Live from Goma: life under high tension

Lack of services and high levels of precarity

Life in Goma in Democratic Republic of Congo today is marked by high tension. Its population is living in fear and stress in the aftermath of the fighting.

“Added to this is the lack of basic services. Many health facilities, schools and markets have been destroyed or are non-functional, making life extremely difficult”.

The city is experiencing severe shortages of food, drinking water and health services. Those markets still standing have very little to sell, many schools are closed and much of the infrastructure has been damaged, plunging the population into a situation of extreme psychological distress and precarity.

The displaced people leaving the sites around Goma head in different directions, depending on the security situation, their resources and their family or community networks. Some try to return to their villages, despite the uncertainty and continuing risks, in the hope of recovering their homes or land. Others seek refuge in areas considered safer, often with relatives, in schools and churches inside the city of Goma or in localities less exposed to the fighting. Sometimes they go even further afield to neighbouring countries such as Uganda.

“Recently, a patient told me “We have had to leave the displaced persons site to return home, but I don't know how to get back. And what will we find when we get there? Everything has been taken...” 

Ongoing insecurity

However, these population movements are often hindered by ongoing fighting, the presence of armed checkpoints and the state of infrastructure destroyed in the fighting. As a result, the return of displaced people to their areas of origin around Goma remains extremely risky. Insecurity is omnipresent. Combatants continue to pose a direct threat to civilians.

“Sporadic clashes, looting and kidnappings are commonplace, making the return of populations hazardous. What’s more, many areas are mined or littered with explosive devices, increasing the risk of serious injury or death.”

Finally, the psychological trauma of war, the loss of loved ones and uncertainty about the future can make the reintegration of returnees even more complex.

Urgent treatment and psychosocial care

This is precisely the context in which HI is working. We are deploying teams to meet the urgent needs of people affected by the war in and around Goma, especially the wounded, people with disabilities, children and survivors of violence.

In two Goma hospitals, Kyeshero and Ndosho, HI is mobilising its specialist professionals – physiotherapists – to work alongside Médecins Sans Frontières and the International Committee of the Red Cross.

“The priority is to ensure immediate care for the injured by providing physical and functional rehabilitation services and mobility aids, such as crutches and walking sticks.”

We plan to continue deploying our emergency response to the worst affected areas around Goma as soon as security conditions allow a safe access. Immediate priorities include psychosocial care and physical and functional rehabilitation.

At the moment, numerous difficulties are impeding our intervention, including the ongoing insecurity, impassable roads and unexploded ordnance, as well as limited access to essential resources. There has also been looting, including of HI's warehouse at the beginning of February, which is obstructing the treatment of war-wounded and other medical emergencies. For HI, certain activities such as stimulation therapy have also had to be suspended following the looting of sites containing the equipment needed to treat malnourished children.

All this complicates the deployment of humanitarian aid, but we are ready to address these difficulties and provide urgently needed aid as soon as it becomes possible to do so.