Church Helps Survivors of Congo Fire
By Chadrack Tambwe Londe
April 9, 2024 | FIZI, Congo (UM News)
Thousands of fire survivors received food and other supplies distributed by The United Methodist Church in eastern Congo.
Two fires ravaged the Malicha internally displaced camp in South Kivu in August and October. More than 4,000 makeshift shelters were destroyed, leaving people without possessions, shelter, food or means of subsistence.
A team from the church’s disaster management office — the humanitarian arm of The United Methodist Church in Eastern Congo supported by the United Methodist Committee on Relief — visited the Fizi District to help. More than 1,000 households, about 5,000 people, benefited from the aid.
Jean Tshomba, coordinator of the disaster management office in Eastern Congo, said survivors were living in exceedingly difficult conditions.
“Thousands of households were forced to leave their villages, fields and livelihoods to flee the hostilities,” Tshomba said. “They are doubly victimized, because in addition to fleeing the war, they were victims of two fires that completely ravaged their camps, leaving them once again empty-handed.”