The "African Miracle"

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

On November 30, I was in Inongo and tried to get back to Kiri and then on to Pendjua. I left Kinshasa the day before on a cargo plane to fly directly to Kiri. However, the schedule changed since I was the only passenger going to Kiri. I was very concerned because I had an 80-pound ice chest with vaccines for 2,000 children. Fortunately, the refrigerator at the parish house in Inongo functioned, and the freezer was empty.

Everywhere I went throughout Kinshasa, thousands of people just milled around. I wondered how they survived, as no factories were functioning. They had closed due to the looting by soldiers during the past few years. The brothers who lived and worked in Kinshasa called the survival of the people the "African miracle."

The political and military situation continued to deteriorate in Kinshasa. The president arrested and imprisoned the military commander, who led the rebel army to victory over Mobutu's army. The president was afraid he would plot to overthrow the government. There was friction in the military camp between the soldiers who supported the arrested commander, and those who supported Kabila. I was glad to leave Kinshasa because soldiers fired at passing cars at night. I hoped a civil war would not break out. In Brazzaville, they still did not have electricity, and the whole city was dark at night.