Fondation Carmignac
  • 11th Carmignac Photojournalism Award

Congo in Conversation

  • Project
  • Congo (DRC)
  • Finbarr O’Reilly
  • Contributors
    • Arlette Bashizi
    • Bernadette Vivuya
    • Charly Kasereka
    • Dieudonne Dirole
    • Guerchom Ndebo
    • Guylain Balume
    • Justin Makangara
    • Ley Uwera
    • Moses Sawasawa
    • Pamela Tulizo
    • Raissa Karama Rwizibuka
  • Themes
    • Access to clean water
    • Economy
    • Electricity and Hydroelectric Plants
    • Environment
    • Gender-Based Violence and Rape
    • Health
    • Mineral Extraction
    • Obstacles to Progress
    • Politics and Insecurity
  • Carmignac Award
  • Fr
Congo in Conversation
  • Project
  • Congo (DRC)
  • Finbarr O’Reilly
  • Contributors
    • Arlette Bashizi
    • Bernadette Vivuya
    • Charly Kasereka
    • Dieudonne Dirole
    • Guerchom Ndebo
    • Guylain Balume
    • Justin Makangara
    • Ley Uwera
    • Moses Sawasawa
    • Pamela Tulizo
    • Raissa Karama Rwizibuka
  • Themes
    • Access to clean water
    • Economy
    • Electricity and Hydroelectric Plants
    • Environment
    • Gender-Based Violence and Rape
    • Health
    • Mineral Extraction
    • Obstacles to Progress
    • Politics and Insecurity
  • Carmignac Award
  • Fr
Congo in Conversation

Coronavirus and Water Woes

byMoses SawasawaandCharly Kasereka
June 20, 2020
in Access to clean water
Reading Time: 11min read

Water shortage in Goma (DRC), 2020. Video shot by Moses Sawasawa & Charly Kasereka

The rusted blue gate is forced open by crowds of women and children with scuffed yellow jerry cans surging past a man in a red jacket attempting to contain the tide of people desperately trying to get water for their families.

The scene, captured in a mobile phone video by activists from the non-violent youth civil society movement Lutte pour le changement (LUCHA), unfolded on June 3 as water shortages reached a critical levels during the coronavirus lockdown in the eastern Congolese city of Goma.

It was one of the more dramatic moments in the daily struggle for clean water in the sprawling capital of North Kivu province, located on the rugged volcanic shores of Lake Kivu, a 90-kilometer long, 50-kilometer wide body of water, and one of Africa’s Great Lakes.

Vidéo taken by LUCHA activists, June 3, 2020. Courtesy LUCHA

Goma is a major hub for the world’s second largest United Nations peacekeeping operation and for hundreds of humanitarian aid organizations that spend millions of dollars monthly on local interventions, and yet the city has virtually no running water. Many of the upscale hotels dotted along the city’s scenic waterfront have water delivered by pumps or by trucks. The majority of the city’s two million inhabitants get their water for drinking, washing, and cooking either directly from the lake or from water sellers who charge up to ten times more than Regideso, the public utility responsible for supplying water in Congo’s urban areas. 

Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo, May 2020. A woman carries water containers in Goma, the capital of eastern Congo's North Kivu Province last month. Congo's state water provider Regideso promised free access to water at the start of the coronavirus outbreak in March, but with few people connected to water mains and poor service for those who are, the lack of water during the pandemic has made it difficult to adhere to health advisories and hygiene measures and has led to protests in Goma, which sits on the shores of Lake Kivu. © Arlette Bashizi for Fondation Carmignac
Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo, May 2020. A woman carries water containers in Goma, the capital of eastern Congo’s North Kivu Province last month. Congo’s state water provider Regideso promised free access to water at the start of the coronavirus outbreak in March, but with few people connected to water mains and poor service for those who are, the lack of water during the pandemic has made it difficult to adhere to health advisories and hygiene measures and has led to protests in Goma, which sits on the shores of Lake Kivu. © Arlette Bashizi for Fondation Carmignac

Every day, often in the pre-dawn darkness, Goma’s women and children set out with their containers to collect water, a chore that can take hours or sometimes even days. Charities also distribute water in tanker trucks, but there is never enough, and water taken directly from the lake or from other contaminated sources causes frequent outbreaks of cholera and other diseases. Deadly reservoirs of methane and carbon dioxide gases also lurk beneath Lake Kivu’s surface, putting people collecting water at risk of asphyxiation and death. And as Congo contends with both coronavirus and an Ebola epidemic, the lack of access to water, sanitation and hygiene is putting millions of people at greater risk of contracting COVID-19.

When the government declared a state of emergency and the country went into lockdown in March, state officials promised free water and electricity, but with poor infrastructure and few Congolese connected to such services, the gesture has meant little to most of the population. The scarcity of clean water in Goma has led to huge crowds and stampedes at water distrubution points and has prompted a protest campaign by LUCHA.

Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo, June 2020. Activists protest the lack of access to water outside the offices of Regideso, the state water provider, in Goma, the capital of eastern Congo's North Kivu Province this month. Congo is Africa’s most water-rich country, holding more than half of the continent’s fresh water reserves, but 75% of the country’s 80 million people have no access to safe drinking water. Lack of access to water and sanitation, coupled with poor hygiene, are among the top five risk factors associated with death and disability in the country. The lack of water during the coronavirus pandemic has made maintaining hygiene difficult and has led to protests in the city on the shores of Lake Kivu. © Guerchom Ndebo for Fondation Carmignac
Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo, June 2020. Activists protest the lack of access to water outside the offices of Regideso, the state water provider, in Goma, the capital of eastern Congo’s North Kivu Province this month. Congo is Africa’s most water-rich country, holding more than half of the continent’s fresh water reserves, but 75% of the country’s 80 million people have no access to safe drinking water. Lack of access to water and sanitation, coupled with poor hygiene, are among the top five risk factors associated with death and disability in the country. The lack of water during the coronavirus pandemic has made maintaining hygiene difficult and has led to protests in the city on the shores of Lake Kivu. © Guerchom Ndebo for Fondation Carmignac
Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo, June 2020. A man rests on water containers while waiting his turn to fill them at a communal tap in Goma, the capital of eastern Congo's North Kivu Province this month. Goma's residents can spend hours waiting in line for access to communal pumps and often spend the early morning hours waiting their turn. © Moses Sawasawa for Fondation Carmignac
Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo, June 2020. A man rests on water containers while waiting his turn to fill them at a communal tap in Goma, the capital of eastern Congo’s North Kivu Province this month. Goma’s residents can spend hours waiting in line for access to communal pumps and often spend the early morning hours waiting their turn. © Moses Sawasawa for Fondation Carmignac

“Every day they are telling us that to fight coronavirus we must always wash our hands but they are not giving us any water,” said LUCHA activist Nsaraka Bin Nkartumwa outside the Regideso office where dozens of whistle-blowing protestors had gathered to demand better services.

Congo passed a law in 2015 making access to water and sanitation a fundamental right guaranteed by the Constitution. It also stipulated that such services “are not free” and shifted the responsibility for maintaining infrastructure to the provincial level. 

Goma’s water woes are a microcosm for the rest of the country. Congo is Africa’s most water-rich country, holding more than half of the continent’s fresh water reserves, but 75% of the country’s 80 million people have no access to safe drinking water and sanitation. This, coupled with poor hygiene, is among the top five risk factors associated with death and disability in the country. The long hours spent waiting for and transporting water also limits the time adults have to earn income or for children to attend school.

Congolese women and girls are exposed to physical, sexual, moral and psychological violence during water collection, according to UNICEF.

“We wake up at 9pm, or midnight, or 2am, we don’t sleep,” said Maman Gentille, who was wrapped in a thick blanket for warmth while waiting in the dark at a water point. “There are people who can wait two days without getting any water. And for us women, it’s perilous because we can be raped by bandits and then be abandoned by our husbands.”

Goma’s water system was already dilapidated and leaking before it was further damaged in 2002 when the nearby Nyiragongo volcano erupted and a river of lava oozed through the city, burying entire neighborhoods. Various water projects have been launched since then, but the government’s poor infrastructure and lack of funds means that foreign donors provide nearly 99% of water sector financing in Congo.

“The solution would be for Regideso to supply water into people’s homes for those who can afford it” said Aziza Bintu, who operates one of the city’s communal water points. “And those who can’t can always still come to the water points.”

  • Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo, June 2020. A man rests on water containers while waiting his turn to fill them at a communal tap in Goma, the capital of eastern Congo's North Kivu Province this month. Goma's residents can spend hours waiting in line for access to communal pumps and often spend the early morning hours waiting their turn. © Moses Sawasawa for Fondation Carmignac
  • Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo, May 2020. A girl waits to fill water containers in Goma, the capital of eastern Congo's North Kivu Province last month. Water collection in Congo is usually done by women and girls who are put at risk of sexual violence in remote areas or during hours of darkness. Without private latrines, women and girls must also find isolated locations to go to the toilet, often at night, again putting them at risk of being raped. © Arlette Bashizi for Fondation Carmignac
  • Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo, May 2020. Boys play a board game while waiting to fill water containers in Goma last month. © Arlette Bashizi for Fondation Carmignac
[1] Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo, June 2020. A man rests on water containers while waiting his turn to fill them at a communal tap in Goma, the capital of eastern Congo’s North Kivu Province this month. Goma’s residents can spend hours waiting in line for access to communal pumps and often spend the early morning hours waiting their turn. © Moses Sawasawa for Fondation Carmignac [2] Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo, May 2020. A girl waits to fill water containers in Goma, the capital of eastern Congo’s North Kivu Province last month. Water collection in Congo is usually done by women and girls who are put at risk of sexual violence in remote areas or during hours of darkness. Without private latrines, women and girls must also find isolated locations to go to the toilet, often at night, again putting them at risk of being raped. © Arlette Bashizi for Fondation Carmignac [3] Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo, May 2020. Boys play a board game while waiting to fill water containers in Goma last month. © Arlette Bashizi for Fondation Carmignac

With little capacity and poor governance, the country relies on outside support, such as the World Bank’s Urban Water Supply Project, a $190-million initiative launched in 2008 to restructure and improve the performance of Regideso. Mercy Corps also launched a seven-year UK government-funded program to provide improved access to water, sanitation, and hygiene for up to a million people in Goma and Bukavu, a city located at the southern end of Lake Kivu. But LUCHA activisits argue these initiatives have achieved little in practical terms despite significant funding. Many Congolese are suspicious of foreign aid agencies and their local partners, viewing them as corrupt profiteers, a view that will only be bolstered by a damning report last week exposing massive corruption and abuse in Congo’s humanitarian aid sector. Mercy Corps said it lost $639,000 to fraud revealed in the report.

While aid money goes missing, Goma’s residents continue to struggle for the most basic necessities. “They say that water is life, but we don’t have access to it” said Maman Gentille, still waiting her turn in the darkness. “Yes, it is free but we don’t see how that matters when we don’t get any.”

  • Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo, May 2020. A woman fills a water container in Goma, the capital of eastern Congo's North Kivu Province last month. © Arlette Bashizi for Fondation Carmignac
  • Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo, May 2020. A woman carries water containers in Goma, the capital of eastern Congo's North Kivu Province last month.© Arlette Bashizi for Fondation Carmignac
  • Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo, May 2020. A woman carries water containers in Goma, the capital of eastern Congo's North Kivu Province last month. Goma's residents can spend hours waiting in line for access to communal pumps and often spend the early morning hours waiting their turn. © Arlette Bashizi for Fondation Carmignac
[1] [2] Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo, May 2020. A woman fills a water container in Goma, the capital of eastern Congo’s North Kivu Province last month. [3] Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo, May 2020. Goma’s residents can spend hours waiting in line for access to communal pumps and often spend the early morning hours waiting their turn. © Arlette Bashizi for Fondation Carmignac

Video and text by Moses Sawasawa and Charly Kasereka. Photos by Moses Sawasawa, Arlette Bashizi and Guerchom Ndebo.

Tags: CorruptionEnvironmentHealthWomen
ShareTweetShareSendSend
Moses Sawasawa

Moses Sawasawa

Moses Sawasawa is a freelance photographer based in Goma, covering humanitarian issues, culture, health, and daily life. He is the cofounder of Collectif Goma Oeil, which promotes positive images of Congo.

Charly Kasereka

Charly Kasereka

Charly Kasereka is a freelance journalist and multimedia producer based in Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo. He regularly collaborates with Voice of America or Habarirdc. He covers actuality, but also carries out investigative reports on the environment, economy, security and health in DRC since 2010. He specializes in Internet fact-cheking.

Related Posts

Kinshasa, DRC, May 2020. Members of the pro-democracy and civil society movement Filimbi (« whistle » in swahili) carry out a public educational campaign about coronavirus in a market in Congo's capital Kinshasa in May. © Justin Makangara for Fondation Carmignac
Health

Youth Activists Tackle Coronavirus and Disinformation

When a group of activists wearing hooded, full-body personal protection outfits, gloves and masks marched through Gambela market in Congo’s...

byArlette Bashiziand1 others
July 31, 2020
Goma, DRC, July 13, 2020. Protesters are arrested by a police officer in the eastern Congolese city of Goma on July 13 while denouncing the nomination of an election commission chief accused of rigging past elections in favour of former President Joseph Kabila. Congolese authorities have come under fire for cracking down on peaceful critics, journalists, and political party members while using pandemic state of emergency measures as a pretext to curb political protests. © Moses Sawasawa for Fondation Carmignac
Access to clean water

Congo Lifts Coronavirus State of Emergency

Congo this week lifted health emergency measures put in place on March 24 to contain the spread of coronavirus. The...

byMoses Sawasawa
July 24, 2020

The Weekly update

Get the weekly newsletter direct to your inbox, sign in new.
Subscribe

Follow #CongoInConversation

  • Schools and universities reopened this week in the Democratic Republic of Congo after a two-month hiatus due to the second wave of the coronavirus #pandemic, which now appears to be easing. Pupils returning to class flooded the streets of Congo’s main cities, such as #Kinshasa, #Goma, #Bukavu and #Lubumbashi, but widespread insecurity is hampering efforts to resume education in several of Congo’s restive eastern provinces. In some areas, armed groups are forcibly occupying schools and homes, prohibiting school activities, and attacking health centers, according to the UNHCR, the UN @refugees Agency.
 
🔗 Read full report by @mosessawasawa, “Students Return to School as Pandemic Second Wave Eases” online. Link in bio.
 
📸 Goma, DRC, February 2021. A student has her temperature checked at the entrance to Mwanga Institute © @mosessawasawa for @fondationcarmignac.
 
🇫🇷
 
Après une parenthèse de deux mois due à la seconde vague d’une épidémie de coronavirus en voie de régression, écoles et universités ont rouvert leurs portes cette semaine en RDC. Les élèves retournant en classe ont envahi les rues de Kinshasa, de Goma, de Bukavu et de Lubumbashi, mais dans les provinces agitées de l’est, l’insécurité généralisée entrave tous les efforts pour faire repartir le système éducatif. Dans certaines zones, des groupes armés occupent par la force écoles et maisons, interdisent les activités scolaires et prennent d’assaut les centres médicaux, selon le Haut-Commissariat des Nations Unis pour les réfugiés (@refugees).
 
📸 Goma, RDC, février 2021. On prend la température d’une étudiante à l’entrée de l’Institut Mangwa, collège catholique. © Moses Sawasawa pour la @fondationcarmignac.
 
 
🔗 Retrouvez l’article de @mosessawasawa, « La pandémie reflue, les écoles rouvrent » sur notre site internet. Lien en bio.
 
#CONGOINCONVERSATION
 
#PrixCarmignacCongo #DRC #RDC #RDCongo #Students #School #Coronavirus #Health #Politics #Insecurity #Photographie #PhotoReport #Reportage #photojournalism
  • 🎤 Next Tuesday, March 2nd, from 3 to 4 p.m (French time), @raissa_rkar, #CongoinConversation photographer, will dialogue with Gosette Lubondo (@gosettelubondo), a Congolese photographer, laureate of the @capprize 2020 and Yvon Langué (@flottements_) independent curator.
 
The discussion “Social Documentary” will be broadcast live, in French, on our Facebook page #PrixCarmignac !
 
📷 TALK TALK TALK x African Photographic Society
A series of talks and discussions around photography in African contexts with the aim of networking different initiatives and photographers from the continent and beyond. An initiative by @aphotographicsociety members, @fot.ea and CAP Association.⠀
 
🇫🇷
 
🎤 Mardi prochain, le 2 mars de 15 à 16h (heure française), @raissa_rkar photographe de #CongoinConversation, dialoguera avec Gosette Lubondo (@gosettelubondo) photographe congolaise, et Yvon Langué (@flottements_) commissaire d
  • The Italian ambassador to Congo, Luca Attanasio, was killed in an apparent kidnapping attempt on Monday. An Italian embassy official and a Congolese World Food Programme driver were also killed in the ambush which took place near Nyiragongo volcano. The region and in particular the Virunga Park has for years been the site of repeated attacks from rebels and militia groups, along with poachers and loggers, leading to the killing of hundreds of rangers and civilians. More than 2,000 civilians were killed in three eastern provinces last year in attacks mainly attributed to armed groups, the @unitednations reported this month. One of the worst massacres in Virunga Park’s recent history occurred last May when 12 rangers were among 17 people killed in an ambush on the same road the ambassador was travelling between Goma and Rutshuru. In January, six park rangers on a foot patrol were killed in another ambush.
 
Full report by @guerchomndebo & Austere Malivika online. Link in bio.
 
🇫🇷
 
L’ambassadeur d’Italie en RDC a été tué lundi, probablement au cours d’une tentative d’enlèvement. Un fonctionnaire de l’ambassade italienne et un chauffeur congolais du Programme alimentaire mondial (WPF) ont aussi péri dans l’embuscade, survenue près du volcan Nyiragongo. Depuis des années, la région et notamment le Parc des Virunga subit les attaques incessantes de rebelles, de milices, de braconniers et de bûcherons qui ont causé la mort de centaines de gardes forestiers et de civils. Selon les Nations unies, plus de 2 000 civils ont été tués dans trois de ces provinces l’an dernier, lors d’attaques attribuées à ces groupes armés. L’un des pires massacres dans l’histoire récente des Virunga s’est produit en mai 2020 : 17 personnes dont 12 gardes forestiers ont péri dans une embuscade sur la même route de Goma à Rutshuru empruntée par l’ambassadeur. En janvier, six gardes patrouillant à pied ont également succombé à une embuscade.
 
Article en intégralité accessible en ligne. Lien en bio.
 
#DRCongo #Congo #NorthKivu #EasternCongo #Photojournalism #Photojournalisme #PrixCarmignac #Journalism #journalisme
  • There has been a steep rise in violence across much of eastern #Congo during the past year, according to Kivu Security Tracker (KST), an initiative by @humanrightswatch and the #CongoResearchGroup that monitors such attacks. A new report published on Monday identified 122 distinct armed groups across four of Congo’s eastern provinces. Congo also has a record high of 5.5 million people displaced across the country. More than 2,000 civilians were killed in three eastern provinces last year in attacks mainly attributed to armed groups, the @unitednations reported this month.
 
📸 Goma, DRC, January 2021. Mourners in the eastern Congolese city of Goma attend the funeral of Eric Kibanja, one of six Virunga Park rangers killed in an ambush © @guerchomndebo for @FondationCarmignac
 
🇫🇷
 
Une flambée de violence affecte la plus grande partie de l’est du Congo, comme en atteste le Baromètre sécuritaire du Kivu (Kivu Security Tracker), un outil d’évaluation mis en place par l’ONG @humanrightswatch et le Groupe d’étude sur le Congo. Le rapport publié ce même lundi identifie pas moins de 122 groupes armés distincts dans les quatre provinces orientales de la RDC. Et il enregistre un record de 5,5 millions de personnes déplacées dans tout le pays. Selon les @unitednations, plus de 2 000 civils ont été tués dans trois de ces provinces l’an dernier, lors d’attaques attribuées à ces groupes armés.
 
📸 Goma, RDC, janvier 2021. Cérémonie des funérailles d’Éric Kibanja, l’un des six gardes forestiers des Virunga tués dans une embuscade © Guerchom Ndebo pour la Fondation Carmignac

#PrixCarmignacCongo

#DRC #Congo #Congolese #Goma #Virunga #DRC
  • The escalating churn of deadly violence engulfing parts of eastern Congo gained international attention when the Italian ambassador to the country was killed in an ambush on Monday near the eastern city of Goma in North Kivu province. Armed attackers killed the ambassador, Luca Attanasio, 43, as his convoy was travelling from Goma to visit a feeding programme at a school 70 kilometers north in Rutshuru, according to a statement by the WFP. An Italian embassy official and a World Food Programme driver were also killed in the ambush which took place near Nyiragongo volcano in Virunga Park where mountain forests are home to dozens of armed groups, some of them linked to the 1994 Rwandan genocide.
 
Full report online. Link in bio.
 
Video © Austere Malivika for @fondationcarmignac
 
🇫🇷
 
Lundi 22 février, le maelstrom de violence qui s’abat sur des pans entiers de l’est de la RDC s’est révélé aux yeux du monde : l’ambassadeur d’Italie a été tué dans une embuscade près de Goma. Selon un rapport du Programme alimentaire mondial (WPF), les assaillants ont abattu le diplomate Luca Attanasio, 43 ans, alors que son convoi quittait le chef-lieu du Nord-Kivu pour aller visiter un programme alimentaire dans une école de Rutshuru, à 70 km au nord. Un représentant de l’ambassade d’Italie et un chauffeur du WPF ont également été tués dans l’attaque qui a eu lieu près du volcan Nyiragongo, dans le parc des Virunga. Ces forêts de montagne abritent des dizaines de groupes armés, dont certains sont associés au genocide rwandais de 1994.

#RDC #DRC #RDCongo #VirungaPark #Virunga #NordKivu #NorthKivu #Rutshuru #journalisme
  • A girl sings a song about Ebola prevention during an education campaign organised by Save the Children at a church in the town of Beni in Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo in 2019. Congo has made significant progress in reducing child mortality and access to education for children, but a majority of them remain deprived of many of their rights, according to UNICEF, which reports that 10% of children in Congo die before the age of five and 6 million children suffer from chronic malnutrition or stunting.

In February 2021, cases of Ebola have been reported in Guinea and in the North Kivu province in DRC, where a large outbreak was yet declared over in June 2020. 
 
📸 Beni, DRC, 2019 © Finbarr O
  • Contact
  • Privacy policy
  • Covid-19 guides for visual journalists
  • FrFr
  • Project
  • Congo (DRC)
  • Finbarr O’Reilly
  • Contributors
    • Arlette Bashizi
    • Bernadette Vivuya
    • Charly Kasereka
    • Dieudonne Dirole
    • Guerchom Ndebo
    • Guylain Balume
    • Justin Makangara
    • Ley Uwera
    • Moses Sawasawa
    • Pamela Tulizo
    • Raissa Karama Rwizibuka
  • Themes
    • Access to clean water
    • Economy
    • Electricity and Hydroelectric Plants
    • Environment
    • Gender-Based Violence and Rape
    • Health
    • Mineral Extraction
    • Obstacles to Progress
    • Politics and Insecurity
  • Carmignac Award
  • Fr

© 2020 Powered by Fondation Carmignac