BULENGO BRIEFING, DAY 8
For one 8ᵉ day, we went down to the Bulengo camp and gave the gift of our humanity. The misery is evident here this morning: new displaced people are being added to the camp, fearing confrontation as the gunshots and bangs are heard even in their villages.
Between the need for food, between the reunification between family members, which is a real need since many children are separated from their families due to displacement and even in the life of the camp; there is still a lot of work to be done in the camp and Agir RDC does the best it can every day.
We arrive at the camp in the morning and plan to start with a children's activity. The children in Block 8 are being cared for by another organization and we are interested in the work that this organization is doing so we can consider joining forces.
In Bulengo, there is a lack of water in the households at the ends. This could lead to several diseases because all the water points are concentrated at the entrance of the camp.
This leads to poor hygiene in all directions. This is why a series of sensitizations are made in several households on the management of the pots which must be poured just after the child has done his need. Unfortunately this is not observed! The waste remains there for more than 24 hours and this attracts flies which then settle on the foodstuffs and the risk of cholera increases overnight. This is in contrast to the blocks where we have organized hygiene committees that already organize waste management. So this is the answer we bring. We are expanding the creation of hygiene committees, relying on community relays. A door-to-door sensitization is done where our field agents show the heads of households how to manage the pots that are often filled with fecal matter of small children. More than 100 pots were dumped in the toilets and the community committed to adopt a responsible attitude. The hygiene committees will follow up and our mobilizers will take stock every day, otherwise this circulation of flies is a vector of diseases. 5 blocks are gathered and sensitized on hygiene, that is 370 people.
The camp is alive and boiling, markets are established. Men and women do what they can to feed their offspring. The men go to look for wood, break stones... and some women have undertaken small goods. The hygiene of these food markets leaves much to be desired and the risk of catching diseases is increasingly imminent. Our mobilizers are also doing mass sensitizations there. The fifty or so merchants are affected as well as the clients who come from all over the camp. Most of them, especially those who sell there, commit themselves to cover the goods and make the surroundings clean.
Our mental health team has not given up and is committed more than ever to working hard to bring relief to those people who are sometimes in distress, sometimes in despair and who present, some of them anyway, with guilt for not being able to do anything for their families. From active listening to home visits, our PSAs continue to reach out to as many people as they can to get assistance. Today, they have visited 5 people referred for medical care. They are also taking care of 4 people who came by appointment. Among them, the raped woman who was listened to on the first day and who is undergoing treatment at MSF Holland where she was referred. Her medical treatment is progressing well, but the psychological care must continue so that she regains her confidence. Our PSAs know that it will take a few weeks, but that's what they are there for.
End of the day. Mobilizers and PSAs debrief on the day's progress. It's been hard again. But what will be harder is watching and doing nothing. So with each action, we feel the relief of doing our part to ease the pain of the crisis. Tomorrow we will be there again.
