TOPSHOT - Former members of the "Kuluna" gang, now serving in the national service, are clearing out storm drains ahead of the rainy season in Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, on September 1, 2026. Brooms in hand and faces covered in tattoos, the cleaning crew got hard to work clearing the rubbish that choked a boulevard in central Kinshasa. In a vast city without public bins, no one had bothered to clean the mess, until these unlikely street-sweepers showed up: a team of former gang members drafted into a paramilitary National Service force. Since appearing on the streets in June in their blue overalls and yellow boots, the recruits, nicknamed "builders", have been praised for shifting piles of detritus -- but also for beating and abusing their fellow citizens. (Photo by GLODY MURHABAZI / AFP via Getty Images)