Zambian 'Watchtowers' in relief work to Congo
The Times of Zambia (Lusaka)
January 14, 1998
Posted to the web January 14, 1998
Lawrence Mpundu
Lusaka
"It is gratifying that the Zambia Association of Jehovah's Witnesses (ZAJW) has sent volunteers and relief workers to the former Zaire just to alleviate the burden of refugees in the Great Lakes region."
Television cameras keep bringing into our living rooms pictures of the 1994 genocide in Rwanda and the former Zaire. The looks of despair on the faces of the refugees have haunted many people across the globe. In the pages of our newspapers, we have read of the desperate pleas for help. Uvira, Bukavu, Kisangani, Kivu and Goma are the 'bloody' names in the former Zaire now the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
Many refugees in the DRC have had this sense of foreboding and feeling of utter helplessness amid the unceasing bloodletting in the Great Lakes region. Despite the fact that various organisations such as the World Health Organisations (WHO), CARE International and the International Red Cross Society (IRCS) have supplemented the efforts of providing relief to these groups, the refugees still believe the efforts haven't paid any dividends. However, others believe differently. And their efforts are continuing to reap many benefits.
More relief efforts were done by various NGOs in the previous year and are still being done in Congo-Kinshasa towards helping thousands of refugees who were affected by the seven months war in the country. Among the NGOs doing the notable work in Congo is the Zambia Association of Jehovah's Witness (ZAJW) which was formed early last year. The association, through its 160 volunteers drawn from the Jehovah's Witnesses congregations in the country, is involved in relief food, medical and humanitarian aid to the refugees in the former Zaire. Volunteers from ZAJW, which is sponsored by contributions from churches and co-ordinated by Belgium, France and Switzerland, have supplied the refugees with a total of 500kg of medicine, 10 tonnes of vitamin products, 20 tonnes of food, more than 90 tonnes of clothing, 18,500 pairs of shoes and 1,00 blankets totaling nearly $1m in the previous year. Other relief supplies to Congo include manpower where three observers, two medical doctors and a nurse were dispatched.
ZAJW spokesman, Clement Samabona, says in a statement that his association, over the past nine months, has mobilised medical relief workers from among Jehovah's Witnesses with the help of France to go into parts of eastern Congo. There, they have rendered help to many war victims from different parts of the country. Jehovah's Witnesses have also helped in the training of the eastern Congolese people in the field of nursing. Others have been taught how to use scrap metal to make wheelchairs for the injured while a group of widows in Bunia-Butembo who were left destitute following the deaths of their husbands during the war and by the destruction of their fields, were supplied with clothing and helped with finances to start a second-hand clothing business. "Because of the political neutrality of Jehovah's Witnesses well-known world-wide, relief war workers were allowed to gain access to many areas. Relief supplies, as well as medical treatment for cholera, dysentery and malaria, were shared with Witnesses and non-Witnesses alike," Mr. Samabona says.
The volunteers have also taught the local people in various fields such as carpentry, poultry farming, and tailoring so that they can be self-sufficient. "About 95 per cent of the inhabitants in Goma and Kisangani are unemployed. Only a few humanitarian organisations employ some Congolese as drivers or porters. So, there is need to train these people to be self-reliance so as to support their families," says Mr Samabona. Despite all these efforts by the association however, the volunteers are hindered by difficulties in their operations in Congo. These include distances which are vast and lines of communication which are almost non existent. The best form of travel, if not the only one, is the airplane which has proved to be expensive. Administrative formalities have also contributed to the failure by the association to achieve its goal in these areas as getting a pass from the authority to go from one town to the next is quite difficulty and taking long. Dispatching of the cargo suffered delays with the agency of the situation made it painful in the previous year though things are beginning to change.
What plans does the association have at present in trying to help those Tutsi refugees trapped in the thick forest of Congo since the war has ended? Mr Samabona explains: "The association will continue to help the less privileged people in the country by providing the population with the necessities that they need urgently such as the food that they normally eat. "The Butembo region produces rice and beans but this is not enough to feed the people in the area instead, the association has found it necessary to get money to buy foods from the neighbouring countries and within the country and deliver them to the refugees than to transport food from Europe and this is what we will continue doing this year". The association also has plans to send more medical volunteers to these war ravaged areas of Congo to teach the local people some basics in health such as how to control cholera and other epidemic diseases. There is also need to find adequate and reliable trucks to transport medicines and food to these areas whose roads are impassable
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Yakki Da
Kent
I need mor BOE letters and other material. Those who can send it to me - please do! The new section will be interesting!!
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