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USAID/OTI DROC Hot Topics

November 2004

DRC President Kabila Visits OTI/SEC*A Funded Project in Kisangani

November 9, 2004 – President Joseph Kabila’s recent visit to Eastern Congo marked the first time in ten years that a Congolese President had traveled to the eastern part of the country. During his visit, which was considered a symbolic gesture of national reunification, the President explored downtown Kisangani talking with the local people along the way. One of his stops was the OTI/SE*CA-funded Tshopo market rehabilitation project.

Local market women in front of the Tshopo rehabilitation market project.

The OTI funded SE*CA program is providing building materials and carpentry and engineering expertise to rehabilitate the Tshopo market, which is a central source of food and goods for many communities in the area. Its rehabilitation has drawn a tremendous amount of attention as an example of development occurring in the region and of local community participation. As is the case with all of OTI/SE*CA’s community-based reconstruction projects, the actual manual labor is donated by members of the local community. With the recognition that the workers needed to be compensated, the market women conferred with the community and then decided to donate a portion of their own food to the workers. This donation increased the community’s contribution to the project and demonstrated how cooperation can resolve common problems. Also during the President’s visit, he unofficially changed the name of Kisangani from “The City of Martyrs” to “The City of Hope”.

The SE*CA program promotes improved stability in war-affected areas by facilitating the reintegration of war-affected youth into their communities and increasing local, regional and national understanding of issues that are key to the transition. To support these objectives, SE*CA utilizes three different tools: a youth education and skills program to train war-affected youth on agriculture, civic education, health, conflict management, reconciliation, personal values, numeracy, and literacy; a media program that supports access to information on issues key to the transition; and an in-kind small grants program that supports information-dissemination projects and community-identified activities that are a priority for the economic, political, and/or social revitalization of local communities.

For further information, please contact:
In Washington, D.C.: Bronwyn Bruton, OTI Program Manager, e-mail: bbruton@usaid.gov; telephone: (202) 712-0827