Conflicts in the Democratic Republic of Congo have resulted in millions of Congolese lives lost, while benefiting the trade of small arms and valuable minerals like coltan.
Daily Life
Published September 2, 2006
These images represent a view of general daily life mixed with views of people using cellular phones. It's not just the outside world that plays a role in this tragedy: perhaps unaware of the damages caused by the coltan and tin booms, locals are also responsible. Whoever can afford a mobile phone in eastern DR Congo doesn't lose the chance to have one. People roam the streets talking on their mobiles brought into the country by the South African communications enterprise, Vodacom, or by the Rwandan company Celtel. Rwanda is believed to be behind most of the illegal trade of cassiterites, and Uganda is believed to be responsible for most of the gold smuggling out of the DRC.
Produced by the Pulitzer Center, "Congo's Bloody Coltan" is a glimpse at coltan's role in the Democratic Republic of Congo's ongoing civil war.
Footage from Mvemba Phezo Dizolele's reporting project, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), where air on Dancing with the Stars on Tuesday, October 19.
Gateways
Grantee
Mvemba Phezo Dizolele has worked as the United Press International Africa Columnist and as a policy analyst at the Center for Global Development; he has also been a William C. and Barbara H. Edwards...
