This book started with two diametrically opposed stories about the relationship between Rwanda and Congo and the population astride them, and two incompatible conceptions of borders. The Vangu report, written in the midst of political turmoil in then-Zaïre, referenced hard and absolute borders between the countries. It portrayed the massive influx of Rwandan refugees after the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi as an “invasion,” as “conquest.” Kilalo’s words, on the other hand, spoke of cross-border connections and friendship, revealing a much more flexible and permeable perception of borders. These two ostensibly contradictory stories are vital to understanding social and political processes in the Lake Kivu region, now and in the past.