Democratic Republic of Congo appeal - Richard Chomba's story

Richard has been taken on as Concern's translator for its emergency programme. He describes his experiences over the past year.

"Before the war started I had a comfortable life in my village of Shamwana. As well as farming, I also traveled to Kasenga, a gold mining area, to buy gold from the diggers there. When the fighting between the army and the Mai Mai militia came close to our village in June 2005 we all ran into the forest. The Mai Mai leader told us to stay in the forest in order to avoid falling victim to government soldiers. They burned the houses so no one could go home. We survived at first by traveling 12 km every day back to our fields to recover crops and then back to hide in the forest at night. Eventually it became too dangerous so we only had wild food to eat.

"We had a very miserable life in the forest - no medical care, no basics. In December the fighting intensified and we were caught by government soldiers who ordered us to go to Dubie. It took five days to get there on foot - a very painful journey. We carried our bags on our heads and the children on our backs, traveling without food. My wife was three months pregnant. When we got here people got sick with diarrhea or coughing and many died."

Richard and his family have been in the camp in Dubie for seven months and are waiting for the results of the elections before heading home to Shamwana. "I am waiting to see if there is security and police in all areas before we go back. It is difficult to plan for the future. Everything has changed completely. I will have to start a new life all over again."

Feedback

Print this page

Email to a friend

• Find out more about Democratic Republic of Congo