Democratic
Republic Of Congo, Africa
 Never
has there been a greater need in the Congo than now.
Once one of the richest countries in the world, known
before as Zaire, it has now become one of the poorest,
divided by war and on the verge of economic collapse.
Since 1994 the Democratic Republic of Congo has been
experiencing war within and feeling the effects of war
spilling into Congo from surrounding countries such
as Rwanda. The country was split between the government-controlled
western region and the rebel-controlled eastern region.
Last year a peace accord was signed and they are making
an effort to unite the regions.
It is estimated that 2.5 million deaths have occurred
in the last 3 years. Of course children are very vulnerable
and many times are the ones left behind.
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PROLASA, an organization formed to build and operate
medical clinics, faced the reality of the country’s
condition. In the eastern region of the country in Goma,
children were brought to them for medical treatment
but because they had no parents or homes, PROLASA started
to take them in and care for them physically. Many of
these children were on the verge of death from malnutrition.
They did the best they could, but pretty soon it was
beyond their capability to fund and care for these children.
The children had been staying in local foster homes,
but these families were displaced themselves because
of war and couldn’t continue to feed even one more mouth.
Finally at the end of 200l, PROLASA contacted ICC,
through Dr. Barry Wecker in Canada, to see if there
was any chance that we could help. They had already
turned over the children ages 10-12 to the Red Cross.
Now they were left with approximately 200 children under
10 years of age. We told them that we would study the
project, and we asked them for more information.
To make matters even worse for these poor people, a
few weeks after they contacted us, tragedy hit again.
On January 17, 2002, Mt. Nyiragongo erupted, forcing
thousands of people to flee Goma. The lava flow destroyed
most of the city and cut the international airport runway
in half.
In May of 2002 an ICC team made a trip to Africa and
stopped in Kigali Rwanda to meet with a delegation from
Goma to hear more about the situation. It was felt at
that time that is was still too risky politically to
go into Congo. The ICC team decided that emergency measures
needed to be taken immediately, so they committed a
limited amount of funds to help. There were 40 children
who were at risk of dying from malnutrition in the next
3 month if nothing was done. Another 40 would be in
that same condition within 4 months. This was the beginning
of the relationship between ICC and PROLASA.
Since that initial meeting, ICC personal have made
two trips to the project sites in the Congo. By the
time we arrived in March of 2003, we were caring for
approximately 200 children in four locations, Masisi,
Beni, Goma and Idjwi. Since that time we have closed
the rented facility in Masisi and moved children to
Idjwi. It was decided that the place to build a children’s
village was on the island of Idjwi. The wars never seem
to reach this island in the middle of Lake Kivu.
The village donated land, and temporary buildings were
put up to house the children on the island. Two classrooms
were built to conduct school. A clinic and visitors
quarters were also erected. The conditions were a great
improvement, but there was still much to be done. The
children were sleeping four per bed and only had one
outfit of clothing to wear. They at least had food to
eat and their medical needs met.
In Beni PROLASA had rented one house for the children,
but during the visit it was decided to rent a second
house. Since Beni was quite a distance from Goma, we
decided it was best to leave the children in this location
and rent a second house to accommodate the children
there.
A follow up visit was planned for September 2003. Paul
Edgren, a land developer and board member and his wife
Janet accompanied us on this trip to draw up a master
plan for the children’s village. By then we had purchased
additional land, and money was in hand to build the
first home. Paul drew up our master plan and staked
out the first four sites for homes.
We decided to use the money we had to build two homes
up to the closed-in stage in order to spread the children
out. This was completed in December 2003. Until more
homes are constructed we will be putting 21 children
in these first two half-completed homes. All the school
age children are on the island and attending school.
The pre-school children and those needing closer medical
attention are living in Goma.
At present (February 2004) we have,
118 children on the island of Idjwi
43 children in Goma
41 children in Beni
Plans for the future: We plan to construct
10 homes for the children on Idjwi. We also need to
build a meeting place for the children, a school and
staff housing.
Our current needs:
- A water system to pump pure drinking water from
springs farther up the mountain.
- We plan to purchase a vehicle to use in Goma for
transporting the children and the supplies.
- In Beni we would like to build two homes to house
the children,rather than rented facilities.
How
You Can Help - There are a number of ways in
which you can help! Please take the time to see how
by visiting our volunteer
section, click here to make
a donation
or sponsor
a child.
If you would like any further information about this
project, please contact
us here!
Will You Make A Difference
Now?
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