At Christmas FEBA sent money for a special feast for the orphanage in Goma which is run by a friend of Maman Monique. For once, all they could eat! Within weeks the city was overrun by fighting. Sadly, as we report this now, that feast is a distant memory; they are surviving on practically nothing. Please pray for all the people of Goma and the region, especially the orphans.
FEBA Farm’s 1st New Harvest!
THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! Celebrate with us the joy of the harvest! FEBA’s farm has done so well: corn, tomatoes, Congo eggplant, and cassava greens. (Cassava has also been planted but it requires a year to come to maturity.)
In August-September FEBA cleared and planted 8 hectares (about 19+ acres). As they harvest these fields they are preparing 3 more hectares for the next planting season when the rains come in March, to plant more corn, beans, soy, and cassava.
Hunger has been the daily reality since 2023 when pre-electoral violence destroyed all the farms in this region. Now at last there is a turning point and dawning hope for the food insecure.
The Situation in Congo
As you have probably heard, there is an upsurge in violence in northeastern Congo. The M23 rebels, who are allied with Rwanda, have been fighting since 2022 to take over the province of North Kivu to exploit its minerals; in the process they have driven refugees to camp around Goma. M23 and Rwandan soldiers have now taken Goma, with a great deal of killing and raping; the rebels have also looted, including the food stockpiled in Goma by the World Food Program. The internet is out, there is no electricity or running water. During the worst of it, people hid in their homes, mostly without food or water. The rebels are now forcing the people to clear the streets, carrying water from the lake to wash away the blood and gore.
Maman Monique is in intermittent contact through a local phone network with two friends in Goma. So far there are no known casualties or injuries among the orphans or people we know, but they are close to starving and there has been significant loss of property at the Community Charity School, where the solar panels and photocopier were stolen. Maman Monique sent money to feed the orphans (via local phone money transfer) and Innocent Nunda (Uvira) will send to CCS as soon as possible. Any assistance to enable our partners to do more will be welcome
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