with h
Mama Suzike, widowed by the fighting, feeds her family with church food aid(Photo: © Diocese of Bukavu) Disturbing reports of new attacks are coming out of DRC, even as the Anglican Church there strives to provide food and healthcare - with help from CMS supporters
Thanks to the generosity of supporters, CMS has been able to send grants totalling £7,100 to partners in eastern DR Congo who are caring for displaced people in the wake of last autumn’s violence.
CMS transcultural manager for Africa Stephen Burgess says, “A big thank you to everyone who gave. This money will go a long way to helping the heroic efforts of the local church in caring for people in Christ’s name.”
Related articles
All recent DRC updatesHowever, disturbing reports continue to come in from Congo. Hundreds of kilometres from the towns of Bukavu and Goma in North and South Kivu, out of reach of government or NGO aid, people are still being terrorised by fighting.
At the beginning of June Interahamwe (the refugee militias who fled Rwanda after the Genocide) fighters devastated the villages of Bunyakiri, Ziralo, Bufamandu, Walikale and Masisi, reported the Bishop of Bukavu, the Rt Rev Bahati Bali-Busane.
Mugunga camp in North Kivu(Photo: © Diocese of Bukavu)“During the attack, the women have been raped, there are wounded people some by guns and others by pangas, hoes, knives... 41 women have been raped,” the bishop said. Others were killed because they would not submit to the rapists and 146 were wounded.
All the injured were taken to the diocese’s health centre at Matutiri, which is overwhelmed by the number of new cases.
Poor hygiene in the temporary camps of more than 3,000 people displaced from these villages is causing disease. Seventy-eight cases of cholera had been recorded by early June, seven of which had proved fatal. Three mothers, two children, and two men have died from the disease.
Among such ongoing trauma, the church is doing its best to respond to those in desperate need in IDP camps in the region.
Mr Tabaro Joseph became a widower when he lost his wife Ndagije Antoinette during fighting in North Kivu in October 2008. He now cares for his son and three daughters in a tiny shelter in a displacement camp. But, he says, he rejoices in the Almighty God because he receives assistance from the Anglican Church.
Also receiving help from the Anglican Church is Mama Suzike Francoise and two of her children, living in a displaced people’s camp since she was widowed and raped by Laurent Nkunda’s CNDP troops.
Her husband Nfundiko was shot dead by a CNDP soldier because he would not stand by and let them rape Mama Suzike. In the chaos Mama Suzike’s other child fled with others as a refugee into Uganda – she doesn’t know where.
If you would like to contrubute financially to the Congo Church's rehabilitation and reconciliation programmes, you can do so through CMS. Please use the link below.