Having
had the chance to explore the world from an early age, Giovanni had
developed a taste for travel and traveling the world. Thus was born
in him the taste for adventure.
Of
Italian parents, Giovanni di Gualtieri was born on January 26, 1889,
in Rome. As a child, he spent his time reading the stories of the
great explorers who marked the history of the world. The navigator
Christopher Columbus (1451-1506) and the explorer journalist Henry
Morton Stanley (1841-1904) were his favorites.
What
marked him in Christopher Columbus was his thirst for navigation, and
his know-how which had earned him the confidence of the Spanish
sovereigns, and the discovery of America in 1492, which was the most
important event marking the passage from the Middle Ages to modern
times.
And
what marked him about Henry Morton Stanley was his exploration of
Africa and his search for David Livingstone.
Living
in the old continent (Europe), days turned to months, and months
turned to years of boredom. Because the monotony of the old continent
had won over many people, and explorers were becoming more and more
rare.
Wanting
to give a facelift or dust off the best work in the world (according
to him), he decided to study Cartography (Cartography is the
production and study of geographical and geological maps.) in order
to define the space of States, and the spaces of explored and
unexplored territories, which he could visit if the opportunity
arose.
And
it's with a mention Good, that he obtained his professional license
in land use planning and town planning, cartography option.
But
being an Italian, the opportunities to explore the world and discover
new lands were minimal. Because Italy had only Italian East Africa as
a colony and was located in East Africa. It was formed by the merger
of the territories of Ethiopia with Italian Somalia and Eritrea.
And
unfortunately for him, there were already a lot of Italians who
resided in this colony. Hence, his room for maneuver was reduced
because Italy didn't have a lot of overseas territory.
This
is how he was forced to learn the French language in order to
naturalize French, in order to have a large margin of maneuver and
realize his dream of exploring the world. Because the French had
several colonies in the world (In America; in the West Indies and the
Caribbean; in Africa with in particular French North Africa;
sub-Saharan Africa consisting of French Equatorial Africa and French
West Africa).
And
after obtaining French nationality, he succeeded in perfecting his
French and taught it during his free time.
But
unfortunately for him, the opportunities didn't present themselves,
and he didn't have the necessary funds to attempt the adventure
alone. Hence, he put aside his dreams of explorers.
The
time passed; the young man of old had grown old and his adolescent
dream (that of becoming an explorer) was thrown into the sea of
oblivion (He no longer thought of becoming an
explorer.).
One
day, while he was with his only son Alessandro, he noticed a strange
thing about the child. In the sense that, the child was drawing
imaginary territories to which he wanted to visit. Like a wave of a
magic wand, he remembered that at one time he wanted to be an
explorer. He saw himself in the child and tears began to flow from
him.
Not
wanting to worry his child, he went to his room to cry quietly.
Because the child's drawing had opened a wound which had healed over
time.
Raising
his shoulders, he stopped crying and spoke to himself, saying: Old
man, it's true that you have rusted with time. But deep inside you is
still that little inner voice, that vision, that passion for
exploration that you had when you were a kid. Strengthen yourself and
take courage, for you will make your dream come true.
And
after having monologized, he added the name explorer to his original
name. Hence, he was now called: Explorer Giovanni di Gualtieri and
considered himself such (an explorer) although he had never explored
anything.
And
one day, divine providence knocked on his door, in the sense that
where he worked, we were trying to send a man with a team to go and
explore a land which is at the mouth of Congo (The discovery of Congo
is attributed to the navigator Diogo Câo who approached the
mouth of the river in 1482.) called: Moyen-Congo (Current Republic of
Congo).
And
this land was separated from Leopard City (current Democratic
Republic of Congo) by the Congo River (The Congo River is the second
largest river in the world for its high flow “average annual
flow in Brazzaville and Kinshasa of about 41,500 m3/s” and at a
length of about 4,700 km.).
Gentleman
he was, before he accepted the position offered to him, he had a long
discussion with his wife. And during one of their discussion, his
wife said to him: Honey, are we going to leave everything we have
built to go and live elsewhere? What will happen to our respective
families? What will people say about us?
And
Giovanni answered his wife: My family is you and Alessandro. It
doesn't matter where we are, as long as we're together, I don't care
where. And Giovanni will eventually convince his wife and son to
follow him on his adventure.
Giovanni
landed in the Middle Congo (current Republic of Congo), with a whole
team of which he was the head and met King Makoko (King of the Téké
Kingdom).
The
King said to him: What have you come here to seek?
Giovanni
replied: I have come in peace, oh my King! We are pilgrims in search
of new lands.
And
the King said to him: With us, we have no more free space, everything
is occupied as you can see.
Giovanni
replied: Oh my King, we did not come here with empty hands, here are
our presents. And the King showed his hospitality by welcoming
Giovanni and all his team.
And
it is after several exchanges with King, that Giovanni signed a
treaty of friendship with the King, September 10, 1950. And the two
exchanged their respective civilizations.
Having
arrived with his wife and son, Giovanni felt at home, because he had
found another home where he was loved. He and his whole team were
teaching people in the Middle Congo to read and write.
Clara
(Giovanni's wife) was a nurse and was modeled after Florence
Nightingale (Florence Nightingale “1820-1910” was a
British nurse who pioneered modern nursing and the use of statistics
in health care. She was also an important figure in English feminism
and the abolition of prostitution.).
For
Clara, Florence Nightingale was a remarkable example of compassion,
dedication to patient care and the conscientious and caring
administration of hospitals.
This
is why, Clara showed this same compassion towards the inhabitants of
the Middle Congo by giving them appropriate care.
Giovanni
and Clara had entered the hearts of the Congolese forever through
their works (Construction of Congo Ocean railway; construction of
factories; construction of new roads...). For this purpose, a museum
has been set aside for them so that future generations can remember
them and their history.
Contact
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