Article 15

“Article 15 is something of a Congolese catchphrase, referring to a fictional but universally recognized 15th article of the country’s constitution, 

‘Débrouillez-vous’—‘figure it out yourself.’

“I hear it everywhere. It is simultaneously a testament to the Congolese love for droll humor, a weary acknowledgment of hardship, a screw-you to the establishment, and a motivational mantra:

“No one’s going to fix your problems. You must make do with what you’ve got.”

—From Ed Yong, “When The Next Plague Hits”, 2018, The Atlantic. In the above, he is talking about the first Ebola outbreaks in Congo.