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In
the heart of the Congo, at the end of five years of civil war and 300 miles
from the nearest paved road, a handful of European aid workers help refugees
who have lost everything. Filmmaker Tom Weidlinger lives amongst them and tells
their story over several weeks, as they train Congolese staff to run heath
clinics, mobilize and help villagers to dig wells for clean water and nurse
children suffering from acute malnutrition.
War
has changed people's sense of time. Survival has become a day-by-day
proposition. It makes no sense to plan for tomorrow when everything can so
easily be taken away. Yet thinking ahead, planting seeds for the future, is the
path out of misery for those displaced by war. Beyond ministering to immediate
hunger and disease, the European and Congolese aid workers struggle to nurture
villagers' collective will and courage to build a self-sufficient future.
The
threat of violence from roving militia bands, systemic corruption, and the
legacy of colonial dependency are daily obstacles. When Weidlinger comes down
with malaria, two aid workers pick up the camera and continue to skillfully
document their work. The film goes on even as the entire aid operation is
threatened by a return of violence, with civilians inevitably caught in the
middle. A village is burned, three health centers are pillaged, and health
workers are taken hostage, but the heroes of this film, both Congolese and
European, pick up the pieces and go on. Heart of the Congo is a film
about courage, hope, perseverance and ways in which humanitarian aid can make a
lasting difference.
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