The Cost of Living

Jon: In March I was fortunate enough to meet Dr Kamathe Sekera, director of one of Christian Aid’s partners, Vorsi-Congo. He told us of the conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo and how it is affecting the people living there. DR Congo should be a rich economical nation in Africa with its main exports including diamonds, gold and copper. Instead due to war and corruption over 250,000 people have had to flee there homes and the BBC reports that the war has ‘claimed an estimated three million lives, either as a direct result of fighting or because of disease and malnutrition.’

Because of the expense of war, many essential services that used to be free now have to be paid for by a population in which close to 50% are unemployed. These services really are necessities. For a mother to give birth in a medical centre or hospital they have to pay US$500! For a child to gain a basic education at a primary school costs US$100 a year, plus the costs of exercise books and a uniform, without which they will not be admitted.

As in many African countries HIV/Aids is a major issue. Twelve people an hour die from aids in DR Congo alone and a further nineteen are infected. HIV is spread through most bodily fluids such as vomit, so something as simple as a family sharing the same toothbrush because they can’t afford more than one can cause the disease to spread. It cannot however be transmitted in sweat or saliva and this kind of misconception has stigmatised the disease and is the cause of many of the sufferers’ problems. HIV cannot be caught by touching or kissing another person, including shaking hands or hugging, and yet many refuse to do any of these things resulting in a person being marginalised. HIV is portrayed as the twenty-first century leprosy and sufferers become victims, not because of the disease, but because of the stigmatisation attached to it. This problem comes down to pure ignorance and a lack of education on the subject, which is where Christian Aid and their partner Vorsi-Congo come in.

Christian Aid funds Vorsi-Congo’s work to educate local religious leaders (who are the most respected people in the community) and eradicate the ignorance on HIV, therefore enabling proper care and treatment for HIV sufferers. Something as simple as this can dramatically improve the lives of people living in such conditions, and yet without the funding of Christian Aid, it would be impossible to educate the community leaders and stop the prejudice against the disease.

By sponsoring us five to climb mountains you might just change the lives of people in DR Congo, giving them the chance to receive the treatment and care that they deserve, instead of becoming just another statistic.