<?xml version="1.0" encoding="iso-8859-1"?>
<rss version="2.0">
  <channel>

    <title>Photojournale : Photo documentary and photo journal stories from around the world - Charles with the Baraka villagers</title>
    <link>http://bladepicturecompany.com/details.php?image_id=6239</link>
    <description><![CDATA[Baraka, a Congolese village like many others, is located near the town of Fizi. In the hills of this region overlooking Lake Tanganika intense fighting occurred over the past several years. It has been a stronghold for certain Mayi-Mayi groups (Congolese armed groups) and was used as a base for the Burundian rebel forces. Some have de- scribed this region as a key transit zone for trade in commodities, heading north and south between Katanga, South Kivu and Lake Tanganyika. Fizi and the neighboring towns of Uvira and Bukavu have also been described as once-thriving trading cent- ers for gold, copper, coltan and diamonds.<br />
This is where Charles was born 13 years ago with a cleft lip – like 1 in approximately 500 children. In developed countries he would have undergone surgery to suture his lip when he was 10 weeks old, but in the Democratic Republic of Congo, his family lacked the means to treat him.<br />
Baraka est un village congolais, comme beaucoup d’autres, situe&#769; pre&#770;t de la ville de Fizi. Dans les collines de cette re&#769;gion qui surplombent le lac Tanganika, de nombreux com- bats intenses se sont de&#769;roule&#769;s . Sanctuaire de groupes Mayi-Mayi (rebelles arme&#769;s congo- lais), les collines ont aussi abrite&#769; la re&#769;bellion burundaise. Certains de&#769;crivent cette re&#769;gion comme une zone cle&#769; du transit des principales ressources du pays entre le sud Kivu et le Nord Katanga.	Fizi et les villes voisines d’Uvira et de Bukavu sont aussi de&#769;crites comme<br />
les centres commerciaux de l’or, du cuivre, du coltan et des diamants. Charles est ne&#769; a&#768; Baraka, il y a 13 ans, avec une fente palatale comme approximativement 1 enfant sur 500. Dans un pays de&#769;veloppe&#769;, il aurait e&#769;te&#769; ope&#769;re&#769; a&#768; l’a&#770;ge de dix semaines pour que sa le&#768;vre soit referme&#769;e mais en Re&#769;publique du Congo, sa famille n’avait pas les moyens de le soigner.]]></description>
    <pubDate>Sun, 19 Apr 2026 09:50:48 GMT</pubDate>
      <image>
      <url>http://bladepicturecompany.com/data/thumbnails/261/4-photo.jpg</url>
      <title>Charles with the Baraka villagers</title>
      <link>http://bladepicturecompany.com/details.php?image_id=6239</link>
    </image>
    

  </channel>
</rss>