You have to bribe your way for everything. The country is being destroyed by ignorance, inefficiency and malice. In response, people have taken matters into their own hands - for good or ill. With no government funding for education, for example, most schools in this crumbling capital have no books. Teachers are so rarely paid that they charge their students - often in U.S. dollars, since Zaire's currency is nearly worthless.
Families increasingly take turns eating, as well.
Once rare here, malnutrition is now increasing rapidly. So are epidemics of infectious diseases, from polio to measles. And many children are just abandoned. The near-collapse of government services has forced desperate Zairians to fend for themselves. In traffic accidents, for example, onlookers ferry the injured to hospitals in trucks and taxis because few ambulances exist.