Zairian rebels captured Bukavu in October 1996, after several days of fighting. Many fearful residents fled into the forests. They are now returning, often finding their houses and farms in disarray. Defeated Zairian government troops and fleeing Rwandan refugees ransacked houses and stripped fields of crops nearly ready for harvest.
Despite a recent series of bombings on Bukavu which killed nine people, Rigalo and Lumeya continue to live in Bukavu. They are in regular phone contact with the MCC office in Akron, Pa. to continue to evaluate the risk of remaining.
While in Bukavu, they are addressing both short-term needs for relief and long-term reconstruction. With the Church of Christ of Zaire's relief committee, MCC will supply food, blankets, medicine, seeds and tools to needy Zairians. This is the same relief committee MCC worked with from 1994 to 1996. Then the task was to aid Rwandan refugees, now war has come home and the committee is helping local people.
The fate of the Rwandan refugees who had been living in four MCC-supported camps around Bukavu is still unknown. Unlike those around Goma, Zaire, most Rwandan refugees in the Bukavu area did not head back to Rwanda when war broke out in Zaire. Instead they fled north or west in Zaire. Those MCC assisted are believed to be among the "lost" refugees in the dense Zairian jungle about 300 km west of Bukavu, out of reach of aid agencies. Due to harsh conditions as well as reports of cholera and malaria, Terry Sawatsky, co-director of MCC's Africa programs, fears many may have died.
In response to MCC's pre-Christmas appeal, North Americans donated 26,000 blankets for people in Zaire. These blankets were scheduled to be shipped to Africa in mid-February, and Rigalo and Lumeya are puzzling over how to get the blankets through Rwanda to Zairethe difficult final leg of the journey. Vehicles traveling the winding road through the forest between Kigali, Rwanda, and Bukavu, Zaire, have been attacked recently, probably by Rwandan Hutu militants.
"It's difficult when we know material aid is available and that people in Bukavu are in need. It's just this war that keeps mucking things up," wrote Rigalo in a recent e-mail message to MCC headquarters. MCC plans to store the blankets in a warehouse in Kigali. The bales of blankets will be delivered a few at a time until the security situation improves dramatically, allowing a truck convoy to transport the blankets as originally planned.
The Bukavu area is mountainous, with chilly evenings throughout the year. Along with thousands of blankets, supporters contributed more than $350,000 to MCC designated for the "Central Africa Healing Fund." A portion of the money will go to purchase seeds and tools to replace those looted in the recent fighting. As well some money will go to buy food to tide people over until the next harvest, and for MCC's ongoing forestry and peace work. MCC will also purchase and distribute malaria medicines.
During the fighting, Zairians were able to protect two of the three MCC tree nurseries in Bukavu, signalling the value placed on tree-planting. From July 1994 to October 1996 several hundred thousand Rwandan refugees were camped around Bukavu. Each day they cut more than 70 tons of wood for fuel, stripping the hillsides of trees. As a result Zairians said they noticed temperature changes and soil erosion. Rigalo continues to oversee the forestry project. Lumeya is re-establishing contact with members of the peace committees with which he had been working. He reports a renewed interest in peace, given people's recent exposure to the devastation of war.
from an MCC release
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