ActionAid has moved in to help families affected by the earthquake in Bukavu, in the DRC on 3rd February.

Survivors of the earthquake received kitchen kit to help them out with cooking after most of their houses were flattened.

 “The wall fell down outside while my daughter was doing dishes. Most of the kitchen set was squashed,” says Mufano Bembe, a survivor.

“Most of them lost their kitchen utensil and they had a serious problem of cooking,” says Olivia OMWENGE, the project coordinator of ActionAid International DRC.

The earthquake shook Bukavu when most of the people were at home.

“I was washing clothes in the bathroom carrying my baby on the back when the wall and a part of the roof fell down to my neighboring house and killed a boy who was outside,” says Isabelle Lema.

Most of the neighboring house of Isabelle are destroyed and are now inhabitable.

 

Some of the survivors have since moved and are living in their neighbor houses and in temporary structures.

“Since the earthquake shook our houses, we have been living with neighbors whose houses were not destroyed,” says Bijou Adidja

“We are afraid to go back to our house since the earth tremor. It destroyed part of the house,” says Dedi Walasa, a survivor of the earthquake.

He adds that he is really happy to receive the kitchen kit because their kitchen with the entire kitchen utensil was badly squashed.

 

Apart from distributing the kitchen kits ActionAid organized a orientation program on psychosocial care in disaster situation for ten local partners.

“This training is important because there are a lot of people who got traumatized after the earthquake,” says Tresor Badisungu, a partner of ActionAid who participated to the training.

ActionAid DRC conducting an initial psychosocial orientation for ten partners and staff in Bukavu in close coordination with other service providers to address present psychosocial needs in the area.