HEAL Africa Staff Journals 2008
Read daily journal entries from HEAL Africa staff members about the current crisis.
November 28
Lyn Lusi-Program Manager
Goma
November 9
Joseph Ciza
Rutshuru
>We set off about 8am, with Hortance our media officer, and Dr Warren from Samaritan’s Purse. We met the last FARDC barrier at Monigi, and they let us through without any problem. The first CNDP forces are just north of Kibati, and they did not give us any trouble. There is no one on the road apart from military. The houses are deserted.
Near Katale, we passed a convoy of about 20 lorries, loaded with people and food coming down from Kanyabayonga. These traders were blocked up north by the fighting, and they are now prepared to risk the journey south. One truck had overturned just outside Rutshuru, and we found about 15 injured people in Rutshuru hospital, with MSF treating the injured.
We went to explain our mission to the new administrator of the territory. He is a CNDP appointee; he is living in the house of the former Administrator, who fled during last week’s fighting. Dr Alexis was also there, the CNDP health officer, who knows us from our work in Kitshanga.
Rutshuru Hospital is considered the safest place around. The people start congregating there around 3 in the afternoon, and stay all night, sleeping anywhere they can find a space on the ground. Then they go to their houses in the morning. I found Mme Semerita, our counselor, and her husband, who have fled from Kiwanja. There is fear and uncertainty in the population. We went on to Kiwanja, and found the same thing is happening there.
The population of Kiwanja is crowded around the MONUC base. Conditions are deplorable. There are no latrines, very little water, no food. Around 15000 people are crowded up to the barbed wire outside the MONUC base. They are begging for help. But the new authorities refuse to allow distributions of humanitarian aid. They have destroyed completely the IDP settlements, and there is not a trace of anything that was left when the fugitives scattered last week.
Hortance recorded some interviews with mothers and young people. People want to go back to their homes, but they are very afraid. Fear dominates over hunger and the very real danger of cholera. The Mayi Mayi are 15 kms north, and 20kms away on the Ishasha road to the north east. That’s really not very far, so the calm is superficial. We can read anxiety and despair on the faces of these people.
HEAL Africa women’s house in Kiwanja was not looted, but all our staff have fled to Kiwanja. I met Fred, the secretary of the Nehemiah Committee, and we visited the Health Centre at Buturande. The sister in charge was very glad to see us. She is receiving about 40 patients a day. The most needed medicine for these people is food and water.
We collected the HEAL Africa vehicle from the MONUC compound where it has been parked for the last two weeks; but it is too late to go back to Goma now. We are spending the night at the Catholic parish in Rutshuru.
November 8
Joseph CIza
Rural areas surrounding Goma
Yesterday I went out to visit our Rape Counsellors in Kitchanga, the CNDP stronghold in Masisi territory, North West of Goma. The roads are quiet and there has been no fighting there during the past two weeks. The trouble has all concentrated around Goma.
I am very anxious to visit as many of our rural staff as possible and encourage them to keep up the services. I supervise 120 volunteer rape counsellors and 40 staff and this program is needed now more than ever. The four ladies in the women’s house in Kitchanga are working normally. The fighting is 20 kilometres away, in Nyanzale and Kibirizi. I wonder what has happened to our staff out there. No one can give me any precise information because the Celtel relay stations stopped working; there is no phone coverage. When the phone networks go down, of course I am more anxious than ever about our colleagues there.
Today, Saturday, the town is still calm, but very tense. After the fighting in Kibati yesterday, with people once again streaming into town, there was a sudden panic. People feared it was the CNDP attack: shops were shut and padlocked in a minute as the panic spread; people fled home, and locked themselves in. The CNDP ‘mopping up operations’ in Kiwanja took place right in front of the MONUC forces. So in Goma, the big fear is that MONUC will not be able to protect the civilian population, if the CNDP take the town. The FARDC are also nervous; many reinforcements have come into the town from different brigades, some armed, some unarmed. They do not appear to have any commander, and wander around uncoordinated.
For the displaced people, no food is distributed in the town of Goma. It is all done outside; the nearest is at Kibati. Stephan, our logistician, attended the OCHA coordination and security meeting. The information they give us is out of date before they pass it on. They say, ‘No reported incidents’. WFP and UNICEF then organise a humanitarian convoy out to Kibati and on the way they come under cross-fire, and have to come back to Goma.
HEAL Africa is trying to help the groups that are off the agency radar screens, like those in Minova and Buganga. This morning, we packed our truck with disinfectant, clothes, plastic sheeting, and some food that came on the second Samaritan’s Purse relief flight. We drove out to Minova to those groups of displaced people who have come down from the hills. But there were no local authorities around, no security people at all to help with a distribution. People were clamouring and disorganized. They tell me 4 children have died of diarrhea. But I remember the scenes at Kanyaruchinya, where children were trampled underfoot. We cannot risk a distribution like that. These people from the hills had never had any distribution so far, and that means they have no organisation.
We talked to the representatives of the different groups. We promised them we would come back on Monday, but in the meantime, they must get themselves organized, and appoint a committee. It may seem harsh to you, when the need is so desperate, but there is no other way to avoid doing more harm than good.
Sunday after church we will try to go up the main road north, through the front lines, to see what has happened to our colleagues in Kiwanja and Rutshuru. Please pray for our safety.
November 6, 2008
Joseph Ciza
Rural areas surrounding Goma
As far as I know, none of our friends has lost their life in the reprisals. But Rutshuru and Kiwanja are in desolation. The MayiMayi attacked the CNDP in Kiwanja, and then CNDP sent in all their forces to reduce the Mayi Mayi to nothing. The reprisals were horrible, with fighters going house to house killing the men that they found. We don’t know how many were killed. The population is very angry, but they have no strength to resist. We are very disillusioned. This terrible killing happened under the eyes of the MONUC forces, and they are also powerless to intervene.
I went out yesterday with the emergency team from Samaritan’s Purse to see the people in Buganga camp, and we will go back there again today. Buganga is near the northwest corner of Lake Kivu. These villagers have run once again and have now gone just across the border into South Kivu. They are people from Masisi territory, from Kabashe, Karuba, Ngungu and the hills around. These miserable and desperate people have been on the run since September and October, when the clashes started between FARDC and CNDP in the west. They are fleeing the crossfire and they are afraid that their men will be forcibly recruited into either of the armies, or killed.
Last time I saw them, they were settled near Kirotshe. But with the rout of the FARDC last week, they were once again looted. Soldiers took their plastic sheeting for their own camps, leaving the civilian families shivering in the rain. We saw 1550 families (x 6 for the number of people) in a river valley running through Prigogine’s coffee plantation. There are no springs or clean wells. People are drinking untreated river water, the same river where people wash, and cows and goats drink. There are no latrines; the people have no food.
I talked to the Medical Officer of Kirotshe zone. Yesterday, he had 18 confirmed cases of cholera, and we fear many more. The problem now is an administrative one: they people have moved into South Kivu, so they are off the radar screen of the agencies around Goma. They are too far from Bukavu to get help from that province. Thank God, I got a call from our friends in Australia, CNEC, they responded immediately with a generous donation to fight the cholera. So today, we are planning to take out water purification tablets, and 20 litre jerry cans. We will also take some plastic sheeting to leave at Kirotshe. That may encourage the people to come back and camp near the hospital where they can get clean water and be nearer to the North Kivu aid agencies. That’s a small advantage for HEAL Africa of being a local NGO – we do not have to stop at borders! We can go where the need is.
I am trying to arrange to get our vehicles back from the north. We are hobbled without them. We will send drivers up to Butembo by plane, and I will try to negotiate safe passage with the commander of the CNDP, to allow them to drive south to Goma.
We will keep you posted.
Peace for Congo
November 4,
Dr. Jo Lusi
Goma
Goma is moving again, but not as much as the past two days. People are scared the rebels will attack again. Their body language shows that they expect something worse to happen, they are expecting another crisis soon. The rebels (General Nkunda and CNDP) have taken Kiwanja, Rutshuru, and are moving towards Kahina. The weapons they have cannot be attributed to a small rebel group. They have big guns, strong guns, and cannot come from just a rebel movement. The language between Congo, Rwanda, and Nkunda right now is not good. It seems that they all have different agendas, none of which is immediate peace.
Food is able to come to Goma now, but it is very expensive. The trucks passing on militia held roads have to pay a tax to get through. Food in Goma has doubled in price.
Cholera has began to break out north of Goma. In Kiwanja 50 cases were reported. We are worried that if there are more refugees who come to Goma that it could break out here. We received 50 patients of war-related injuries today-both civilian and military. The problem we are facing is that the supplies we have are not sufficient for a crisis. We want to plan, we pray there is not a crisis, but we want to be prepared if there is. Right now, we are not ready.
We may purchase medicine and supplies locally, but we are treating everyone for free now, so it makes it difficult to replace everything we are using. Our doctors and nurses are working around the clock and performing surgery everyday.
The prime minister of DR Congo was in Goma yesterday and is going back to the capitol, Kinshasa, with recommendations. It will be difficult to come to an agreement. A ‘big man’ must make them all sit down together because now there is not motivation for peace between the opposing parties.
But, for now, Goma is quiet.
November 3
Dr. Jo Lusi
Goma
Today we've had some peace and there have been no shootings. Life is coming back to normal, we have sent children to school and people are back to work. The government is also reopening its offices.
People who are fighting the rebels are still very near, they are 10 km from here. But we have gone out of our houses and into the streets.
Everybody is confused about the ceasefire, we don't know if its long lasting. But at least no bullets have been shot.
We are running out of food because the road is blocked. People are afraid to go to the fields, so what is left of food is getting very expensive and some are sharing what they have.
At the hospital, we are now treating the patients who were burned or wounded, but we haven't had any bullet wounds.
We are still very happy that the rebels have declared a ceasefire. At least, the shooting has stopped and life has become more acceptable.
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November 2
Diary of Joseph Ciza Nakamina, Director of HEAL Africa’s North Kivu GBV programs
Goma
It’s a bright sunny Sunday after the fierce storms of yesterday. The night was quiet. No incidents were reported by the nyumba kumi (heads of ten households). Timothée Akilimali, head of our GBV Rapid Intervention team, was not called once, thank God.
Goma life appears normal today. The little street markets are back at work. Goma people are very devout and they are going in large numbers to their churches to give thanks for surviving the week. Don’t we appreciate their life so much more after a near brush with death?
I try to negotiate the ambulance to go out to visit our GBV counselors in Mugunga and Bulengo IDP camps west of Goma, to see how they have fared in the past week and encourage them. Unfortunately, I can’t get the car. Most HA vehicles are blocked north of the front lines, and the ambulance has other work.
I phoned the head counselor, Françoise Namuganga, to get her news. She is very distressed: the FARDC came into the IDP camp on Wednesday, as they were fleeing towards Minova, and looted all the money she had at gunpoint and took all her clothes. Françoise comes from Karuba and is already displaced by the war; but the meagre possessions left to the inhabitants of the camp have now been taken by the very people who should protect them. The counselors feel totally without protection, both in Mugunga and Bulengo camps. MONUC is far away in Mubambiro. Even the police fled in front of the military. Many soldiers abandoned their uniforms as they fled, and those uniforms have been picked up by bandits. Now it is hard to distinguish who is military and who is a bandit.
Even in this weird state of suspense, hoping for peace and expecting an attack at any moment, the demands of life go on. I have to finish my end of month reports, so I will stay home with the family for the rest of the day and do my chores.
November 1
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Diary of Joseph Ciza Nakamina
Director of HEAL Africa’s North Kivu GBV programs
Goma
A tense but quiet night, thank God. In the early evening, there was gunfire by the airport, and we thought, “This is it! They are attacking!” But it died down. It was probably looters meeting a patrol. Col. Padiri has given orders to shoot looters on sight. Two dead men in military uniforms were left outside ULPGL gates (Université Libre des Pays des Grands Lacs), to make sure the message gets through to the others.
I left the house at 8 am. It makes my children anxious when I leave. My oldest son, Jean-Felix, who is six years old, has refused to eat. He is afraid all the time that the soldiers will break in. He asks, “When will the war end? When can I go back to school?” Even if some shops are open again in town, the schools have not re-opened. The stalemate could flash back into war at any minute, so parents are afraid to let their children out of their sight.
My wife is also anxious when I leave; she is finding it hard to feed us. No fresh food has come into town because no one will risk sending their truck out past the multiple army check points. The depots are not open, for fear of looting; a sack of beans is selling for 80$. A few Rutshuru traders got their trucks into the humanitarian convoy yesterday, bringing some vegetables and bananas to the market.
I took a car and drove out of town to Kayaruchinya, a health center just north of the airport. There’s not much traffic about because people don’t want to risk their car or motorbike being requisitioned by the military. What a contrast to the usual scene of bumper to bumper vehicles, with the cloud of motorbike taxis weaving in and out like mosquitoes.
The scene in Kanyaruchinya breaks my heart. There must be around 10 000 people crowded round the health centre. They are despondent, sitting in lines, waiting for someone to bring them help. The scenes of yesterday are fresh in their memory. Two children were crushed to death underfoot by adults in their rush to grab a handful of biscuits. These people have been waiting in the torrential rain, and the sun, without shelter, without water, since Tuesday. Kanyaruchinya is at the foot of the volcano: there are no wells, no streams, and no piped water in this vast expanse of black volcanic rock.
October 31
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Lyn Lusi
HEAL Africa Program Director
Goma
Dear friends,
Today was a strange mixture of reality and unreality in Goma. The threat of violent catastrophe is very close – just 10 kilometers north of the town, where Nkunda is waiting out the results of negotiations. If he doesn’t like what is offered, he will probably advance before the French have time to send in the troops they have promised. We are grateful for the UN troops, because they are standing firm despite being so few and facing off heavy odds.
At prayers this morning, Jo was with most of the staff, and the feeling of relief at still being alive and unharmed, with so many casualties all around, turned into praise and dancing. Those of you who know HEAL Africa can imagine the scene. The children who were repaired yesterday are stable today. Please continue to pray for their mother, so traumatized.
I had a call from Theo Musululu (driver) this morning. He and Roger Basungele were waiting for an airlift on the MONUC helicopter, to bring them back to Goma from Kiwanja. Eric Kajibwami has gone over the border into Uganda, to try to get home by road. The team in Butembo is also preparing to come by road via Uganda.
Behind the Nkunda lines, from Kibati up to Rutshuru, his troops have broken up the displaced people’s camps and scattered the people, and burned the installations. People are fleeing once again.
So much now depends on the outcome of the negotiations, in UN, in Eu and the African Union. Please pray for wisdom for the negotiators. The stakes are not the concerns of one rebel warlord. They cover the whole region, and they affect the interests of faceless big business around the world.
I leave tomorrow for RSA for the preparation of our Canadian research program. Dr Likofata had to travel via Kinshasa, and his flight was cancelled.
Thank you once again for all your prayers and messages. We know we are all one family in this trial.
October 30
Lyn Lusi
HEAL Africa Program Director
Goma
Dear friends,
Please be reassured for all of us. We have woken up safely. After a night of shooting in the town, all is quiet, and Jo and I and about half the staff are at the hospital. CNDP are outside the town, and they do not want to engage the MONUC – that would be a major diplomatic faux pas. So probably the wisest thing the Congolese army could do was to run away. The shops are mostly intact, thanks to the police patrolling the main streets. Some of the military are coming back into town.
The casualties are many, especially from the populated areas, where most of the looting occurred in private houses. One family near ULPGL lost seven children. The bandits were also out in force, including the ones that come over from Gisenyi
Pray for the family of Mrs Esanga and her family. They are all here in the hospital. All four children were seriously injured and the mother was tortured. They put a grenade under the mattress of the six-year old, where he was sleeping. I went into surgery while Jo and Kimona were repairing the older brother, putting his liver and intestines back. We pray he will survive. Such cruelty is incomprehensible. It has nothing to do with war; it is banditry and terrorism.
Saturday, I am supposed to go to RSA with Dr Likofata and Dr Bitwe for the research training. We will decide on that one tomorrow, after seeing how we get through this night.
With best wishes.
LL
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October 29
Lyn Lusi
HEAL Africa Program Director
Goma
Dear friends,
Here we are again – next chapter from Kafka’s posthumous novel called Goma.
Sadly, Colonel Padiri’s 800 well armed and organized defense force holding Kibumba and Kabati did not last till lunch time. The FARDC are fleeing back into Goma, looting shops and taking vehicles to pack their loot in. They are probably heading for Bukavu. The population is fleeing with them, down from Kibumba and Kibati, and flooding into town. All the humanitarians are collected together in Ihusi hotel and VIP Palace.
There is still no sign of CNDP or Rwandan troops in town. But when I drove back past the governor’s offices (Musée) the gates were open and there were no guards – it was deserted! Can no one stand up for their rights in this crazy country?
I came back to the house around 4pm and the town centre was an eerie sight. All the shops were shut and padlocked, but there were hundreds of young men standing around outside, just waiting for the soldiers to come by and break in. Jo is still at the hospital to deal with emergencies. He says the FARDC came to take away the ambulances, but Jo would not let them have them. They tried to take my little RAV4 on the way home but I had a car full of people and we did not stop to pick up any hitch hikers! Now there is sporadic shooting all over town. It’s not fighting, it’s the sort of shooting that goes with looting; the target is padlocks. The danger to civilians is stray bullets. In Birere, Prince’s father has just now caught a stray bullet in the leg.
Roger Basungeli, Theo Musululu and Eric Kajibwami are located and unharmed, but stuck in Kiwanja. They tried to get into the MONUC compound but were not allowed in because they are not on the priority list. I think they are probably better off outside, because inside there are 60 soldiers and 80 humanitarians, and the enemy has cut off their water. Nor is there any likelihood of them being evacuated by the MONUC. The other teams are all safely in Butembo.
And a bright spot: today, our nurses wrote to the Nurses’ Union to say they are going back to work, whatever the union decides.
We are very touched by your messages of encouragement and your promises to continue to pray and also push advocacy with the press. This is the time for people to ask what the real reason for this war is, and put spotlight the underlying greed that fuels it. In case you didn’t see this photo documentary last time, check it now: The Rape of a Nation, by Marcus Bleasdale on http://www.mediastorm.org <http://www.mediastorm.org/>
Have a good evening.
LL
Lyn Lusi
HEAL Africa Program Director
Goma
Please do not be overly anxious about us all in Goma. It was a quiet night, and we are all preparing to go to work today as usual.
We need your prayers for the situation. The Congolese army was not putting up much resistance against the CNDP, who have much superior weapons and command and have been heavily reinforced. They took Rumangabo and Kibumba, and are heading north to Rutshuru and south to Goma. The Congolese government calls it an invasion; the Rwandan government says it is a rebellion.
HA hospital has had 5 seriously injured Congolese military from Kibumba, two of whom died. There were also three civilian deaths and several injuries when MONUC fired on the crowd in Goma. They are also at HA.
MONUC has withdrawn all its forces to barracks. It seems they have no overall commander at the moment for the country, so it is unlikely they will intervene.
Some of our guests have decided to leave today in case they close the border. It is difficult to predict what will happen next. I will keep you informed, but do not be anxious.
Please pray for our teams out in the field: Neema (Safe Motherhood) in Masisi, Enfant Comme Nous (Hortense, Audrey) in Kayna, Home Based Care (Roger) in Rutshuru, PMTCT (Dr William and Ghislain) in Binza. Pray they will be protected and return safely home to their families.
Thank you for praying.
LL
From the afternoon:
Here is a brief update. Today, as you can imagine, has been very disturbed with ‘wars and rumors of wars’. The CNDP have taken Rutshuru. Rwanguba zone is packed with Rwandan military. FARDC have withdrawn from Kiwanja before the arrival of the CNDP, and are heading north. But MONUC assure us that the CNDP cannot come south to Goma, and they are keeping them at bay with helicopter gunships.
We are glad to tell you that Hortense is back – apparently came back separately at the weekend. Also the Safe Motherhood team with Neema got back this afternoon from Masisi, where everything is still calm. Audrey, Roger Basungeli and Dr William and Ghislain have all gone north and are planning to meet in Kayna; then they will go on to Butembo together and try to get a flight back to Goma.
Col Peet, Ben and Katy from Crown College have gone home. Cristina and Chelsea will stay in Kigali, and look for a way to get to Beni to spend some time helping Mme Dr Kasali with the women’s income generating activities. Desiree, Christiane and Flaubert will spend this evening in Gisenyi, and hopefully tomorrow we will carry on with the workshop they are here to do.
Thank you so much for all your help and prayers.
With love.
LL
I apologise for the lack of news over the past few weeks. Here are some updates and eye witness reports from our teams.
Ciza’s mission
Ciza went north on November 18th, through Kayna and Kanyabayonga, taking PEP and medicines for the Sexual Violence programme. He saw the destruction of these prosperous towns – now looted and empty of inhabitants. The government army looted, and the Mai Mai and PARECO (local defense militias) tried to stop them. After three government soldiers were killed, there were repraisals against young men. The official death toll was 4, but Ciza has testimony of many others unreported. Particularly sad was the murder of a Primary School director, left unburied outside his school. The population is still in the bush, many for ten days now.
Ciza reports that all but two health structures are closed, and the personnel have fled. The two that are still open are Kayna hospital with three nurses, and CSR Rebois with 6 nurses. There were no doctors in the whole region. MSF-France medicine depot has been looted and there is serious lack of medicines, especially oral rehydration salts for diarrhea. (I saw on today’s news that MSF are sending a team back to Kayna, and Merlin in Butembo are preparing to send down some medicines.)
Ciza went to find our staff and encourage them. The situation is bad: the women’s house in Kanyabayonga has been looted and taken over by the military. The house in Kayna has been completely looted, but fortunately, the team going north at the end of October had taken the two motorbikes to Butembo, and the little generator. The counselors and trainers of the programme have fled with the rest of the population so it is very hard to offer services to the many women who have been raped. One woman from Kayna was murdered when she fought back against the soldiers trying to rape her.
Ciza went north with three drivers to bring back the vehicles that are stranded in Butembo. I don’t know if they managed to bring them back safely – I will let you know when I know
Noella’s mission
Noella, our staff person who works with families affected by HIV AIDS, sent me a report today of her supervision in Kirotshe. She went to see how the families in the solidarity groups were faring after all these wars and displacement (children affected by HIV and orphans). She was very surprised and happy to see that all the children had managed to complete their school year, and no one had died in these recent wars. She is now ready to redistribute the funds that were put aside in savings groups, to reinforce the capital for their income generating activities. Many families are hungry, because they have fled from their fields that have been looted by soldiers of one side or another.
Neema’s mission
She’s a bulldozer – undeterred by anything. She went out on Monday to Kitshanga and Birambizo for supervision. No more news yet until she gets back, because the Celtel antennas serving that region were put out of action by the CNDP, Laurent Nkunda’s militia.
Lyn’s contacts
I’ve been away too much recently. In South Africa, we prepared the research to examine our Safe Motherhood program as an example of primary health care. The trip to Germany gave me the chance to learn a lot of facts and studies about the link between mineral extraction and war, especially in D R Congo. I had good discussions with the EED (German government aid) about advocacy work with them, and a program for Gender and Justice which will start in May 2009. Tuesday evening was the German Parliamentary meeting, and I was on a panel with three experts on politics, the military situation and the way forward. I presented the humanitarian aspects of the conflict, which gave me a chance to speak on behalf of all the civilians caught up in this endless and horrible violence.
Back home, the team here has worked to prepare a plan for working with the Nehemiah committees to help reintegrate demobilized child soldiers. We need your prayers on this. We need expertise and experience like probation officers or social workers used to delinquents. We need wisdom.
Thank you so much for your prayers and constant concern and support.
With best wishes.
LL
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