Whether these trucks are passing through Beni or Kisangani again, they represent the first sign of hope for the inhabitants. More than anything else, they signal a resumption of small business activity and represent the link to other villages. Furthermore, distances have now been reduced – the trip along the Beni-Kamuanda road which once took three days now takes two hours. "It used to take us one week to get from Beni to Erengezi. Our travel time is now one hour," states one Beni resident. Security has been restored – the more work that is done on the road, the safer the conditions have become. Reunification, one of the main objectives of the project, is therefore being achieved.
Everywhere she went, Marie Françoise Marie-Nelly chatted with beneficiaries – women, the village chief, and young people. She wanted to know the location of the closest school and health center and what actions had been taken to combat HIV/AIDS. "When a road is opened, this also means traffic and, of course, greater risk of the spread of the disease," she said.
The visit to two schools in Kisangani, rehabilitated as part of the same project, was also encouraging. There too, the situation had changed considerably. Formerly abandoned and condemned because of the dilapidated and rundown condition of its buildings, the Kibali primary school has quadrupled its student population. In the case of the Saliboko 2 school, the enrollment rate has risen from 10 to 15 percent. These schools are now victims of their recent success, given that they are now facing the problem of inadequate space and overcrowding of classrooms. "These results in the field are encouraging for the World Bank even though much remains to be done, particularly in the area of better access to school manuals, which serve as the yardstick for measuring the quality of instruction," concluded the World Bank's Country Director in DRC.
The visit to two pygmy camps was one of the most moving events of this trip. Here again, Ms. Marie-Nelly chatted with residents. For the pygmies, the most important amenities are access to water and decent housing. "We need help obtaining housing that allows us to live in dignity," said the chief of the group. These small isolated communities located in the depths of the forest indicate, in stark terms, the challenges facing the forestry sector in DRC. For the World Bank, natural resource management is important. It pays special attention to and provides substantial assistance in this area. "The challenge is to ensure the conservation of these resources while preserving the lifestyle of the people who live there and to guarantee that the country benefits from these resources," she explained.
The pygmy women, who were very pleased with this visit, insisted on finding out the first name of the Country Director and immediately decided to give this name to the baby of one of the women, who was pregnant. "Her name will be Marie-Françoise!" they said in unison.
Strengthen World Bank Activity in the Field
Although the Governor of the Province and his team expressed their satisfaction with the World Bank's work in the province, they nevertheless indicated their desire for a speedy resolution to the problem associated with delays in project execution. For the Country Director, strengthening World Bank actions in the field entails overcoming quickly the obstacles that are delaying project execution as well as forming a true partnership with the Government. "A very objective analysis needs to be done of the factors driving these delays so that lessons can be drawn and applied to other projects and, in particular, to achieve progress," she said. Achieving progress is, to some degree, the watchword of Ms. Marie-Nelly. Determined to obtain tangible results, she plans to obtain all the resources needed to attain her objectives.
 
 
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