As early as 1984, ten years before starting voluntary development work in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, my interest for this region was aroused by 14 months of travelling in Central Africa.

In geographic terms this site not only covers the Congo but the whole central African Great Lakes Region (Lakes Tanganyika, Kivu, Edward, Albert and Victoria – namely: The Great Lakes).

In addition to my personal background, there is another motive for this focus: The unbalanced coverage of the Great Lakes by international media, which is often limited to highlighting negative news. This site seeks to give some balance by providing space to the courageous stand taken by the many people I got to know in this region and their initiatives which all merit respect.

The essentials of this topic are summarized in the following Downloads. More in-depth-information is accessible via Shortcuts or via the sub-menus Solidarité Shabunda and Text Writing Services.