A passion found while lost in Africa

Listen   11/03/2010   Listen (08:27)

Arseneault has travelled and reported in 27 of Africa’s 54 countries over the past 25 years. His book reflects daily life in Africa from a human perspective, not necessarily a political one.

Children factor in to many of the chapters.

“I really believe to understand what works and what does not work in Africa, you have to understand what works and what does not work for children,” he says.

“You have to understand how children live and how children die in Africa to know what is going on, really.”

Arseneault writes about educating girls in Africa. “I find it fascinating because the ramifications of not sending girls to school are endless,” he says.

Education, or lack of it, actually affects the lifecycle of a family. Not only do children suffer, but even mothers themselves.

“An uneducated mother will be married off at a much younger age. This will have severe consequences on her own life. So, not sending girls to school is really a life and death story, as far as I’m concerned, as a journalist,” he says.

“I also find that writing about education is interesting because it concerns two things people most care about: one, their kids, and two their money… so you’re really talking about the nitty gritty of daily life when you are talking about education issues.”

One of the most compelling stories in the book is an incident that Arseneault reported on in the Democratic Republic of Congo city of Bujimai. With a population three million, it has no running water and no electricity, except for the street where the mining executives live, says Arseneault.

A few years ago, dozens of children were burnt alive, accused of being witches.

“Why these children were killed was not, as you can imagine, because they were witches. This doesn’t even make sense from a Congolese perspective, because the elderly are sometimes believed to be witches, not children, but this has changed recently,” he says.

Arseneault says that they were accused of being witches because everyone hated the street children. “Why? Because they were used by the police as militias, they were used by political parties as thugs, basically that could be sent out to the opposing political parties’ meetings to wreak havoc.”

Miners fear that the children will steal diamonds from them, he adds.

“So everyone basically had a good reason to get rid of or lash out at these children.”

This is Arseneault’s favourite chapter.

“At first glance, one would think that this is about African traditionalism and the intolerance of Congolese people when it comes to dealing with street children," he says.

"But when you start scratching the surface, you realise that political factors are at play, economic factors are at play and the children are the victim of a political situation, not Congolese traditional beliefs.”

Although he has reported on major conflicts and hot spots throughout the continent, Arseneault’s travels have also put him in touch with ordinary people. At a hotel in Guinea Conakry, for example, he met a very well-built security guard.

“I asked him where he trained,” he says. “He explained that he had built his own gym with his father, who was also an athlete, a cyclist.”

The man took Arseneault to his house, where he showed him his gym, which he had fashioned from train parts and batteries.

“They were truly interested in sports, but the main reason [to work out] was that the young man knew that many of the Africans who make it to Europe will find work as security guards and bouncers.”

Michel Arseneault continues to work on the RFI Africa programme here in Paris, and is planning his next trip to Africa.