Pisa, 7.02.2025
Dear friends,
it is with regret that I would like to update you on the tragedy once again being experienced by the people of eastern Congo.
Given the precipitating situation in North and South Kivu, I had to quickly make the decision to leave.
At first I did not want to believe that Goma would be taken so quickly; the reports coming in were contradictory. But when I learned that the Rwandan army known as M23 was rapidly advancing towards Bukavu and that Europeans and Westerners working for NGOs had already left North and South Kivu, I knew I had to leave. So there followed alarming phone calls from the Italian embassy in Kinshasa, as well as urging to leave from my own local collaborators as well, so in one day I arranged everything to leave the center and the children in good hands.
And the next morning, Jan. 30, before dawn, after a hasty goodbye to the sleep-deprived children, I mounted my motorcycle with Angelo, our educator, musician and project assistant, driving to Kilungute, more than halfway (ca 80 km) between Mwenga and Bukavu, where I was to find a car that would take me to Bukavu. The journey to Kilungute was very tiring for me, but a thousand times more so for my driver. I had never found the road in those conditions, I still wonder how Angelo was able to move forward in certain sections where there were rivers of mud: he had to be pushed by hand at times by me and other motorcyclists and I myself, on foot in certain places, was sunk in mud up to my knees and could not get out. After more than 4 hours of travel, arriving in Kilungute, I found room in a cab with other passengers and fortunately the last part of the trip went smoother; after ca 4 hours we arrived at the gates of Bukavu. Unfortunately, the return trip was much more difficult for Angelo, who was stuck in the mud for hours with his motorcycle along with about 100 other motorcyclists and did not return to Mwenga to the children until 8 p.m.
In Bukavu once again I was welcomed by the Xaverian Fathers, I was able to rest for a day and the next day, when by then all Westerners except the religious had left the city, I crossed the border together with three other Italian volunteers, the last Westerners to leave the East of the country. In Bukavu everything was quiet and I had no feeling of insecurity, but until the last moment I was afraid of finding the border closed. I then arrived in Kigali by bus and caught a flight to Italy the next night.
I follow what is happening in the country from a distance, still getting conflicting news and not always true. The situation in any case remains unstable so it is more prudent to wait a few weeks before returning. Our children and girls are fine and all is quiet in Mwenga; it is difficult for the war, even if it reaches the capital, Bukavu, to reach there, given the distances and road conditions.
The project however is progressing well, our concern now is how to get food supplies (beans, flours, rice…) from Bukavu, as the trucks are for now still stuck in the mud for days and if Bukavu is taken the supplies will become even more difficult.
I would like to sincerely thank all of you and all those, including many Congolese acquaintances and friends, who have accompanied us in this difficult situation with thoughts, words, prayers, and gestures of solidarity.
We will continue to keep you updated on what is happening. In the hope that some balance will be quickly restored in the region, I send you my warmest regards
Ilaria
