Democratic Republic of Congo
(1994-1995)
Rwandese refugees crisis
Although, I had been working in Cambodia with many returnees
from the refugee camps in Thailand. I had no idea at all of the misery which can
be spread during a mass exodus ending up on the shore of the Lake Kivu. I
consider to have changed deeply my perception of the world during these 9 months
of very intense work. The human dignity is not given once for all, it is a daily
construction requiring a strong commitment from the whole humanity. There is
more than the present lives at stake in resolving the refugees crisis. The whole
social order is at risk of loosing its credibility and the chance for escalating
chaos and violence are very related to the despair and destitution experienced
by the refugees in the camps.
The logistics for the WFP operations in Bukavu was extremely
tight. Three warehouses were in operations. The food dispatch to 27 Rwandese
refugees camps in a weekly rotation was at all time on the verge to get
interrupted by natural, mechanical or political conditions. The failure to
deliver food was likely to resume violence and starvation for countless people
inside and outside the camps. The resources of Bukavu were stretched to the
limits by the influx of peoples and the cash brought by the relief agencies. It
was no surprise for me that the final chapter of the long decay of the Mobutu
regime started in Kivu. In 1994, it was already evident that the Zairian state
had lost completely its credibility and capacity to rule.
I discovered that I could do quite a lot in these extreme
conditions close to chaos. I have setup from scratch a database to process all
the waybills and to task the various trucks and barges. I wrote several
mini-projects to compensate or mitigate the impact of the refugee camps on the
local population. I contributed to the census of the refugees and recycled the
damaged flour into animal feed.
The most rewarding with that experience was the team spirit and
the immense satisfaction to contribute to the relief of suffering.
Albert Grela - Agriculture, M&E, Irrigation
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