Hello everyone, I see you guys have answered quite a few questions so apologies if I repeat anything.

First of all, I know very little about your country, as most Americans do. I like to watch River Monsters with Jeremy Wade, so it is through his work I have at least been exposed to the majestic Congo River. I know the DRC is a very large country so please don't think I am generalizing; you are welcome to only share what you know

Some questions I have off the top of my head:

- what do you feel is misrepresented in the media you may have seen regarding your country?

- what are the biggest and most fixable issues for the average American to aid?

- what is the most beautiful place you have been?

- what are your favorite foods? Least favorite?

- what do you think it would take for your region to have stability?

- how is your water situation? How is water access in general?

- are there overlooked regions that aid does not go to?

- I understand the ebola outbreak in the east is complex. We are told about how "superstitious" the DRC is, but no one discusses details.

Also, there are so many belief systems (I live in Louisiana, and here alone you can be exposed to hoodoo, Vodou and Catholicism all in one day), so I don't want to generalize beliefs in the DRC

Are you yourself superstitious? Do you have any beliefs?

- I have always had an issue with the so-called white saviors in America. The performative ones, anyway. However, I am looking at going to medical school.

I don't care about money for myself, but realized I have access to something many don't. An American doctor can make $500k USD, depending on their practice.

I have seen how little people live on, and was wondering if anyone has ever offered a sort of "universal basic income" to a region.

I understand that too is complex, because I have heard about citizens being terrorized.

To be quite frank, our media has largely ignored the Congo since the early 00s.

Back in the day, even calling overseas wasn't an option. Now we can write to each other in our own languages and communicate. I think the world is sleeping on the fact there are so many people that could be directly helped

I know you guys have said you feel like you are ignored by the world, and it is unfortunately true.

It is unfortunately true for many not well off countries. But if it gives you any hope at all, I really think most Westerners just don't know how or if they could be helped. Before, access mattered a lot. Now, it is so much easier.

- do you have any favorite hobbies?

- do you like to fish?

- why were people buried alive? I saw a video. It is horrific. Why alive???? Is this a common practice?

- do you know of any interesting myths or legends? What is your favorite spooky tale? (If you have one)

- anything else you would like for me to know? Anything cultural, human rights oriented, or more casual if you'd like

I hope none of my questions were insensitive and I apologize if they were.

I am not trying to reduce the richness of the DRC down to negative stuff, but sadly that is largely what I have been exposed to. But it is also good to pay attention to the suffering in the world.

​

This lesson covers verbs and vocabulary for giving and asking for directions, locations and spatial relationships.

kokomela

to reach (a place)

kolanda

to follow

koluka

to search for

awa

here

elozi

west

kati kati

middle

kuna

there

libanda

out

liboso

front, in front of

likolo

up

monyele

east

mosika

far

na

in

na likolo

on

na loboko ya mobali

on the right

na loboko ya mwasi

on the left

na nse

under

nakati

in

nse

down

pembeni

next to

penepene

very near to

wana

there (a specific place)

wapi

where

Landa ngai

Follow me.

Nabungi nzela.

I am lost.

na ebandeli

at the start

na suka

at the end

Nasuki awa

I stop here

esika esusu

elsewhere

yaka

come here

ya liboso, ya yambo

the first

ya mibale

the second

ya misato

the third

yango kuna

it is there

yango’yo

it is here

This year I set myself a goal of going to as many african concerts as possible, but i struggled to find the concerts when they were advertised so I made a free website. So far I went and saw Kanda Bongo Man.

Concerts congolais à Londres, chaque semaine, gratuit.

https://africangigguide.co.uk/country/dr-congo?ref=reddit-congo

https://www.instagram.com/africangigguide/

https://www.tiktok.com/@africangigguide

It's completely free, no ads, no cookies, and there's a weekly mailing list if you'd like it: one short email every Monday with that week's gigs. The Instagram and TikTok are for the concerts I film, and I usually do collab posts with the artists. If you know a Congolese gig in London I haven't listed, tell me.

Matondo for letting me visit your subreddit.

Is there a place to play chess in kinshasa?

Is there a chess community here?

I come in peace, but also a bit frustrated. I am Congolese but I was born in Goma and am a refugee in Uganda another third world country and ever since I've been going through an existential crisis, I've wished to go back. But most of the Congolese hate the country, especially young people, and I know that the country is messed up, decades of war, broken infrastructure and institutions and lack of opportunities, all this I get, perhaps not but I do. But it isn't more different from here in Uganda, whose youth also cry about the system.

Most Congolese I've met want to go abroad, escape the chaos, live better which is totally fine but if we all empty the country, WHO will fix it? We are always expecting the GOVERNMENT to save us yet they operate on a different planet, why not fight for our future, until when shall we keep complaining as Congolese! Whether the government or the rebels or whoever wins, our voices will always matter less if we don't SCREAM. Shall we all leave the country to the Rwandans and every other nation that is profiting off our mediocrity and naivety? When shall we all fight as ONE?

Instead of fighting the system, it's either we fighting each other or lousing our lives out. I agree with every Congolese, things are messed up, but whining won't turn our country into the FIRST WORLD COUNTRY we all desire, all because we have let the GUNS, THE MEN ON THE THRONES AND DECADES OF TRAUMA condition us as such!!!

So if anyone will tell me, what can be done to save ourselves or are we COMPLETELY A LOST CAUSE OF A PEOPLE AND A NATION???!!!

I’ve been researching nations/ethnicities of the Congo and allegedly this is a “pre-colonial” hairstyle among Penbe men (Fig 18). Is this true? I know there are differences between Eastern and Western demographics of the Penbe.

If this is an inappropriate question I will accept the input and delete the post.

Has anyone travelled to Turkey with a DRC passport? Or know anyone who has? 🇨🇩🇹🇷

How much did the visa cost, and what was the application process? Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks!

Selling 2x tickets for Fally Ipupa concert
Sunday 25th October

Section 102, transferable on AXS

Hello family, 👋. I came across this song in a youtube mix and it really has a vibe on me. I need someone to help me out with the words please. Need to sing it for someone I do love.

I've been traveling across Africa, and mobile for local transactions is the way people are living now. People don't take as many cash as us in Congo. And I want to get a better understanding of this phenomenon. What's blocking it? Why aren't people adopting mobile money? And most importantly, I want to hear your ideas on how this can change? how to get ourselves used to electronic payment?

Good evening,

I’m a sudanese refugee, located in Uganda now, I got a job offer in DRC, Kinshasa to be exact, I checked on the internet and the cost of living is really high, how much is the rent and monthly expenses for one individual?? I wanna know is it really that high, especially for someone how wants to support families in two other countries!?

Thank you!

I am from neighbouring Zambia, and I have been interested in Congolese politics and I want to know if any Congolese supports federalism given that the centralisation hasn't worked well in the DRC due the country being large with the capital Kinshasa located far from other provinces which explains why the eastern part of the country is plagued in conflict as the government can't manage the eastern part of the country due to the seat of the government located far away in the western part of the country and not located in the central part of the country where it could have managed to deal with the conflicts in the eastern part of the country as well as ethnic groups who feel neglected by the central government in kinshasa in the eastern and southern part of the country? Does any Congolese support federalism or not? Let me know!

Bonjour à tous, j'espère que vous allez bien.

Je suis un jeune congolais de 18ans vivant à Lubumbashi et je commence à un peu trop penser à mon avenir 😅

J'ai toujours été bon à l'école, j'ai réalisé 73% aux Exetat de cette année en électricité industrielle...même si je sais que ca ne garantit rien dans notre cher pays 👀

Je continues à améliorer mes compétences en simulations électriques et électroniques, j'ai plusieurs projets technologiques pour l'avenir, je compte aller en filière électromécanique, et j'ai décidé de prendre une année sabbatique pour mieux structurer mes objectifs avant l'Université...

Mais, depuis un temps, je suis tracassé par la petite voix dans ma tête me demandant de penser plusieurs années d'avance dans le futur 😆

Alors je vous demande, à certains/certaines d'entre vous qui êtes déjà expérimentés, comment me preparer et quelles sont les choses à savoir pour s'apprêter à investir intelligemment ???

Je vise aussi obtenir une bourse au moins pour mon master(dans longtemps 😆). Connaissez-vous des tactiques/habitudes/recherches à mettre en place ou même des universités favorables pour en decrocher avec des avantages assez acceptables ???

N.B : je ne cherche pas vraiment la facilité pour mes objectifs. Si vous avez des conseils/tactiques qui peuvent paraître durs, je suis prêts à les appliquer si ça en vaut la peine...

Hey Family. I’ve matched with a cousin who I’m sure is from DRC. I tried to reach her but she hasn’t been on ancestry since last year. I’m wondering if anyone can tell me what ethnic group the surname “Kanda” most likely comes from. I’ve been told it has Bakongo origin but that it could also be Luba or even Lunda.

Hey guys, im a Congolese teenager living in London. My Lingala is very poor and I need to improve ASAP. Are there any Congolese hubs, clubs teaching Lingala?

Some were released after Chinese embassy intervention. This targets unauthorised operators, not Chinese mining investment generally.

​

Mbote na bino nyonso!

This lesson presents common Lingala expressions used when visiting family or friends.

1. ko ko koo … nani kuna? … kota!

   toc toc toc … who is there? … come in!

2. mbote!

   Hello! Good morning! Good afternoon!

3. boyei elamu!

   Welcome!

4. boyei elamu epayi na biso!

   Welcome to our house!

5. boni nzoto?

   How are you? How are you doing?

6. boni sante?

   How is your health? How are you?

7. boni epayi na bino?

   How are things at your house?

8. boni na ndako?

   How are things at home?

9. toyambi bapaya!

   We have visitors!

10. toyei kotala bino

We came to visit you / to return your visit

1. ozali malamu? (oza malamu?)
   

Are you okay?

1. sango boni? / sango nini?
   

How are you? What’s the news? What’s new?

1. sango te!
   

Things are going well! No news!

1. eh, nazali malamu!
   

Yes, I’m fine!

1. nazali malamu te
   

I’m not well

1. nazoyoka nzoto malamu te!
   

I don’t feel well!

1. yambi!
   

Welcome!

1. bokomela nini?
   

What will you have (to drink)?

1. omelaka biele?
   

Do you usually drink beer?

1. posa ya kolia elongo na bino!
   

I want to eat with you!

1. tokende na mesa
   

Let’s go to the table

1. bolei elamu!
   

Enjoy your meal! Bon appétit!

1. yaka tobina
   

Come and dance with me

1. natiki bino!
   

I leave you! Goodbye!

1. tokomonana mbala sima!
   

See you next time! Bye-bye!

1. tozokende na makolo
   

We are going on foot

1. tozozela bino mokolo ya poso
   

We are waiting for you next Saturday

1. mbote mingi na …
   

Hello to … (greetings to someone)

1. yaka tokende!
   

Come on, let’s go!

1. bokende bolamu!
   

Have a good trip! Safe journey!

1. mokolo malamu!
   

Have a good day!

1. mbotama elamu!
   

Happy Birthday!

1. butu elamu!
   

Good night!

1. pongi elamu!
   

Sleep well! Good night!

How can millions of personal names help us understand the linguistic and cultural diversity of an entire country? A new open-access dataset from the Democratic Republic of the Congo offers researchers an important resource for exploring this question.

Published on 8 July 2026 in the journal Data, the study “CongoNames Corpus: A Large-Scale Labeled Dataset of Congolese Personal Names” introduces a collection of more than 8 million personal-name records, compiled from national secondary-school examination results.

The corpus was developed by Tshabu Ngandu Bernard, Cansa Kayembe Amaury and Mpyana Mwamba Merlec, researchers affiliated with Université Nouveaux Horizons in Lubumbashi and Korea University in Seoul.

The authors present CongoNames as the first large-scale, openly available structured corpus of personal names from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Its significance extends beyond computational linguistics: it provides new opportunities for quantitative anthroponymy, sociolinguistics, language-contact research and the geographical study of personal names. More