On one side of the lake, lovers glided on canoes, friends took photos with their family in a jet while taking pictures in a hazy sunset. On the other side, less than two miles away, the bodies littered water on ammunition and discarded weapons and washed the shore.
Rwanda’s Kivo Lake shore offers relaxation and relaxation. On the borders of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the same lake suffered destruction and pain after an armed group called M23 captured the armed group in the city of Goma last month. According to the United Nations, nearly 3,000 people were killed in the offensive in January.
“It’s peaceful here,” said Exauce Shalako, a 20-year-old man from Goma. Mr. Salako said he lost a friend in the fight and he crossed Rwanda for a day on the beach. “We need to relax and change the situation,” he said.
But while Rwanda appears peaceful at home, it is exacerbating war across the border. According to U.S. and UN experts, thousands of Rwandan troops invaded eastern Congo along with M23 fighters, which were under Rwanda’s control. Rwanda denies support for the rebels.
From Goma to Rwanda’s sister city, Gisenyi, crossed the land for only a few minutes, but both places stood out. In Gisenyi, 50,000 towns, the restaurant owners decorate the beachfront property with colorful decorations as the smell of grilled chicken fills the air. In Goma, a city with 2 million, the stench of death and alarms fluttered across the streets for several days.
this Neighbors have a painful history, but today there is little in common.
Rwanda is seen as a development model for Africa as a whole. It is a country nearly 90 times more than the Congo, sponsors top European football teams and is known for its high-end resorts, with wealthy tourists staying miracles during their expeditions. Here it can give the impression of political stability and prosperity, but many say that veneers are under extensive surveillance, repression and inequality development.
Congo, despite its dazzling natural resources, is still troubled by instability. Its eastern region is one of the world’s largest displacement crises, dating back to the Rwandan genocide 30 years ago.
“The living standards are so different,” said Rwandan real estate agent and pastor Théoneste Bitangimana. “In Congo, the rich people are getting richer and the government doesn’t care. In Rwanda, we are always working to improve our lifestyle. ”
Congolese have different ways of describing the wealth gap between the two countries: exploitation.
UN experts found that 150 tons of nobles were extracted from Congo last year – key minerals used in smartphone manufacturing were extracted, and last year was smuggled to Rwanda by M23.
“We are plundering others to get rich,” said Goma Pastor Didier Kambale. Walking on a debris street this month. “Why are they here?” he asked the Rwandan troops. “Is the wage war in Congo abroad?”
Although Rwanda’s leaders say the war in eastern Congo is a Congo issue, Goma’s M23 offensive brings it one step closer to Rwanda.
In order to defend Goma, Congolese troops launched artillery shells and bombs across the border in January, piercing Rwanda’s houses and torn roofs. 16 people were killed and 160 injured in Rwanda. Thousands of people who fled Goma found refuge in Rwanda.
Broken glass and wood are still littering when the rain falls into Mr. Bitangimana’s home. A shell hit the roof of the real estate agent’s brick and cement house.
“We pray for these two countries because we need to live in harmony,” he said.
In Gisenyi, the children of the school now talk about the war between Rwandan President Paul Kagame and his Congolese Felix Tshisekedi.
“I don’t choose one side, it’s too complicated,” said Ariella, 10, a father and mother living in Rwanda. Ariella, sitting in her home away from the border, said she died in bed for hours one morning in the M23 offense, worried that the soldiers might “come to kill us.” The battle stopped shortly after.
Although there are two different worlds on both sides of the coast of Lake Keyweini, the beaches of Gisseni are also a place for people in Rwanda and Congo to gather peacefully. Mr Sarako, 20, said he crossed the border and told his Rwandan friends that he was safe.
“Politicians want us to believe that we are enemies, but we are brothers,” he said.
In her living room, Ariella stops math assignments discussing the war. She said she was eager to visit her aunt who lived in Goma during the upcoming holiday and “do all kinds of stupid things there.”
Ariella sat in her Spider-Man pajamas and asked a question about the silence of the presidents of two countries in the room: “Why can’t they just be peaceful?”
