Families

Families in Ubangi-area villages usually have about 4 or 5 children, which is not so different from many North American families. Some things about being in a family in Congoare just like in our own families. Most important, kids live with parents who love them, make sure they have what they need, and correct them when they do something wrong.

But there is a difference in how it feels to grow up in a Congolese family, and it's a little hard to describe. Life in Congo is more open, more shared with the people living around you. Try thinking about it this way:

Have you ever gone camping? Think about camping. You sleep in a tent, and you spend lots more time outside. (We're going to magically make the weather beautiful.) You eat outside, you take walks, you might even sit outside and read a book.

Now think if you went camping with your cousins and aunt and uncle. They have their own tent, and they set it up near yours. You spend a lot of time with your cousins, exploring the area and doing fun things. Your mom and your aunt probably work together on fixing meals, and you all eat together at a big picnic table. You can be alone if you want to go into your tent, but mostly everybody is outside together. At night, of course, each family sleeps in its own tent.

Growing up in Congo is something like that. The people in the village are all related to each other, and they live more together than apart. If one man has gone hunting and has brought back some meat, they will cook it and the people around them will come to eat with them. The women go together to the forest to gather food, and they do other chores together. That means the little children are together too, since they are with their moms.

If someone in the village needs help with something, their neighbors -- even the kids -- will come to help without even being asked. If you do something wrong and your parents aren't around, any man or woman who is there will scold you and tell you what's right. All the yards in the village have mango trees, and when the mangoes are ripe anyone can take a mango from any tree. They share all together.

And the wider family is very important in Congo too. When your family goes to visit an uncle or cousin who lives in another village, it's exciting! They greet you with a wonderful welcome and make you feel very special. When you get back home, you will probably tell the whole story to your friends and cousins -- what you did, what you ate, all the details!