RTDocumentary

Every year on 3 June, World Bicycle Day is celebrated. For the young people of the Congolese town of Goma, cycling is an opportunity to start a better life. The town lies at the foot of an active volcano. There is poverty here; armed gangs are in the surrounding jungle. The alternative to them is the local cycling club. The athletes are constantly hungry but dream of becoming African champions. One of the main characters of our documentary is the president of the local cycling club. He trains the boys and feeds them to have at least one meal a day. Find out more about the club in our clip. Then, watch the entire film Congo: Cycle of Life to learn about the hope the club gives the young Congolese. #Congo#sport#humanstories Follow: https://t.me/rtdocumentary

Congolese people are highly superstitious. They habitually exorcise the Devil from children. However, if a priest says he can't cast the evil out of the child, the kid will be kicked out of home. Abandoned by their families, these unfortunates are forced to beg and steal on the streets. In our film, children recount how they were thrown out. To learn why parents have their kids exorcised, and how these poor and abandoned children get by, watch our film, The Shegué, the Sorcerer and Che Guevara. #video#Congo Follow: https://t.me/rtdocumentary

‘When I woke up, I was undressed and had a headache. I asked him what had happened? He said he’d done what he wanted to do with me!’, confesses Emily, a 17-year-old Congolese girl. Her traumatic experience is familiar to many women in the Congo. Daily, they face abuse on the streets and at home. Harassment in the country is not recognised as something terrible. There are no shelters for victims of sexual violence in the Congo. The police don’t help. Therefore, people seek protection from sorcerers. The girls are given a supposedly magical ritual of breast reduction to look less feminine. It consists of blows to the chest with a ‘fufu’ stick and cuts with a razor blade. The women think such cruelty will save them from violence. But does this solve the problem? Watch our video. Find out what it’s like to be a girl in the Congo, caught between the threat of rape and painful rituals. Don’t miss the premiere of Congo’s Hell for Girls. #premiere#Congo Follow: https://t.me/rtdocumentary

'We’ll die if the pit closes. It’ll be death. How will I pay for food? Where will I go?' Henrietta from Congo cleans poisonous cobalt. Its compounds are toxic, cause diseases but Henriette has nowhere else to work and needs to feed her 4 children. This cobalt quarry is a workplace for many people. Why are there so many desperate to work with harmful mineral? Watch the clip to know. Find out even more more about cobalt quarry workers in our documentary ‘Cobalt Hell’. #video#Congo Follow: https://t.me/rtdocumentary

#video#Congo The price Congolese workers have to pay for the rest of the world to enjoy smartphones — cobalt is essential for their production — is high. Miners in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where the bulk of the world’s cobalt is found, are forced to extract and process the ore by hand, which causes serious health problems and environmental pollution. Yet, none of the workers is ready to give up his job. Young Congolese men agree to this backbreaking work hoping to earn enough money for university. This way, they will have a slight chance of leaving this life and helping their families. Women who raise their children alone agree to work on cobalt processing though it might ruin their health. What’s more, the idea of closing the cobalt deposit site gives them shivers because they see no other way of earning a living. We have already announced the upcoming premiere of our new documentary Cobalt Hell, and it’s finally arrived — tune for the premiere right now! Follow: https://t.me/rtdocumentary

Raised by the Streets #video#Congo They are only 15-17 years old, but they steal, do drugs, and terrorise their neighbours. Youth gangs are running rampant in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The delinquents are called Kuluna. Kuluna gangs exist in almost every Congolese city. Each group claims their own turf and fights other gangs for respect. They make money from racketeering, fencing stolen goods, and running small businesses. According to the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project, Kuluna gangs are often affiliated with local police. Follow: https://t.me/rtdocumentary

Witch kids of Congo #video#Congo There are thousands of homeless children on the streets of Kinshasa. Many were kicked out because their relatives believe they are sorcerers. Kids may be branded sorcerers for crying or misbehaving. Children accused of witchcraft are sometimes beaten and forced to undergo exorcisms. Although belief in witchcraft is common in Africa, it’s often used as an excuse for families to get rid of inconvenient children. And, it’s become a lucrative business for preachers. Check out the full story! Follow: https://t.me/rtdocumentary

Cobalt Hell #photo#Congo These Congolese people are extracting cobalt – an essential material used to make lithium-ion batteries for our smartphones and laptops. In fact, there’s probably a tiny piece of cobalt inside the electronic device you’re reading this post from! Cobalt will also purportedly help us transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy. But clean energy will come at a price. In Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), which contains two-thirds of the world’s cobalt, the ore poisons the people working in the mines. Men dig out the mineral with their bare hands, while women and children wash and sort it. While the dark stones may look harmless, constant exposure to cobalt particles can cause dire health problems. An RT Documentary crew just came back from the DRC, where they shot a film about the toll cobalt mining takes on humans. It’s coming soon, so make sure not to miss it! Follow: https://t.me/rtdocumentary