For more than three years, The United Methodist Church has fed over 1,000 malnourished children in Bukavu, Kisangani, Kindu and Tunda.
The effort — part of the Maternal and Child Health Program in East Congo — has been getting financial support from the United Methodist Board of Global Ministries’ Global Health program since 2016.
Regional violence has rendered fields inaccessible, and families have left rural areas, putting children’s health at risk.
Gisele Bitembu, 40, and her eight children live in the area of United Methodist Irambo Hospital in Bukavu. “Three of my children,” she said, “presented severe malnutrition in 2019. Today, with the support of the church, my three children (have) come to recover their normal health.”
Likewise, five of Adrienne Aksanti’s six children suffered from malnutrition. Today, they are thriving.
“In January 2020,” she said, “I had lost hope, but today the church has changed the state of health of my children.”