Educational Media Reviews Online

A former Peace Corps Volunteer, biologist and videographer for the Environmental Protection Agency, independent film maker Dan Balluff wrote, narrated, directed and edited Children of the Congo: From War to Witches. Balluff contrasts the natural beauty and riches of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) with the extreme poverty, lack of health services and massive displacement of citizens as a result of ten years of war. Of the five million deaths that have occurred in the DRC in the last ten years half have been children under five years of age. These deaths have occurred as a result of malnutrition, disease, and the aftermath of war on families. It is the effect on children that is the main message of this film.

The condition of the children is described through interviews with Oeuvre de Reclassement et de Protection des Enfants de le Rue (ORPER) workers who provide services to the homeless children. There are approximately 50,000 children living on the streets of Kinshasa alone. They have arrived at this state by the loss of family through social and political causes. Extreme poverty drives some to leave the family in order to survive. Other children are blamed for the family problems, accused of witchcraft and taken to one of the growing number of “revival churches” that charge parents to exorcise these children. Exorcism has killed children through torture and driven others away from home and parents. Children who live on the street are at risk of abuse at the hands of older children, disease, malnutrition, prostitution and HIV/AIDS.

Balluff documents the work of ORPER along with the International Committee of the Red Cross, a United Nations peace keeping agency, Habitat for Humanity, and the Don Bosco Orphanage who are providing food, medical care, and a safe place for children to receive help until they can be reunited with families or be placed in foster care. For those children who cannot return to families or foster care these agencies also provide education and job training so children can be productive members of society. The film stresses that the need far outweighs the resources when it comes to protecting the children. The message too, is that international aid must be sustained until a durable peace is achieved in the Congo and until the infrastructure is reestablished. Reviews have praised Don Balluff for his documentary style that does not highlight the producer or seek to entertain, but focuses on the straightforward presentation of the atrocities of war projected onto children. The technical elements of the production are of high quality, with smooth camera work, clear sound with narration and translation of French interviews that is seamless. A list of links to related information, agencies involved in social services in the Congo, and reviews of the film are available at the producer’s website http://www.danballuff.com

This film would support classes addressing how children are affected by post colonialism, war, living on the street, witchcraft and exorcism, and poverty.