From Salsa to Savanna

Three days after we arrived, heavy rains occurred in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), causing severe flooding and even deaths. Some friends saw it on the news and wrote to me, worried and asking if we were okay. This has always been a source of confusion: the fact that there are two countries with almost the same name, located in the same region, and sharing language and history. Many people already know how to differentiate between the two countries and are aware of which one we are in. However, news in Europe often just refer to "the Congo" without distinguishing between Congo-Brazzaville and Kinshasa. That's when people start to worry. Here is a bit of history: Before European colonization, the region was home to the Kingdom of Kongo, which included what are now Angola, the DRC, the Republic of the Congo, and Gabon. The first Europeans to arrive were the Portuguese in the 15th century. The slave trade, along with wars and internal divisions, led to the Kingd...