Today, Ombeni Hafashimi’s cheeks are plump and have a healthy, vibrant warmth. It’s a stark contrast from when the 2-year-old first arrived at the International Medical Corps mobile medical unit (MMU) in Kasura, a health area in North Kivu province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Justine Mwamini, Ombeni’s mother, brought him to our MMU because he had a high fever and a severe cough that was only growing worse.
Ombeni and his family are among the enormous and growing population of internally displaced persons (IDPs) whose lives have been uprooted by the armed conflict in the DRC. Justine and her husband fled their home in Katoyi, a neighboring community in North Kivu, along with their six children. The family subsists on the food that she and her husband earn in exchange for picking crops. It is their only source of sustenance, as the options for work in Kasura are limited and picking crops earns them no monetary payment. Justine and her husband long to return to the way their lives were before displacement, when they had their own fields, income was stable and their options were far more plentiful. But when violence encroached upon their home, they were forced to abandon their home and livelihoods to protect their children.
In DRC’s North Kivu province, health facilities are often understaffed and undersupplied, while services are unaffordable for much of the population. Ongoing violence between DRC’s armed forces and the non-state armed group M23 has internally displaced more than 1 million people in the province. Insufficient healthcare, poverty and food insecurity also contribute to a pervasive health crisis there.
It was under these dire circumstances that Ombeni’s fever developed, accompanied by a cough that grew deeper and more forceful. His declining condition became increasingly painful, preventing him from normal activities like playing with his brothers or even resting comfortably. At the nearest health center in Kasura, which receives no government or NGO support, care is extremely limited. Without a paying job, Justine had no money to afford even the limited treatment available.
To address the lack of healthcare in the DRC, International Medical Corps provides care through MMUs in areas such as Kasura, with support from the United States government. Community health workers spread the message in Kasura and surrounding communities that our MMU is coming to the neighborhood, bringing lifesaving medical and mental health services at no cost to patients. All community members are welcomed and encouraged to come for treatment. For anyone whose need exceeds the MMU’s capacity, International Medical Corps provides referrals to a secondary health facility where they can receive the necessary treatment.
When Justine heard this news, she brought Ombeni to the MMU, where our team diagnosed him with a severe case of pneumonia, staff admitted him and began treatment immediately. At the time, Ombeni was lethargic and so sick that he had no appetite. Within 12 hours of our staff administering the first dose of medication to combat his pneumonia, Ombeni was sitting up and engaging with his mother and doctors.
He spent two nights in our care, with Justine at his side the entire time. On his second day at the MMU, Ombeni was smiling, eating and playing with his brothers again. Once Ombeni was feeling much better, the medical team deemed him ready for discharge. Staff members provided Justine with additional doses of anti-pneumonia medication so that she could continue his treatment at home.
Without International Medical Corps’ MMU, Justine would have had no option to treat her son, and Ombeni’s potential for recovery would have been almost non-existent. Dr. Antoine Ntigenga, the International Medical Corps Health Officer who oversaw Ombeni’s care, says, “Given the state Ombeni arrived in and his family’s limited resources to care for him, I feel that we saved this child’s life. It is a proud moment for me.”