There has been a serious escalation in violence and conflict in the areas surrounding Goma, the area where Comfort International’s partners, Comfort Congo, are based. M23 rebel forces, having re-emerged in November last year, have been making advances in the last 2 months beyond Rutshuru and now look to be surrounding Goma, in an ever-changing situation which is displacing tens of thousands of people. Many people are taking refuge in schools, churches and hospitals and Comfort Congo has around 2,500 people presently sheltering in its schools which cannot therefore be used for teaching. They are also supplying medication from the Faraja Pharmacy (which supplies the Central Hospital Rusayu) to try to help meet the needs of these desperate people.
The fighting has greatly intensified in the areas of Rutshuru and Kibumba, forcing very large numbers of people out of their homes. Many of these are reported to have fled to Goma. Comfort Congo has counted 2354 displaced people from Rutshuru and Kibumba, divided into 563 households, that are currently taking refuge in Kyezye and Mbula schools and some of the houses on the newly bought plot of land at the Village of Hope.
As a result, their access to food, health, shelter, water and sanitation has been severely reduced, and Comfort Congo reports a great need for nutrition, shelter, hygiene, sanitation and healthcare including psychosocial support. This truly is a desperate humanitarian crisis.
The Comfort Congo team also visited Kanyaruchinya refugee camp where tens of thousands of people have been displaced to. Director of Comfort Congo, Dieudonne Mugongo writes, “People are grouped into internal displaced camps and we count many in our region. My team and I were able to visit one of the camps which host over 800,000 (number unsubstantiated) people and what we saw and heard was heartbreaking. We visited Kanyaruchinya IDP Camps on Wednesday, November 23th and in brief, people we were able to talk and to give us testimonies and stories about how they fled from their homes and the village of Kanyaruchinya and it is horrible, they are actually suffering.
Please pray for this deeply distressing situation, for the displaced people running from terror and violence, and for the team at Comfort Congo as they try to do all they can in what seems to be an impossible situation.