The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is one of the richest countries in the world in terms of agricultural potential, tropical forests and mineral resources. Despite this abundance of resources, the country's economy has been in free fall since the mid-1980s. Since the late 1990s, it has been the scene of conflict on both a national and regional scale, which has caused what many consider the greatest humanitarian disaster of our century: the compression of fundamental freedoms and the serious violation of human rights have been a constant factor in the last twenty years of the country's history and its epicentre is in the Kivu region. In recent years, there has been a "pulverisation" of the rebel groups present in the Kivu territory: armed gangs or small militias often without any political programme or social demands. At the end of 2015, there were over 60 rebel groups in North and South Kivu. Today, there are over 120 according to the latest analysis by the Kivu Security Tracker. In December 2018, presidential elections were held, which resulted in an apparent alternation of the previous Kabila government, which led the country for over 11 years. The promises of the Kabila government (greater attention to the problems of the east of the country, security, infrastructure and modernization of the Public Administration) were totally ignored and the entire Eastern area was completely abandoned. The country is experiencing a period of severe economic recession with an inflation rate that is rising at a dizzying rate. Healthcare and education are collapsing, especially in rural areas. The continued instability of Kivu, the subsequent instability of Kasai and the Tanganyika area have forced thousands of farmers to abandon their fields and lose three consecutive harvests with damages amounting to billions of dollars. As if that were not enough, the Ebola outbreak that started in August 2018 in the Beni area has caused over 1,000 new infections and 600 victims. The lack of minimum safety conditions in an area subject to all the restrictions resulting from an Ebola epidemic does not allow the population to devote themselves to daily activities that would allow them, thanks to the natural resources of the area, to lead a dignified and totally self-sufficient life. Due to the conflicts between the various armed factions, almost all the primary services and activities of the communities are seriously compromised or absent: the Muhanga hospital center found itself totally isolated from any external help and had to provide autonomously, facing enormous difficulties especially of an economic nature. Over 12,000 people in the Muhanga/Bunyatenge area alone were forced to abandon their homes and take refuge in the forest or in nearby villages. The “Waibramu” project, funded by the CEI (with the 8x1000 Catholic Church funds) for 12 months, aims to improve the quality of life of the population settled in the Kivu Region by focusing on professional training and health care. In particular, we will work in parallel on two tracks: on the one hand, we will improve the quality of health services for the population of Muhanga and the surrounding villages, through the training of managerial and health personnel employed at the hospital, health awareness in primary schools for teachers and students, the purchase of laboratory and operating room materials, the construction of safe housing for the doctor and a cistern to collect rainwater. On the other hand, 40 young people from local villages will be given the opportunity to train as carpenters, mechanics and electricians, in order to facilitate their professional integration. The support of the two key local partners of the project will be fundamental: the Tuungane Association, an association of volunteers for development in the villages based in Kimbulu (Lubero), where 90 development committees from North Kivu have been periodically discussing problems and solutions of community life for 22 years, an extraordinary example of democratic participation from below; The Diocesan Hospital Center, in the village of Muhanga, serves a total of over 10,000 people from numerous nearby villages and is the only hospital facility in the area that has an operating room to perform emergency interventions in a "red" zone due to armed clashes and incidents caused by medium and low intensity conflicts. The Italian partner is the cultural association WARTOY. The long-term vision is to be able to contribute to the socio-economic stabilization of the north-eastern region of the D.R. Congo. Here are some shots of the first training activities aimed at teachers in schools in Muhanga and the surrounding area. 
To find out more about the structure of the diocesan hospital center here are some images: https://spark.adobe.com/page/sLmHTa2dlHoC6/
