In camps for displaced people in Kibati, just north of Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo, people are seeking refuge from recent fighting.

Bala* is six years old. She came with her mother, Thérèse, and Bala’s 13-year-old brother straight from Rugari to Kibati. It was a 20 kilometre walk.

Bala’s feet are swollen. Mumuza Muhindo, a Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) nurse working with the mobile clinic in Kibati, diagnoses kwashiorkor, a severe form of malnutrition.

"We have given her ready-to-use therapeutic food so she gains strength quickly," explains Mumuza. "Bala will have to eat three of these ready-to-use food sachets a day on top of the family meal. You can see she is eating well for the moment so I am confident that she will be better soon. The main problem is that most people living in Kibati don't have the means to buy food as they fled the fighting."

Thérèse was at home on Monday when the fighting started again. “I took what I could carry and my two children. We couldn't go to Kibumba as they were fighting there as well. I came straight to Kibati," says the 58-year-old mother. "I was living in a camp in Rugari after I fled the fighting one year ago. This is the second time I’ve fled. I am tired of this situation. I am alone with my two children. My husband died during fighting some eight years ago."

"In Rugari, in the camp I was living in, we didn't receive enough to eat. They gave me a food ration that was supposed to feed my entire family for one month,” Thérèse adds, “but after two weeks we barely had food left. And since Monday [in Kibati] we haven't eaten anything except some banana juice. I have no money and no work here."

This is the second time Bala has been treated for malnutrition. She was looked after at a nutritional centre in Rugari, where she received therapeutic milk. But the recent lack of food and the constant movement have worsened her condition.

Thérèse  is one of the lucky ones who found a place to live in Kibati. She is sharing a small hut with other people, but most refugees who have arrived since Monday just sleep on the grass.

Mapendo fled from another camp to one in Kibati with her children Cibalonza, five years old, and Buhuru, one and a half years old.

"I came to the mobile clinic because my daughter Cibalonza has been coughing for several days now,” says Mapendo. “This is the second time in three months that I have had to run away from the fighting. I used to live near Rumangabo but three months ago I had to flee, and have lived in a camp in Kibumba since. On Monday I had to leave Kibumba as they were fighting. I came by foot to Kibati."

Mapendo, who is 35 years old, has been in Kibati since Monday with her husband and her five children. She lives outside, on the grass, as she has not found a place to stay.

Cibalonza received medication to get rid of her cough, but because she sleeps outside it may not improve quickly.

"It's actually rather cold at night here and it rains nearly every day," explains MSF nurse Muhindo. "Cibalonza sleeps outside, has no blankets, no place to shelter. This might complicate her recovery. But she will come back in a few days, as we are here every day, and we will evaluate her condition again."

"We didn't manage to bring more than a couple of things,” says Mapendo. “We had to abandon most of our belongings in Kibumba, and three months ago in Rumangabo. My husband has not found a job here and we have no money. My children have had barely anything to eat since Monday. They cry at night because they're hungry. It's a very difficult situation, especially for the younger ones. If it was safe to go back, I would leave Kibati tomorrow, but I don't dare leave now. What if the fighting starts again?"

 

* Some names have been changed.

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