Support of Orphans

Further details of the support we are providing are in the following report:

PROVISION OF FOOD AND OTHER FIRST NECESSITIES TO ORPHANS

WHOSE PARENTS HAVE BEEN MASSACRED IN THE TERRITORY OF BENI

(Internally Displaced from Villages close to Oicha and Beni Towns)

BENEFICIARIES’ LOCATION:

TERRITORY OF BENI, IN THE PROVINCE OF NORD-KIVU

IN THE DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO

To be implemented by:

Members of Restoration Ministry –O.E.I.L. overseen by Daniel Masumbuko Kasereka

BACKGROUND AND CONTEXT

In the year 1996, a rebellion by Laurent D. Kabila launched from the East, aided by Rwanda and Uganda put an end to a 32 years’ dictatorship regime of president Mobutu in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Four years later, Laurent D. Kabila was killed and his son Joseph Kabila is now the leader. The civil war went on for more than 10 years and more than 10 countries fought in Congo.

From 1996 up to 2006 military forces from Rwanda, Burundi and Uganda aggressively entered the country through the Eastern region, claiming to pursue their own rebels hiding in DRC—including the Ugandan NALU & LRA, the Burundian CNDD and the Rwandan Interahamwe. Besides this, different Congolese tribal militia took advantage of the lack of stability and fought in different areas. More than 5 million are reported killed in DRC, the majority were from the northeastern region. The continued fighting destroyed infrastructure, left many traumatized people, raped women living with HIV/AIDS, widows and orphans, divisions and hatred between tribes and countries.

The negative climate of this endless conflict has been horrible and is still very challenging. The impact of conflict is much more destructive in under-developed countries like DRC. The lack of good education, coupled with poverty is sadly a favorable ground for the formation of wrong attitudes and the spill-over of prejudices in peoples’ minds.

Traumatic events have caused people to be victims of both primary and secondary wounds. These traumatic events affected people differently depending on age or gender (ex-combatants, street boys, single mothers, etc.), faith, family support, duration of stress, earlier experience not properly handled, exposure to death threats, non availability of caregivers and resources, etc.

During these civil wars that have torn Congo apart, hundreds of associations and NGOs have participated in meeting physical needs in the emergency sense: giving food, clothes and shelter to displaced people, with some psychological theories and practices for trauma healing. In addition,The Church, in its various denominational forms, has always been an environment for healing and revival to become a community transformation agent.

This specific project’s intervention is focused on the town of Oicha in the territory of Beni, where drastic massacres by the Ugandan Islamic rebel factions are taking place. The town of Oicha is located at the middle of the territory of Beni, in the province of Nord-Kivu.

PROBLEM STATEMENT:

The town of Oicha has been a fast growing municipality, 30km North of Beni. Since January 2014 the atrocity and massacres started in the territory of Beni, much more in the villages surrounding the town of Oicha. The town and its surroundings has the most affected population from the fighting between the loyal government army and the Ugandan Islamic rebels of ADF-Nalu in the territory of Beni. Thousands of people left their homes and farms and moved to being internally displaced with all their households in Oicha. The majority of these internally displaced people have stopped there due to proximity to their farms. Sadly, related insecurity grew so fast in the territory and more than 1,000 people including men, women and children have been killed. The population of Oicha mainly lives on agricultural activities and many find it difficult to run far away from their villages. This is why Oicha has counted lots of children whose parents have been massacred. Many are staying with relatives who do not even have capacity to host such traumatized children.

TARGET BENEFICIARIES FOR THIS SCHEME

Thousands of people have been massacred by violence perpetrated in the territory of Beni by terrorists of the Islamic Ugandan rebels called ADF-NALU as stated here above. Many children are found having lost either one parent or both father and mother killed during the attacks in the several villages surrounding the town of Oicha. The situation has left hundreds of orphans living either with relatives or just hosted by “good Samaritans”.

We are trying to call for support and build a scheme that can help take care of those orphans, who are at the age of attending schools and accessible through churches; in the way that they are taken care of for the healing of bad memories and also some provision for their basic needs.

SCHEME’S OBJECTIVE

To support the needs of the orphans including the process of healing bad memories and restoring hope to them so that they experience God’s love through the acts of Christian generosity.

1. To provide monthly pack of basic food and other first necessities to individual orphans in their hosting families, so as to allow them feel that the body of Christ cares for the suffering;
2. To provide school uniforms and kits of school materials to individual orphans attending schools;
3. To lead the beneficiaries (orphans) through the lessons and practices of the Biblical truth for the healing of their bad memories;
4. To provide for the displacement of caregivers to schools where they run the various sessions and practices for the healing of bad memories on a weekly basis;

TEACHING SESSIONS ACTIVITIES TO DATE

Five members of our Healing and Reconciliation ministry trained in the practices of facilitating workshops for trauma healing in the towns of Oicha and Beni are voluntarily engaged to help these children. They are running 5 sessions a week, one at a time in 5 different schools. This has been programmed by the help of a coordination office in the town of Oicha, which coordination does the registration of children victims who lost their parents in the massacre since 2014.

The activities are being run specifically for these children since November 2016. As it was stated in the proposal, the activities will continue for this school year 2016-2017 up to June 2017 when the children will go for the 2-month vacation.

In this Easter vacation, there is a break for the activities permitting on average 700-1200 beneficiary children to attend the holiday’s camps being run for all school goes from the 6th to the 15th of April 2017 in the towns of Oicha and Beni surroundings.

PICTURES OF FOOD DISTRIBUTION

MONTHLY ACTIVITIES AND MONITORING, PLUS COST ESTIMATES

Year 1 to June 2017:

For each orphan and their adopting family:

The initial plan was the purchase and distribution enough of the following :

• 1kg of rice and 1kg of beans per week;
• plus washing soap 1bar a month;
• plus school uniforms at US$3.50 ;
• and note books, pens and school bag for maximum

For The current school year to June 2017 the cost was about £9,000 ( $11,600) for 200 children. About £1,400 ($1,800) was for school uniforms, books, bags etc). Friends of CME Trust was able to pay for this.

The actual number of children has grown to 269 and they have funded by cutting out the beans and replacing them with bread and milk.

School finishes in June. During the summer the children will work with the host families in the fields. School will restart September.

Year 2 Future needs:

The project is asking for 8 months of support - November to June 2018- for the 269 children. The rest of the time, the children will work in field with their host families.

The Provisional budget for the food and soap is as follows:

• No.1, Rice 4kg X 269 children x 0.85$ = 914.50$
• No.2, Beans 4kg x 269 children x 0.76$ = 817.76$
• No.3, Soap 1 stick x 269 children x 0.61$ = 164.09$
• No.4. Bread 1 piece x 5 weeks x 269 x 0.15$ = 201.75$
• No.4, Milk 1 cup x 5 weeks x 269 x 0.18$ = 242.10

New school bags will not be needed but notebooks, pens and uniform wear out each year.

The total budget per child comes to £72 for the school year or £6 per month if paid over 12 months.