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Seizing This Moment of Hope: North Kivu

Seizing This Moment of Hope

On May 5, 2006, hundreds of families in the village of Katwiguru picked up what belongings they could and fled down the road to the main town of Rutshuru, two hours north of the provincial capital Goma. The UN peacekeeping force, MONUC, had joined with the national army, the FARDC, to move against Rwandan rebels based in the area. These families had been caught in the middle for some time, accused by both the rebels and the FARDC of supporting the other side; the new fighting was enough to push them out of the homes in search of safety.

The first families to arrive in Rutshuru crowded into the homes of family members and friends, but the capacity of the village to welcome everyone was soon overwhelmed. New arrivals took shelter in a large church, but after a few weeks were turned out into the yard as the interior was slowly being destroyed. By this time, the “Rapid Response Mechanism,” organized by the UN to respond to these kinds of crises, had started to work. The French NGO Solidarités, which had received a contract to implement the Mechanism when needed, began distributing blankets, plastic tarps, and kitchen utensils, and set up a water tap and latrines for the site. More people continued to arrive at the church, however; by the time Refugees International visited in early July 2006, as many as 100 families were sleeping outside, with no shelter, their belongings piled around them.

For MONUC and the FARDC, the solution was simple: the displaced could return to their homes in Katwiguru. The people, however, resisted, saying it was still unsafe; women in particular refused to return, unwilling to go back to a place where they faced rape by armed men while working in their fields. In cooperation with the local authorities, Solidarités moved those at the church to a new site, where every family could at least build a shelter for themselves. They planned, however, to go back to Katwiguru, at least for the day, to vote on July 30. They hoped it would bring peace. “If we have goats or sheep,” they told RI, “we will be able to raise them well, without fear of them being stolen or anything.”

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