“A Pygmy community shelters on Goma territory, near the city.
(…) The land granted to it consists of nothing but piles of pebbles or volcanic rocks, so the men and women are forced to hire themselves out for half a dollar per day to hoe the distant fields of others… In far-off places, accessed by risky roads.
(…) Henriette’s ‘village’ resembles a homeless persons’ camp, but has an unbeatable view of Lake Kivu, beyond the Mugunga refugee camp. A clear horizon that, here, only stirs up sadness as it is a reminder of the large forest from which the Pygmies were chased. The forest handed over, without consultation, to forestry companies, chopped down by Bantu farmers, requisitioned by national parks or used as refuges by multiple armed groups…”

Extract from Ténèbres au paradis, Gallimard Edition 2011.