Brutal Soldiers (1988)

Excerpt from the draft of “Apostle to the Pygmies – The Doctor Jerry Galloway Story”

The new group of soldiers, who were very cruel, arrested the high school principal. They stopped everyone and checked their baggage, which was their right since the country was in a "state of war." If the soldiers found any food or money in anyone's luggage, they confiscated it for themselves, which was illegal. They wanted to take some items from the principal, and when he resisted, they arrested him. The people came and informed Father Paul. He went to prison and yelled at the soldiers, and they relented and released the principal.

The following week the soldiers returned to their brutal ways. They beat up the director's brother and took a bicycle that belonged to the water project. A few days later, I hired someone to buy a crocodile for the boarding school students. As the young man brought it to the boarding school, the soldiers beat him and took the crocodile. We had to hospitalize the young man. I wrote a report to the military court in Kinshasa. The following day, the soldiers withdrew, but I knew replacements would come.

Later, all the nurses came to the mission for the monthly review of their records and to pick up medicines. When the nurse from Boyela and his wife, an obstetrical nurse, arrived, the soldiers stopped them. The wife came to the mission to inform me, and I immediately went to where the soldiers were. They wanted to know why I came. "The nurses work for me," I said, "and I want to be present when you inspect the bags, to be sure no money or items belonging to the project disappear." The soldiers were furious because the nurse summoned me. The people did not want the soldiers here because they took their goats, chickens, and ducks.