wfn.org | Re: Zairians displaced by war are returning to looted homes, farms

[Mennonite Central Committee Communications]

TOPIC:  ZAIRIANS DISPLACED BY WAR ARE RETURNING TO LOOTED HOMES, FARMS
DATE:   February 11, 1997
CONTACT:  Pearl Sensenig
V: 717/859-1151 F: 717/859-2171
E-MAIL ADDRESS:  mailbox@mcc.org

AKRON, Pa. -- Rumors of government counter-attacks abound in
Bukavu, in rebel-controlled eastern Zaire, report Mennonite Central
Committee (MCC) workers Krista Rigalo and Fidele Lumeya.  People
don't know who to believe or how to plan for their families -- all this
after enduring a traumatic four months.
        Zairian rebels captured Bukavu in October 1996, after several
days of fighting.  Many fearful residents fled into the forests.  They
are now returning, often finding their houses and farms in disarray. 
Defeated Zairian government troops and fleeing Rwandan refugees
ransacked houses and stripped fields of crops nearly ready for harvest. 

        Despite uncertainty about the future, Bukavu is currently calm
enough for Rigalo and Lumeya to work at addressing both short-term
needs for relief and long-term reconstruction.  With the Church of
Christ of Zaire's relief committee, MCC will supply food, blankets,
medicine, seeds and tools to needy Zairians.  This is the same relief
committee MCC worked with from 1994 to 1996.  Then the task was
to aid Rwandan refugees, now war has come home and the committee
is helping local people.

The fate of the Rwandan refugees who had been living in four MCC-
supported camps around Bukavu is still unknown.  Unlike those
around Goma, Zaire, most Rwandan refugees in the Bukavu area did
not head back to Rwanda when war broke out in Zaire.  Instead they
fled north or west in Zaire.  Those MCC assisted are believed to be
among the "lost" refugees in the dense Zairian jungle about 300
kilometers/186 miles west of Bukavu, out of reach of aid agencies. 
Due to harsh conditions as well as reports of cholera and malaria,
Terry Sawatsky, co-director of MCC's Africa programs, fears many
may have died.  

In response to MCC's pre-Christmas appeal, North Americans donated
26,000 blankets for people in Zaire.  These blankets are being shipped
to Africa this week, and Rigalo and Lumeya are puzzling over how to
get the blankets through Rwanda to Zaire --the difficult final leg of the
journey.   Vehicles traveling the winding road through the forest
between Kigali, Rwanda, and Bukavu, Zaire, have been attacked
recently, probably by Rwandan Hutu militants.   

"It's difficult when we know material aid is available and that people
in Bukavu are in need.  It's just this war that keeps mucking things
up," wrote a frustrated Rigalo in a recent e-mail message to MCC
headquarters.  "Your prayers for courage and discernment are most
appreciated."

MCC plans to store the blankets in a warehouse in Kigali.  As the
security situation permits, MCC's Zairian church partners will make
the round-trip, day-long drive to collect a few bales of blankets at a
time.  They and the MCC workers will then distribute the blankets in
"dribs and drabs," according to Sawatsky.  If the situation suddenly
changes for the better, then the blankets will be transported by truck
convoy for a one-time distribution as originally planned.

The Bukavu area is mountainous, with chilly evenings throughout the
year.  "The blankets will be distributed as soon as possible, but they
will be welcomed whenever we can get them to Bukavu," comments
Sawatsky.

Along with thousands of blankets, supporters contributed more than
$350,000 Cdn./$260,000 U.S. to MCC designated for the "Central
Africa Healing Fund."  A portion of the money will go to purchase
seeds and tools to replace those looted in the recent fighting.  As well
some money will go to buy food to tide people over until the next
harvest, and for MCC's ongoing forestry and peace work.

MCC will also purchase and distribute malaria medicines.  When
Rigalo and Lumeya attended a Christmas service at the newly
established Mennonite church in Bukavu, they were delighted to see 75
attenders, the largest group ever.  But as they reunited with old friends,
they discovered another tragic aspect of the war.  An unknown number
of Zairians who hid in the forest during the fighting fell victim to a
deadly strain of malaria.  Children were particularly susceptible.  One
family, for example, left Bukavu with five children and came back
with only two.

During the fighting, Zairians were able to protect two of the three
MCC tree nurseries in Bukavu, signalling the value they place on
planting trees.  From July 1994 to October 1996 several hundred
thousand Rwandan refugees were camped around Bukavu.  Each day
they cut more than 70 tons of wood for fuel, stripping the hillsides of
trees.  As a result Zairians said they noticed temperature changes and
soil erosion.  Rigalo continues to oversee the forestry project.

Lumeya is re-establishing contact with members of the peace
committees with which he had been working.  He reports a renewed
interest in peace, given people's recent exposure to the devastation of
war.
                                  -30-

pls7february1997

MCC photo available:  Pictured are members of the White River
Cheyenne Mennonite Church in Busby, Mont., with the 17 blankets
they collected for Zaire.  The congregation brought the blankets to a
Christmas celebration where the blankets were "committed to God." 
The pastor prayed that God would "use the blankets for people in
Zaire, to keep them warm and to encourage them."  Cheyenne
traditionally hold "give aways" during celebrations when presents,
often blankets, are given to strangers as a way of welcoming them. 
(MCC photo supplied by Willis Busenitz)