Children of the Belgian-Congo

In 1960 the Congo became independent after more than 75 years of Belgian presence. In this series 20 witnesses look back. For the first time on Flemish TV, the Congolese voice is also extensively heard. What was it like to grow up as a young Congolese in the Belgian Congo, in a society in which 99 percent of the population had barely any opportunity to realise their potential? And how did Belgian colonials live in the Belgian Congo? How do they now look back on the colonial regime of which they were part? Many former colonials have never fully digested the loss of ‘their’ colony. The Congolese, however, longed for independence. But once they had won it, many were unhappy with their new state and sought asylum in their only real country of reference: the old motherland, Belgium. How do they feel about that past? And how do they now identify? Many are proud of both identities. But there is also frustration, about the continuing failure to recognise the Congolese suffering during the colonial era. Today an outspoken third generation of Belgians with Congolese roots are calling out for a more nuanced and more critical vision of that past. The story they tell is universal.