did you know?

i decided i still have more to say. my previous blogs were a journal of my experience as a peace corps volunteer in malawi. i saved my first and last postings. i also saved a picture of arlo because he is so gosh darn cute.

did you know that the democratic republic of the congo is in shambles? don’t worry if you didn’t until now, a year ago i didn’t know either. i went to the congo to climb an active volcano, brave enough with the ignorance of youth to enter a country plagued by a decade of civil war.

after living in an african country for nearly a year and a half i was rarely shocked. my calm attitude followed me on my travels as well. in goma the streets were literally crawling with united nations vehicles, but i went about unfazed on a mission to get my climbing permit. but i got fazed in goma...on the back of a motorbike on my way to climb nyiragongo i saw my first refugee camp. after the climb i was confronted and surrounded with men holding a buffet of weapons, from a rocket launcher to machine guns with clips for miles. goma is not the africa to be comfortable with.

during my stay in goma i met a young man named leon. he worked at the guesthouse where i collapsed at the end of each day covered in the soot of the 2002 nyiragongo eruption. my first interaction with leon was to negotiate down the price of the room to a painfully low number, and i’m pretty sure i wasn’t his greatest fan. but after a few days of smiles and playful conversation we exchanged emails, a similar guesture i had shared with so many other africans during my travels. the difference here was that leon actually emailed me.

leon and i have been emailing back and forth for over a year now. simple hellos and how do you dos, how is volunteering in malawi from him, and as time progressed more and more are you safes from me as i check in on him from time to time. i am including a portion of our dialogue because his emails encouraged this posting:


Date: Sat, 24 May 2008 04:38:02 -0700
From: bwanaleon1@yahoo.com
Subject: RE: Greetings
To: corieast@hotmail.com

Dear Corie
How are you doing now?
I’m very glad today to get this wonderful moment to send you my warmly greetings
I’d like to announce you my Birthday for to tomorrow, this is to express my happiness and my gratitude to you for the hope you have given me and which makes me to survive . Many young people in our region have lost their hope and joint rebel’s armies group and many have died. I thank God for this opportunity , the gift of life. I have appreciated so much your voluntary and humanitarian spirit that you have shown to many hopeless people in Africa and around the world and I encourage you so much.

I mean you safe and all your relatives

Best Wishes
Yours sincerely
Leon / C/o Bird Hotel Goma DRC

--- On Sat, 5/24/08, corie eastridge wrote:
From: corie eastridge corieast@hotmail.com
Subject: RE: Greetings
To: bwanaleon1@yahoo.com
Date: Saturday, May 24, 2008, 8:34 PM dear leon,

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!! i am so happy for your strong desire to live a peaceful and loving life. please remain strong against the pressures to join in the destruction. you are always in my thoughts, and i am very thankful for your friendship.

my best to you and your family, corie :)

Date: Sat, 5 Jul 2008 03:32:09 -0700
From: bwanaleon1@yahoo.com
Subject: RE: Greetings
To: corieast@hotmail.com

Hello Dear Just to wish you a happy indenpendent day to you and your country I'm bit ok and I will never forget you , soon

--- On Sun, 7/13/08, corie eastridge wrote:
From: corie eastridge corieast@hotmail.com
Subject: RE: Greetings
To: bwanaleon1@yahoo.com
Date: Sunday, July 13, 2008, 6:20 AM

hi leon!!!!

great to hear from you. i'm in malawi now finishing up some of the projects i had to leave when i got sick. i think of you often, and am always hoping to hear that you are happy and healthy.

peace and love, corie :)

Date: Tue, 26 Aug 2008 03:36:54 -0700
From: bwanaleon1@yahoo.com
Subject: RE: Greetings
To: corieast@hotmail.com

How are dear , are u still in malawi , how is doing your project

best wishes

--- On Wed, 8/27/08, corie eastridge wrote:
From: corie eastridge corieast@hotmail.com
Subject: RE: Greetings
To: bwanaleon1@yahoo.com
Date: Wednesday, August 27, 2008, 10:20 PM

leon,

great to hear from you! i'm back in the united states at school to become a nurse. how are you? are you still working? is the country more peaceful? please email me a mailing address if you have one so that I can send a postcard with pictures from where I live.

wishing you all of the best!
corie :)

Date: Thu, 28 Aug 2008 07:16:40 -0700
From: bwanaleon1@yahoo.com
Subject: RE: Greetings
To: corieast@hotmail.com

I'm glad to read dear, I'm bit safe, but today war has started in rutshuru 50 miles far from goma government army and rebelles, here we are well , we hopa things will be ok; It is a good idea to be a nurse I wish you a good course This is my mail box : B.P. 234 Gisenyi, Rwanda
My hi to all your relatives
Soon ok
Kind regards leon

Date: Tue, 4 Nov 2008 04:19:08 -0800
From: bwanaleon1@yahoo.com
Subject: RE: Greetings
To: corieast@hotmail.com

Hi dear corie How are u doing now, I'd like to get your news, are you still in malawi? at my side, I'm doing bit well bisides the fearing for our security that we have now,as u can listen through radio the rebelles are near goma , and many people have fleed . hope things will be fine ; Thank you

leon Goma ,DRC

--- On Wed, 11/5/08, corie eastridge wrote:
From: corie eastridge
Subject: RE: Greetings
To: "leon goma, drc"
Date: Wednesday, November 5, 2008, 7:06 PM

leon,

thank you for the message. i am sad to learn that the rebels are near goma, and that you are afraid. please remember to remain brave, but also to remember that the safety of you and your friends and family should come first. i sent a postcard from my home here in new mexico (in the united states) to the address you gave me in rwanda. i think i will visit malawi again in the next year, probably for christmas. i hope to hear from you soon because i am very worried about you leon. stay safe! and do your best to remain happy and healthy!

i'll be thinking of you, corie :)

RE: Greetings‏ From: LEON SIMWERAYI (bwanaleon1@yahoo.com)
Sent: Sat 11/08/08 4:59 AM
To: corie eastridge (corieast@hotmail.com)

Thank you so much for your sympathy , we have fleed in Bukavu in south kivu , we are waiting and see how things will go. Thank you again , pls keep in touch leon


after receiving leon’s most recent email this past saturday i was very upset. i do not know if i have ever felt so conquered by an inability to help in my life, to actually be so useless to a friend. i called my mom because i couldn’t understand what i should do, how can i just sit here in my comfortable safe life while my friend is driven from his home by nkunda’s rebel army in a war that has killed five and half million people? did you catch that? five and a half million people in one country in one decade. and now leon is a refugee. will he ever email me again? has he escaped the bullets and blows of the machete only to fall to dysentery?

my mom was only able to listen because the truth is that right now, at this moment in my life, i cannot help leon. i am no match for a rebel militia, and only a quarter of the way through nursing school i am not fully qualified to match dysentery.

now you know my leon too, one of many leons in a country that continues to experience one of the greatest human catastrophes in history. i don't know what else to say, but i am asking you to please think about what you have read here. question the world...

"life is calling, how far are you willing to go?"
-peace corps