Last month, I posted a disturbing story and images: Help Needed for Displaced in Congo. The number of internal refugees who have settled in Bunia, Congo, continues to grow. The camp now holds over 86,000 people, many of whom are women and children who have traveled for weeks under very dangerous circumstances. The Congo Network of the Episcopal and Anglican churches gets regular updates from the Reverend Bisoke Balikenga who lives and works in Bunia, DRC. The Congo Network is chaired by the Rev. Canon Dr. Isaac Kawuki Mukasa (Africa Relations, Episcopal Church). The US media is reporting very little on this massive humanitarian crisis. I asked the Rev. Bisoke to send the Congo Network photos so that we could help tell the story.
Particularly disturbing were the photos of the girl Rachel and her little sister. The Rev. Bisoke wrote with the photo below: “Rachel sister just come from the hospital, her left arm was cut by the rebel and Rachel was cut in the head and the mother was killed. Rachel is not in a good condition you can see her head. Please pray for them because the life which they have now it is not the good one.” The Rev. Bisoke has taken 30 refugees into his own home, in addition to his family of 8. He is getting some help from friends. If you would like to help displaced people in the Congo, please donate to Episcopal Relief and Development (designate your donation to DRC). Your money will go toward food, clothing, shelter and assistance with trauma.
Recent news stories include:
- “Congo crisis worsening, EU says, as government shuns aid conference” 25 March 2018 in Reuters
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-congo-eu/congo-crisis-worsening-eu-says-as-government-shuns-aid-conference-idUSKBN1H10PK?il=0 -
“UN: $1.7 Billion Needed for DRC Humanitarian Crisis” 19 March 2018 in VOA News
https://www.voanews.com/a/un-says-almost-2-billion-dollars-needed-for-drc-humanitarian-crisis/4305877.html
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“DRC Violence: This Time It’s Different” 16 March 2018 in Fair Observer
https://www.fairobserver.com/region/africa/joseph-kabila-democratic-republic-congo-violence-conflict-africa-news-headlines-76540/ - “Ethnic Violence in DRC’s Northeast Displaces at Least 60 000” 18 March 2018 in News24
- “Uganda Cholera Outbreak Slows, But Violence in DRC Complicates Recovery” 10 March 2018 in Devex
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“Militias are Burning Villages in Congo” 8 March 2018 in New York Times – Visual Investigations
https://nyti.ms/2G43nk5 -
“How We Identified Burned Villages in the Democratic Republic of Congo” 8 March 2018 in New York Times
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/08/insider/burned-villages-democratic-republic-congo.html -
”DRC: Thousands Flee Amid Surge in ‘Horrific Violence” 21 February 2018 in Al Jazeera
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/02/thousands-flee-atrocities-south-eastern-drc-180220143919759.html
Photos copyright 2018 by the Rev. Bisoke Balikenga – used with permission.
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