CONGO: CYCLE OF LIFE
[ Charlie Makongo ] Get to work! We have a surprise for you!
[ Charlie ]You're the pacesetter!
[ Charlie ]Careful, turn ahead.
[ GEO ]GOMA, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO
[ Charlie ]By creating this club we are trying to help our members not to
be involved in armed groups, we are trying to occupy them we try to bring
hope. If you go to their houses, you’ll realize that some of them are coming
from very poor families, so this is a sort of contribution to their lives.
[ Charlie ]He showed that he's strong, he took part in everything…
[ Charlie ]Put him in the middle. That's it. What's his name?
[ People ]Gloire!
[ Charlie ]We'll let him join the club, right?
[ Charlie ]We'll give him a helmet, gloves, equipment, even a bike.
[ Charlie ]Explain it to him…
[ VO ]The city of Goma lies in the shadow of Mount Nyiragongo, one of the most
active volcanoes in Africa. In 2002 it erupted leaving 400,000 residents homeless.
[ VO ]Afterwards militants from Rwanda and battles between the Congolese government and rebel forces continued the devastation.
[ VO ]The majority of people here live without
electricity, running water or basic sanitation and there are no jobs to be had.
[ VO ]Armed gangs hide in the nearby jungles, tempting young men with a life away from
crippling poverty. The threat of violence is constantly present.
[ VO ]Gloire lives with his brothers and Grandfather in a hut barely bigger than an average garden shed.
[ Gloire ]I got everything, they let me join the club. They taught me how to ride
[ GLOIRE MEMBER, GOMA CYCLING CLUB ] even gave me a bike,
which I repaired.
[ Gloire ]See how well it works.
[ Gloire’s grandfather ] Our life is very bad. If people give me
60 cents I can only buy a plate of beans. This is how we live.
[ Gloire’s grandfather ] He asked me for a bike but I don't have that kind of money.
[ Gloire’s grandfather ] We don't even have a blanket. Everyone sleeps where they can.
[ VO ]Gloire’s grandfather has a serious alcohol problem. What little money he can beg is often drunk away rather than used
to buy food. It's not uncommon in a city where the volcano has taken so much from so many. People now live in buildings
constructed from the lava Niyragongo left behind, ironically taking shelter in the substance that once destroyed their
homes. Gloire and his brothers are forced to be the family breadwinners, earning a little money any way they can.
[ Gloire ]I wash cars. Everything I earn l use to buy food. I
work in the evenings from 5 pm to 7 pm. We get water and
wait for a car to come along. Sometimes we can earn $2
- $2.5. With this money we buy food. This is how we live.
[ James ]Gloire? [ Gloire ]Eh?
[ James ]Did you quit school so, you could wash cars?
[ Gloire ]I quit school because we didn't have enough money.
[ Gloire ]Many of my friends steal, almost all of them.
[ Gloire ]One of them desk computers.
[ Gloire ]He brought them home, where he was caught.
[ Gloire ]The boy's father tried to protect him from the police. But he was accused
of turning his children into thieves, so they threw him in prison.
[ Gloire ]Guys who don't join the club will have a bad future.
[ Charlie ]Come on! That's it!
[ Charlie ] It was a bad turn. - No, it was a car.
[ Charlie ]Go on, change it.
[ Charlie ]Change it, we've got another one. We have one left.
[ Charlie ]You haven't drunk anything, open your mouth,
open your mouth.
[ Charlie ]Let's hear it for our international athletes.
[ Charlie ]Alain and Chance represented our club in Lubumbashi. They participated in three
races and finished 2nd and 4th, which shows that the GCC is at a good level.
[ VO ]Charlie Makongo left his home in Cameroon to become director of the ABA.
[ VO ]His day job gives Congolese women and children who’ve been raped and abused a chance to access justice. It’s harrowing and
demanding. But in his limited spare time he’s also reached out in
Goma itself, becoming a father figure to dozens of local young men.
[ CHARLIE MAKONGO, PRESIDENT, GOMA CYCLING CLUB ] I’m paid to work for the American Association, that’s good but I wanted also to be
involved in…. like my community’s development. Also, I like sport. So, early in the morning I’m with the guys, you know, every day.
[ Charlie ]Now lower. Now lower.
[ Charlie ]Knees up!
[ Charlie ]On the spot!
[ Charlie ]Knees up!
[ Charlie ]I’m already part of life of the guys you see behind me because I’m resolving problems that are not
more just in relation with cycling. They have problems with illness and so on; I have to make sure
that…it’s not so expensive to send someone to hospital when they have malaria when he has an accident
and so on. I’m taking like on all the responsibility for a community of about 35 boys, you know.
[ Charlie ]Put your arms in front like this.
[ Charlie ]We want to bring joy to people and we want to make people be occupied by
cycling. If we don’t make a difference in this town we’ll live with the volcano
in our minds we live with insecurity in our minds. We want to continue our
lives here in Goma, knowing that we’re really in a very dangerous area
[ Chance ]I was born in Goma. When I was four, the volcano erupted. We
experienced it firsthand. The whole sky turned red. We ran away and
lost many things. Today I'm climbing to the top of Nyiragongo.
[ Chance ]It will help me to perform better as a better cyclist, and I want
[ CHANCE MUMBERE MEMBER, GOMA CYCLING CLUB ] to see the volcano that made us suffer.
[ VO ]Nyiragono is due for another eruption. A new vent has recently formed
in the northeast edge of the crater. It’s just a matter of time.
[ VO ]But some locals believe you can draw on its power. You just need to look the devil in the eye.
[ Chance ]This is the monster Nyiragongo, which destroyed
our city, and made us suffer in 2002. It's still
active, still terrifying. Seeing it makes me
afraid. It's a giant, still on fire, still boiling.
[ Chance ]My name is Chance Augustine.
[ Chance ]I'm from a disabled family.
[ Chance ]Both my mother and father are disabled. I'm the eldest of seven children.
[ Chance ]I got my diploma two years ago,
but I don't work as a teacher because I couldn't find a job.
[ Chance ]That's why I chose cycling as my work and my passion.
[ VO ]For most of the boys here the GCC is a beacon of hope, a distraction from their harsh everyday lives. For the best
like Chance, it’s an opportunity to perhaps become a professional cyclist and the promise of a very different future.
[ Chance ]My legs hurt from climbing the Nyiragongo volcano.
[ Chance ]Climbing up and down wasn't easy.
[ James ]Does that mean you won't win? [ James ]Aren't you the champ?
[ Chance ]I'm really going to push myself to win.
[ Charlie ]Get the motorcyclist back.
[ Charlie ]Come to the start, so, nobody is on the road.
[ Charlie ]Motorcyclist please.
[ Charlie ]Get ready for the start.
[ Charlie ]Three, two, one, go!
[ Charlie ]They're crazy!
[ Charlie ]For some of them this is the very first time. Moto, moto!
[ Charlie ]But we have in so much traffic. You know, we’re trying to make security at the same time that....
[ Charlie ]We are trying. I hope before the end we won’t have an accident.
[ Charlie ]Drivers don’t respect cyclists, so it’s really challenge for us.
[ James ]Second place. That's not bad? [ Chance ]Yes, not bad. It wasn't easy.
[ Chance ]I attacked a lot and my thighs are hurting. It
was tough but I got it done and finished second.
[ Chance ]The best time for the club is when we win.
[ CHANCE MUMBERE, MEMBER, GOMA CYCLING CLUB ] Our president gives us food after training. That's a
great moment too. In the club... we live like brothers.
[ VO ]The freshly cooked pancakes and pints of thick yogurt don’t last very long.
[ VO ]This is the group's recovery and social session but also the place where
many members take on the calories that will get them through the whole day.
[ VO ]It will be the best chance that most of them get.
[ Charlie ]It’s really important for me at the end of each training to offer at least a breakfast.
[ Charlie ]So, you look at them, some of them can’t even have a breakfast, really. Can you imagine
that? So, that’s why it’s absolutely important for me at the end of each training to
offer at least a breakfast. I have to make sure, that they have at least one meal per day.
[ Pomba ]I didn't have a chance to finish my studies. When I
dropped out of school... my first job was with bicycles.
[ Pomba ]I rent small bicycles to children, teach
them to ride and earn a living from this.
[ Pomba ]I'd rather have a bike business outside of Africa. Because here you can work a lot,
and the boss takes most of the money. But Charlie
doesn't do this. All bosses tend to feather their own nests!
[ Pomba ]Today we'll have sweet potatoes for lunch.
[ Pomba ]Every day, I try to earn 1,000 - 1,500
francs ($1). Then I can buy buns for myself
and the guys on the road. Also, I buy
bananas, which my little brother and I eat.
[ Pomba ]Sarah, let's pray!
[ Pomba ]Dear Lord, thank you for this food today.
[ Pomba ]Give the same to all hungry people. And give us health, amen.
[ Pomba ] Bon appetit. - Thank you.
[ CHARLIE MAKONGO, PRESIDENT, GOMA CYCLING CLUB ] Pomba is like a parent in French. You know, supporting all
those who are weak, supporting all those who are having problems and encouraging those who have just arrived.
[ Pomba ]Children, listen!
[ Pomba ]This is the song we sing when we're training.
[ Pomba ]We must sing it together because in the future GCC will belong to you.
[ Pomba ]I promise you... After every training session in the town,
[ Pomba ]I'll bring some bikes and teach you how to ride.
[ Pomba ]In the holidays, even those with no money can ride a bike.
[ Pomba ]I just ask you not to steal Pomba's presents!
[ Pomba ]They will arrest me afterwards. Lying is also wrong.
[ Pomba ]We will be disciplined.
[ Pomba ]And now let's sing.
[ Chance ]In the future, I'll be the champion of Congo...
and the African champion.
[ Pomba ]Our 'father' Charlie gives us the strength to face the future. I know that
one day my life with my bike will change, and all my dreams will come true.
[ Gloire ]I want to become a champion earn money and build a big house. I'll take homeless children off the streets.
[ Doctor ]Pressure 100. Lower 80. Pulse 103.
[ Gloire ] What's your name? - Gloire.
[ Doctor ]Do you have a telephone number so we can contact your relatives?
[ Gloire ]Our neighbor had one but there is no electricity to recharge it. It hasn't worked for ages.
[ Doctor ]What do you do? [ Gloire ]I'm a cyclist.
[ Charlie ]Is he okay?
[ Doctor ]You know, when he fell, he thought
he was done for. It was a big fall, Gloire!
[ Charlie ]He's not very expressive.
[ Charlie ]He still looks sad.
[ Charlie ]When things like this happen... if his head wasn't hurt because of the helmet, things
should be okay. His knees, as long as there are no fractures, it should be ok, it happens...
[ Charlie ]As well as Goma Cycling Club, we need to set up a Goma
Cycling Centre. We need a
school, a workshop, and we need an
orientation centre. And here,
it's really important... In this
area we need a place to ride.
[ Charlie ]Normal roads are a problem.
[ Charlie ]In the day it's impossible to go there. Training will take
place inside this zone, because the roads outside are dangerous.
[ James ]But you have this huge volcano. Don’t you think that it can destroy all your hopes?
[ Charlie ]We don’t have no control on the volcano, so, there’s nothing to do that. But we can
have control on guys. We bring hope to cycling; just have to run if you have to run.
[ Chance ]God Almighty, help us prevent volcanic eruptions.
[ Chance ]Put a good road next to my house for
cycling which helps me and for which you give
me strength. I need a good road and a
good house to live in. Oh, Lord, help us
extinguish the volcano that has caused
us to suffer for so long. Help us and give
me the strength to be able to do more, to
become the champion of Congo. Amen!