1000

Abstract

I was sitting at the UN base in Kiwanja, eastern Congo, and suddenly it was dark. Along the equator, there is no twilight, the sun almost sets behind the horizon. Suddenly, a projector or screen on a platform began to shine, drawing a white square on the screen set up by the base’s fence. Containers and trucks were lined up between the projector and the screen, so I couldn’t understand who or what the Indian UN peacekeepers were showing. Children emerged from the nearby refugee camp and ran towards the white-lit screen. As the film began, I understood everything. The projector illuminated the back of the screen, so the production was directed outward, outside the fence. The children in the refugee camp stared open-mouthed at the Bollywood story with music and dance that the Indian soldiers had chosen for them that day.