The latest from Gety (Eastern Congo)

While fighting is going on in the west, this is what is going on in the east.
Gety village sits just south of Bunia, I believe.
Cheers.
Mags

Severe Humanitarian Crisis in Gety Village
(Medair website- 15 August 2006)

Approximately 40,000 people are currently living in IDP camps in the town of Gety, in southeast Ituri, DRC. They face a growing humanitarian crisis, due to overcrowding, poor sanitation, and insufficient food and medicine.

In May, many communities south of Bunia began fleeing to Gety from their villages, after their streets became battlegrounds between government forces and rebel militia. In these villages, over 90% of the houses, churches, schools, and health centres were burnt to the ground. The entire area remained inaccessible until June, when Medair country director Johan ten Hoeve travelled to Gety village. On his journey, he witnessed the deserted ruins of villages, and saw that many Medair-supported health centres had been looted.

Safe from the fighting in their village, the displaced people in Gety now face entirely different dangers. They are living in rapidly constructed houses of straw and mud, without enough toilets to go around. Cholera has broken out in the camp, with 22 cases reported over two weeks, and the death of a 12-year old child from the disease. Many children are malnourished and some of them have already died.

Medair is one of the key NGOs providing support to displaced people in Gety. Some women told Medair staff that when they fled their villages they were unable to take anything with them. Their smiles dissolved into sadness as they thought of the villages they had left behind. "We only have tears left," they said. One villager told Medair's country director that while fleeing the fighting, he buried 7 children a day during his long walk through the rainforest to Gety.

Gety's health centres and hospitals are burdened with a massive influx of sick people. Medair has already reequipped the looted health facilities and is providing free medicines to the health centres, while also supporting health centre staff financially. The Medair team responded immediately to the cholera outbreaks by providing medicines, fluids for IV drips and making cholera beds. At Gety hospital, Medair is rapidly constructing a building made from plastic sheeting to isolate cholera patients.

Medair's medical team also organised a vaccination campaign for children under 5, vaccinating them against five major diseases (polio, tuberculosis, dipthereia, yellow fever, and measles). Two of Medair's nurses, alongside a group of local nurses, organised the vaccination of more than 5,480 children in just 5 days. 264 pregnant women also received tetanus vaccinations.

Medair is improving conditions in looted health centres and at the hospital by supplying mattresses, new chairs, delivery beds, tables, and installing toilets. Medair's construction team is working to rehabilitate health centres, supplying new doors and windows, fixing parts of iron-sheet roofing, and plastering and painting.

Medair is providing special medicines to rape victims sheltering in Gety, and has trained two midwives in the Gety area to give medical and psychosocial support to victims of sexual violence. Medair is coaching key people such as teachers, medical staff, and religious leaders about how best to help victims of sexual violence, and spreading the word about where victims can receive care. In the first week of this programme, twelve sexually abused people have already received help.

Food supply is one of the biggest challenges for the displaced people in Gety. There are few options for the villagers, since they left their village fields and tools behind, and because it is often unsafe to venture into the nearby fields to cultivate food. On July 7th, Medair transported almost 7 tonnes of World Food Program (WFP) beans and maize flour in the Medair truck to Gety. However, the quantity of food arriving in Gety is insufficient to feed the displaced villagers.

There is no foreseeable end to the crisis. In particular, more food may not arrive in Gety for weeks. As the conflict continues and the food in the camp runs out, thousands of people are at risk of malnutrition and disease. For its part, Medair will keep supplying medicines and treating diseases such as cholera as long as the displaced people remain.

When the immediate crisis passes, and communities are able to return to their villages, Medair will work with villagers to reconstruct their destroyed health centres and to restock medicines. The reconstruction activities will give some small employment opportunities to a now desperately poor people.