Hope for a better future for internally displaced children
Published: May 13, 2024 Reading time: 4 minutes
People displaced by conflict stay for years in settlement near Mikenge, in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. We support their fight against malnutrition. These are the stories of two of families.
Charlotte, a 20-year-old mother of two, lives in a village built by displaced people in Itombwe plateau in eastern part of DR Congo. She, along with 3,000 people of her community had to escape her home due to armed conflict, settling in this makeshift village just next to the UN peacekeepers base near the town of Mikenge to seek safety.
Charlotte's house was damaged, and her cows were stolen, leaving her with nothing. Her one-and-a-half-year-old son Ngendoyabeza was ill. She noticed that he was losing a lot of weight.
Humanitarian workers travel on motorbikes or by foot across inaccessible terrain to supply remote health centres, taking days to complete the journey. They treat children suffering from malnutrition but also try to prevent it by helping communities access clean water and raising nutrition awareness.
Charlotte´s neighbours, Jacques and Rachel have two small children. More than three years ago, they had to escape their village because an armed group attacked it. For over three years, they lived in this settlement.
The young parents were afraid because their children looked very sick. They took them to a health centre supported by People in Need. A special therapeutic paste was available and prescribed to the kids.
The families also joined a cooking demonstration organized by PIN team. They learnt how to prepare nutritious porridge from locally available food, such as flour from maize and cassava, dry fish powder, sugar, salt, oil, and water from cooked amaranth leaves. They serve the porridge with a piece of fruit like orange or tree tomato. It´s called "four-star porridge" because it contains all the necessary nutrients for a child's growth - vegetables, meat, fruit, and cereals. A child who eats such porridge at least twice a week is less likely to suffer from malnutrition.
Now, Charlotte has a small garden next to her house to grow basic vegetables. "I farm just to eat, but we don't sell agricultural produce. We need good food to feed our children properly, but it's difficult to get to the fields because of the security situation,” she explains. Charlotte plans to open a small shop one day.
Jacques and Rachel hope for a better future too.
The province of South Kivu is particularly affected by malnutrition, with approximately 48 % of children suffering from this preventable ailment. Several factors contribute to this issue, including extreme poverty and frequent population displacements due to conflict. People in Need has been helping people in DR Congo for 15 years, and we are renowned in the region for our comprehensive and effective programmes to combat child malnutrition.
We can support people like Charlotte, Jacques and Rachel in South Kivu thanks to the project funded by the USAID's Bureau of Humanitarian Assistance (BHA) and together with Médicines du Monde.
