Multimedia Collection
The Curse of Congo: A Story of Wealth, Exploitation, and Ruin
VHS
57 minutes
DT658.26 .C87 2002
Arguably the most underreported big news story of the past several years the ongoing ethnic strife and civil war in the Democratic Republic of Congo has claimed the lives of nearly three million people. This two-part ABC News series travels to what was formerly Zaire to shine the bright light of inquiry - at last - on a humanitarian crisis of monumental proportions.
In this ABC News program, Ted Koppel delivers three successive reports on the bleak prospects of the noncombatant Congolese population, caught in the crossfire of opposing armies, decimated by disease and malnutrition, and exploited by the greed of others for their nation's valuable natural resources. First, Mr. Koppel spotlights the crisis in Kisangani, a city epitomizing the desperate conditions facing a population only a step away from total collapse. Next, he profiles a middle-aged widow living in Bukavu who does heavy labor to support her ten children. And finally he returns to Kisangani, where he addresses the co-opting of the region's diamond trade.
Distributed by Films for the Humanities & Sciences (www.Films.com)
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