Tearfund’s Justine Nola reports on the latest from the Democratic Republic of Congo following the withdrawal of M23 forces from the city of Goma.
Life in Goma is slowly starting to show signs of getting back to ‘normal’ but there’s still a lot of uncertainty about what will happen next.
We’re coming into the city every day but not staying overnight because there’s a feeling it could all change very dramatically in just a few hours.
There’s been no overall reduction in the 130,000-140,000 displaced people who have come to Goma to escape fighting, as those who’ve left for home have been replaced by others who have experienced conflict in other parts of North Kivu province.
Our partner Heal Africa has been doing incredible work at its hospital treating the critically injured. They’re now catching their breath and doing what they can to support children living in camps.
Unusable
Fellow partner PPSSP is doing similar work in camps, providing essential items to 1,500 children.
Today we went with them to some of the smaller, more forgotten makeshift camps that sprung up in schools on the outskirts of Goma which have now been vacated.
These buildings accommodated up to 30 families each and have been left in an unusable state. Latrines are full, doors are missing after being used for firewood and water tanks have been damaged. We’ll be looking at what we can do to help them reopen so children can go back to school.
Elisabeth, the director of one school that we visited, told me how the classrooms had become impromptu delivery wards as four babies had been born there to displaced women. Two of the babies were named after Elisabeth.
'One of the reasons people came to shelter in our school was because it's concrete so doesn’t get shot through, although the glass in the windows was shot out,' said Elisabeth.
'Because there isn’t enough water in the community, we weren't able to keep the latrines as clean as we can.'
** Resilient**
Despite such upheaval, the people of Goma are incredibly resilient and resourceful. A decade ago, they got over a volcanic eruption that destroyed a quarter of the city and have dealt with many conflicts previously.
They will get through this but they have been hurt physically and emotionally.
Churches are doing what they can to help people. One local pastor has been collecting donations to help those living in camps and distributing baby clothes made by local women to mothers who had to leave everything behind when they fled the fighting.
Throughout this pastors have been very courageous, continuing to meet on Sundays and working out ways to support people in need.
We need to support them with our prayers, asking God to give them strength. Please pray too for our partners to have wisdom in responding to people’s needs.
Also we should remember that while Goma has been going through this for the last three weeks, there are parts of North Kivu that have been going through this for the last six months.