It is a story of two young Congolese siblings, an older brother and a younger sister. These are Gaël Lusala and Marie Thérèse Mavambu. A tumultuous journey made of wounds and scars of life that they tell in a tone charged with emotions. They left their country, DR Congo in 1997 with the whole family to settle in Burkina Faso in 2010, after having traveled to a dozen African countries.

It was in the Cissin district of Ouagadougou that we met Gaël Lusala Mavambu, under a threatening sky. Sitting on a sofa, dark glasses hanging on his forehead, Gael, his gaze both serious and lively, lends us an ear. No need for a thorough inspection to realize, from the first contact, that Gaël is multi-stained, a jack of all trades. He is, in fact, at the same time an artist comedian, storyteller, author, director, director, filmmaker, video editor … 

It was in 1997 that the young multidimensional left his native DRC with his family for this adventure. One of seven siblings, including six boys and one girl, Gaël says that before settling in Burkina Faso in 2010, he and his family went through several countries including Senegal, Congo Brazza, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Guinea Bissau, Nigeria, Mali, etc. And it is in Guinea precisely in Conakry that he studied in college, then high school in Benin before he was forced to abandon the courses of accounting for lack of financial resources.

His dream of one day becoming a renowned accountant was shattered. “You had to go to work to pay for school, meet the needs of the family, etc. I had to choose between school and survival. So, I chose to stop my studies, something I assume,” he says, his heart overflowing with bitterness about his social situation of yesteryear.  

Marie Thérèse Mavambu, his younger sister, began her primary studies in Guinea Conakry until the 6th grade and continued them from 2011 in Ouagadougou. But it will not go all the way given the financially precarious situation in which the parents found themselves.

Through social networks, she will learn the art of hairstyle that she will eventually master. “People congratulate me for the beautiful hairstyles I make,” says Marie Thérèse Mavambu. In order to grow her market, she opened a hairdressing salon that she will, unfortunately, close due to economic problems. Without taking off, she tries to revive her business, but it will take water following her delivery in 2020. Despite a third attempt to rebuild her hair salon, Marie Thérèse did not succeed. It was only afterwards that she decided to continue her profession with the manufacture of wigs, of the homemade kind. “It works very well,” she says with a smile.

When she was speaking with us, the young lady that we met at the National Museum of Burkina Faso, was preparing to export a batch of her production to the Congo. 

It was obvious that they were upset whenever we asked them the reasons that led the entire family to leave the DRC.  Gaël Lusala Mavambu did not like to spend time answering that question, visibly embarrassed. “There are things we wouldn’t like to talk about,” he said, his head slightly bowed. However, he says that following the fall of President Mobutu, several personalities had left the country and his father was one of them: “It should be noted that our dad was not a ‘mere someone’, so when Mobutu left, there were many people who left the country and we were part of them,” he says furtively. Despite our reminders, he will not say a word about this part of his story that obviously makes him uncomfortable. 

Brown and of medium height, Marie Thérèse, the sister of Gaël, 27 years old, does not know this part of the story; she was only one year old at the time of the facts.

However, she remembers her arrival in Burkina Faso. After a long, deep sigh, she hints that it wasn’t easy. In addition to hairdressing, Marie Thérèse also runs a restaurant where she only delivers food. That’s not all, she is also a film actress. She joins her brother in the 7th art which she describes as a passion for her.

“Exile is a cemetery”

When we exchange with Gaël and Marie Thérèse, we immediately realize that exile has a bitter taste and the weight seems heavier on their shoulders. For Gaël, exile represents a “cemetery”. “When I sum up what I have experienced, what I have gone through in these different countries where I have lived, exile is a cemetery,” he  explains, before making it known that if he had the opportunity to end the exile, he would do so without hesitation.

After a long silence to catch his breath and calm down, he continues by saying that “when you are on an adventure, it is not easy, I sometimes want to shed tears. It’s not easy.”

This is also the perception of Marie Thérèse for whom “it is not easy to live outside one’s country”. She wants only one thing: to go back home. “I want to go home,” says Marie Thérèse, who wants to build her future in her native country. 

On his part, Gaël says he is confused about the idea of leaving or not. He explains this situation with an anecdote: “In 2018, I returned to Congo and there, I was called a foreigner. In Burkina Faso, I am reminded by my actions that I am Congolese. Finally, who am I? Should I leave or stay? I don’t know.”

According to him, living outside his country is a difficult ordeal that must be courageously faced. “When you are a foreigner, you do not have the same chances or the same opportunities,” he explains before denouncing the injustice and xenophobia he has experienced in some African countries.

It is in this sense that he says he has set up an association called the “Visionaries” whose objectives are the integration and enhancement of foreign artists in Burkina Faso.

In the Burkinabe capital, Gaël devotes himself to his activity as an artist. He has, to his credit, several shows including the 1st one which is entitled “sequels of curse” where he questions women raped by soldiers supposed to protect them. It is also a tribute to women victims of rape.

The 2nd show is called “three days of reflection”. It is the story of a young man who had three days to decide to enlist in terrorism for money. The 3rd show, “Calculatrice”, in which Gaël tells his story, his adventure by questioning the human who mistreats others while forgetting that he could also be in the place of the other. He has a repertoire in filmography including “Hors de nos pays”, a film of 26 minutes and “Nos maux”, 5min. If Marie Thérèse wants us to talk about her through hairdressing and wig making, Gaël, meanwhile, fights artistically to find a place in the sun.