IRFF UK February 2025: Armed Rebels Besiege Our Orphanage
2025-02-14 · Source: tparents.org
www.irff-uk.org
Armed rebels besiege orphanage In early February, armed rebel soldiers kicked in the doors of the
IRFF-backed orphanage in besieged Goma city in eastern DR
Congo. They looted the centre clean, shattering the hopes and
dreams of some 60 orphaned children aged between five and 14
years, who called the place their home. Personnel of the state-
sponsored charity TAD, which ran the facility, had fled days earlier,
abandoning the children.
Children spirited to safety IRFF’s man on the ground, Ben (Nzanzu Saasita Bienvenu), made
his way into the beleaguered city and, with his team, took the
children out of immediate danger before the M23 rebels reached
their part of Goma.
“They broke in the doors, stole
the mattresses, plastic chairs,
plates, clothes, children’s shoes,
pretty well everything, from our
Hope For Children centre,” Ben
reported in an email.
(Ben is shown in this
file photo with his family.)
The looting was systematic, Ben said. Thieves ransacked shops,
stores, supermarkets, warehouses, offices, and houses. Former
detainees of prison camps, released by the rebels who were
enlarging their control over the territory, joined in the looting.
As IRFF-UK’s liaison in DR Congo, Ben and his team not only
oversee the HFC centre but are also involved in other local charity
work, including running a facility for the protection and care of
battered women.
In response to the crisis, Ben and his team have temporarily
housed the children with some 20 households of his foster family
network. The IRFF-UK seeks to collect $150 for each foster family,
which has taken an average of three children. The money will be
used to provide for their needs, with a portion allocated as initial
capital to help families start or develop small commercial
enterprises in selling tomatoes and spices, vegetables and fruits,
fish, and cereals, to provide ongoing child support.
“How can we abandon these
suffering children?” Ben asked,
expressing his distress. “I am
very upset with this war in which
the innocents are the victims. I
have lost friends, and others are
missing. No one is safe here.”
Eastern DR Congo has been ravaged by wars since 1997, with
children and women often being the victims. Thousands have
ended up on the streets without education, often joining armed
groups, and females frequently become victims of rape. The region
is rich in sought-after raw materials but suffers from weak state
institutions, leading to continuous and extreme disorder.
The HFC centre provided primary and secondary education for
some 60 former street children in Goma. IRFF-UK helped finance
the building of a new home for these children and provided other
financial support until May 2024, when it was handed over to the
local state-run charity TAD.
Better days at the Hope For Children centre.
Most of the children are now cared for by foster parents and are
attending school as part of the socio-economic reintegration
project. The project is supported in cooperation with the UK-based
World Cultural Association (WCA).
Ben is circled by foster parents in this file photo.
APPEAL FOR SUPPORT
The delicate hopes and dreams of the orphan children have been
shattered by the conflict around them. The foster families will
provide shelter, food, and love. For your part, could you please
sponsor the children and their new families? We are happy to
receive any amount you can give. We are looking to meet or
exceed our $3,000 goal (around £2,400) to support the 60
children and their families. A donation of $50 (£40) would
sponsor a single child.
If you would like to donate and request an update on the situation
on the ground, we will do our best to keep you informed.
I will donate today!
Click here to visit our website to see our other projects.
If you are in the UK, consider sending a bank transfer so
every last penny goes to IRFF UK:
International Relief Friendship Foundation
Account number: 96497645
Sort Code: 60-05-29
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