Together again in the Congo

We reunited Jibu with his dad after two years apart.

Wednesday 29 July 2009

"One day, when I was at home and my parents were working on our farm, I saw people from my neighbourhood fleeing. Someone shouted at me to come with them. People were running along the road. I just followed them, without knowing where to go."

Eight-year-old Jibu was lucky. Unlike many children separated from their parents who are forcibly recruited into armed groups in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Jibu was taken care of by a woman, who became his foster mother.

Jibu saying goodbye to his foster family in Burungu, Kichanga, DRC.

"Once in Kichanga a woman took me with her. I stayed with her family. She's very nice to me. One of your people [Save the Children protection team staff] visits me regularly and brings clothes, soap and food for me."

His father, Safari, was farming when a militia group attacked his village, Katsiru. "As I fled, I passed by our house but Jibu was not around," he says. "Because of the intensity of the gunfire, which was getting closer, I didn't have time to look for him.

"My wife and I stayed in a camp for displaced people until the security situation improved and we could return home. The house looked empty without my dear son. I thought of him all the time. It took me a long time to persuade myself that I no longer had a child."

Reunited after two years

Amadou Mbodj, who works for Save the Children, was present when Jibu was reunited with his dad. When the man saw his son, he rushed to embrace him. He hadn't seen him for two years.

"The father and the son couldn't take their eyes off each other," says Amadou. "The only words that came out of the father's mouth were 'Jibu, my little boy, welcome back home’. To us he couldn't stop saying 'God bless you. I would like to reward you but I have nothing to give. God bless you.'"

Jibu with his father

Children like Jibu can be found throughout the eastern DRC. Children frequently become separated from their parents in the chaos that ensues when rebel groups attack and loot villages. They are often kidnapped and forcibly recruited to bolster numbers amongst the various militia groups operating in the east of the country.

Forced to work as cooks and porters, many are also forced to become so-called ‘wives' who are sexually abused by higher-ranking commanders in the groups.

Save the Children has reunified thousands of children with their families. We work to identify separated children, who are vulnerable on their own, and place them with carefully selected foster families. We provide the foster families with clothes and a small grant of US$3 per day and they care for the child until their parents can be found.

The ongoing conflict has torn the DRC apart and is one of the worst emergencies in Africa. The war has claimed around three million lives, either as a direct result of fighting or because of disease and malnutrition.

What you can do

We're helping restore a sense of normality to children’s lives rent apart by the chaos. Please support us so that we can reunite more children like Jibu with their families.