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Mooto is a village in the Democratic Republic of the Congo located in the south of the province of Équateur, the city of Mbandaka. This village is part of the district of Equator and the territory of Bikoro, lying on Lake Tumba. The noun mooto means star, something that is bright and placed in a higher place. The main language of Mooto people is Lontomba, a language spoken in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The language code is "nto"; it has several alternate names: Lontomba, Luntumba, Ntomba, Ntumba, Ntomba-Bolia. Lontomba language is classified in group C35; Bangui-Ntomba. The concept "Mooto" is used in the United States and Canada to name martial arts equipment used for taekwondo, judo, and karate.
Contents
Map of Mooto, Democratic Republic of the Congo
History
Like other territories, Mooto has its origin. The ethnic that founded the village is called "Bompembe". This word means "a group of people who belong to the person named Mpembe", the common ancestor. Newcomers from other Ntomba or Mongo villages settled in Mooto over years. When they arrived in the village, the chief of the village, called "Nsom'ehe" or the first son the village assigned them specific portions of the land to fulfill their needs and built houses. And the place where each group of foreigners settled was called by the name of their ethnic group. The following ethnic groups constitute Mooto village: Bompenge, Bobaya, Ngandi, Mekombo, Bongoy, Bompembe, Mission, Meenge, Bonzebu, etc. In fact, Bompenge and Bobaya are called Palata. The whole village has three big parts, Liko i ehe (the north of the village) Iyongo i ehe (the Middle of the village) and Nse e ehe (the South of the village).
Religion
People believed that there is a God, called Nzakomba, Nkolo, Momba e Ibanda or Nyambe. However, they had certain non-Christian practices. In 1962, Roman Catholic missionaries from Belgium built a parish in Mooto. This parish is named Saint Emile. These missionaries belong to the congregation called Lazarist founded by Vincent de Paul. They have houses in the following places within the ecclesiastic province of Bikoro: Bikoro, Mooto, Bolobo, Irebu, Itipo, Iboko, Mbandaka, Maluku, and Kinshasa. Actually, there are three schools: an elementary school (E.P. Bonsinga), a high school (Institut Technique Agricole de Mooto), and a technical school where they train young people for vocational jobs. There is also a clinic or hospital since 1975. The main language is "Lontomba", one of the three local languages spoken in Bikoro. The priests uses Lingala as main language for communication. There are two Baptist churches in the village. Mooto people are poor, hard workers, and very nice toward foreigners or babutu in Lontomba language. They always receive foreign visitors with charity and respect.
Geography
Latitude:0°45'33.8" Longitude:18°1'13.8" Geographically, Mooto is located in the north of Kinshasa, the south of Mbandaka and the west of Lake Tumba. It is between the following villages Bobanda, Bwembete, Botale and Botende. So, Mooto is surrounded by the following villages: Botale (11.7 km), Bobanda (11.7 km), Liombo (16.6 km), Samba (18.4 km), Iyembe-Monene (18.5 km), Botende (18.5 km), Iyembe-Moke (19.9 km), Ehanga (20 km), Loposo (26.2 km), Ndote (27 km), Mpenda (30.5 km), Nyange (31.7 km), Elanga (31.8 km), Ibonzi (33.2 km), Moheli (33.5 km), Momboyo (33.5 km), Bokala (35 km), Ekata (35 km), Nkake (36.5 km), Bikoro (36.7 km), Mbuli (37.1 km), Bokonda-Watuli (38.8 km), Ikoko-Bonginda (41.1 km), and Lokuku (41.1 km)(http://travelingluck.com/Africa/Congo+(Kinshasa)/Congo,+Democratic+Republic+of+The+(general)/_2312533_Mooto.html)
There are two seasons in this region: the rainy and the dry seasons. In general, Mooto has a dry tropical wet and dry climate. It features a lengthy rainy season which spans from October through May and a relatively short dry season which runs between June and September. As it lies south of the equator, its dry season begins around its "winter" solstice, which is generally in June of each year. The dry season is slightly cooler than its wet season, though temperatures remain relatively constant throughout the year.
Like other Congolese people, Mooto citizens depend on the rainforest. The importance of the rain forest is noticed by Peace Tree International in the following words,"...is working to support people of the Lake Tumba tribes ... D.R.C in preserving their natural habitats and resources of their ancestral forest... We are working with the Bantomba tribe and the DRC conservation department on attaining land rights to this unique and important forest, to preserve natural resources for future generations as well as to create a conservation easement for the threatened species that live in the area."
Economy
There is trade between Mooto, Bikoro, Mbandaka, and Kinshasa, the Congolese capital. Agriculture is the main activity of Mooto, as in other towns of the Equatorial forest. The agriculture is based on products such cacao, coffee, corn, cassava, pepper, plantain,etc.
Beside agriculture, hunting is a significant activity during the rainy season. There was a period of high hunting in the village during which most savage animals were killed for business purpose (1970–1985). Between 1978 and 1997, the former bishop Frédéric Etsou Nzabi Bamubwabi (3/12/1930 – 6/1/2007) established a developmental center in the village called Centre de Dévellopment Rural de "Maenge", local name of the place where they built the centre. It is the main company in the area that provides certain people a paying job. This center went bankrupt for several years. They reopened it no later than 2010 by VZW Mooto & Bikoro (Raeymaekers-Verboven). Mooto people are poor, they literally survive with hunting, fishing, and farming.
Demographics
There are two groups of people living in Mooto village: Baoto or seniors and batua or pygmies. The man who lead the village is called in Lontomba language "Nsom'ehe", the first child of the village. Without his presence in a meeting or a conflict resolution, no decision can be made. Each social group within the village has been given its part of forest and its personal brooks by the head of the village. There are 6 ethnic groups in the whole village which are: Palata, Mekombo, Bongoy, Bompembe (where the head of the village stays), Mission (where the Catholic parish is located), Menge, and Mokau. The first white people to live in Mooto village were Belgian missionaries that belong to the Congregation of Saint Vincent de Paul. Other white people went there temporarily to preach the Bible and to build two churches. They are known as American missionaries of the Baptist Church in Congo. They used to preach the Gospel and stay in the village for several months before they go back to their headquarters in the village called Tondo.
There are also people from other villages and Congolese states who live in Mooto. For example, there are people from the following states: Bas-Congo, Bandundu, Kasai, and Kinshasa to name just a few. These people are established in Mooto village where they work as teachers, nurses, and businessmen.