Every House Needs Security

As a Peace Corps volunteer on loan to the World Health Organization, I spent two months in Lisala, a small town on the northern bend of the Zaire River, where I was trained by monkeypox scientists. I was given a house to live in, complete with a security system.

My "sentinel" arrived late every afternoon, and spent the night, keeping guard outside the house. Here was his typical appearance during the day, but at night he gathered up a spear for his vigil, which was spent both watching and napping. He left at dawn. Like our own electronic "alarm" systems, human guards were as much a psychological deterrent as a real one, but beware to the home owner who neglected this essential employee.

As a foreigner, I was expected to play the "mundele" role. Mundeles were thought to be well-off (the term was used for businessmen, politicians, and foreigners), and they were expected to employ others. It was crass not to have at least a guard, cook, housekeeper, gardener, and driver. The jobs were not considered menial because that was how men could support a family.

Photo by D. Messinger