Have you ever had a near-death experience? Ndugu has had two of them- and they look quite different from each other. The M23 comes to town- "I was still at university when the armed group M23 took the city of Goma. Back then I had created a theatre group called Le Tan Tan of the Great Lakes; I think it was a Thursday, and we we had organised a play and a little celebration with the group the Friday. I went to university to pick up the money the university provided us for the

One cool morning I woke up to a phone call. At the other side of the line Raissa mumbled: I am going down town to cover the Rasta's march to the Governor's office, do you want to come with me? Of course I did. The Gathering I picked up Raissa on a moto-taxi, and once we arrived to the meeting point, and while waiting for the opening mass to finish, I asked Raissa what was the parade exactly all about; she did not know. However, It was quickly brought to my attention that it

“Heard joke once: Man goes to doctor. Says he's depressed. Says life seems harsh and cruel. Says he feels all alone in a threatening world where what lies ahead is vague and uncertain. Doctor says, "Treatment is simple. Great clown Pagliacci is in town tonight. Go and see him. That should pick you up." Man bursts into tears. Says, "But doctor...I am Pagliacci.” ―Al

Dealing with a part of my positionality through the politics of love. Allow me to tell you a story. A very personal one. One which has, nothing, and everything to do with the purpose of this project. A story that happens to explain, and perhaps justify, why I ended up doing anthropological research in the Eastern provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. I often catch myself asking: why do I have such a strong curiosity? Interest? Tendency? Fascination? Affination?

Most studies focusing on those people not directly engaged on the armed struggle, despite being few and far between, tend to ‘simply’ analyse people's livelihoods and coping strategies, thus, narrowing the study of social existence, and consequently that of behaviour, to mere forms of maximisation, to the fundamental. In the case of the DRC this coping, or rather surviving, goes by la débrouille: “Getting by, or la débrouille covers a wide spectrum of activities and stratagem