Thousands of people on a mountain

May 19th, 2009

It is Wednesday morning, 6:00 am. The sun hasn’t risen completely and the sky is tinted a pink and purple hue. Today I got up extra early to travel with the mobile clinic to Mbati. This is a town three hours away by car that we’ve never visited before.

We have heard that a majority of the population that used to live in places we haven’t been able to visit for months has fled to Mbati. Because my colleague had too much to do, I decided to go with the team today.

Screaming

We drive through the Congolese mountains and jungle in two cars. The view is breathtaking, the road is a challenge. It starts out as a real road but as we continue, it becomes more of a path next to the mountain. The people have done their best to mow the grass so that we can pass through. We get stuck in the mud countless times and I scream when the car in front of us looks like it going to slide into the ravine.

Finally we arrive in Mbati. A group of people quickly gathers around our cars. They look at us with big expectations. It is a little intimidating. We go to look for the village leader and the military to ask their permission to run a clinic today. Luckily, they agree. They are happy that we are here and assign us a broken down building that was a medical post long ago.

They have nothing. No water, no latrines, no plastic to waterproof their huts, no blankets…and this is during the height of the rainy season and at high elevation….Who knows how cold it can get here?

1,2,3 clinic

The team rapidly organises the clinic in the old building. Three rooms for consultation, another one for the pharmacy and ropes and benches for the triage area. The crowd pushes, our chauffeur explains the rules: first the sickest people! A nurse does the preliminary triage in the crowd and ushers the sickest people to the front. Another chauffeur fills in the patient cards. Within 30 minutes, the whole clinic has been set up and the first patient is being helped. Wow!

When everything is going smoothly at the clinic, the project coordinator and I go further up the mountain to see the camp. Dozens of families are busy building houses out of banana leaves and bamboo. I’m shocked by the number of people here: there are already 450 families and during our visit more large groups arrive.

They have nothing. No water, no latrines, no plastic to waterproof their huts, no blankets…and this is during the height of the rainy season and at high elevation….Who knows how cold it can get here?

Solidarity despite everything

For now, a nearby village supports the camp with beans and bananas. I’m once again impressed by the strong solidarity that you see in Congo although the population has been ravaged by war and violence for years. However, the help will end soon. Harvest time is almost over and they will never be able to support such a large group of people.

An image strikes me: four children in a hut under construction, the bamboo sticks that form the house’s frame look like prison bars. This is the reality of North Kivu. Thousands of people caught in the life of a refugee.

Back soon

Around 2:00 in the afternoon we really have to pack everything up in order to be sure we will be back at the base before dark. Large number of people are still waiting to be seen. We can’t help them anymore today, but we will come back soon.

The whole clinic is packed up quickly. Everyone has worked as hard as they could to help as many patients as possible. When I call the team together to leave, I find our silent chauffeur talking to a mama. It makes my day complete. He is patiently telling her how to take her medicines according to the prescription. What a team!

I leave with mixed feelings. I am shocked and saddened by the situation facing these people but I’m also happy and relieved that we could reach them today and provide some help. That is MSF to me.

Note: Two days later the team returned to run a second clinic. Logistical colleagues are now preparing to distribute food, blankets and plastic sheeting. Plans are also underway to build latrines.

Tags: Displacement, Logistics, Mobile clinics