Working with local communities, IMC braves uprising to provide medical supplies and care in DRC

After months of rebel uprisings in eastern DRC forced non-governmental organizations to scale back their medical programs, International Medical Corps is once again providing comprehensive health care and medical supplies to people in the Kalonge, Bunyakiri and Hombo Nord health zones. IMC’s strong relationships with local communities and the Ministry of Public Health have been instrumental in resuming operations in the region.

PHOTO: IMC Villagers carry supplies from an IMC truck stuck in the mud in Kalonge, DRC.

IMC is proud to be the only NGO with permanent field bases in Kalonge, Bunyakiri and Hombo Nord, and the only international organization to implement its activities in these zones during this disrupted period.

In its efforts to reach Kalonge zonal referral hospital, an area where fighting has been at its most intense, IMC’s team successfully traveled through the rebel-held Kahuzi-Biega forest with critical medical supplies. Heavy rains and large trucks had run deep ruts that thwarted even IMC’s four-wheeled drive vehicles. The drugs and milk reached their destination on IMC’s second attempt, made possible with the help of people in the Kalonge community. Tired and hungry, young and old alike, community members waited for the vehicle to slip and slide through the forest as far as it could reach. They then carried the supplies for the remaining four-hour walk, successfully avoiding ‘Chumi’, Kalonge’s resident baboon who had attacked IMC’s team the previous week.

Because IMC provides medical supplies to people in remote regions, it relies on information and cooperation from local communities about safety and road conditions to be able to quickly deliver supplies. Although most villages are between 30 and 60 miles from IMC’s base, heavy rains can prevent trucks and motorbikes from reaching them. IMC medical teams often travel along poor roads through the rebel-held Kahuzi-Biega forest in order to deliver much-needed medicine and health care.

PHOTO: IMC A malnourished child is being weighed at a clinic in Kalonge, DRC.

“People ask me, ‘Why do you work in the bush like that? There are medicines and things to do in town.’ It’s the people,” said Dr. Isaac, head doctor in the rural community of Hombo Nord. “There is an old papa there, and he said to me, ‘This is the first time I’ve ever seen a doctor.’ And so, me, I prefer working in Hombo Nord.”

IMC, local community members, and the Ministry of Public Health, are working together to address serious humanitarian issues in eastern DRC. Illness and malnutrition have reached critical levels and local displacement has increased exponentially, affecting more than 350,000 people. Incidences of rape have quadrupled with 33 Bunyakiri women making reports in the first two weeks of May alone. There have also been reports of chicken pox and cholera outbreaks.

In addition to medical and transportation obstacles, IMC faces operational challenges trying to maintain 59 health facilities and 18 nutrition centers. Staff works hard to replenish health facilities with drugs, food, therapeutic milk and essential supplies, including medical kits for rape survivors.