Democratic Republic of the Congo

There exists a general politeness and concern for the welfare of others. This politeness sometimes manifests itself as a gentle disposition and shyness with strangers, which outsiders occasionally interpret as reticence. Although they may seem shy, Zairians reciprocate open and sincere friendliness.

In general, Zairians are careful not to offend. Individualism is acceptable only if it does not conflict with a group's needs. Because schedules are not as important as people, appointments may run 30 to 60 minutes late.

In rural areas, men do not usually shake hands with women but will shake other men's hands.

Objects are passed with the right hand or both hands, but not with the left hand. Pointing with the index finger is rude. Beckoning is done by waving all fingers.

Western-style clothing is common in most urban areas. Congolese women wear a "pagne", a long dress made of a five-yard length of fabric. Shorts and immodest attire are not commonly worn by adults.

Staple foods include cassava, rice, potatoes, bananas, yams, beans, corn, fish, peanuts, and various fruits and vegetables. Common fruits include mangoes, oranges, pawpaws, and coconuts.

Meals are usually eaten with the fingers of the right hand only. When utensils are used, the continental style of eating is observed. Men and women eat from separate communal bowls. Hands are washed before and after each meal.

Staple foods include cassava, rice, potatoes, bananas, yams, beans, corn, fish, peanuts, and various fruits and vegetables. Common fruits include mangoes, oranges, pawpaws, and coconuts.

The family is the most important focus in a Congolese life. Although family structure varies greatly between the different ethnic groups, emphasis is placed on group goals and overall family welfare. Large extended families are the norm in Democratic Republic of the Congo.

If two young people meet and desire to date, the boy and his family seek permission of the girl's family for him to see her. Subsequent dating usually leads to marriage. Traditionally, marriage is a family affair and is at least partly arranged by parents.

Soccer is the national sport. People also love to play cards, chess, checkers and board games. Mangual ( a pit and stone game) is played in rural areas by men. Young people like to go out on Saturday nights to socialize and listen to music at outdoor pubs and night clubs.

The daily morning activity of a typical school age child varies according to the socio economic status and the geographical location of the child’s parents. Mixed farming is the main economic activity in most parts of the rural DRC, as such; before school children help with chores which may include the taking care of the family’s domestic animals like the cows and goats for the boys while the girls help in the preparation of breakfast and the fetching of water or firewood and other related activities. The typical rural child is expected to be awake by around 5:00 am in the morning in order to have a few minutes to helping the home before reporting to school by 8:00 am. The typical greeting common among children in the local Lingala language is “sango nini!?’ to which the relevant response is “sango malamu”. This greeting simply means “How do you do?” and “Am doing fine” respectively, the other option would be “mbote” to which the response would remain the same. Mbote simply means Hello. In the town areas such as Kinshasa, Kisangani and other major towns in the DRC, the common greeting is in the French language i.e. Bonjour. While the rural school kid would mostly feed on porridge and traditional tubers for breakfast, the urban family relies on tea and bread as the basic breakfast meal. The waking up time for the urban child may be variable judging by the distance to be covered on the way to school and the transport means although it would typically be at around six in the morning since schools start at 8:00 am country wide. Helping with the animals in the mornings should not be mistaken to mean that the kids have to herd the cows and goats before going to school. What transpires is that there are simple chores such as milking the cow and taking them out of their sheds. They are then tethered around the compound until mid morning when the adults or teenagers who do not attend school will later take them to the river banks and out in the fields for grazing. Once they are through with these commonly considered light chores in the mornings, they are treated to a light breakfast which will mainly comprise of tea for the privileged and mostly porridge and some traditional tubers such as boiled sweet potatoes, or cassavas.

Local government schools may be available within a radius of one to five kilometers or more depending on the area where a child lives. In urban areas, some of the children may be lucky to have means of transport to school depending on the type of schools they attend. It is however important to note that apart from some of the prominent private schools, most of the public schools do not have school transport and children must thus rely on public or private means to get to school if the school happens to be a long distance from their homes. Most of the public schools are quite dilapidated perhaps courtesy of the long wars that have plagued the country due to the struggle for its extensive resources. It is not unusual to find a school that conducts its learning activities in dilapidated bullet ridden buildings due to the conflict.

Besides the old buildings, the learning facilities and stationery are in many cases unavailable due to the lack of funds. In some parts of the Republic, especially in the eastern parts of the DRC around Kisangani and Goma areas, schools are rare and the greater percentage of school age kids do not go to school. This is partly due to the existence of several rebel groups who recruit child soldiers in their armies since they are much easier to manipulate and command. As much as school uniforms are a mandatory requirement in all schools in the DRC, it is not strange to find schoolchildren going to school with their casual clothing due to the poverty situation especially in the rural areas. In reality, it is not common to find a school going child wearing shoes as this is considered a luxury that most parents cannot afford. Shoes are not considered as part of school uniform in most of the rural areas. Most of the learning is done using chalk and board writing for the teacher and schoolbooks for students although the lower primary school kids may occasionally be subjected to writing on the floors under trees. Electronics and computer technology may be available in towns such as Kinshasa but not in the rural areas since most of the rural schools do not even have electricity. The lower primary school syllabus includes basic skills in reading, writing and mathematics while the upper primary level which begins at the fourth year include subjects such as history, geography, natural science, social science, art, music and the French language which is the official language. Many schools in the rural areas teaching using the local Lingala language especially in the case of younger school kids.

Normal school hours end at about four in the afternoons for upper primary school children and mid day for the lower primary school kids. After the kids leave school, they get home and do a few household chores which may vary according to the family in question. A point worth noting is that the school children rarely get lunch from the schools meaning that each child has to find a way of getting their lunch from home or have alternative arrangements in place. The town kids may get some cash from their parents to buy lunch at school while most rural school kids typically run back home at about half past noon to grab a quick lunch and then run back to school.

Sometimes the kids may enjoy an evening game in the village playgrounds for rural kids. This will be followed by a shower in the evenings as most kids rarely take their showers in the mornings. When the school kids in the rural have time to play, the most common game played by the boys is football(soccer) since improvising a make shift ball by the use of polythene bags and some hand craft technology is easy. These football games are mostly played while looking after the animals. In the towns, children who reside in affluent neighborhoods take part in games such as bicycle riding and even computer games in some cases although these are undertaken as private initiatives within the neighborhoods and there are no social halls or tangible clubs to enhance the all inclusive participation of children from all walks of life.

After all the day’s activity and the taking of bath, kids in the villages settle down for super although the older ones are expected to help in the preparation of the family meal. It is important to note that some of the children especially the girls may be responsible for fetching water or firewood to assist in the preparation of the evening meal.

As much as the government would like to express their desire to have every school age child into school and getting basic education, it is quite difficult to realize this dream considering the poverty levels of the rural folk. The cost of educating a single child in the DRC is about US$63 per year, a cost most of the parents do not find reasonable since they do not comprehend the benefits of education. Instead they would rather have their children contribute to the farm work from which the families are able to feed themselves. This attitude has contributed largely to the large number of school drop outs. It is also estimated that a primary schoolteacher earns about US$20 per month.