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Congo Orphan Faces Lawless World

War-torn nation struggles to cope with parentless children

By Rebecca Smith Hurd,  Newser User

Posted Nov 16, 2008 7:33 PM CST
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(Newser) – An infant discovered in a corpse-ridden house may portend a new problem in Congo's humanitarian crisis, the AP reports. Eliya, found crying with a bullet wound, is one of 250,000 people displaced since fighting reignited in August. “Caring for orphans, that’s something new for us,” said a nurse at the hospital caring for Eliya. “It will be difficult, maybe impossible, to find anyone to take him."

In the North Kivu province, where rebels are resurgent, orphanages do not exist and 1 million adults live as refugees, barely able to feed their children. Eliya has little hope of finding his parents here. Traumatized, he refuses to speak to anyone other than kids at the hospital. “He finally opened up and told them, ‘My name is Eliya,’” the nurse said. “But he still won't talk to us.”



Motherless orphans and lost children rest at the Don Bosco Ngangi center in Goma, eastern Congo, Thursday Nov 13, 2008.
Motherless orphans and lost children rest at the Don Bosco Ngangi center in Goma, eastern Congo, Thursday Nov 13, 2008.   (AP Photo/Jerome Delay)
Caretaker Peter Kasereka, 34, holds an orphaned two- or three-year-old boy named Eliya on Thursday, Nov. 13, 2008, in Rutshuru, Congo.
Caretaker Peter Kasereka, 34, holds an orphaned two- or three-year-old boy named Eliya on Thursday, Nov. 13, 2008, in Rutshuru, Congo.   (AP Photo/Todd Pitman)
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Jun 1, 2009 3:30 AM CDT
New Documentary "Children of Congo: From War to Witches" Over five million people have died during the past decade as a result of the war in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Few people are aware of the unimaginable scale of human suffering, death, and destruction that has occurred in this vast country deep in the heart of Africa. In the aftermath of this brutal war, children have endured the brunt of the suffering. This 67 minute film documents the plight of thousands of street children living in Kinshasa and confirms the wide-spread accusations of child witchcraft, torture and child prostitution. The film also examines the efforts to reintegrate demobilized child soldiers, displaced refugees, and orphaned children following the eruption of the massive Nyiragongo volcano, near the city of Goma in Eastern Congo. These heroic efforts are finally bringing some measure of hope and stability to the lives of the Congolese people. Dan Balluff's "Children of Congo: From War to Witches" is a must see film, showing individuals and organizations that are implementing positive change for the children and the people of the Democtatic Republic of Congo. (Pan African Arts Culture Film Festival, Oct. 2008). http://www.danballuff.com

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militia • Democratic Republic of Congo • orphan

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