Congo London Goes On-line

Despite scant resources, the Congolese community in London are using the Internet as a tool for development in education, commerce, and social affairs. "The Internet helps us support sister-communities in Britain, Africa and around the globe", say Congo Kinshasa social workers. This new initiative illustrates how UK-based migrant peoples from computer-poor countries quickly learn to adopt and apply first world technologies.

Comprising about 11.000 people, the Congolese community are political asylum seekers mainly from Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo. They have fled from persecution, torture and imprisonment under the Mobutu regime. Some came seven years ago and the British Government has recognised that their lives would be in danger if they went back. In London, they are concentrated in Newham, East London, and Haringey, Hackney and Tottenham in North London.

Mr Inno Mpila, a caseworker at ZACCA-LISANGA, the Zairean-Congolese Community Association, said in an interview last week: "We are the umbrella organisation of the Congolese community, not only in London, but in the whole of UK. You can find us in any directory and we deal with all local authorities for matters regarding our community. We travel throughout the country to provide our services to our compatriots if and when they are needed. Our services are very much solicited because we are better resourced than the embassy."

"We make extensive use of the Internet", said Mr. Mpila, and have established an e-mail contact line Impila@aol.co.uk. The office situated at Serby Centre, Selby Road, White Hart Lane, London is equipped with Canon printers and Hewlett Packard and Olivetti computers. Computer training courses are available to refugee community members in the use of computer applications like access, excel, power point, and the internet.

ZACCA is at the forefront of IT training in the Congo Kinshasa community. Two volunteer computer consultants, Mr Placide Mbatika and Mr William Pashi, assist its computing and internet activities . They provide free training on PC building and troubleshooting, and on software engineering and programming. This work gives immigrants not only the IT skills they need, but also combats the shortage of computing professionals in the urban labour market.

"In Britain you must update your skills"
Bright, slim and neatly dressed, Mr Mpila, 35, is married with two children, a boy and a girl. He is paid by the London Borough Grant trust, which also funds the association's projects, and is a part-time student in accounting and Marketing at Middlesex University. He and his colleagues regularly attend computing courses. He explained to me the necessity and importance of using the Internet in these words: "Coming to a developed country such as Great Britain, you are compelled to update your skills or you get stuck job wise. So it is not only a matter of new opportunities. This is a very competitive society and one would be disadvantaged and powerless job wise without computer knowledge and getting oneself connected to the Web. This motivates you to learn fast."

All the key users among the Congolese community use the Internet for mainly for information purposes. Mr Roger Mpanzu, 34, a business consultant whose home computer is connected to the internet, said: "The Internet is now the best source of information about my country. I consult many sites, but the main ones are the web sites of the Congo Government http://rd Congo.org/frames/Index.html, the French News Agency's www.AFP.org, and a site operated by Marek Enterprise, Inc, based in Reston, USA. The Marek web site, says Mpila, is an information and market research service, focused on trade and commerce with Africa on line from http://www.marekinc.com, and specially launched for Congo and Central Africa news. "Two new web sites are scheduled to be launched, Congoline and Elikya-Espoir", he said.

Mpila says, the use of the Internet for news and information is crucial for the Congolese communities. "The media in this country report less on the Congo, unless something dramatic happens there, such as when Mobutu was overthrown by Kabila, or when the Ebola virus killed many people." Furthermore, "on the Internet, you get a different, independent view of the situation from that of the government back home," he added.

The Internet is also used for research and study, he continues. "When I have to represent people in the court, I have to do my homework first to get to know what the case is all about. I resource myself from the Internet."

"It is rarely that we use the Internet for commercial reasons but just by surfing through the Internet I find some drives for my Canon printer that are offered free of charge. But very soon I will have to order or buy items through the Internet, especially those which would be useful back home. If my family used the Internet back home, I am sure they would simply e-mail me and tell me what to buy for them," said Mr Mpanzu. "Certainly, the Internet is being used by Congolese business people."

"We share our life experiences"
The key users of the Internet also diffuse political and socio-cultural information from the Congo to other members who have no access to the Internet. There is a network of communication between various Congolese communities of the Diaspora. Although we don't have web site yet, we use each other's e-mail addresses. With time we will get to web sites," Mr Mpila told me.

"We share our life experiences as immigrants and refugees in the West with other Congolese communities based in Belgium, Holland, Germany, the USA and Canada, by e-mailing each other. "Recently I e-mailed the government back home on what I think about tourism in the Congo and how to improve it, Mr. Mpila said.

"The Internet has soon become a great network which gives people plenty of choices. Black urban communities of the Diaspora should use this network to liaise with each other, especially on matters pertaining to their well being," Mr Mpila said.

Antoine R.Lokongo is a trainee international journalist at City University, Department of Journalism, London. The article was written while on placement with The Chronicle in cooperation with the Freedom Forum European Centre. No responsibility is assumed for the views expressed or accuracy of the Internet addresses supplied.