09 11 12 UNHCR press release – Congo-Kinshasa: Nostalgic Nonagenarian From North Kivu Faces Twilight Years Alone

He is
among the tens of thousands of vulnerable older people who have been forcibly
displaced in the long conflict that continues to smoulder in the east of the
vast country, despite a formal nationwide peace accord in 2003 and a truce in
the east in early 2009.

 

These
people are of particular concern to UNHCR, especially if they are alone and
have special needs. Many have health problems or need help providing for
themselves. They are also often victims of discrimination by those who see the
elderly as a burden. And older women, unable to protect themselves, can become
victims of sexual violence.

 

Paul told
a rare visitor, UNHCR's Céline Schmitt, that when he was born the country was a
colony known as Belgian Congo. His first 40
years coincided with a relatively peaceful time in the country's history, but
independence in 1960 ushered in a period of secessionist violence. The
resources-rich east of the renamed Zaire was swept by war towards the
end of President Mobutu Sese Soko's strongarm 1965-1997 rule.

 

Paul
managed to survive the waves of violence and even thrive in North
Kivu. But his world came crashing down in 2008, when he lost most
of his family in the fresh fighting between government forces and various rebel
and militia groups. He fled from his village and ended up in a camp for
internally displaced people (IDP) in Minova, where he stayed two years before
being relocated to Mugunga III, a UNHCR-run IDP site located to the west of the
North Kivu capital, Goma.

 

With no
family to help, he relies on humanitarian aid organizations for almost
everything. UNHCR has provided Paul with shelter and also works with the
Europe-based, HelpAge International, to help people like Paul. The
non-governmental organization provides material assistance for the most vulnerable
as well as psycho-social support. It also runs income-generation programmes for
older people, literacy courses, and provides health care and protection.

 

Paul's
story:

 

I was born
at a time when women were still wearing cache-sexe [loincloths]. They sported
belts with pieces of material in front and behind.

 

Before the
fighting started, I was living very well. I was the chief of my village. I was
a farmer and a businessman, growing potatoes, beans and manioc for sale. My
family lived well and I owned 26 cows and 18 sheep. They were all stolen during
the conflict.

 

When the
conflict started four years ago, I had a wife, 12 children and four younger
brothers. All were killed. I don't know how I managed to flee without being
caught. I spent a week on the run, eating what I could find growing by
riverbanks, before I reached Ngungu [located about 60 kms north-west of Goma in
Masisi territory].

 

I had a
stick to help me walk. From Ngungu, someone carried me to Minova IDP camp [just
inside South Kivu province], where I spent two
years. I have been living here in Mugunga III for two years. When Minova camp
was closed [in 2010], vulnerable people who could not return home were
transferred to Mugunga.

I live
alone; I have no wife. I depend on humanitarian assistance and help from other
people around me. I also beg because I have nothing – I have no cooking
utensils. I sleep on bare volcanic rock. When I received a sleeping mat and a
blanket, I sold them to buy food.

 

When I
wake up in the morning, I drink a glass of water and sit in front of my
shelter. The neighbouring families help me with a little something to eat. As I
have no energy to move, I stay here until the evening comes.

 

I don't
see anyone I know here. I have no one here because I am poor and poor people don't
have friends. I sometimes meet other older people living in the camp, but when
we meet we only compare notes on our problems and feel sorry for ourselves.
That's the only topic we have.

If peace
returns, I am willing to go home, but peace does not return. And anyhow, how
would I get home in my vulnerable situation. I will go anywhere if I am given a
home where I can live. But someone would have to carry me. I have no strength.
Even to walk to the main road [next to the camp], I have to rest several times
to catch my breath and regain strength.

 

As long as
God does not call me, I just want a house, food and peaceful sleep. Please help
me and give me just a little money to buy food. My stomach is empty.