One at a Time

While working in a big city it is easy to wonder about all that we are not able to see, and to understand that there are always people worse off. As our Congolese co-workers inform us, there is even more suffering in the interior of the country than what we see on a daily basis in the city: something that is sometimes hard to imagine. Rural and urban came together for us this last week when we had the opportunity to bring two children to Goma on two separate occasions to the HEAL Africa hospital for treatment.

Sadiki, 12-years old, has been living in an IDP camp near Lake Kivu since about 2 months ago when the CNDP (Nkunda’s former rebel army) attacked his village, located further west from the Kivu provinces in the interior. During the attack Sadiki was shot, and since then he has had a bullet lodged in his knee that he cannot bend and walks around using a pole to balance. Another boy, just 5-years old, has been suffering for about a week from something I prefer not to mention here. Needless to say, we were able to drive both boys back to Goma with their fathers, and they have been staying in the hospital as they await surgery that HEAL Africa provides free of charge.

It is a relief to be caring for a couple people at a time rather than worrying about thousands. Certainly there are an endless number of needs that no one will be able to fill, but I find that in personal relationships and the chance to help just one person I often find greater satisfaction than in facilitating a distribution that will benefit thousands. I am fighting for this one boy, for his right to get well physically, to increase his potential, and to regain his life back. He is only one, but for a few days he is the most important person on earth to me and I am personally responsible. It is impossible to hold ourselves accountable for many, but I have the chance to be accountable for just ONE, for this moment, and I will do everything in my power to ensure that at least this ONE will be saved: at least this ONE will have a different life starting now.

The Questions you learn to stop asking…

Why are there piles of bananas on top of a gasoline truck?

Why is that baby being allowed to suck on a bottle cap that was just in the dirt?

Why is there only spinach and rice available at the African Queen restaurant today?

Why does a medical center that has no water and is falling apart say that their greatest need is a sound system?

Why are there 100 security officers marching down the middle of the road singing?

Why is buying new sewing machines less expensive than repairing old ones?

Are you really going to try to squeeze your car through there? Really?

Why aren’t you in school?

Is that safe?

Why aren’t you wearing a helmet?

Why is there a 2 year old riding on a motorbike?

Why does it take 50 people to get our land cruiser unstuck from the mud?

Are you really going to sit on top of one hundred bags of beans in the back of a moving truck with a baby on your back while balancing a jerry can full of water on your head and chewing on sugar cane?

Grieving Children

Psychological counseling is a common support system used in Western countries that is often ignored and undervalued in many parts of Africa.  This can be disastrous in societies supporting former child soldiers, victims of genocide, and children who have already been exposed to tragedy at too early an age.  One place aims to change this stigma against children being able to share their feelings in a therapeutic setting by offering both a safe place for discussion and creative expression.

The New Hope Center for Grieving Children began with the vision of a woman from Sweden who saw the need for children in Africa to heal from traumatic events in their past.  One center began in Rwanda for children facing tremendous loss after the 1994 genocide, and now a second center in Goma provides similar support to children who have lost parents, usually due to violence.  Children who are sponsored are provided with school fees through the center, and after school they can come to the center for group counseling with trained adult volunteers, playing with toys, sports, drawing, playing musical instruments, and singing together.  Children find support not only in the concern of caring adults who take the time to listen to them, but they find solidarity in socializing with other children who have faced similar situations in knowing that they aren’t alone.

Attention

The gap between when a crisis stops hitting the news and when there is actual resolution to the crisis is always the hardest time for those who are the victims.  Although the violence in northeastern Congo has not made headlines since the arrest of former CNDP rebel leader Laurent Nkunda, the number of displaced people living in and around the city of Goma appears to be on the increase, rather than decreasing. Even if people are hopeful that peace will come, they are too unsure and too used to having their hopes shattered in the past to actually return home anytime soon, so they convene in groups together and wait for humanitarian help with their daily needs. When international attention stops, so does the money for humanitarian aid, and inevitably more civilians fleeing conflict that are left without food, water, shelter, etc.

This week we were able to supply four different medical clinics in the outskirts of Goma with new mattresses, medical supplies including IV fluids, kitchen sets, and food so that the patients will be able to have access to cooking food for their selves throughout the healing process. Because of the movement of displaced peoples, clinics near Goma have received an extra burden of patients over the last few months, with only a minimum of staff and medicine to care for these people. Food is a luxury item at many clinics, with patients only eating if they have family members bringing them food. For this reason it is our hope that by providing just a few bags of rice and beans along with cooking equipment, patients will not only be blessed but will have access to nutrition that will speed the healing process.

With recent UN activity rehabilitating child combatants and joint Congolese and Rwandan troops going after the FDLR in the interior, civilians are still fleeing violence in order to find safety and security. The rest of us can only wait to see if peace will last.