October Posting

Since my last message, we had to evacuate all our expatriates and non-local staff from 2 of our 4 projects in North Kivu. But they haven’t been idle – they are following the status of the population fleeing the combat. We have set up mobile clinics in 4 new sites to treat these people medically. Three of these clinics are in the same sites in which we set up under the same circumstances when I was here in 2006!

In fact, last Friday I was on my way to our Nyanzalé project, but during the 4 hour car trip Nyanzalé evacuated. Instead of returning to Goma, we decided that I should continue to Kayna, where we have set up a base to follow the population movements and treat the displaced people just south of there. Kayna is where I spent my first mission of 8 months in 2005-2006. It felt like going home! I did a lot of set-up work for the project, but I also had the opportunity to renew friendships with people I hadn’t seen in 2 ½ years.

The fighting has calmed down temporarily in most spots, but the situation is far from stable. In Rutshuru the full team is back in place since last Monday, the team from Nyanzalé returned to that site yesterday, but the Kabizo team (in accordance with our neutrality policy, this project is in the heart of one of the rebel zones) is split between Kayna and a new mobile clinic for the displaced not far from us here in Goma.
We just finished a measles vaccination campaign in the southeast of the country (vaccinating around 25000 children before the beginning of the rainy season) this past week, which has freed up some resources (personnel, cars). This is fortunate because they were sorely needed to help with the activities listed above.