Chapter 13: Weak Sight, Strong Perception
Sunday – Day 3 of the rebel advance
As with many large rooms, the clinic's cafeteria had a lonely, almost eerie presence when it was not filled with people. However, it was precisely because it was not occupied at that time that John had asked Angelique, Charles, Abe, Debbie, and the new doc, Uwe, to join him there. The group was clustered around the end of a rather long table located in the far corner of the room. There, they listened intently as Kem explained the situation.
As expected, they were silent as Kem related her story. Kisangani itself had been so quiet and peaceful during the last few months, that it was hard for any of them to accept that war could be just around the corner.
Uwe was the first to break the silence. "If this Azel character is being truthful," he said in his German accent, "then wouldn't the major international organizations operating in the Congo also be aware of this development? Certainly the UN or the ICRC would have heard something."
"Yeah," Debbie chimed in. "No one at the ICRC has said anything to me about increasing violence."
Charles, Angelique, and Abe exchanged a glance and they each knew what the other was thinking without having to say a word. As outsiders, Debbie and Uwe were being naïve.
Angelique decided to say something. "If the government were to alert the international organizations," Angelique began, "then it would only be a matter of hours before that information reached the general populace."
"So you think that the government is trying to prevent mass panic?" Uwe asked.
"That or they're just covering their asses so that people don't know how badly they're losing," Angelique responded matter-of-factly. "You take your pick."
Angelique looked at Kem and said pointedly, "You know even if all of this is true, I don't understand what it is that you think you can do."
Angelique took out a cigarette, lit it, and took a puff before continuing. "Evacuating 6000 people isn't like leading a kindergarten class out on a field trip."
"I know," Kem said calmly. "And I have a plan and two contingency plans on paper that I want to review with everyone."
Angelique arched an eyebrow. "Two contingency plans? God, no wonder you were accepted at Cambridge," she said sardonically.
Kem ignored Angelique's well-meaning barb, and she took out a pad from her tote. She flipped a few of the pages until she came to the section that she wanted.
"I have a plan to evacuate people by plane, or by…"
Debbie interrupted her. "By plane. Do you have a plane?" she asked in a perplexed tone.
"No, but I know people who do have planes. Big planes like C-141s," Kem replied in a sweet voice.
Debbie rolled her eyes because she understood the implication. "
God, you two," and she pointed at John and Kem, "really do belong together." And she shook her head as she remembered how John had used a similar tactic to finagle her into procuring Christmas supplies for him the year before last.
Kem was slightly embarrassed, but she was undeterred in her mission. "I also have plans to evacuate people by lorry, ah that's truck for you Americans, and by foot should any of the other plans fail."
"Whoa, whoa, whoa," John called out. "Aren't we still getting a little ahead of ourselves here? After all we still don't know if this information is trustworthy."
Kem gave him a shocked look, and John quickly added, "I'm not saying that I don't believe you. I'm just saying that I don't believe the source."
"Humph," she replied.
"If the rebels were really increasing the effectiveness of their offensives," John reasoned aloud, "then wouldn't we have seen the wounded, or refugees or victims of some kind by now?"
Uwe and Debbie nodded their heads in agreement, but Charles motioned to Angelique for her to share her cigarette. As the fighting got closer to the city, Charles knew that they would have to start rationing simple luxuries like tobacco so it was best to start saving now.
"Not necessarily," he mumbled as he removed the cigarette from his mouth to allow a small puff of white smoke to escape from between his lips. "If the rebels have attacked towns three hundred miles from here, then most likely they have confiscated all vehicles and animals, so most people would be forced to make the journey this direction on foot."
He paused to take another puff from the cigarette before handing it to Angelique. As he passed it back to her his hand started to shake. "It might be another week or even two weeks before we start getting refugees and casualties"
John noticed Charles's tremor and obvious nervousness. "So you think that it's true then?" John asked somberly.
"I've heard it said that peace is just an illusion," Charles explained. "That in reality peace is just a time for feuding factions to ramp up for the next war." He took a deep breath before continuing, "Well, it's been a few months, and I think that both sides have had time enough to ramp up."
"Okay," Uwe said excitedly, "so maybe war is coming, but why can't the camp's citizens flee into the city, especially if the rebels are unlikely to attack the city? Why take them to a place that's sixty miles away from their current location?"
"Because the refugees would not be welcome in the city," someone said. Abe's deep but calm African-accented voice filled the room. "Even if the rebels do not enter the city, supplies will become tight because of the proximity of the fighting. Food, kerosene, benzene – many things will become scarce and expensive. I already know families who can afford to eat only one meal a day, and these things will only get worse as the fighting gets closer."
He leaned in towards the table and said firmly, "People do not have patience for refugees in situations like this. They want to be nice, but they can't afford to be nice. It's best if the refugees don't come into the city, otherwise they may face the same abuses that they would have faced at the hands of the soldiers because people will take their frustrations out on them."
Silence enveloped the group again, but this time it was Debbie who managed to find her voice first.
"Well, the C-141 is scheduled for a food run to Bukavu in about 2 weeks, so I should be able to arrange for a stop over in Kisangani on our way back to Kinshasa. After all, it doesn't make sense to deliver food to people, if there are not going to be any people alive to eat it," Debbie stated in her forthright manner.
"But there's still a problem," she added.
"Fuel?" asked John.
"No, I think that I can swing that too. The thing is even with a C-141, you're going to a have a difficult time evacuating 6000 people. The max capacity for the C-141 is 200 people at one time. We might be able to push that number to 250 since some of them will be children, but we're still looking at about 30 roundtrip flights. I can't swing that," she said decisively.
"Well, maybe we can triage the evacuees," John said and he stroked his chin thoughtfully.
Kem gave him a puzzled look. "Separate them into groups and then…"
"Maybe some…most of them can walk," he replied. "It would be a three or four day journey by foot. That's difficult but not impossible."
Kem nodded and smiled because she understood John's plan. "Reserve the flights for those who are infirm or for whom the walk would be difficult - the elderly, leg amputees, small children…"
"And how many are those?" Debbie asked.
John responded. "I've never done a full head count, but I think they number around 600 or so from what I've seen." He looked at Angelique and Charles for verification, and they both nodded in agreement.
"Well, if you can keep it under 800 then that would be four roundtrips and we could be done in a few hours. That's manageable," Debbie replied.
"So," chimed in Kem, "if we combine the walking time for the majority of inhabitants with the flight time for the triaged group, then we could have the camp fully evacuated in five days."
She wrote some numbers hastily on a piece of paper before speaking again. "And if we can get started fourteen or fifteen days from now, then we should be able to complete the relocation of the camp a day or two before the fighting gets within a hundred miles of the city," she finished and she smiled with satisfaction at their progress and proposed timeline.
She looked around at the group and said from the bottom of her heart, "Thank you".
"Will the government mind if we move the camp?" Uwe asked.
"As long as we do it quietly without making a fuss, no one should care one way or the other," answered Abe. "It's not unusual for camps to move, especially if fighting is getting closer and so it's unlikely to alarm the city's citizens. Plus, with Debbie only having to make four trips, we shouldn't have too much trouble from the government. They're likely to see it as just another case of a small group of overly idealistic foreigners applying their philosophy to some locals."
"Now we just have to go the camp and convince them that it is in their best interest to be uprooted…again," said Charles but he winked at Kem to let her know that he would be willing to help her.
Kem knew that convincing the camp to move would be a daunting task, however she was relieved to see that Charles seemed committed to helping her with this challenge. Besides, if Azel's information was accurate, then their job would get easier as the wounded and refugees from the Southern villages started to roll in and became physical warnings about the approaching danger.
The group sat for a while longer as they discussed other logistical issues. Then, as people started to enter the cafeteria to prepare the next meal, the group decided that it was time to leave.
"I'm going to stay for a few hours and help Angelique out with this shift," John told Kem.
"Then in that case, I'll stay too and help out with some of the nursing, that way we can walk home together," she said and she gave him a quick kiss before joining Abe in his duties.
John smiled and stared after her for a second. Then he joined Angelique in the surgical area. He found her was restocking a cabinet with syringes, but there was something about her demeanor that seemed a bit off to John.
"Are you okay?" he asked.
"Yeah, I'm just tired of all this damned fighting", she said and she slammed a box down into the cabinet as a physical expression of her anger and disappointment.
John touched her arm sympathetically, and gave her a quick hug. She grinned, squeezed his arm, and then resumed her activities with more calmness than earlier. As John watched her work, he debated inwardly about telling her that he and Kem have decided that they should return to Chicago.
In the end, he decided against telling her now. It was bad enough that Angelique had to hear that things may get worse at the clinic soon with all of the fighting. She didn't also need to hear that she might be losing some of her help too.
Day 4 of the Rebel Advance
It was Monday and Debbie said her farewells at the clinic because it was time for her to get back to Kinshasa. As she hopped into the jeep that would take her to the landing strip outside of town, she gave them a brief smile and promised to return in two weeks.
Not too much later after that, Charles, Abe and Kem headed over to the refugee camp to find its leaders and to discuss the evacuation.
It was a frustrating process because the camp did not seem to have a traditional leadership structure, but eventually they were taken to a group of five men who claimed to speak for the camp's citizens.
As predicted, the leaders were reluctant to believe the story because they knew that their people were weary of moving and that they were weary of upheaval. Instead, the leaders stated that they would keep Kem's plan "under advisement".
On the ride back to town, the three friends shared a mirthless but resigned laugh because they knew that they would probably have to go to the camp several times in order for the leaders to accept the urgency and danger of their situation.