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Mai Hosoi, ERTeam member in Myanmar 
Hundreds of thousands of Congolese have been forced from their homes and communities by violence. UNHCR needs your help to protect and shelter them.
Months of fighting in the North Kivu province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo have created what aid agencies call a catastrophic humanitarian emergency for the UN Refugee Agency. More than 250,000 people have in recent weeks sought safety from the violence which has forced them out of their villages .
Camps burned and destroyed
Three camps near Rutshuru were pillaged and burned in early November, forcing the people sheltering there to flee again. The displaced Congolese have endured many weeks of fear, hunger, thirst and exhaustion in their search for safety. Both civilians and aid workers have been in danger as fighting rages through the region. However, UNHCR manages to deliver food and emergency supplies under these challenging conditions.
Moving to safety
Tens of thousands of people have poured into the six camps clustered around the regional capitol of Goma. One camp, Kibati, grew from 15,000 to 65,000 people in a matter of days. The UN Refugee Agency responded quickly, bringing in aid by airlift and truck. A single convoy of four trucks brought 33 tons of blankets, plastic sheeting and kitchen sets. Hygiene kits were distributed to prevent disease.
UNHCR and its partners also are taking steps to protect people for the longer term. A new camp is being built at Mugunga to provide more room and better security. People will be gradually transferred to this new location, where tents and latrines are now being installed.
Need for tents, blankets, jerry cans
The need for supplies is growing by the day. UNHCR spokesman Ron Redmond says, "We are distributing sleeping mats, jerry cans, buckets and mosquito nets. But we must count on donors to replenish these supplies and help us shelter the tens of thousands who are still seeking protection in North Kivu."
It is estimated that there are 1.3 million displaced people in this region alone.
How you can help
UNHCR staff will be working around the clock throughout the holiday season to bring the very basics of warmth, shelter, clean water and medical care to the displaced of the Congo.
Please give to the Emergency Appeal
$80 buys 20 wool blankets to keep refugees warm.
$100 buys a survival kit for a family with blankets and a heating and cooking stove.
The House that "To build the house, I made the bricks myself. I built the walls. For the roof, I used tree branches as a support structure for the tent to provide protection from the elements." With the conflict in Darfur now in its fifth year, UNHCR is helping thousands of refugees living in Chad to move from emergency tents to more permanent shelters. Habania is 15 years old. She fled from Darfur with her older brother and sister in March of this year. When they decided to return to Darfur, she was left to fend for herself in the camps as an unaccompanied minor. Habania received a UNHCR tent as part of her initial relief package. However, she didn’t feel safe living in a tent on her own. Within weeks, she was building herself a more substantial shelter with the UN Refugee Agency’s help. Like other refugees, she used the tent as a roof, and learned to make mud bricks for the walls. With just a little support from people like you and me, a young girl has been able to make herself a home and make her life in exile more livable.
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ABOVE: Habania Adam Mahamat (far right), outside her house, Kounoungu Refugee Camp in Chad. © UNHCR
TOP: Several of the tens of thousands who have fled fighting in eastern Congo head toward the North Kivu provincial capital, Goma, with scant possessions on their backs. © MONUC/Marie Frechon
With us, they can get the practical assistance and protection they so desperately need.
