About Me, My Name and Civil War in Zaire

Many are surprised at my name. It’s is called by almost everyone on earth because the meaning is great. Dondeli Tongulu, that is, “Gift of My God Almighty”. In good English, one might say, God Almighty’s gift. This phrase can be translated in many languages. These are some of the meaning in different languages that I know. Don de Mon Dieu Tout-Puissant, Genki de Kami-Sama, Mokabi ya Nzambe ya Nguya. I do know that for those who speak different languages than these can understand what I mean.

When people worship or praise God, or when they prey, my name is called in that moment. I’m God’s gift given to men. I bring His peace to those who search. It’s not that I’m a second Jesus, but that I have God in Christ in me, and that makes me complete. This is my last and my middle name. In my culture, the middle and the last name are the important ones than the first. All of my brother and sisters have the same last name except two of them.

Charis comes from Charismata. It’s a Greek word found in the scriptures of the bible. The primary meaning of it is grace, but if you get deeper, it’s God’s unmerited grace because we got it for free. Many mispronounce it by saying it like “sha-ris” instead of “kaa-ris”. No one likes his or her name to be called wrong, but sometimes I let it go. Don’t get it confused with charisma or charismatic, they are far different from Charis.


Civil War

It has been almost five years since I moved to the United States. In a New World like none other but similar, we get to move on into daily living. My father had moved here three years before our family came. The reason he moved here was for his own safety because people were looking to kill him. All of this because he served his country and kept peace among the people. In the year 1997, we had a civil war.

The rebels from east of Zaire were moving toward the west where the capital is. The soldiers didn’t want to fight. Kagame, the Rwandese president, and the international committee supported those rebels. They received weapons to fight against us. Their primary goal was “Mobutu out of power”, unaware of the plan that Kabila and the Rwandese had.

They had a list of all officers in our country from the highest-ranking officer to the lowest soldier. They knew it by heart. They had to exterminate them, so that they won’t rebel against the new leader after settling in power. All it is gaining full control of the people, or dictatorship. The rebels used little children as their armed soldiers. The reason behind this technique is that children don’t know right from wrong. They intoxicate them with foolishness, giving them hope of great expenses. Any child from five to fifteen acts as they are told to. Those kids were killing human beings without mercy. Their mind was to take anyone who stands in their way.

It all started seven years before when the current president Mobutu was willing to withdraw from the presidency, but changed his mind on it that made the nation very upset. Mobutu has ruled our nation since 1965, and he ruled, according to others, with a iron fist. Internationally, he was known as a dictator. He was an U.S.A ally, but when he was asked to withdraw from his position, he refused. So, the U.S. president of that time said that it was time for Mobutu to step down. I know some of this may sound weird and untrue, but there is a lot out there that we are unaware of.
This led to the “supposed to be genocide of the Rwandese”. In 1994, the Rwandese president died on a plane crash caused by Pres. Kagame’s troops. The civil war started from the east of Zaire, but it didn’t last that long till 1994. Even the international committee wasn’t expecting something great that shall follow after this. The whole continent will be spread with a war mentality.

My family had a decent life. My father was an officer in the army, and he performed his duty righteously. We’ve spent most of my life in a military camp. In 1996, we moved to another location in downtown.

This was the first time for our household to live in the city with civilians. We never knew what war was, or what experience you get from it. Among us who has a previous war experience was my dad. When he was eight, he passed through some harsh days. He and the whole city were forced to hide in the jungles for months. It was easy to find food to eat, but salt was needed the most. Many of the people died because they ate unsalted food. Our dad tells us these stories in order to increase our awareness that war isn’t pleasant. That war he experienced causes him to separate himself from his family into joining the military later on in the seventies.

Many fellow soldiers have died in this war. Some of my dad’s friends were captured, tortured, and others killed. Another officer had to kill himself, being wounded, as the enemies were coming toward him. Many things had happen that the world is unaware of. Our armed forced didn’t want to fight because they weren’t take care of. In a nation, in order to have a strong military, you need to feed the soldier and take care of their family. That is the greatest mistake a president can do in his regime. If there is no army, who will protect the country from invaders?

One day, people will know the truth of that incident. There is so much that I know that I can’t tell it. My father moved here in august, 1997, and three years later we joined him. It was very hard to miss our dad. We lived in fear during those years, running away from house to house. There were even some people who always came to look for us while our family went somewhere. But now it’s all over since we reside now in the U.S. This whole experience has shaped me in many ways.
The way I act, see things, or act is all parts of what I had been through. Something the way I see life is so far different than my friends. There is a school gap in my life for a year and a half. There was no time of study, but look at me now! I’m in college just like everyone else. It’s not too late since I’m still alive. When I look back, I can’t even imagine that I had been there those days. Now it seems like it was nothing. Amazing! This life is full of confusion. All of this has been a part of me and will be for the rest of my life.