Hat tip to Texasinafrica again for pointing out this BBC article. Now, that's an interesting idea...the whole issue of how to actually help people rebuild their lives is a complicated one. Does throwing (oh sorry, I meant to refer to budgetary support...) money really work? building houses? distributing food? or medicines? or tools? ...or sending clowns around to the IDP camps (they're not refugees outside of their own country) surrounding Goma?
I honestly don't know what does work, especially in the incredibly complicated and many-layered, conflict-driven humanitarian crisis situation which is Eastern Congo. Maybe that makes it sound worse than it is...or maybe it really is that bad.
We drove past those 7 IDP camps on our way to Minova this afternoon, just about 60km south west of Goma, where many people have fled over the past few years to escape the fighting and looting of various militias and militaries. This area is one of the most militarized around, and the presence of various uniformed and armed men testifies to this fact. Just outside our residence compound a group of FARDC soldiers and their families are camped out (apparently waiting for deployment orders); on the 60km route from Goma to Minova (a much better drive than the Bukavu-Kavumu route, even if Kavumu airport is only 35km from Bukavu!) we pass Mai Mai soldiers, FARDC, and if you continue to where we are reahabilitating a mountain road, FDLR and even more militias are visible. It's not so interesting to drive up to a Mai mai blockade, slowing down so the strangely dressed (they are a bit crazy I think) soldiers can see who is in the vehicle. I was happy to be with our Infrastructure coordinator who always knows someone important enough to get him out of almost any situation!
People have fled to Minova from the surrounding hills of Masisi territory from the FDLR (Rwandan militia) who continue to terrorize villagers and their crops and livestock. FH and other NGOs have been working to intervene and bring much needed assistance to the displaced as well as the communities who have welcomed them. The IDP camps that pop up on the side of the hills bring vulnerable people together without clean water sources, latrines, sources of food or economic exchange, forcing them to depend on the various humanitarian actors. It's certainly not an easy or enviable life, but one that many are surviving (and hopefully a bit better as a result of the clowns' entertainment...) through sheer will and definitely God's grace.
Tomorrow my colleagues and I will participate in a ceremony to handover to the local authorities the road we built so they can hand it back to the local maintenance committees which will keep it from going to pot too quickly (torrential rains and landslides as well as tons (literally 1000s of lbs) of cows wandering up and down through the hills makes for a quickly deteriorating road!). More on the potential success of the ceremony later! (and pictures!)
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