For as long as I have been alive, I have known that there has been a war in the Democratic Republic of Congo. As a Congolese person, the war has always been a conversation, a prayer point, and a lingering thought within the community. Mentions of back home would always be linked to violence, rape, and turmoil.

On the rare occasions when mainstream news outlets would report on Congo, I would see images of women and children fleeing, trying to escape the war. But there was always little information related to why our people were suffering. The crisis has always been painted as just another war among Africans. There is never any mention of coltan, the mineral used in electronics such as iPhones, tablets, and laptops. It’s this mineral that is at the heart of the war.