Katanga Province, D.R.Congo
The Forgotten People of the Forgotten War
March 16-17, 2006
Dubie, TFC - At the point of this visit, MSF was the only aid agency serving Dubie's population, as well as the 16,000+ IDPs occupying the area. They set up a Therapeutic Feeding Center (TFC) for the worst medical cases. Needless to say it was full and they had a quick patient turn over, due to the staggering death rate. At its height, according to some, there were between five to ten people dying a day. It's now slightly lower, between ten to fifteen people passing away a week. MSF, primarily a medical relief agency, has little outside help for all of Dubie's non-medical issues, including the population's saftey and food shortages. They have done an incredible job in trying to serve these displaced and dying people, but it's quite overwhelming without any other assistance from outside agencies that would normally be present in a situation like this. The patients at this particular TFC, were and are at the doorstep of death, just waiting to walk in. The starvation and malnutrition of basically everyone in Dubie is beyond comprehension. These are the forgotten people of the forgotten war.