the Solidarity Economy: A Strategy to Restore Hope and Build Trust Among Congolese People of 21st Century

June 30, 1960, was a very sunny Thursday in the Belgian Congo, marked by celebrations of independence. Unfortunately, this sunshine was short-lived, for as early as the very next day, the country plunged into a multifaceted crisis that persists fifty years later, as revealed by the 2010 symposium on the theme "Rethinking Independence: The DR Congo 50 Years Later." The analysis presented here focuses on the plight of a population that has been marginalized and reduced to poverty under the ideological guise of a country said to be fabulously rich. It calls for a departure from this ideology, since wealth that is not harnessed for the benefit of the majority of the population serves no purpose. It also calls for breaking free from the paradigm of unbridled, omnipresent capitalism, which forces the majority of the population into a subsistence economy. Finally, it advocates for the paradigm of the solidarity economy, where communities initiate various enterprises aimed at creating wealth and learning democracy through the values specific to such an economy. Thus, the solidarity economy serves as a training ground for leaders dedicated to serving communities ready to take charge of their own futures.