator (right) takes care of about thirty girls who will come to the center to spend the night. Some nights there are

1826-52: Vinny visits his uncle with Joseph the educator of the Centre Monseigneur Munzihirwa where he has been spending the past four years without his family showing any desire to see him return. This visit aims at convincing them to accept him back even though he was accused of being a sorcerer responsible for the death of his parents. Two weeks after this visit, his uncle and aunt let him return. The association is taking care of his training as a driver-mechanic.

1826-49: Before bedtime at the Popokabaka open center for boys as children have not all returned yet.

1826-51: Denise, 15, has found her grandmother a year ago after she was left at an awakening church by her father. One of her uncles discovered her after 9 months and manageed to have her relased with the

1826-53: Vinny visits his uncle with Joseph the educator of the Centre Monseigneur Munzihirwa where he lives. Accused of being responsible for the death of both his parents, another uncle --a Jesuit-- has

1826-54: After four year at the Centre Mgr Munzihirwa, Vinny lives with his uncle and aunt. At the death of his parents, he was accused of being a sorcerer and caused their demise. Even if the center is financing

Sheges of Kinshasa: the sacrified children of a wounded country.

Night has already fallen, a few bulbs give a faint light on the concrete courtyard of the "open" Popokabaka centre, deserted by the boys before bed time brings them back to shelter. The team of youth workers from this help center for ShĂŠgĂŠ children, street children, is getting ready to board their minibus for their daily round in the streets of Kinshasa to meet and treat those who stay outside. Knocks ring out.

The iron door half opens : five nuns from the St Joseph church walk in. A young frightened boy in dirty clothes is almost invisible amid the movements of the nuns' robes. They have just saved the life of ten year old Michigan: they explain to Papa Blaise Mulumba, in charge of the center: "we heard screams near our parish, a growing crowd. The boy was in the center.

People were throwing stones at him. We made our way through the crowd, got hit ourselves, the child had been sprayed with petrol, they were about to kill him.

They accused him of killing his baby sister aged only a few months, who had fallen ill two days earlier. They kept repeating he was a sorcerer. Another younger sister had already died two months before. The mother and father were convinced

Michigan was responsible for their misfortune". They are entrenched in their views that children travel at night, transform themselves and "eat" people....

No place for reason: for childhood diseases that decimate the youngest ones, for lack of treatment as there is no public health, for poverty that drives Congolese people to see a doctor in the last resort after having tried to find healing with the minister. In Kinshasa, the church, or more exactly, the churches, evangelist ones, which proliferate by the thousands, are not simply places of prayer. Called "awakening churches", they are also places of healing. There are now 10 000 of them in the capital. Evil spirit is identified, deciphered, stigmatized and? banished in order to regain one's health, prosperity and sometimes even raising from the dead...

"Michigan is going to stay in the open center, talk with the youth workers, play with the other children with the instruction not to say he is a sorcerer" explains Papa Blaise Mulumba. Children are regularly brought here. At the moment, it's quiet, but sometimes it's in moments of panic that neighbours save a child's life. In two months time, a youth worker will visit Michigan's parents in an attempt to return the child to his family. Papa Blaise hasn't got much hope... A vast majority of the hundredsome children who have found refuge here are accused of witchcraft.

Sarah, accused, rejected, most times locked up in her silence has a most uncommon reaction: "I would love to indict them and try them for what they have done to me" she says of her family.

From 12,000 in 2000, the number of Sheges surviving on the streets of the Congolese capital has grown to 20 to

25,000 today. The name also describes the former child-soldiers of the militias which ousted Mobutu. These kadogos found themsleves stranded in the capital after the fall of Kinshasa, left on their own far from their provinces of origin. Feared and accused of being responsible for the insecurity reigning over the city, they have recently been suspected of acting as informers for opposition leader Jean-Pierre Bemba. The older ones have children and share derelict buildings working small jobs as does a large part of the population.

The youngest of the Sheges, children aged 7 to 12, are not child-soldiers.

Presumption of witchraft has sent them to the streets on which they have been merely surviving for years. The passing of a father or mother, often both, seals their fate. A neighbor, grandmother, uncle or often times a stepmother will find witchcraft behind misfortune, a disease that cannot be named (AIDS remains largely taboo: it gets into you by witchraft, rarely because of unprotected sex), sudden pain, lasting poverty, jobs that cannot be found... The child is banished, one less mouth to feed and hopes for a less dreadful future.

Kimbanguism gone awry Fatou, 14, is kneeling before the prophetess of the Kimbanguist Church. At her side are her grandfather and grandmother. The latter explains that her daughter, Fatou's mother, is very ill somewhere in the western part of the country near the Angolan border. Her condition gets worse by the day. The prophetess listens, eyes half closed, then her voice starts sounding in an ever faster flow of words. Suddenly she slaps the girl

and points an accusing finger: "At night you wander as a spirit all the way to the border with your grandfather. Both of you make your mother sick! You go there to eat her!" The grandfather protests but finally gives up under the booing of the audience: "If it can be of any help for my family, I will admit to being a sorcerer."

Doused in water under a salvo of accusations, Fatou is then shaved as the power of sorcerer gets into persons by way of their hair. She is then ordered to leave the church to go and wash entirely in the back yard. The ritual aims at ridding her of evil, but she will have to return with offerings of oil and rice and once again be submitted to the sentence of the prophetess who speaks the words of God. Simon Kimbangu is famous in Congo. He has put syncretism to work by combining the 10 Commandments and ancestral beliefs. Kimbanguism was officially born on April 6, 1921, on the day Simon Kimbangui was judged. His growing influence, at a time when evangelisation was the domain of white people, had led him to oppose the Belgian authorities which imprisoned him in confortable enough conditions so as not to make him appear as a martyr while they cracked down on his followers. He died as a lasting symbol of resistance to colonialism.

His three sons perpetuated the Kimbanguist Church and it is now one of the most influential churches in the country. Its schools and charities contribute to reinforce its authority. The church counts 17 million followers throught the world, in Africa but also in Europe, the United States and Brazil. In Congo, it was recently expelled from the Ecumenical Council of Congolese Churches because of its definite drift towards "sorcery-based obscurantism"... Still belief in spirits is part of the culture of Congolese people. Death

Mama Olangi was the first to stygmatize children

is never natural, nor is disease.

Traditionally one died because a neighbor, a grandmother, a member of a rival clan had called death upon you.

Preacher also "liberate" the ill before audiences of thousands of persons whose fervor grows as the preach gradually turns to incantations. God is omnipresent, the preacher is the purveyor of God's truth. He can work miracles. One simply has to listen and...give a little money. In a society growing ever poorer, churches of all sorts, self-proclaimed preachers and televangelists make fortunes. Fernando Kutino, founder of the Armée de Victoire (Army of Victory) has his own television channel. Being a preacher is often a profitable way of making a living. "They drive around" as people say...

Filip de Boeck of the Catholic University of Leuven, author of an extensive ethnographical study, explains that these churches also act as mediators in the violence the children would be submitted to within the family circle. Paradoxically, exorcisms, prayers and fasting in awakening churches can reassure families by alleviating the weight of a direct personal confrontation with the sorcerer-child who wanders at night to "eat" people...

Meanwhile, the Catholic Church which has always had a social role is seeing its influence decrease. "These churches were very influential during the presidential campaign, explains former minister She Okitundu. As pressure groups, they acted as real electoral machines."

One of the richest churches is that of Mama Olangi which is officially called 'Ministère du Combat Spirituel' (Ministry of Spiritual Combat) and is supported by American evangelists. The church is present the world over, it manages schools and hospitals. For Mama Olangi evil is everywhere: in the husband who debases his wife and invades families through children. "In the beginning, everybody laughed at us when Mama Olangi talked about witchcraft. Now all churches perform exorcisms and we have thousands of followers," proudly explains Mama Christine who is close to Mama Olangi. In the vast courtyard of the Ministry of Spiritual Combat headquarters on the heights of Kinshasa, carried by the voice of the preacher women raise their heads to the sky or bend to the ground.

Words come out of their mouths in a furious torrent, their expression growing harsher as if echoing the swinging of their arms which seems to extirpate evil out of their carnal envelopes. The trance suddenly stops and they let themselves be guided to recollection. Women leave, others arrive, some are very elegant and step out shiny SUV's. The day goes at the pace of a succession of prayers, acts of penance and adoration.

"When somebody hates you, there is a spirit inside you. This spirit has to be removed through prayer and fasting," continues Mama Christine. According to critics of the church, such fasting would have led several followers to their death including a young diabetic woman who died after 21 days of fasting. "A biscuit a grandmother gives to a child can taste like fresh meat. It is an outside sorcerer entering the family. One must first believe

in God then go through dispossession.

This is spiritual combat! It delivers you from evil and if you have a physical problem then it will give you the intelligence to go and see a doctor? But God always asks for something in return," adds a fervent Mama Christine.

themselves important. It is part of child mythomania. But the preacher does detect lies. In that case the child accused of witchcraft knows he is not a sorcerer..."

Returns that can be judged from the lifestyle of Mama and Papa Olangi: their fleet of Mercedes-Benz cars --"presents" from their wealthiest followers-- is a constant source of mockery for part of the Kinshasa residents who have no illusions.

Their fortune is said to be immense.

"People think that the more they give the better chance they stand to get rid of evil.

The methods of Mama Olangi stir scandal: she separates couples, breaks families and dreadfully stygmatizes children. It is her who would have anchored this concept of sorcerer-children in the mind of the Congolese society," confides Nicole, a journalist with Radio Okapi who has investigated the Mama Olangi phenomenon.

The stygmatization of children appeared about ten years ago. It is the result of a series of conflicts, of the growth of poverty, of the power vaccuum which followed the fall of Mobutu and of the tearing apart of the country by neighboring powers.

A fertile soil for a phenomenon that is regularly seen in all human societies, the appearance of a scapegoat.

An embodiment of the sense crowds seek to find in their misfortune, the position of the weaker or those who are different and are in that considered as guiltier.

Before, if spirits could be embodied in children who were too agitated, epileptic, unruly but they were not rejected, they were even the object of extra attentions for they harbored a spirit of the hereafter, of the land of the dead with which the living "live with". A Congolese psychiatrist explains this traditional belief: "In my family, a sorcerer was seen in a 6-year old boy when he broke a valuable vase for no reason. Today, he is 18. We have always accepted him for the "sorcerer" has a role in society and can be neutralized. As I'm not in particular need of anything, I don't reject him but in other families he would be. It has always existed but of course the phenomenon has thrived on poverty." And the psychiatrist adds: "Children can also lie, they say they are sorcerers to make

Sheges, scapegoats of a bruised country

The wars of 1993 and 1995, which have given way to looting and fratricide struggle, marked a new stage in the falling apart of the country.

Laurent Désiré Kabila, the Katangese, Mobutu's longtime opponent is projecting to overthrown him.

He finds serious allies in his drive to seize power : Uganda and president Kagame's Rwanda. The Rwandan refugee camps of eastern Zaire are the first stops of Kabila and his allies. Then they pursue their move across the country, easily corrupting the troops of the regular army (FAZ -Forces Armées Zaïroises) who had been receiving little or no salary, and enter Kinshasa in May 1997.

The ranks of Kabila's forces includes the very visible Kadogos, child-soldiers, an easy "labor force", cannon fodder, docile auxiliaries in harsh battles. Tens of thousands of children are enrolled by force, kidnapped or enrolling to escape

poverty. Sometimes they are orphans whose parents have died in the Rwandan genocide. Drilled the hard way, sometimes trained to death, they had to kill if they did not want to be killed themselves. Laurent Désiré Kabila entered Kinshasa with them and so did Jean-Pierre Bemba and other militia leaders. "The man of Rwanda" proved less docile than his protectors had planned and soon attracted hate as he showed very little concern for the lot of his fellowmen. On January 16, 2001, one of his bodyguards kills him. His son replaces him at the helm of the country. Militia leaders who had made their way to power thought the young unexperienced man could be easily manipulated.

Since 1998, the provinces of North and South Kivu have been the theater of fighting between the governmental forces (FARDC, Forces Armées de la République Démocratique du Congo), militias and the Mai Mai , a local ethnic group prone to shifting alliances and feared for their warrior qualities. Considered as master sorcerers, they are said to have the ability to dodge bullets? They are all supported by powerful neighbors: Angola, Uganda, Rwanda, Zambia. Alliances have one major goal: securing the exploitation of the underground resources of eastern Congo.?The Congolese state no longer has any prerogative over these parts of the country. The area has been a no-law zone for 10 years. Leaving its mining wealth up for plundering as the international community looks on. Local villagers are denied the most basic rights.

They are driven off their land and either have to flee or work in gold or diamond mines for measly salaries when they

are not purely and simply killed. Yet, on January 23, Joseph Kabila, who was legitimately elected in August 2006, seems to have gained sufficient authority.

He signs a cease-fire with Tutsi warlord Laurent Nkunda and other militia leaders which grants armed groups partial amnesty. The accord is still subject to differences, exactions continue and fighting has resumed.

Since 1998, over 1,000 persons have been dying every day in DRC. According to the January 20, 2008 report of the International Rescue Committee, it is the world's highest death rate since World War II. It is estimated that 5.5 million people have died between 1998 and 2007 either as a direct result of combat, executions, rapes (25,000 cases reported in 2006) or indirectly as a result of disease, manutrition, poverty, destruction of health care structures --especially in eastern provinces, massive exodus (500,000 persons were driven out of their villages in 2007) caused by economic, ethnic or political strife. A study of 14,000 households across the country covering the January 2006/April 2007 period estimates that overmortality reached 727,000 persons half of which are children under 5.

Churches involved In the troubled post-Mobutu period, Congolese churches have been "used" to distract popular attention off the real causes of growing poverty. They have proliferated and have managed to win protection from political leaders. Joseph Kabila's former vice-president Asarias Ruberwa was a famous preacher himself.

They have secured enough space to become an integral part of society, they

have won the fervent suport of a population that would probable defend them in case the government decided to limit their influence. "We are more dangerous than students", asserts preacher Denis Lessie in a TV report entitled "Merchants of Miracles".

often or more or less conscious way of staying in the community for if the exorcism works, one will not be banned from the family.

But when an AIDS-infected woman accuser dies it is considered proof that the child is guilty hence rejected.

In 2002-2003, when abuse reached a peak sometimes leading to the death of children, Joseph Kabila had to intervene.

In January 2003, the man who has been dubbed "the foreigner" or the "Rwandan", because he speaks in English and "does not even speak Lingala" (one of the two vernacular languages with Swahili) called preachers to more moderation. Oil in the eyes, cigarette burns --tortures supposed to reveal the sorcerer nature of children when causing cries, repeated fasting, burning-tire torture were denounced by NGO's and journalists? Preachers had to show some restraint for fear of having to close their churches. Pressure on children decreased, at least apparently, but belief remain and probably grew deeper roots. It is also supported by Nigerian or Ghanian produced TV series staging the wrongdoings of sorcerer-children. The Ministry of Informaiton has attempted to limit their broadcasting but they are still very successful.

Kinshasa, the capital of improvised solutions, of music and joy is no longer but the shadow of what it used to be according to Kinshasa residents themselves. "Under Mobutu were not as poor as they are now, explains Patty. It is true that Mobutu, who had federated the many ethnic groups of the country, took a lot but he also handed out a lot. He would regularly visit the popular sections of Kinshasa, and handed out money or had money handed out. In a way many people were happy with that. And the person who received money handed it out in his turn.

Mutual help has always been part of our society." Today, it is still normal to share with uncles, aunts, cousins, friends but their is so little to share. Minimum wage has just been raised from 15 to 20 dollars a month but the prices of all basic foods have been rising too. The luckiest work for European companies which often take care of the medical expenses of their employees and their families.

President Kabila's Children's ambassadress Solange Ghonda, who is from a politically influential family, has fought in defence of children: "In 2003 and 2004, I visited churches, I saw that children were being sequestered for weeks and forced to fast. I talked to women explaining them this was abuse and false belief. But the preacher holds considerable power, God speaks through him. Children themselves get convinced especially since it is the youngest who get accused." Admitting to being a sorcerer is

Helping with very little means The ORPER (oeuvre de Reclassement et de Protection des Enfants de la Rue -charitable organization for the rehabilitation and protection of street children) is the oldest organization dedicated to the protection of children in Kinshasa. Founded by Father Franck Roelants in 1981, it originally took care of youths released from prison then started to spread its activities to street children

who became increasingly numerous in the 1990's. The ORPER is in contact with nearly 2,500 children, including 500 girls aged 6 to 15, who are schooled in a dozen "reception centers" and 2 "halfway houses" where they can freely leave as long as they return by 5:00 pm, a measure designed to protect girls from prostitution.

The children are rehabilitated in the way of social life, can lean on the affection of educators, school teachings and vocational training to regain self-esteem and abandon reflexes they have acquired during their lives as mere survivors.

ORPER deputy executive Joseph explains the complex task of the organization: "There are ever more children and we have ever smaller means. Training for 13 youths including 6 girls is in the hands of associations such as C?ur Soleil for mechanics and seamstresses, or CSVie, for agronomical training. But the Congolese government does not do a thing. We cannot even obtain free water and electricity from the Ministry of Social Affairs? UNICEF helps us by financing the night bus (and medicines) which patrols the streets of Kinshasa monday to friday to provide care for the sheges who sleep outside. Our budget --400,000 dollars in 2007-- includes children's boarding costs, their schooling (120 children in the centers and 49 children reintegrated in society at an annual cost of 150 dollars per child), training, and the salaries of the 76 employees. It is mainly covered by the Society of the Divine Word and the Catholic Relief Service. Save The Children, UNICEF and MONUC (United Nations Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo) regularly help us

through REJER (RĂŠseau d'Encadrement des Jeunes et Enfants de la Rue). But only an ambitious project could help us take care of a large number of children. It is the construction of a self-managed farm which would also include mechanical and carpentry workshops as well as a seamstress workshop, beauty parlor and hairdressing salon. This project will be possible only if we can find a donor ready to give us a piece of land?"

will have to be severed when they return to their families. If family does not provide the necessary love and care, the children will prefer to return to their companions of misfortune in spite of hunger, cold nights, daily dangers, racketeering by older kids or soldiers, round-ups, territorial struggle, popular anger, odd jobs early in the morning, prostitution, disease and drugs.

Drugs which will sweeten life but will weaken chances to return to normal life.

Only 30% of children are returned to their families, their future largely depends on the trade they will be able to learn. It is the only way of guaranteeing their future independence. Returning to families does not always goes without problems.

Traumatised by accusations, the children can keep feeling as outcasts. Families who accept their return not always give them real affection, especially when they do not acknowledge their responsibility. At the Centre Monseigneur Munzihirwa, created by Jesuits in 1995, Vinny used to be the chief entertainer. With his family, who have taken him back in April, he seems to have lost his tongue. When he finally says something in his tiny voice: "I don't want to stay here. I want to live with my older brother in Banza Gungu?"

Š Text and Photos : Dominique Viger

Boys and girls who accept to stay at a "closed" center are on the right path. They find their way back to school even if their performance is often much lower than other kids their age. They sometimes spend week-ends with their families before returning for good and live with their friends. The yard of the Mama Suzanne center is filled with the songs and hand clapping of girls aged 7 or 8 who jump around and burst into laughter.

In spite of the harshness of life on the streets, they have built relationships which

Text has to be dealed for using

Captions.

another center schooled.

where

they

will

be

06 01 At the "open" center for girls in Irebu.

Residents often literally fall asleep directly on the floor exhausted as they are by a day of odd jobs, prostitution, arguments with other sheges over the few Congolese francs they have managed to earn.

02 On the vast Gambela market, street children work menial jobs, the condition for merchants to tolerate their presence.

03 On the vast Gambela market, street children work menial jobs, the condition for merchants to tolerate their presence. This young boy has cleaned the stalls of the market early in the morning to make a few Congolese francs after a night spent on the street.

04 At the Gambela market. Solange has long lived on the streets. She has experienced hunger and has contracted a number of illnesses. She has long kept to herself until she let ORPER take care of her.

Today she helps the mama who owns one of the many food stalls of the market.

05 At the "open" center for girls. Sarah and her friends. They come and go as they want or depending on the small jobs they can secure to buy a few things. After a few months they might want to stay full time at

The "awakening churches" grow on the fertile soil of poverty and belief in spirits.

There are 10,000 such churches in Kinshasa. One thousand dollars is enough to obtain a licence to open a church. A profitable activity for "pastors" who often have no theological training. All donations are accepted even very small ones.

Several times a weeks thousands of believers go to church to find an explanation for their plight, often thought to be a young child.

07 The "awakening churches" grow on the fertile soil of poverty and belief in spirits.

There are 10,000 such churches in Kinshasa. One thousand dollars is enough to obtain a licence to open a church. A profitable activity for "pastors" who often have no theological training. There are sometimes 3 or 4 churches on the same streets. A flood has pushed trash near this one.

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accuses a 14-year old girl of being a witch.

Based on a description made by the grandmother who laments the illness of her daughter, the prophetess accuses the young girl to be responsible for the poor health of the woman. The girl and her grandfather are said to go all the way to the Angolan border where her mother lives alone to make her even sicker.

Kinshasa, the prophetess detects the presence of a sorcerer spirit in this young girl.

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At the Kimbanguist church, the prophetess, "carried away" by her prophecy, slaps young Fatou. Based on a few facts reported by the girl's grandmother, the prophetess accuses her traveling to the Angolan border as a spirit to torment her sick mother who lives there alone.

This infant was born a few days ago and "evil" is said to already be in him. Laid on a chair "dedicated" to Simon Kimbangu, the founder of the church, the infant is sprinkled with water and thus prepared to be delivered by the prophetess, the own daughter of Papa Kiyika, pastor of the church who stands behind her.

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At the Kimbanguist church, Fatou, 14, has her head shaved before the congregation who listen to another prophecy? It is the first stage of the exorcism. The sorcerer spirit is said to get into the body through the hair. The teenager is accused of traveling to the Angolan border as a spirit to torment her sick mother who lives there alone.

Reagan, the "spiritual doctor" of the Kimbanguist church suck in the "evil" which has taken hold of this days old infant. He "frees" him of a few sorcerer's stones.

At the Kimbanguist church, the prophetess accuses a 14-year old girl of being a witch.

The girl and her grandfather are said to go all the way to the Angolan border where her ever sicker mother lives alone. Nased on a few facts reported by the grandmother, the prophetess accuses her of being responsible for her mother's illness.

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At the Kimbanguist church, the prophetess

At the Kimbanguist church at the heart of

At the Kimbanguist church, the prophetess reveals to the family that sorcery has taken hold of the children. Instead of going and buy fish with the money a cousin has given them, they went and bought candy.

She would have take revenge by calling the sorcerer spirit on them.

14 The candle and water will "allow" to determine if the young boy "harbors" a sorcerer. The "prognosis" is negative.

17 At the Kimbanguist church, prophetesses sprinkle children and adults with water.

This ritual is thought to drive spirits away or to prevent their intrusion.

18 This wealthy mixed-blood woman is married to an European and has made several visits to the Kimbanguist church after experiencing persistent stomach pains. The prophetess diagnoses that evil has taken possession of her children. The spiritual doctor will deliver them. They will return several times, paying money on

people seek churches.

every visit.

19 This wealthy mixed-blood woman is married to a European and has made several visits to the Kimbanguist church after experiencing persistent stomach pains. That day, she is "delivered" of an egg, one of the expression of a sorcerer spirit.

20 Reagan, the "spiritual doctor" of the Kimbanguist church sucks in the "evil" which has taken hold of this pregnant woman. The spirit expresses itself through stomach pains. Before going to the hospital which is too expensive for many, many people seek healing with awakening churches.

21 Reagan, the "spiritual doctor" of the Kimbanguist church sucks in the "evil" which has taken hold of this man. Before going to the hospital which is too expensive for many, many people seek healing with awakening churches.

22 Reagan, the "spiritual doctor" of the Kimbanguist church sucks in the "evil" which has taken hold of this man. He spits blood that he seemed have sucked from the stomac. Before going to the hospital which is too expensive for many, many

healing

with

awakening

23 On Sunday, the day of the celebration of the lord at the Kimbanguist church.

Member sof the congregation each donate money to thank not only God but also the preacher and the prophetess through whom the word of God is expressed. Thee faithful are asked for money two or three times.

24 The choral during the sunday mass at the Kimbanguist church.

28 At Mama Commandant's church, women bow down when it comes to expel evil from one's body. The broadcasting of a film denouncing the activities of her church seems to have led her to exert more caution. She preaches in a poor section of Kinshasa and now goes by the name of Mama Gina.

numbers of girls on the streets. They use drugs and are often under the influence of older kids.

34 There are increasing numbers of girls among sheges. They use drugs and are often under the influence of older kids who can both act as protectors and procurers.

They are targets of choices for military personnel.

29 35 A young boy in prayer at Mama Commandant's church in a poor section of Kinshasa.

Sheges, boys and girls, bathe in a river of Kinshasa. The banks are covered in the trash left by recent heavy rains.

30 36 A young boy in prayer at Mama Commandant's church in a poor section of Kinshasa.

At the "open" Popokabaka center for boys at meal time. Some of these youths are former kadogos, child-soldiers.

Monday to saturday, the ORPER bus co-financed by UNICEF patrols the streets to dispense basic care to the sheges. The youngest are happy to see the bus come by. For many it is the only moment of confort they will experience with adults.

They spend the rest of their day working menial jobs, stealing or brawling...

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Sunday mass at the Kimbanguist church.

At the "open" center for boys before the collective meal. The two teenagers have made enough money to cook their own meal.

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Aboard the bus that patrols the streets to bring a little care to the sheges. Near an international hotel of central Kinshasa, Mr. Stany, a nurse, reminds the girls of the risks they are exposed to if they don't use condoms.

Mama Commandant, who leads an awakening church denounced for the exorcisms it submitted children to. The broadcasting of a film denouncing the activities of her church seems to have led her to exert more caution. She preaches in a poor section of Kinshasa.

Many sheges originally were former child-soldiers who arrived in Kinshasa in 1997 with Kabila and other warlords.

Feared by the population, accused of being violent, of stealing, they were left to themselves as militias gradually stopped fighting. Today, there are increasing

25 On Sunday, the day of the celebration of the lord at the Kimbanguist church.

Member sof the congregation each donate money to thank not only God but also the preacher and the prophetess through whom the word of God is expressed. Thee faithful are asked for money two or three times.

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38 In Kinshasa, preachers draw thousands of people to the Grand Stade promising healing, visas to foreign countries, profitable jobs, the eradication of AIDS... thanks to God's will... in exchange for

they are able to secure outside which allow them to buy a few things.

43 Congolese francs.

39 About fifty boys aged 3 to 17 stay at the Centre Monseigneur Munzihirwa created

by Jesuits in 1995. They attend classes and practice manual and sports activities.

The educators also try to reunite them with their families but it is often a long process which ultimately fails in 60% of cases. All have faced witchcraft accusations.

40 About fifty boys aged 3 to 17 stay at the Centre Monseigneur Munzihirwa created

by Jesuits in 1995 and headed by Father Bakwem. They attend classes and practice manual and sports activities. The older boys start by learning a job: cabinet maker or electrician.

41 About fifty boys aged 3 to 17 stay at the Centre Monseigneur Munzihirwaa, notably financed by German Jesuits.They get up at 7:00, eat porridge at 10:00 and receive their only full meal of the day at 16:00.

They attend classes and practice manual and sports activities. All have faced witchcraft accusations and have sometimes been living at the center for up to 5 or 6 years.

42 At the "open" center for girls, Florence, Yvette, Merveille and Sasadèle play a little before leaving the center. They can come and go at will depending on the small jobs

Mama Mapasa, one of the educators, has just arrived at the "open" center for girls.

She sings and dances immediately followed by the girls who are happy to see her.

44 At the "open" center for girls in Irebu.

Residents often literally fall asleep directly on the floor exhausted as they are by a day of odd jobs, prostitution, fights with other sheges over the few Congolese francs they have managed to earn.

Residents often literally fall asleep directly on the floor exhausted as they are by a day of odd jobs, prostitution, fights with other sheges over the few Congolese francs they have managed to earn. This center is the first stage on a process which can allow them to stay off the streets.

48 At night at the "open" center for girls, after the daily dances and songs. Jeanette, the educator (right) takes care of about thirty girls who will come to the center to spend the night. Some nights there are up to one hundred girls.

52 Vinny visits his uncle with Joseph the educator of the Centre Monseigneur Munzihirwa where he has been spending the past four years without his family showing any desire to see him return. This visit aims at convincing them to accept him back even though he was accused of being a sorcerer responsible for the death of his parents. Two weeks after this visit, his uncle and aunt let him return. The association is takig care of his training as a driver-mechanic.

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The two-year old was left at the door of the center a few days earlier.

Before bedtime at the Popokabaka open center for boys as children have not all returned yet.

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At the "open" center for girls, each resident has her locker. It is the only personal space for these girls rejected by their families who have sometimes spent years on the streets before arriving at the center.

Evening at the Irebu center. One of the older girls has taken to liking this infant abandoned at the door of the center a few days earlier.

Vinny visits his uncle with Joseph the educator of the Centre Monseigneur Munzihirwa where he lives. Accused of being responsible for the death of both his parents, another uncle --a Jesuit-- has prefered to place him in the care of the Centre Mgr Munzihirwa to prevent him from being exposed to the anger of his family including his brothers and sisters.

He has pent four years at the center before his family expressed their desire to see him again. Two weeks after this visit, his uncle and aunt let him return.

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Denise, 15, has found her grandmother a year ago after she was left at an awakening church by her father. One of her uncles discovered her after 9 months and manageed to have her relased with the help of an association. There, she was kept in both psychological and physical destitution and was submitted to repeated fasting periods. Her school education is taken care of by Solange, the children's ambassadress, who is talking with the girl's grandmother.

After four year at the Centre Mgr Munzihirwa, Vinny lives with his uncle and aunt. At the death of his parents, he was accused of being a sorcerer and caused their demise. Even if the center is financing his training as a driver-mechanic (in which he is succeeding), the only thing he wants is to is to move with his brother in Lower Congo, west of Kinshasa.

Educators who follow him regularly have to convince him to pursue his training.

At the "open" center for girls, each resident has her locker. It is the only personal space for these girls rejected by their families who have sometimes spent years on the streets before arriving at the center. The furnishings are minimal.

Priority is given to food and support.

47 At the "open" center for girls in Irebu.

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