Stories : HEAL Africa | healafrica.org | HEAL Africa Hospital | Goma DR Congo

Stories

Real-life individual stories from those affected by the conflict in DR Congo.

Field update June 2010

Received from a program leader this past week June 26, 2010

Good evening…
I would like to share this message with you about how painful it is to see how our children, the hope of tomorrow for Congo, are being violated by their own brothers and relatives.

There is a new movement “Mai Mai”, branch of PARECO, led by a Kirivata in the village of…, territory of Lubero in the region along Lake Edward. This militia is made of children(people) from the territory of Lubero and some FDLR soldiers. These men, drunk on human blood and drugs, are sewing desolation by committing widespread rapes of young girls and forcibly recruiting young boys, looting the belongings of the population and sometimes assassinating peaceful citizens. Many youth have fled their schoolrooms and others have run for their lives, leaving their daily work.

Urgent Need - Funding Cuts

I am writing today with a heavy heart. Both the Gender-based Violence (Heal My People) and the HIV Harm Reduction programs have depended heavily on grants from UNICEF, which has been a strong partner for seven years. On June 4, 2010, UNICEF announced that because of delayed or defaulted payments from United Nations member states, UNICEF was unable to pay out the grants promised. UNICEF Congo Funding Cuts

HIV and children

The CAP clinic at HEAL Africa, started and run by Dr. Vindu.
These children are being followed medically on a regular basis. Parents, (and in many cases, the grandparents as the parents have died,) bring them in for checkups. Only about half are on antiretrovirals (ARVs) because they are the last step in HIV care. Once you begin that treatment you must continue for life. You also need to eat well in order to tolerate the medicine. That’s too tall an order for some of the children in the clinic. So Dr. Vindu and her team try to keep the children nourished and as healthy as possible so the virus doesn’t grow to the point where they will need ARVs.

Heal My People Helps 30000 Congolese Women

30,000 women. That’s how many lives have come through HEAL Africa’s program for women Heal My People.

“Our ideas have been transformed by our experience,” says Mama Muliri at my dining room table in the woods of Washington State. Mama Muliri is a founding leader of Heal My People, HEAL Africa’s ambitious program to give survivors of war and gender violence in Congo a new future.

Marta's story update

War and violence has plagued the NE corners of Congo for many years.HEAL Africa has been a place of refuge for many of the victims of these wartime atrocities.Stories such as Marta’s, a Congolese woman at HEAL Africa, have attracted the attention of people all over the world.Interviewed by Ben Affleck on Nightline in 2008, Marta recounts when she first came to the hospital.Her village had been overrun, she had been raped, her house burned, her husband and child killed.She ran into the house to rescue her child from the burning house.She was so badly disfigured it was hard to look at her. A series of five surgeries were required to help Marta back to productivity.The first three surgeries she had were plastic surgeries to her eyes and face, so that she could simply blink and close her eyes.

Jo Lusi's story of a Tuesday

HEAL Africa Co-Founder: Doctor Jo Lusi

Let me tell you about Tuesday. Tuesday and Friday are my favourite days, and Sunday of course. It seems like all the other days of the week are a preparation for Tuesday and Friday, which are my surgical days. This Tuesday in particular is special.

Jake a 10 year old boy with AIDS

23 November 09

Jake

A parcel wrapped up in layers of material sits on a hospital bed. As I approached, it became clear this parcel was actually the tiny body of a child. The little and frail body lays there, his face being the only visible part as some type of used cloth covers his whole body and head. After about a minute or so, his eyelids start moving, and with some difficulties he eventually opens his eyes. A pair of eyes far too big for his face and body looks at us, and progressively lights up slightly as recognition settles in. Meet Jake, a 10 years old Congolese boy.

Marta's story of healing

Marta’s Story, continuing… On HEAL Africa’s website is a story about Marta. She was interviewed by Ben Affleck on Nightline in 2008. When she first came to the hospital she was so badly disfigured it was hard to look at her. This photo was taken after the first two surgeries. You can...

Lyn Lusi - Day in the life

If I tell you about my day today, please do not assume that it is a typical day. It is not. Most of my days are spent swamped in paper. Today was different. I went from Kasongo to Wamaza to visit our Gender and Justice work, to meet the people who are working with us, and meet the people who are benefiting from the project.

Kamina's Story

My name is Kamina Feza. I arrived in Goma from Kalemie but I really come from a village 300 km from Kalemie. I was abused in my own village in 2001 during the war of the RCD against Kabila. They took me at midnight, when they found our hiding place in the forest. We had been camping there to escape the war.

Listen to Reports from HEAL Africa Staff

HEAL Africa’s Hortense Maliro reports from the hospital interviewing victims of war-related violence. Ms. Maliro is a member of HEAL Africa’s newly formed media department, giving voice to Congolese stories and opinions.

Women of North Kivu Clamor for Peace

There were hundreds of women who rallied together on January 9th at the main entrance of Unity Stadium in Goma to protest strongly together about the current peace negotiations in Nairobi, demanding a cease in hostilities and lasting peace.

Ben Affleck: The Power of Normal People

Ben Affleck recently traveled to Goma to see first-hand what is going on and bring international attention to the crisis there.

Community-Driven Responses to Rape in Congo

Read a three piece published series written by HEAL Africa staff member, Harper McConnell, revealing the importance of HEAL Africa's community mobilization efforts to fight sexual violence. You can find it here ....

Rehabilitation Initiative

American physical therapists, Loran Hollander and Laura Kayser are strengthening the PT department at HEAL Africa by training local physical therapists and setting up a rehabilitation clinic at the hospital in collaboration with the HEAL medical staff. Read the lastest update here.

International Staff Experiences

HEAL Africa currently has 3 permanent international people on the ground in Goma. Last week they were evacuated to Rwanda, but have since returned to Goma. The situation changes every day and they are prepared to leave again if the insecurity increases. You can read about their experiences here.

A Good Day in Goma

Lyn Lusi, one of the founders of HEAL Africa, shares an account of the events of one day at the hospital in Goma.

Ursula's Story

“Ursula” (not her real name) came to the HEAL Africa hospital three years ago through a counselor in her village who knew about her condition.

Asifiwe's Story

HEAL Africa has a ward of children who are getting surgery for a wide variety of conditions: rickets, polio, clubfoot, cleft palate. Here's the true story of one of them.

Ngalula's Story

Ngalula came to Goma by boat from Bukavu. She'd walked weeks through the forest to get to Bukavu. She didn't even know where she had come from. She was dressed in clothes given to her by some woman in the first village she'd come to after escaping the men who had held her captive for years. She had seen her entire family killed before her eyes, and she was taken as a slave. When she escaped she was pregnant.

Charité's Story

Charité was raped in front of her family, then she was forced to watch as her family was being killed. The rapists then destroyed her eyes so she wouldn't recognize them. When she came to HEAL Africa, her eyes were badly infected; one had to be removed. The other is blind. Her general condition...