At 8.00am Marbey, Elison, Lois and I visited four temporary spontaneous camps for displaced people in Goma town. We visited two church sites with APIBA animateurs/animatrice who had been informed of our visit and of course this attracted a crowd and raised a lot of expectations. (more…)
Another security briefing at OCHA and people are beginning to seem more familiar now.
Once again I tried to find out about the pooled funding mechanism, this time at a briefing meeting. I asked the presenter if I could have all the guidelines and forms etc. Hearing that I am English he said: “Ah, we are making things difficult for you ha ha as everything is in French and you have to submit in French ha ha” (as if that was absolutely hysterically funny). I was expecting this and assured him it won’t be a problem. He then said: “but you are new and you haven’t received funds from us here before and you have to be eligible to apply” (oh here we go I thought…more hoops lined up for us to jump through, what joy!) (more…)
I am realising just how much humanitarian aid language can exclude people, especially the incessant use of acronyms. Sunday morning at the Caritas Hotel brought an interesting breakfast conversation with a guy from MONUC (the UN Mission in Congo) called Bruno who happens to be heading up the DDRRR process (Disarmament, Demobilisation, Repatriation, Resettlement and Re-integration) of FDLR (Rwandan Hutu Army) soldiers and their dependents – meaning they are encouraged to be disarmed, de-mobbed and repatriated with their families to Rwanda. (more…)
Happy Valentine’s Day everyone! No, I didn’t get any cards, flowers or chocolates this year (sigh). A beautiful day dawned over Lake Kivu but there was no time to sit back and relax and drink it all in. I decided to work outdoors in the garden, writing up reports and re-drafting our letter of agreement with Merlin for discussions with the Deputy Country Director next week.
I attended my first security briefing at the UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) at 8.00am this morning and it was all double-dutch to me (being conducted entirely in French). I really have to resurrect my French as quickly as possible and get my ear attuned to all the different locations agencies are working in. (more…)
I had to abandon my plans to visit another camp yesterday. The Rwandese army was parading to celebrate the success of their recent campaign to disarm the rebels and their return to Rwanda. We all received strict instructions not to travel out of Goma or anywhere near the parade. (more…)
I set off early to visit a Merlin-run health centre.
It’s an unpleasant ride to a desolate area of Goma I’ve not seen before. The roads are so bad it takes a good 45 minutes to get to the tiny overcrowded clinic. It’s still early in the morning but a long queue is already forming in the dark and narrow corridors. (more…)
Munganga 3
As I drive out of Goma to camp Mungunga 3 there’s lots of talk on the local news about IDPs going home. They show government trucks picking up people and their belongings in order to drive them back to the rural areas they’ve come from. In Mungunga 3, one of the smallest camps outside Goma (there are only 4,211 people when we visit) 208 people had left between February 17 and 21. Hardly the mass repatriation we see on the TV news but people do say they are looking to go home - at some point. (more…)
I take stock of what I’ve learned in both the temporary settlements and the official camps. The data available is poor. No one knows how many are still in the villages which won’t be accessible to NGOs until security improves. I know that in some places, such as Mai Mai, people believe they are protected from bullets and combat death, many more young men have stayed behind. (more…)
I call on World Food Programme to find out a bit more about the reduced rations distributed in the camps. They explain that the minimum of 2,100 calories per person per day really applies in emergency relief rather
than as a blanket standard.
