When he boarded the flight to Rwanda on May 15, Amin Sama, a professor of English literature at a college in Bhuj, was looking forward to his first trip abroad and a two-week vacation with his childhood friend, who had been settled in the Democratic Republic of Congo for two decades.What followed was nothing short of a nightmare. The 36-year-old assistant professor from Bhuj’s Ramji Ravji Lalan College was stranded in Goma city, the capital of North Kivu province in Congo, after the borders were sealed following the Ebola outbreak.From an itinerary that would begin with Zanzibar island – historically known as the first port of call for Gujarati traders of yore who sailed on ancient sea routes – to Mount Kilimanjaro, Tanzania, and the Maasai Mara safari in Kenya, Sama and his friend could only manage a bit of sightseeing in Rwanda on May 16.On May 17, they got the news that the borders had closed. Ebola had struck Congo, which had to be isolated.The professor thought the closure would not last more than a week, but two weeks passed, then three, and there was still no sign of relief.For a month, Sama was stranded in a city that had already lost some of its “vibrant nightlife” after it was taken over by the Rwandan-backed rebel group, the March 23 Movement (M23), exacerbated by the Ebola virus outbreak. And Sama, an avid biker who has taken adventure trips to Ladakh, was so anxious to return home as college had also reopened, that he could not concentrate on anything else. “I had taken along the travelogue, ‘With Cyclists Around the World’, but could barely read a few pages,” he told this paper.‘Sight of the militia’“There were militia everywhere on the road, carrying weapons and seated on armed pickup trucks. For the most part, normal civilians are not stopped and harassed. But there is certainly a sense of tension and unease in the air of Goma city,” said Sama.Story continues below this adAfter the M23 took over some parts of the country, at least five Indian acquaintances of his friend moved out of Goma. “My friend, who has settled there since 2006-07 and owns two multi-cuisine restaurants in the city, told me he never thought of leaving Congo but saw many of his Indian friends leaving due to the unstable situation,” Sama further said.People gave Sama the impression that civilians had nothing to worry about, except for the Ebola outbreak, though there was no “lockdown”. “We would ride through the city late at night after my friend closed his restaurant for the day, and it was still safe. But people told me the city earlier had a vibrant nightlife. Business has halved because many people have moved out, and foreigners here now mostly include international volunteers from the UN agencies, Red Cross, and other organisations.”Goma city lies on the eastern edge of the DR Congo side of the border, opposite Gisenyi city of Rwanda, bordered by Lake Kivu to the south. It has been among the areas controlled by the rebel militia group M23 since early 2025 and is administered by the Congo River Alliance, known by its French name Alliance Fleuve Congo (AFC), along with M23. The US imposed economic sanctions on these groups in July 2024.Before the Ebola outbreak, the border between the countries was busy, Sama said, with several taxis and transportation vehicles parked at the checkpoints, especially on the Goma side, as many from Gisenya come here to work.Story continues below this ad“It is a twin-city type of situation, leading to a lot of commuting between the urban centres. Locals told me that the border closure has impacted this system.”Uncle to the rescueDesperate to get out, Sama met immigration officials who had no idea when the borders would open. The first thing he did was to cancel his return ticket on May 31 to India. “I contacted the Indian High Commission in Kigali, Rwanda, and then the Embassy in Kinshasa, DR Congo, but to no avail.”Finally, an uncle who works as a translator in the Gujarat assembly met Deputy Chief Minister Harsh Sanghavi to seek intervention to evacuate Sama. “The deputy CM asked the Non-Resident Gujarati Foundation (NRGF), a state government body, to intervene, and they did, constantly conducting correspondence with Indian officials and me till the time I was safely on my way back to India,” he said.On June 17, Prof Sama was among several other foreign nationals, including Indians, allowed to cross the sealed Goma-Gisenyi border from the Congo side into Rwanda under special circumstances, and then driven 154 km directly to Kigali airport in government vehicles.Story continues below this adThat evening, he boarded an Ethiopian Airlines flight from Kigali International Airport, Rwanda, bound for Bole Airport in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. From there, the same airlines flew him closer home to Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, Mumbai, on the morning of June 18. From there, he travelled to Kutch and was reunited with his anxious family – parents, wife, and two kids – who had been waiting for him for a whole month.About two weeks back at home and back to college, Sama, who is originally from Keshod, Junagadh, “slept for long hours”. “Spending time with my family and the children has helped me relax and unwind,” he said, checking his phone once in a while for updates on the country where he spent a forced vacation.