Photo Credit: Refugees International
11/04/2006

Katoko-Kombé Territory in the northeast part of Kasai Oriental Province was almost emptied during the 1998-2003 civil war. With family members dead and houses burnt, people fled to safety in nearby towns. The humanitarian assistance they received while displaced and as they began to return home a few years ago has now dried up, leaving them to fend for themselves. The people simply do not have the tools and seeds they need to rebuild. Women in the village of Kahudi said, “We would be able to grow enough food to feed our families if we just had some help.” Families throughout the area share tools in a struggle to cultivate fields now lying fallow, and watch helplessly as seed stocks dwindle due to infestations and degeneration. Up to 18.7% of the children in northern Kasai Oriental suffer from acute malnutrition, including this woman's daughter -- a two-year-old who is unable to walk and weakened by progressive bouts of malaria.