Transcript
Welcome to Angels in Medicine, the channel that highlights medical humanitarians.
Today we’re traveling to North Kivu in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Here, in one of Africa’s most conflict-affected regions, International Medical Corps is bringing hope to isolated communities.
In Kiliku village, some residents had never seen a car before. That changed when International Medical Corps’ mobile medical unit arrived in March. These villagers had been cut off from healthcare for months. Years of armed conflict forced them to abandon their homes. When they tried to return, they found their homes ransacked, crops trampled, and farming tools stolen by combatants.
The journey to reach them wasn’t easy. The medical teams traveled over rocky terrain on washed-out roads. But they made it through to provide lifesaving care.
Jean Paul Cirhuza Matabaro works with the team. He’s a local healthcare worker who joined during the 2019 Ebola outbreak. “It’s shocking how little humanitarian aid people here can access,” he says, “even though they have faced years of armed conflict and epidemics.”
The conflict has devastated what was already a fragile health system. Many facilities have been looted. Health providers have fled. Those that remain are completely overwhelmed with patients they can’t properly treat.
The mobile medical units are filling a desperate gap. In their first four-day deployment, they treated over 400 patients. Individual consultations at the nearest health center cost sixty cents per visit. Sixty cents – less than the cost of a candy bar – but far too expensive for families who have lost everything. So these mobile clinics provide the only accessible healthcare in the village.
Before these interventions, people relied on traditional medicine. When they did seek formal treatment, they faced dangerous journeys on foot. The roads were unmaintained and passed through active conflict zones.
Alice Borah is 55 years old. She visited the mobile clinic and is now receiving treatment for epilepsy. Without it, her seizures were getting worse. She could collapse anywhere – while cooking, caring for children, walking dangerous roads. The team also gave her a referral to monitor her condition. Cost is no longer a barrier between Alice and the care that keeps her safe.
The impact goes beyond individual patients. People from the region have sent letters of support. Village officials credit this work as motivation to rebuild a bridge. They want to better connect their people with health services.
Local health zone officials expressed their gratitude in a letter. They gave “sincere thanks for International Medical Corps providing free treatment to our population, who have only recently left displacement camps.”
Since March, five mobile medical units have treated more than 1,800 patients. Many are children under five and persons with disabilities who desperately needed care. The success has been undeniable, so International Medical Corps plans to continue deploying these vital units as often as possible.
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