Published on : 10/07/2022 – 01:18
Aged 5 to 19, 83 children have been reunited with their families. They had been separated by armed conflicts and violence in the provinces of Tanganyika and Haut-Katanga for more than three years for some. They were reunited with their loved ones thanks to the intervention of the International Committee of the Red Cross and the Congolese Red Cross Society.
With our special correspondent between Pueto and Manono, Patient Ligodi
It’s 10 a.m. at the Pueto airport. Several dozen children are gathered on the tarmac. They get on the plane one after the other, destination Manono.
It’s Jason’s big day. The 12-year-old boy is about to find what remains of his family. His two parents and several of his relatives were killed three years earlier in the conflicts between the pygmies and the Bantu. “ I’m going home. I was far. Today, I return to Manono. There are my brothers and other family members ».
Forty-five minute flight. Jason and the other children sing and tease each other. They can’t wait to set foot on Manono soil. The plane is touching down. Each child is sent to his family.
When the Red Cross car approaches Jason’s now home, the emotion is total. Jean, Jason’s uncle remembers everything. ” The attack surprised us at night. When these fighters arrived in our village. Everyone fled, children and adults alike. We dispersed. We didn’t know who had gone where? ».
After reunification, we will have to rebuild ourselves. Jean relies on his work as a farmer to educate Jason, who hopes to one day become a doctor.