More Discrimination (2001)

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

At the end of February, we continued to have problems with the soldiers. Three students came to inform me that a soldier beat up the Botoa high school teacher. I got on my bike and headed to where they were holding the teacher. As I rode my bicycle, I said a prayer that I would stay calm. When I arrived, the teacher had large welts on his cheeks. The soldiers were drunk. "Why did you arrest the teacher?" I asked them.

"We did not arrest him," they replied. "Why did you hit him?" I asked. "We did not like the way he talked." The soldiers were illiterate and did not like the way the teacher spoke French to them. "Since you did not arrest him, then I am going to take him home," I said. They allowed him to go. The boy's home director was furious, and he filed a complaint with the commander. The commander had the soldiers tied up and thrown into jail.

Two days later, the police chief and two associates stopped and fined three barefoot doctors because they didn't have the proper I.D. papers. Everyone was required to buy an attestation for the loss of their I.D. card. The irony was that the cards had not been printed or sold since 1980, so there were no cards to lose. This law was just a way for local authorities to collect money from people. All health personnel had I.D. cards, which indicated they were health personnel. However, the chief of police said their cards had no value.

Dr. Bakoko, Sister Mary Emiel, and I decided to close the outpatient department in protest. The police chief and the military commander organized a meeting. They invited the "important" people of Pendjua, who voiced many complaints. The police chief and commander agreed to accept their cards as legitimate. That same evening, the rapid intervention police commander came from Bandundu to investigate whether the deserters were causing trouble. They advised the commander that the deserters were not a problem. They told the commander they wanted the soldiers and national police to leave so the people could live in peace.