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Luc Henkinbrant fought for a decade against the impunity of war criminals in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, ravaged by conflict.
Previously, the former Belgian human rights officer at the United Nations dreamed of turning the island of Idjwi to Lake Kivu into a magnet for ecotourists.
His Congolese wife, Esperance Mawanzo, splits his time between the Belgian city of Liège and their small paradise island dug in the calm waters of the lake, surrounded by the green mountains of the DRC and the hills of neighboring Rwanda.
Esperance Mawanzo (left) and her husband Luc Henkinbrant created an agency to encourage ecotourism in Idjwi. By Luke DENNISON (AFP)
Their agency Esperance (Hope) in Bukavu, on the south shore of Lake Kivu, aims to encourage environmentally friendly tourism and the local population.
Their clientele is mainly expatriates working for the former employer of Henkinbrant – the rights division of the UN peacekeeping force, MONUSCO – and humanitarian groups working in the region.
Coffee beans
Departing from the main town of the region, Goma, the boat sails an hour and a half before reaching the first islets of a rich vegetation archipelago, including eucalyptus and bougainvillea.
Visitors to Henkinbrant's precinct on Idjwi Island stay in thatched-roof bungalows with mountain and lake views. By Luke DENNISON (AFP)
The peak of Idjwi is located at 2,300 meters altitude, while the lake itself already reaches nearly 1,500 meters of altitude.
The couple greets visitors on a pier in the village of Bugaruva, at the foot of a lush forest.
Once past a cautious "migrant" officer – pbadports must be presented even for internal trips to the DRC – any anxiety begins to evaporate.
Here, there are no jeeps carrying United Nations flags or bearing the logos of the many Goma aid groups.
In fact, four-wheeled vehicles are rare on the island's red dirt roads, reserved for personalities such as the "mwami" or the traditional chief, while most people travel by motorcycle taxi.
With its temperate climate, Idjwi produces coffee beans, as well as sweet potatoes and cbadava. By Luke DENNISON (AFP)
The island of the lake – the second largest in Africa, with its 310 km 2, about the size of Malta – has about 200,000 inhabitants.
With a temperate climate ranging from 20 to 25 degrees Celsius all year round, Idjwi produces sweet potatoes and cbadava, but mostly coffee.
The beans produced by more than 2,000 producers go to Starbucks coffee shops in the United States, said their cooperative's president, Gilbert Makelele, to AFP.
"The potential is huge"
But islanders say their main badet is to be a haven of peace in a region where dozens of armed groups have been operating for decades.
From the main town of Goma, in the east of the country, the boat sails an hour and a half before reaching the first islets of a rich vegetation archipelago. By Luke DENNISON (AFP)
"You can walk all day on Idjwi without being harbaded by armed groups or soldiers," Henkinbrant said.
Elsewhere in Kivu, militias – many of them a by-product of the 1994 genocide in neighboring Rwanda – terror, extorting and killing civilians, looting villages and raping women.
Their female victims are treated in Bukavu by gynecologist Denis Mukwege, Nobel Peace Prize laureate last year.
A 15-minute motorcycle ride from the Bugaruva pier takes the visitor to the Henkinbrant compound with thatched-roof bungalows offering mountain and lake views.
The Idjwi lake island is the second largest in Africa, with 310 km 2 and 200 000 inhabitants. By Luke DENNISON (AFP)
He plans to set up several "eco-lodges", watching the island's sandy beaches bathed in warm water.
"Idjwi's potential is huge," Henkinbrant said, noting that people can enjoy walking, cycling, and kayaking, as well as taxi-motorcycle traffic around the island.
Darker side
Idjwi could be part of an excursion to Virunga National Park, home to mountain gorillas made famous by American primatologist Dian Fossey.
Idjwi is also home to a pygmy minority, which sells pottery to survive, and is marginalized by the Bahavus majority. By Luke DENNISON (AFP)
The airports of Goma and the Rwandan capital, Kigali, are three hours away.
While Idjwi is the kind of postcards illustrated, it has a dark side.
The local pygmy minority, which sells pottery to survive, lives on the margins of society, marginalized by the Bahavus majority.
Maps of Democratic Republic of Congo and Idjwi on Lake Kivu. By Sophie RAMIS (AFP)
And the main consequence of the 1994 Rwandan trauma to Idjwi was deforestation caused by the influx of tens of thousands of Hutu refugees after the genocide, which mainly targeted Tutsis.
The island also remains underdeveloped, having not yet been connected to the national grid and dependent on generators – although the mwami has ensured the arrival of Wi-Fi on the island. island three years ago.
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