Merlin’s Head of Communications, Louise Orton, travelled with the convoy delivering vital drugs and medical equipment to the town of Kanyabayonga, which has been cut off from medical aid for the past few weeks. Here she describes the journey and what she found.
We set off on Sunday morning desperate to reach Kanayabayonga, where health centres hadn’t received any medical supplies since the outbreak of violence in mid-November.
As we drove south, we saw many vehicles on the road, a positive sign that we might be able to make it through. Large lorries, overloaded with fresh vegetables and people, were making their way towards the large market town of Butembo, where we had come from.
We stopped off at a government soldier base, where the commander told us that access had improved. Still, we proceeded with caution. Reaching Kayna, a small town close to Kanyabayonga, the team told me that when they visited two days earlier it had been a ghost town. Lack of people is always a worrying sign in a conflict like this so the staff had reluctantly decided it was too risky to travel any further.
Two days on, a few shops have opened and people were milling about.
When we finally reached Kanyabayonga Referral Health Centre, there were hundreds of people standing outside, mainly women and children. They had only recently returned from the forest, where they had been living for days in appalling conditions.
Most of the men had decided to stay behind, too afraid to risk venturing into town for fear of being captured and forced to fight.
Many of the displaced people we met had fled Kanyabonga and Rutshuru, another town besieged by the violence. They had horrific stories to tell.
One woman recounted how soldiers had shot five children in front of her. Another said she had lost three of her children as they all fled and has no idea what’s happened to them. Yet another told me she had taken in several unaccompanied children on the way, all of whom had lost their parents when they scattered in different directions to escape the fighting.
The minute our convoy of supplies arrived, staff at the centre got to work. Kakule Mangaha, the nurse on duty, said: “There are several patients in a critical condition, and we have to treat them now.”
Two of the patients were Biere Samutamba, an old man, and his 15-year-old son, Musubao Nanasi. Sharing the same bed, they were both thin, exhausted and extremely weak. They had been admitted to the health centre with diarrhoea and vomiting.
Biere and Musubao had fled Kanyabayonga about two weeks ago when soldiers attacked their home and stole everything they owned. Ever since, they have been living in the forest, with no food and only dirty water to drink. They had no shelter and were exposed to the cold and rain every night. Biere had managed to borrow US$10 to get a motorbike to take him and his son to the health centre. His wife was also able to join them later. She explained that they had been treated on the day they arrived, but then the centre had run out of drugs.
Nurse Kakale set about treating Biere and his son. She hooked them up to a drip running Ringer’s Lactate solution, and they both lay there waiting for the drugs to run their course.
His wife smiled at the Merlin medical supervisor who had delivered the drugs and said “Thank God for those drugs. I really feared for their lives.”
It’s too risky to travel at night so it wasn’t long before we were leaving Kanyabayonga. Still, the Merlin team had achieved what they set out to do – supplying essential drugs and equipment to people in great need. There was a sense of quiet satisfaction as we made our way back to Butembo.
Along the way, I thought about how every single person we met had horrific stories to tell. Just as we neared the half-way point of our journey, it was uplifting to see a football match taking place with two teams, both in proper football kits in opposing colours. Crowds had gathered and were revelling in the fun of the occasion - a rare sign of normality, in a province besieged by violence, fear and urgent health needs.
The convoy safely returned to Butembo and Merlin staff, weary and covered in dust from the journey, were already planning which health centre they would reach the next day.
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