We have had a wonderful time with our dear friend, brother and colleague, Dieudonné Mugongo on his first visit to Scotland. It’s been a busy time with 15 churches and church groups visited, a lecture at Stirling University, taking classes at Douglas Academy and lots of meetings with funders, supporters, friends of supporters, trustees meetings with Pearl International and Comfort International, monitoring and evaluation planning, and time with staff and volunteers.
As always Dieudonné’s personal commitment to the work has shone through as he dedicates his life to the broken, traumatised and poor of DRC. Every spare moment he has finds him communicating with the Comfort Congo team back home, with everything from challenges feeding orphans to news of Kisima school’s success in the territorial football championships needing attention.
He has, however, enjoyed a few relaxing highlights, with a boat trip on Loch Lomond, walks on the beach and even a wee bit of a kiltwalk giving him an experience of life here.
To have Dieudonné at the 25th Anniversary Thanksgiving was special indeed, with people travelling from as far afield as Yorkshire to be there. It was lovely for him to reunite with old friends and also to meet new people – many of whom have mentioned a desire to visit the work in DRC.
As with all his speaking engagements, Dieudonné’s message stressed the urgency of the situation in North Kivu around Goma, with hundreds of thousands of displaced people, thousands of children in stages of malnourishment and starvation, the hospital filled to overflowing, members of the projects having to flee their homes, fields and livelihoods and Comfort Congo’s resources stretched to the limit.
But there are also so many stories and testimonies of transformed lives and communities. Child soldiers now graduating from university, getting married and living healed restored lives, and the amazing testimony to the work of Comfort Congo that none of the Children of Liberty have returned to the armies – a situation that frequently occurs for rescued and demobilised child soldiers. The Street Kids Rescue children are doing great and showing the fullness of their potential at school, with the schools themselves continuing to grow and give access to tens of thousands of children who would otherwise be outside education.
When asked what have been the most special things he has experienced they are ‘I’m meeting with donors who have helped Comfort Congo – that is really special because we saw what you did but here we meet you, even those who have not been to Congo. They are beautiful people, they are listeners, they are people of compassion and love – that is what is special to me. They have received me beautifully, I have eaten with so many wonderful people and it is special for me to discover that people in Europe are people of compassion. The most difficult thing is a period of cold but you have a beautiful country and beautiful people.
Our hope is that this has been a blessing to Dieudonné as he has sensed the support and love of so many people, that it has helped inform churches, schools, supporters and those encountering the work for the first time of the value of the work Comfort Congo are doing and the effectiveness of any support given.
