Loved By Parents tweetathon: raising money for Congolese children affected by conflict

Parenting website Loved By Parents is running a tweetathon in aid of World Vision’s DR Congo appeal, helping children affected by conflict in the region. With the challenge of tweeting 2,000 tweets within a 24 hour period, they are auctioning off items to raise as much money and awareness as possible.

Here’s more information about the children and families affected on the ground and what you can do to help.

Children suffer during conflict

In a matter of months, Solange’s life has turned upside down. Solange is from Masisi, Democratic Republic of the Congo, a place wracked by conflict between government and rebel troops. The conflict has sent thousands fleeing—within the DRC, to Uganda and to Rwanda, where Solange is currently living in a refugee camp with her family.

“The fighting had come to our village,” she says. “There were bullets and fighting everywhere. We had to run from that village.”

“We were living a better life in Masisi,” she says. “We were making a living. We left everything behind – we only have the clothes we came with.”

Solange is watching her children transform before her eyes. “They used to be healthy. Now their skin is no longer soft and smooth. They have lost weight. They have changed.’

Seven-year-old Mahoro and four-year-old Rehema miss their old diets.

“Rehema comes to me and says, ‘I’m hungry. Why can’t you give me bananas and potatoes?’ She doesn’t want to eat the maize, but she eventually eats it because she’s so hungry.”

But who she worries about most is her 18-month-old daughter Esther.

“I breastfeed, but my milk is not enough.

Solange, her husband Ethienne and their children live in the refugee camp amid a growing number of refugees. On this day there are 11,555 refugees living in the tent camp. Between 400 and 500 new arrivals are coming every day.

A safe haven to play

Eria, 13, loves the Child Friendly Space in his camp because he can play and forget about the bullet sounds back in DRC.

Living in a Ugandan refugee centre in Kamwenge district, many children like Eria are living in isolation – scared of strangers that come their way and afraid in the new land.

“They have been lonely and afraid because of the experiences they went through. They are afraid because they are not at home,” says Kavira Alphosine Maombione who works in one of the spaces in the camp.

Now World Vision have created the Child Friendly Spaces and noticed a visible changed.

“The children are enjoying themselves. They are changing and they are happy. They have started playing and even in their villages they make local soccer balls and begin to play,” Kavira says.

Solange and Eria are not alone

Sadly Solange and Eria’s stories are not unique. They are echoed across the thousands of families who have fled their homes now living in temporary camps across the Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda and Rwanda

“It’s so heart breaking to see innocent women and children face the worst violence of their lives over a conflict that they little understand and cannot control,” said Dominic Keyzer, the advocacy manager for World Vision in DRC.

When children arrive at the camps they are exposed to cold weather, disease, starvation, and trauma caused by the violence they have faced. Hundreds arrive unaccompanied by their parents – some were lost in the rush of their sudden departure, others orphaned by the conflict. Some children have fled the threat of armed groups looking to recruit children by force.

The long term implications are devastating.

“Peace, and the protection of children, has to be today’s number one priority. For these children, this latest crisis means even more unimaginable violence and trauma,” says Dominic.

Yet peace and protection is possible. World Vision is on the ground in the DRC, Uganda and Rwanda assisting children. Their immediate needs must be met; with food, clean water, shelter and blankets. And then there are their emotional needs – setting up with Child Friendly Spaces so that children can safely play and be protected.

While World Vision’s work has already begun, more funds are desperately needed.

Donations to the tweetathon and to World Vision’s DRC appeal will go towards bringing a smile back to these children’s faces.

If you would like learn more about the Loved By Parents tweetathon, go to the Loved By Parents website and follow the hashtag #lbpworldvision.

To donate directly to the World Vision DR Congo appeal, please follow the link to the World Vision website.