In the midst of visiting some of the most physically vulnerable communities I have ever witnessed I was reading a terrifying book called, "King Leopold's Ghost." This book is a popular history book about King Leopold II, king of Belgium, and his lustful pursuit of a colony and his eventual appropriation and brutal exploitation of the Congo. It is estimated that between 1880 and 1920 1/2 of the native Congolese population was eliminated (more than 10 million people) due to murder, disease and starvation brought about by Leopold's administration of the Congo. Leopold built tremendous palaces and buildings in Europe from the over $1 billion extracted from Congo rubber, slaves, and minerals. An infuriating account of unchecked ambition, greed and abuse, I found myself unable to continue reading it until after leaving the Congo as I found so many erie connections between the past exploitation and the current conditions. The history is complex and the actors are many, Leopold had many supporters and after independence in 1960 Congo (Zaire) had 3 decades of corrupt dictatorship with a Congolese President replicating Leopold's exploitative practices. May God speed the Congo's development.
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