© Emily Lynch/MSF

All six of this woman’s children were missing after an attack by an armed group on her village in North Kivu. “When they were burning the houses and saw you fleeing,” she said, “they caught you and threw you back in the burning houses. Those who stayed behind were burned.” #

© Emily Lynch/MSF

Thousands of families have sought safe shelter in the lakeside towns of Minova and Kalungu in South Kivu. #

© Emily Lynch/MSF

This has made access to food, health care, and other essentials even more difficult for residents, many of whom have taken in families in need. #

© Emily Lynch/MSF

“This has been happening every year since the 90s,” said the president of a local government committee, “but this year it is much worse.” #

© Emily Lynch/MSF

This displaced woman lost her parents; they were attacked in a village in North Kivu by an armed group. Her father was shot and her mother was killed with a machete, and then the fighters moved on. “The war started in the village below us and the people fled towards us,” she said. “When we saw that they were killing people and burning houses, we were obliged to flee.” #

© Emily Lynch/MSF

Since April, Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has treated more than 200 patients who were wounded as a direct result of clashes between armed actors in the region. Teams are also supporting two health centers and treating patients for malnutrition. #

© Emily Lynch/MSF

Teams are improving access to safe water and sanitation services in an area where displaced persons have gathered. #

© Emily Lynch/MSF

MSF staff spoke with 26 displaced families who fled attacks on 21 different villages throughout the Ziralo zone in South Kivu and the Masisi, Walikale, and Bufamando zones in North Kivu in late May. #

© Emily Lynch/MSF

This couple fled their village in North Kivu after it was attacked. They are now missing two of their five children. “We don’t know why we came here,” the husband said. “We are at war and we don’t know which direction to go. Everywhere there is war and everyone has fled.” #

© Emily Lynch/MSF

This 38-year-old mother of five still has hope. “If we have peace, we can return and we will have things to sell, food—a normal life.” She was in the market and heard gunshots coming towards her. She took her children and fled from her village in North Kivu. They spent the night in the forest and then tried to find shelter in another village, but were told it was not safe. Eventually they reached the Minova displacement camp where MSF has constructed latrines and a water pump and is providing health care at the nearby health center. #

© Emily Lynch/MSF

MSF also intervened in Kalungu, near Minova, to assist the population. This 35-year-old woman fled her village during an attack by an armed group and when she looked back from a nearby hill she could see that it was on fire. “My oldest child was sick so we had to leave him in the house when we fled,” she said. “We don’t know what happened to him, if he was killed or burned alive in the house.” #

© Emily Lynch/MSF

This mother of six children fled a conflict-ridden area and was taken in by a family in Kalungu. “We saw family members from other villages who had fled towards us. In those villages, the houses had already been burned, people killed, and the women raped.” #

© Emily Lynch/MSF

Host families are playing an important role in helping displaced population. This one in Kalungu has ten members, including eight children, of its own. #

© Emily Lynch/MSF

But now, after the arrival of four displaced families, there are 43 people in the household. #

© Emily Lynch/MSF

“My husband, my children and I fled,” said this 30-year-old woman. “My husband stayed in a village along the way, but I did not feel safe there and wanted to keep going. I was trembling, I was too afraid.” She is now being hosted by a local family in Kalungu. #