The Devil’s Footpath is a video journey through the African continent that highlights the troubles that plague it. June Arunga, a 22 year old college student, who is amazingly articulate, makes her way from Cairo to Capetown exploring the conditions that the people there face. It is a voyage that is both heartrending and inspiring at the same time.
The intent of this journey is a very personal one. This young lady is trying to decide, as millions of other African residents are, whether to remain there or emigrate to another continent. The conditions are so bad that many are doing just that, leaving the poorest and least educated to fend for themselves. It is a conundrum of tremendous proportions.
Starting off in Cairo she first learns that she cannot follow her travel plans because there are no direct flights between nations in Africa because the region is too dangerous. She will have to follow a roundabout route, hitching rides on medical flights and the like. This was the first revelation of how bad things were going to be.
Wandering around Cairo to get a feel for the place, she was not permitted to wander alone. A government, “minder” was with her at all times, and she was only allowed to interview and speak with the more affluent residents of that city. The poor were off limits. Even when interviewing rich, well connected college students, they would not speak freely for fear for their lives.
A woman who was beaten in a demonstration against the war in Iraq was told by a State Security agent, “I’ll make you forget about politics once and for all!” Threatened with rape and worse she was told that opposing the government in any form was futile and would be dealt with severely. This encounter set the tone for what was to come.
Moving on to Sudan, which required June take several indirect flights, she landed at Nimne. This region has experienced a 30 year war which she says is not just about religion but about oil as well. This is a recurrent theme throughout the video, the exploitation of natural resources for the benefit of a few, those in control of the government, at the expense of everyone else.
In this case the divide is both religious and economic. The ruling government in the north is Islamic while in the south, where the oil fields lie, is mostly Christian. Those that live in the south receive no benefit whatsoever from that oil revenue. There is no development; no electricity, no roads, no running water, nothing. So the government commits war upon its own people.
The toll in this war is almost unbelievable, (yet it gets worse as we shall see.) Two million have lost their lives and four million have been displaced. If oil is discovered on some village’s land they are simply bombed and shot to drive them away. The government makes no distinction between civilians and rebels in the south. It considers everyone who lives in the south a rebel.
There is quick scene that is difficult to put in perspective if you don’t realize what is taking place. A child is taking bare handfuls of cow dung out of a heap to spread out on the ground to dry it out. This is done so that the dried dung can be used as fuel for fires. It is their only fuel. This is never explained, you have to know what the purpose of the activity is.
Finally June speaks to a group of school age children. There are no schools, of course, since these families are all on the run for their lives. Just open air instruction under a tree. Yet many can read, as one eight year old demonstrates.
These intelligent children have dreams and aspirations like anyone else and most want to be pilots or doctors, the only modern role models they are exposed to. Until the war ends though this outcome is highly unlikely. It is clearly a crime of huge proportions.
Next stop is the Congo and what she calls the “lawless region” of Bunia, where more than 4 1/2 million civilians have been killed in the last 5 years. June journeys there with a U.N. peacekeeping force but the area is still in turmoil. The atmosphere of the city, which proves to be surprisingly large, is tense.
There is a refugee camp on the edge of the city that has 13,000 survivors who are “eternally displaced.” This is a tent city of people living in squalor. These people have been driven from their homes, had all of the belongings stolen and have virtually no where else to turn. June finds it all too depressing.
Investigating the city the next day she finds a little miracle called “Radio Revelation” that has managed to remain in existence throughout the duration of this war, calling for peace and reconciliation. By being all inclusive and discriminating against no one, they have avoided becoming targets during the changing fortunes of the war. No one wants to destroy what they see as “their” radio station.
It isn’t oil that drives the war Bunia but gold. The area is rich in other minerals as well, including diamonds. Donning a flack jacket and helmet she visits a gold mine. The workers are all digging by hand and it is some of the ugliest, dirtiest imaginable. She notes that the workers are mostly soldiers labor for the government when not fighting. One wonders if they see any gain from it at all.
Then comes a scene that is most tragic. Amid a bunch of youngsters that appear out of nowhere is a young boy that has miraculously survived an attack with a machete. Hacked about the head and shoulders, even one cheek is terribly scarred. He doesn’t speak and only smiles occasionally when watching flocks of birds in flight.
This DVD was originally a BBC broadcast production so the first segment ends at this point. June has done an excellent job of building her case that Africa has incredible natural resources that should make it an economically viable place. The problem, as she so well illustrates, is corruption in government. Until the rest of the world stops ignoring this corruption Africa will continue to be a sad, sad place and untold millions will continue to die.
The second broadcast on the DVD is a separate review.
To order this DVD contact GRIH at 591-9193 or email Grassroot Institute of Hawaii.
The Devil's Footpath Part II
June Arunga takes up her journey in the middle of Africa in the second half of her DVD The Devil‘s Footpath. Her next stop is in a tiny fraction of Angola, a region called Cabinda, which produces the majority of the nation’s oil output. She visits a Chevron-Texaco oil platform out in the sea. Local workers from Cabinda benefit but one cannot help but wonder about the relationship between the oil companies and the government.
Her outrage at the military oppression that keeps the tiny province Cabinda subjugated to the Angolan government is understandable. She interviews both workers and soldiers finding that they are oppressed in different ways. Once again it is the wealth that comes from oil that the government covets which corrupts the situation. But even local Cabindan’s that are employed on the offshore oil platform earn wages far in excess of the norm.
The heavy army presence in Cabinda results in the kind of atrocities one would expect in such a circumstance. Rapine and murder by soldiers is all too commonplace as the government seeks to ruthlessly suppress the rebel independence movement there. Attending a clandestine meeting of a civil rights group, she listens to the story of a girl who witnessed and experienced such horrors.
Later when June interviews some soldiers she learns that many of them would prefer to be in school studying to be professionals. They are pressed into military service by the government and would rather be home. This is clearly not the case for all soldiers but it appears so for this group. She leaves Cabinda in something of a state of despair.
Next stop is Katima Mulilo a tiny far flung piece of Namiba that was created by illogical colonial map making. Situated where four nations come together, they are separated along the Zambezi River. This circumstance creates a nightmare of border enforcement that stifles commerce in the area. Crossing the river to go to jobs, market or visit relatives is illegal for the majority who cannot get the needed passports.
Once again this creates an unstable political situation with rebels and governments continually in conflict and the people getting caught in between. Many have killed or tortured. June visits with two men who were held by the government and eventually released uncharged but one of the men’s back shows a mass of scars from the torture.
Caprivi, which is the strip of land of which Katima Mulilo is the main city, also has the distinction of having the highest AIDS rate in the world. June thinks this fact is a greater threat to stability than the independence movement or the government oppression. through a number of heartrending interviews and vignettes she reveals how ignorance and superstition drives the spread of this disease.
As she does in each segment June gives a wrap up of how she views the situation. Once again her assessment is less than positive and since the purpose of this trip is also something of an inner journey in her decision to leave or stay in Africa the angst she feels is obvious. Is there really any future here?
Her final destination is Johannesburg, South Africa, which is the closest to a Westerner’s view of a modern city on the African continent, complete with skyscrapers and malls, although there are still areas of crushing poverty. June is much impressed with the modernity and apparent sophistication of the young people.
Visiting a gold mine it becomes apparent that black South Africans are now beginning to enjoy some of the wealth of this country, something never possible under Apartheid. Working in the mines, getting profit shares, things are slowly changing for them. She remarks that this technology and approach needs to be spread to the rest of Africa.
Her next stop is a visit with Bishop Desmond TuTu, who is in no small part responsible for many of the changes that have taken place in South Africa. The conversation revolves around the fact that even though it may seem otherwise, many of the problems that plague Africa are not unique to it alone but are European imports. Implicit in this observation is the unspoken admission that much of Africa is ruled by dedicated socialists.
June finally asks Bishop Tutu the question that is the central theme of this DVD and the purpose of this quest: Should young Africans stay and work to change things or should they leave to find a better life elsewhere? Bishop Tutu has some poignant advice for her which provides the backdrop for the scintillating example that is her final exploration.
Music has proven to be a social force time and time again. The South African Hip Hop group June interviews next carries the message of self determination to their countrymen and the rest of the continent. If there is hope to be found here, it is in the ideas that the members of this group express. They articulate the new perspective much of their generation embraces and it is one of self reliance and responsibility. As one member said, “We have been given things too many times.”
This DVD is an illuminating journey through the continent of Africa, discovering the often sad and frightening things to be found there. June muses at the end about her future. Until things change in a major way there will be little to return to here. The brain drain of the best and the brightest from the continent will continue will eventually leave Africa where? June Arunga brings us an atypical, important and much needed view of the continent as she explores her choices.
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To order this DVD contact GRIH at 591-9193 or email Grassroot Institute of Hawaii.
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