Buhozi Feeding Centre

Last week I took a seriously needed mental health day and joined the Directors wife Katie at a feeding centre for malnourished children in the village of Buhozi. The village is located about 45 minutes outside of Bukavu. Currently, Katie and Kostas’ home church in Washington, DC have been sponsoring the centre and Katie provides administration and “pastoral” support. The centre feeds about 60 children in the area; all are under the growth targets for their age and each receives a meal of beans, rice and cabbage once a day. While the three mama’s are preparing the daily meal, the children gather to sing and dance.

On this day, Katie and I were accompanied by Keith and Nathan and Robyn. Keith and Nathan just joined FH Congo, Keith for 1 year as a Program Support Officer and Nathan on a 6 month internship. Robyn is a friend of Katie’s who used to live and work in Bukavu and has previously visited the feeding centre. We were also accompanied by Papa Israel who is an FH driver and assists Katie in translating as well as Papa Jean, a public health nurse who sees to the children’s health. (Picture on left: Keith, Israel & Nathan)

What’s interesting about this village is not only do many of the villagers and children not speak French but they also do not speak Swahili; Moshi is the local dialect. This makes it even harder to communicate with the children. I could converse in French and maybe even a few words in Swahili…but Moshi…no such luck! However, dancing, singing, laughing and a comfy lap are universal and I had no problem enjoying my time with the children.

And of course there is the requisite baby holding! Baby holding, that is, without diapers - wet baby holding. I was in heaven.

We also went on a home visit to see Katie’s friend Regine. She is a single mother of 5. This doesn’t seem too bad in African terms, but that 5 comprise 2 sets of twins and all the children are under the age of 5. Regine’s husband left her after the second set of twins was born…and he took the metal roof from the house with him. Regine has no income and no family to assist her. Katie has been providing her with monthly financial assistance and the younger 3 children receive a meal at the feeding centre. All of the children are malnourished and this, of course, affects their normal developmental stages; the 2+ year old twins just started walking in the past month. The oldest, who I believe is around 4 looks more like a 3 year old.

It is always difficult to see poverty such as this. The village is scattered in between fields and fields of banana trees. Produced from the banana’s…banana beer. In talking with Robyn and Papa Jean, the village leaders have been approached about removing some of the banana fields and planting other food crops to help reduce malnutrition. However, they refuse as the beer is more important. Papa Jean was even approached by an angry elderly women who declared that the banana beer was fine for children…they filled up and slept through the night. (Recounted to me by Papa Jean) These are some of the conditions of poverty that FH and other organizations are fighting in Congo and in other places around the globe.