Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Kinshasa (Agenzia Fides) – The humanitarian situation in North Kivu, in the eastern part of Democratic Republic of Congo, is worsening each day, due to fighting that has broken out between the regular army and rebels led by Laurent Nkunda (see Fides 29/09/2008). Caritas Internationalis has joined a group of local humanitarian associations in organizing a collection for 1.5 million dollars, in order to attend to the over 90,000 refugees over the next five months, providing them with blankets, hygiene products, and kitchen utensils.
Agenzia Fides was recently sent the testimony of Fr. Mario Perez, Salesian missionary and Director of the Don Bosco Center of Goma Ngangi. In 1998, Fr. Mario created a reception center, in collaboration with several other international organizations, in order to take in children who are lost, abandoned, orphans, former child soldiers, girls off the street, young single mothers, etc. of any ethnic or religious background. The center currently serves 2,782 minors.
Through the volunteer program of International Development (VIS), Fr. Mario says that “since the outbreak of the war, the city of Goma has been devastated by Nkunda’s men, who block the entrance of goods. The only open path is that of the Rwandan city of Giseny, that goes to Bukavu, which is fairly dangerous. The airport remains open and the flights to Kinshasa are still operating, however we never know what tomorrow will bring.”
The missionary affirms that among the young people in his center, some are infected with hepatitis B. An epidemiological study is currently underway.
The center is having to make extra expenditures in order to provide for the children’s schooling. “This year, the increase in salaries, taxes, and the number of children has led to a lot of extra spending. I am having a bit more trouble trying to meet the payments than I used to,” Fr. Mario explained. “In addition, there is the case of the refugee children who come to study. We have no authorization to help them. We have been waiting for two seeks, but have received no response from the authorities. Parents are tired of the war, but the fact that their children can study is a beautiful sign of hope.”
Fr. Mario has decided to help the families of the refugees: “Although we do not have economic means, we have promised the parents that we will help their children to study. The school was opened on October 6. We have 600 children signed up in our elementary school and another 100 in the secondary school. And these numbers are sure to rise. We will have to begin having afternoon classes, because having them only in the morning makes the classes to large. This effort goes with the task of trying to provide an education to 2,700 children who have been here in the center since before the war. We also have to feed the personnel and those who stop by the center from time to time…a grand total of about 3,000 people. The cost is almost 20,000 Euros per month. We will surely be counting on foreign support in order to cover this great cost,” the missionary concluded. (LM) (Agenzia Fides 8/10/2008)
