Hey, I am drawing something that I plan to sell for donations. I am looking for a symbol that is not the flag of the DRC (my drawing is about liberation of all peoples and I feel like a flag is inherently a hierarchical idea). Is there a symbol that encompasses the struggle of the DRC? Some examples for other symbols of struggles of a people is the neg mawon for Haiti, and the handala for Palestine. I am looking for something like this, more himan than a flag, and a bit more about their freedom.

News article about the new prime minister

https://www.youtube.com/live/TzR---YDDIQ?si=RHL3QcPqfvm4GDuZ

A few years ago i produced a radio documentary on the award winning KPFK station in los angeles explaining the conflict in the Congo. You can listen to it on YouTube. https://youtu.be/7CxpQ39EBW0

How can we establish a true answer to what exactly the root of the problem is located at? Is the DRC lying and Rwanda is innocent or the other way around ? There are extensive mineral sites located across both the DRC and Rwanda. We need the true people's voice to know what is actually going on instead of the fabrications we are seeing. I do not know what to believe. Can those who are actively witnessing this be kind enough to share their thoughts here? I would highly appreciate it.

Hi, my partner and I live in San Francisco and are very well travelled, including to remote and exotic destinations. We don't mind the hardships of travel, since the rewards are so much bigger. We'll be in Rwanda & Uganda between Dec. 22, 2021 and Jan 4, 2022. We would LOVE to go to Congo on an organized trip from Rwanda, to see the gorillas, wild-life, etc. and experience the wonders of that country. My partner has read reports of crime & violence in Congo in the past, and she is concerned about it. I'd love to hear any direct reports from travellers who have been there in the last 1-2 years. We all know that media exaggerates and sensationalizes news - hence my request for first-hand experiences!

Early Wednesday a group of rebels attacked various areas in Bukavu, the capital of southe Kivu province in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. https://knowafrika.com/in-eastern-dr-congo-a-rebel-group-attacks-security-forces/

I recently found out about the cobalt mining process involved in making our electronic devices. I was horrified by this, children are literally dying and losing limbs for our phones.

Around the time that I heard of this, my phone started to get a little buggy and then stopped working altogether. I felt it was wrong to contribute to the situation miners go through in DRC I would replaced it with a second hand phone rather than new. And I decided I would never buy any tech first hand again.

But later I thought about this again and I realised, however unfairly the miners are payed and however horrible and unsafe these mines are, they are the only option these people have to afford the food they need to survive. They have no other options. Surely buying tech first hand from the cruel multinational companies that underpays their workers is actually the best thing to do for the miners themselves.

Am I right in saying this and if so then what exactly should I do rather than buying second hand tech to help the situation?

Also, in the documentary that I watched which exposed the injustice experienced by cobalt miners, they interviewed an old woman that talked about life before "white people" came along. She talked of her life living in a tribe that lived off the land with no outside influence from the world. I understand that cobalt miners have no option other than to mine. No one likes doing the kind of work they do so there's no way that they're choosing to do it and have other options. But why don't they have other options exactly? It seems like a lot of these miners living in rural areas are only 2 or 3 generations away from people that lived tribally off the land around them. They must have the knowledge of how to live naturally, without needing to make money and use that money to buy food. So I know that they obviously can't live that way anymore but what is the reason for this exactly? I'd just like to understand the issue in a little more depth.

P.S I hope this is a decent place to post this. I know this is an issue rather than a conflict but this is the best place I could find.