By Dave Beer, Medair administrator and
logistician in Bunia, DR Congo
Sitting on the concrete floor was a
boy, not more than ten years old, being attended to by two or three nurses.
At first sight, they were putting a bandage on a wound on his cheek as
he sat patiently, only wincing when his finger was pricked for a blood
sample. But as I moved closer, I saw behind the bandage a mouth with no
teeth, no tongue visible, just lips surrounding a fleshy mess. In the militia
attack that morning on a village called Katoto, Joel's mother had been
killed by a bullet. He survived, but was hit in the cheek, the bullet going
on through his mouth. A Good Samaritan found him and brought him the ten
kilometres into the Medair clinic, where first aid could be administered
before transferring him to the surgeon. The administrator of the clinic
said that ironically he was one of the lucky ones - his family happened
to find him in the clinic, and can now take care of their maimed child.
Being lucky in this town has a whole different meaning.
After the forced evacuation in May, Medair was quickly back on the ground and operational. In a situation continuously unstable, where violence can erupt at any time, Medair is carrying on its efforts to alleviate the suffering in the Ituri region:
In and around Bunia:
A family in the temporary clinic
One of Medair's major focusses is the clinic just opposite the UN headquarters, in the centre of the town. Through this clinic Medair provides the first point of treatment for many such cases, enabling swift and appropriate treatment that we hope will save the lives of those caught up in this circle of violence. It has now welcomed 3'590 outpatients since it opened in the middle of the anarchy that overtook the town a few weeks ago.
340 patients, including 13 caught in last weekend's fighting, have been hospitalised for intensive treatment. The old building has been quickly rehabilitated, with makeshift wooden frames erected and covered in plastic sheeting to separate the patients and to try and create some privacy for them. 50 full time qualified Congolese staff have offered their services, and are working flat out to cover the needs. Medair pays and closely supervises these "volunteers" and supplies the hospital with medicines.
Thanks to the long years of partnership Medair has had with hundreds of health structures in the region we have been able to quickly help re-start the functioning and restocking of health centres. So far, 16 health centres are already functioning at almost full capacity in and around Bunia, providing free healthcare to the local population.
Together with UNICEF, Medair helped to set up an emergency vaccination programme and provided drugs for operations in field hospitals. In the two weeks following the 23rd May, over 6'000 children and pregnant women had been vaccinated against a range of diseases.
Elsewhere in Ituri:
Medair is also addressing the danger of cholera, and is actively monitoring and isolating cases in a purpose-built cholera treatment centre on the main street in Bunia. Luckily with fresh water on tap thanks to OXFAM, the cases are still few and are quickly treated. Through the network of health centres that Medair has been working with and supporting in Ituri, we heard last week of a potentially dangerous outbreak in the village of Aveba, around 60km south-east of Bunia. With the help of MAF, we were able to send a plane loaded with perfusions and drugs to local partners in the area so that immediate and adequate treatment could be provided.
Although, and rightly so, media attention is now focussed on the terrible events in Bunia, Medair cannot forget the rest of this neglected province of Ituri either. Medair has reinforced its staff and activities to reach three health zones in the south of Ituri, out of a logistics base set up in Beni (North Kivu). We are now supplying and supervising over 25 health structures from there, some of which are affected by the tens of thousands of new refugees fleeing southwards from Bunia.
Of course much more needs to be done. Although security is expected to improve in Bunia in the coming weeks, there is still a huge number of civilians in the surrounding region who are vulnerable to and fearful of continued outbreaks of violence. We are concerned about the tens of thousands with little access to emergency humanitarian aid, whether remaining in their homes, displaced in camps or simply on the road, fleeing the latest attack. Once the situation in Bunia has started to improve Medair sincerely hopes that plans will be implemented to tackle the wider problems and bring unimpeded access for humanitarian agencies in the areas surrounding Bunia.
The work of Medair in Bunia and Ituri is mainly supported by ECHO, the Humanitarian Aid Office of the EU, with complementary support from the Humanitarian Division of the Swiss government for Medair operations in eastern Congo.
International Headquarters :
Chemin du Croset, 9
1024 - Ecublens - Switzerland
Tel : +41 21 694 35 35 - Fax : +41 21 694 35 40
Medair
Organisation humanitaire - Humanitarian organisation
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