Hoops and War

A Sense of Normalcy

The origin of the current fighting can be traced back to the 1994 genocide in Rwanda.

Music floated over the court from a low building next door, where a brass band was practicing a mournful rendition of the Beatles’ “Let It Be.”

Of all the turbulence over the years—three armed conflicts, four election cycles, and a volcanic eruption—Merlo says the events of 2025 were the worst.

On a recent afternoon, young people zigzagged, pivoted, aimed, and shot in a carefully choreographed dance that allowed dozens of people to train simultaneously without bumping into one another.

Levi screamed at his little brother to get out of their house, which was engulfed in smoke.

All of P.J.B.’s plans seemed in jeopardy last year, when the M23 invasion turned streets into cratered battlegrounds and some Congolese soldiers looted and killed as they retreated.

In recent years, M23 has seized several lucrative mining areas.

But it wasn’t just the fear of bombs that dogged him and the other older male teens as they crept back to the courts after the conflict.

The academy is free, but those who can afford it are asked to pay a voluntary $10 annual fee.