Back in Town

I am back in Goma - Anne, a logistician, and I arrived yesterday, leaving two other people on the other side of the border. The town is pretty quiet - not as much circulation as usual and most of the commerces are still closed. We will keep the staff at a minimum for a while.

With the displacement of the population, there is a lot of work to do, but we are bringing people back slowly and cautiously because the conflict is far from over. There will be a lot of movement of people between projects, and some people will be returning home early because their profiles no longer fit the program. We had a two-hour meeting yesterday evening to plan the movement of the expats and the relocated staff - that's about 56 people.

We have started a new project, trucking water to the 20,000 displaced above Goma at Kibati, because this is the biggest need there. We are also doing mobile medical clinics for these people who have no access to medical care. Other actors are involved in distribution of non-food items, distribution of food, etc. It is important to coordinate between all the Non-Governmental Organization (NGO's) to maximize the aid provided to these people and to avoid wasted or duplicated efforts.

I am a lot more involved in the strategy for covering this crisis than I was in 2006 when we had a mini-version of the same type of conflict. It's a very interesting experience.