Update on the situation described in our last blog

 We wanted to give you a quick update. 

Last night, when our international team met for devotions,

Medair support to the Health Facility Gloria visited
©Gloria Vegara

the country director shared that the current estimate of persons displaced by the fighting is around 180,000. At the time when we wrote the original post, I think that the amount was around 20,000. So that gives you an idea of how this is developing for the people of Eastern Congo. 

Congolese are incredibly resilient people. This resilience seems to sometimes be constructed on a foundation of resignation - as this has been going on for so very long in Eastern Congo. But it is heartbreaking to see the reality of people on the ground. 

A colleague, Gloria Vergara, recently went to do an assessment in a site where internally displaced persons (IDPs) are gathering. The assessment was to determine if Medair could do an emergency response there, assisting the health center there to better be able to respond to this influx of IDPs. This would be material help (especially in terms of an emergency stock of medicines) as well as supervisory assistance to assure that IDPs are getting the best service

IDPs taking up residence within the Health Center compound
©Gloria Vegara

possible. 

One of Gloria's overarching impressions from her visit was simply that peoples' lives are on hold. They have been forced to flee their homes, and they have no idea what is coming next. They are creating a life for themselves as best they can, but what will come next in their lives is very difficult for them to predict. 

There was an escalation in the fighting today as the government sent fighter jets to bomb rebel held positions. As you can imagine this is a disquieting ramping up of the violence as well as the risk of signficant humanitarian consequences. 

We appreciate your prayers for these people whose lives have been put on hold. Yesterday and today senior management are doing security assessments. These assessment determine if we can carry out programming in these areas, and what our staffing should look like. Last night we prayed for wisdom while making security assessments. Medair wants to be able to respond to relieve the suffering of these people. But Medair wants to do that without putting at risk the lives of our national staff (who do the vast majority of the work on the ground) or international staff. As you can imagine, this is a delicate balance to keep. 

Makeshift shelters for IDPs
©Benjamin Songolo

One of the impulses that lead to the founding of Medair was a belief that Christians should be present in responding to such disasters. That will remain one of the guiding principles as these decisions are taken. 

Praise: 

• For the resilience of Congolese - a resilience often undergirded by faith in Jesus. 
• For Christine feeling significantly better and sleeping better!

Prayer:

• For us to be able to cobble together the medicines needed for emergency responses from 2 of our 3 bases, out of existing stocks, emergency purchases and gift in kind from other organizations.
• Guidance for senior management as they assess security risks and what they mean both for Medair programming and staffing.
• For the custons convention to be signed once and for all. 
• For our medical supplies to arrive from Nairobi.
• For a peace based on justice in Eastern Congo, and with its neighbors.
• For Medair to be able to respond safely to care for people who are suffering - particularly safety for our national staff
• For peace that passes understanding for people in Goma, who remain free from the problems, but concerned about what may come.