SAME - Same

When Torden sees 2 alike things, he always says: same-same. It reminds of the how we started the new year, everything is the same. Nothing seems to have changed in Kinshasa, a few friends have left, one more friend is departing us at the end of January, yet life still seems to be the same. There are always going to be lows and highs of every change, but realistically we carry on living. The prices at the supermarkets have gone up, but then again, last year they also went up, not too mention the few times during the year that the groceries went up in price. Globally, there is a financial crisis, locals are getting less for their dollar and the situation is that they are still poor, nothing has changed. We have been told to be cautious on the roads, as there seems to be more of a chance to be harrased for money as there is not much out there. We were caught out last year a few times by bribes on a small nature, and it hurts this economy, it hurts the man on the street and Africa is not going to change. The fighting in the East of the country has apparently decreased. My wish is that the attitude out there will not be the same, the dreams of the DRC and it's people will be changed.