FT Hunger Action Diaries

Lucy Ellis in the field

There’s never a dull moment. After feeling that I’m making a difference to help those who suffer rebuild their lives, this is probably the next best thing about working in the Democratic Republic of Congo with Action Against Hunger.

As Head of Base in Kisangani, the third largest city of the DRC, smack bang in the middle of this gargantuan humid and fertile landmass that used to be the backyard of a Belgian king, my job is a bit like producing a very unpredictable stage show.

I’m behind the scenes, responsible for making sure all the logistical and administrative nuts and bolts fit together and that our programmes in this region run as smoothly as possible. The rules are changing…or, in many cases, there are no rules but simple human ingenuity and initiative.

Kisangani is located in the Tshopo (Chop-poe) District, which itself is found in the Oriental Province – the largest province of DRC that spills out from the north-east corner of the country and borders Uganda, Sudan and the Central African Republic.

My base directly supports a nutrition programme in three health zones in the Tshopo District. The furthest, Yabaondo, requires a day-long drive by motorbike or 4×4, crossing two rivers on the way.

Crossing the river en route to Yabaondo

Last time I got out to Yabaondo it was “dry season” and even then we had to battle road-rivers. We’d get off the motorbikes and walk many stretches because the little wooden bridges traversing the veins of the Congo River were all too precarious for a loaded motorbike.

Most of the route to Yabaondo winds parallel to the majestic Congo River, the subject of more than a fair share of African literature. There are miles of mud hut villages with million-dollar views. The relics of an elegant but brutal Belgian colonialism litter the landscape – in the form of dilapidated and boarded up houses now occupied by struggling local authorities, and the vast ‘campus’ of the once-reputed herborium and agricultural institute 95km from Kisangani.

Our geographically strategic location within the country means we also provide support for a whole bunch of nutrition and food security interventions in the north of the Oriental Province (Haut and Bas Uélé). Sadly the Haut and Bas Uélés are home to some pretty large displaced populations – thanks to brutality and nasty scare tactics of the Lord’s Resistance Army.

Every week staff-most of them Congolese nationals-pass through Kisangani on their way to and from these isolated regions that are only accessible by air, or a week-long drive if you dare. The staff members are almost exclusively men. Congolese society still retains a strong sense of the male breadwinner. So these men ‘head north’ for months at a time, putting themselves at risk for the sake of these terrorised communities. Their wives and families come in each month to collect their pay or to get their medical costs reimbursed. Thanks to satellite connections and other such wonders of technology, occasionally we can let these patient and courageous relatives a little word or photo to or from their heroic husbands in the field. The Congolese deal with all this hardship so much better than I could – I doubt I even could. Decades of post-independence incertitude, rebellion and reconstruction has left them resilient to even the most harrowing challenges.

At this time of year, as the holiday season draws near, our staff members just want to head home to their loved ones – whether home is in Kisangani, Kinshasa or New Zealand. But someone has to hold down the fort amidst the sweltering heat, the pelting rain and the disintegrating roads that are all characteristic of the wet season at this time of year.

It’s hard work, often frustrating and sometimes discouraging, but nevertheless it’s fantastic. Every day I feel alive, sometimes too alive, but never like life is just passing me by, or that I could ever take it for granted. I’m looking forward to sharing over the next few weeks on this blog a bit of why this is so…and some of the fun we have along the way.