In and around Goma, around 170,000 people have fled the fighting in Masisi territory in recent weeks to settle in the two sites for displaced people in Rusayo. Around 20,000 of them arrived in the week of 12 February alone.
Testimonies of people who recently fled their homes due to the fighting:
Niramahoro Mafishe Sandrine , 32, originally from Butari (Mokoto)
February 15. Location: Rusayo (near Goma)
Married, her husband is still in Kitchanga but has not made contact anymore. They have 8 children (between 3 and 14 years old) all out of school.
Sandrine was originally in Kitchanga, where she worked in the fields and also kept some livestock. She left in early December from Kitchanga and fled directly to the Rusayo sites. She took the decision to leave with her family when one day, returning from the fields, she found the town empty and was told that a bomb had hit the nearby military camp. She decided to flee as their home was next to the camp. "I was only able to carry one pot with my children's clothes in it and 4 dollars, which I spent all to buy food."
"In the site we're scared of dying of hunger. We also hear gunfire everyday. We don't have anything to eat and food in the markets is too expensive to buy. We have nowhere to sleep, we had to leave everything behind, including our mattresses."
She now collects wood that is burned for heating. She sells each bundle for 500 XAF (around 0.18 USD) to other displaced people. However, it is very dangerous to go and collect the wood as outside the camp the situation is very bad. "When we go in the woods there are soldiers and gunfire every day. There's also a lot of violence by the militias (Wazalendu) in the bush (la brousse). A lot of women have been raped. I was attacked less than a week ago while looking for wood with another woman. I still go every day. It's the only way we can survive."
None of her children are in school. She doesn't want to send them to school without having eaten. Instead, they often help her look for wood, although they're too scared to go alone.
" It's too dangerous to go back to my town. I would like to leave the site to sleep elsewhere and open an activity, but I don't have the means. Here it's very difficult, I haven't received any assistance since I arrived. I was only registered today."
Harerimana Ndeze Vianney , 35, originally from Kitchanga
February 15. Location: Rusayo (near Goma)
Displaced with a family of 3 children and his wife (between 8 months and 6 years old), Vianney had many jobs in Kitchanga. He worked in fields that he rented, he was also a carpenter and helped people build houses.
"I was home in Kitchanga when a plane bombed the military camp. I feared civilians would be hit next, so we escaped to Sake. We stayed there for a week but then the fighting followed us there." They arrived in Rusayo 1 a week ago and were moved to Rusayo 2 just yesterday due to overcrowding.
"We didn't have anything with us when we escaped because transport was too expensive. In Sake we were hosted by a family and now we're staying in one of the main hangars, it's very crowded. We need to have good relations with the families around us as we share most of things we need during the day." There are 89 IDPs in the hangar they are currently staying in, while they wait to be moved to a shelter.
While in Sake, Vianney's wife was responsible for earning enough to survive. She would leave every day at 6AM to go and look for wood to resell and would only come back at 4PM. Vianney stayed home to look after the children. "I was afraid to go into the woods myself as there are soldiers that always stop the men and ask for money. I also wanted to be home in case NGOs came by to register us. We couldn't miss that opportunity."
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The oldest child is in primary school age, but they don't know whether he'll be able to attend. For now, the whole family is staying in the hangar and the wife still hasn't been able to restart looking for wood. She wants to first get to know the area better. For now she buys the wood from other displaced persons and resells it.
"Our biggest problem is water. My wife often queues for up to 3 hours to be able to access a tap. However, they often hear gunfire, and she ends up coming back emptyhanded. "
"If the war stopped, we'd be able to return home. I really don't want to stay here. My fields and cultivations are back there too. While we wait for the war to finish, we'll look for places where we can go back to work. I could help people rebuild their houses as I'm a carpenter."
