ANB-BIA SUPPLEMENT

ISSUE/EDITION Nr 321 - 01/04/1997

The Congo

The ingenuity of handicapped Zairians

by Josiane-Stella Filla, Congo, January 1997

THEME = SOCIAL CONDIT.

INTRODUCTION

At Brazzaville Beach, a crowd of disabled people merges into the flow of traffic between the Congo and Zaire. Traders and travellers wishing to avoid customs duties avail themselves of their services. Let's have a look at these people who have refused to become thieves, beggars or engage in prostitution

It's only half-an hour by boat from Brazzaville (The Congo) Beach to Kinshasa (Zaire). This proximity has always facilitated the flow of people and goods between the two capitals. For the able bodied, be they unemployed or small traders, Brazzaville Beach is a godsend.

Some unique traders

It's astonishing to see at this spot, the seething mass of physically handicapped Zairians, equipped with their home-made tricycle carts. They show their capabilities, not their disabilities. People regard them as traders, distinct from the rest of the crowd. They benefit from cuts in customs duties. According to a policeman from Brazzaville Beach: "These handicapped folk are actively engaged in the exchange of goods between Brazzaville and Kinshasa. To avoid customs duties, both traders and travellers avail themselves of their services". A disabled person having a tricycle, pays only a third of the usual duty imposed on the goods he or she carries.
They perch on their tricycle carts, transformed into huge baggage holders made of sheet metal, sometimes higher even than themselves. Once loaded, these carts, holding up to ten 50kgs sacks of rice, can't move without some manpower. So the handicapped hire out young able bodied people. All these have to do, is push the tricycle cart, and load and unload the goods. To earn a pittance, the "bana mayi" must haggle with the traders coming to and from Kinshasa, who have heavy loads. But charges for pushing, loading and unloading the carts are within everyone's pocket.
"When someone has a lot of packages which are liable to be heavily taxed by the customs, they entrust them to us. We quote a fixed price, for example 5,000 CFA francs, depending on the quantity of goods. So as not to lose a customer, we bargain with him and can drop the price. We share this with the one actually pushing the cart. The policeman is happy enough if we slip him the price of a beer", says Mamale who's been in the business since 1995.

"My job's a good one"

The focal point for these physically disabled, is Poto-Poto market, known locally as "Taiwan". It's a very animated and cosmopolitan working class district. There, in front of the food stores or the West African clothing shops, you'll find the physically disabled lined up awaiting a client. They help their workers load up the goods to be taken to the opposite bank of the river.
Mostly, it's a question of necessities which cost the earth in Zaire: for example cartons of butter or tomatoes, tins of vegetable oil, bolts of cloth from Southeast Asia, plastic sandals... Then these overloaded tricycles have to cover the 3kms or so from Poto- Poto to the beach. Both men and women sacrifice their home life for the sake of such employment. Such people as Mama Thé Thé, aged 36, who feels happy in her work and finds being disabled doesn't stop her earning a living. Or take Nguijo, who pushes the carts. One fine day he arrived from Zaire for precisely that kind of "job". He says: "By working, I'll be able to save up to buy a ticket from Kinshasa to Brussels. I know it's hard work, sometimes even degrading and demands a lot of patience, but it's far better than thieving or prostitution".
They bring back to the Congo from Kinshasa, fresh supplies such as biscuits, household soap, sugar, Indian manufactured medicines, Coca Cola, as well as spare parts of cars, ordered by Brazzaville suppliers.

The deaf guide the blind

Deaf-mutes and the blind are other new arrivals on the scene. No longer do they make the rounds of the shops begging. Instead they make their own purchases, carrying their goods on their backs or on their heads down to the beach. With the deaf-mute guiding the blind, together they make the crossing from Kinshasa.
Since these disabled folks have been known to engage in illegal immigration, they are restricted to three crossings a week. According to Captain Makita: "For three years now, the disabled, or rather those who send them, have largely contributed to illegal immigration. Each disabled Zairian was accompanied across the river by two or three of the able bodied, who then remained permanently In the Congo. It's the West Africans who make up most of the illegal immigrants. To put an end to this confusion, we've issued identity badges with photographs, for all who accompany the handicapped on Congolese soil. Only Zairian and Congolese nationals are allowed as helpers".

END

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PeaceLink 1997 - Reproduction authorised, with usual acknowledgement