It took Coronavirus a little longer to reach DRC, but as I write this, our partner Amani reports that 30 cases have been confirmed in Congo, with two deaths. Two new cases were reported today in the Katanga region in Lubumbashi in South Kivu. The direct impact of this is that Amani had to abruptly close the Congo Peace School on Friday. He shared that many students cried at the announcement, as the school acts not only as a second home where they practice loving nonviolence in classrooms and in play, but is also where they eat their only meal. Thankfully, we will continue to provide that meal for many. Read more about the actions Amani is taking below.
The people of Congo are now dealing with the same escalating crisis there that we are in the U.S. and around most of the globe, but with almost no resources compared to what we have here. (Panzi Hospital in Bukavu has only 20 ventilators, the only ones to serve over 5.7 million people in South Kivu.)
With people having no money, and no way to earn money if things are shut down, Amani worries that more people will die from hunger than the Coronavirus / COVID-19.
Thus, your giving is making an impact now, more than ever. Also of note, Amani was trained by John Hopkins University in Health Emergencies in Large Populations (HELP), and your support will allow him to continue his work with the students and community at a safe distance, educating people in proper hand-washing, social distancing, healthy food preparation, and the impact those actions will make on the health of the greater community.
The DRC government has shut down school, churches, and any gathering of more than 20 people for at least four weeks, at which point they will evaluate the next steps based on the spread of the virus and the health response in the country.
Currently, Amani is overseeing a small staff preparing food to be served to the Congo Peace School students in the community for whom the school meals were their only source of food. Your support allows him to triage the community’s needs in fighting hunger and malnutrition as well as sourcing health care for those who fall ill, with access to Nurse Jeanine, a long-time staff member of our team.
The borders with Rwanda and Burundi have been closed, but there is still boat travel from Goma and via Tanzania, so supplies are limited, but available for us to continue to buy the rice and beans for the school meals.
It is also critical that we prepare for when this pandemic has passed, to re-open the school and continue to deepen our work in sustainability for the operations, both through the opening of the school’s boarding houses and the growing (literally!) community farm that will help feed the students.
The students at the Peace School continue to be a source of hope for us all, like Cito, who shared via video here why she thinks equality will change the world.
We are grateful you are standing with these students and the people of Congo in this time that is unnerving and full of grief. Like never before we’re now reminded of just how connected we all are, how when one is suffering, we all suffer.
I often turn to Rebecca Solnit’s book Hope in the Dark when I need a reminder of what real hope looks like.
“To hope is dangerous, and yet it is the opposite of fear, for to live is to risk. I say all this because hope is not like a lottery ticket you can sit on the sofa and clutch, feeling lucky. I say it because hope is an ax you break down doors with in an emergency; because hope should shove you out the door, because it will take everything you have to steer the future away from endless war, from the annihilation of the earth’s treasures and the grinding down of the poor and marginal. Hope just means another world might be possible, not promised, not guaranteed. Hope calls for action; action is impossible without hope. … To hope is to give yourself to the future, and that commitment to the future makes the present inhabitable. Anything could happen, and whether we act or not has everything to do with it.” – Rebecca Solnit
Thank you for taking action with your partnership through Action Kivu. We’ll continue to keep you updated on the impact we see in Congo.
With love & hope –
Rebecca Snavely
Executive Director, Action Kivu