#nyiragongo

The Nyiragongo volcano erupted unexpectedly for the first time in nearly 20 years this weekend on May 22 with lava flows reaching 17 villages outside of Goma and hitting the neighborhoods on the outskirts of the city, almost completely destroying one called Buhene.  It’s been a frightening experience for Goma residents.  There was no warning, and the eruption itself has been followed by multiple earthquakes sometimes as frequent as every 20 min.  Volcanologists are now monitoring the situation and from what we’ve learned there are still concerns that cracks caused by the earthquakes could create risk of further lava flows.  

We are very relieved to share that all staff of our partner Les Étoiles Messagères are okay, as is our board member Dr. Muteho who spent the night of the eruption providing shelter for displaced people.  We are still waiting to hear on the status of all the young women and girl participants of our past programs and current scholarship program. We know so far that two girls in our scholarship program have lost their homes.  One staff member who had to evacuate because her family’s home was in the area hit by lava flows unfortunately has been permanently displaced by government orders even though her home survived.

 We are still learning what services are available to the general population impacted and to the girls in our scholarship program to understand what ways we can support them. 

Reports so far are sharing the following:

15 people have died 

170 children are feared missing

Tens of thousands of people were displaced over the weekend.  

About 600 homes were destroyed as well as 5 schools.  

Brave photographers captured this event. Photos in this post are from screenshots from their instagrams. Please visit their instagram pages to see more of their incredible work: 

@guerchomndebo https://www.instagram.com/guerchomndebo/ 

@leyuwera1 https://www.instagram.com/leyuwera1/

@donjuan_masudi  https://www.instagram.com/donjuan_masudi/

@mosessawasawa https://www.instagram.com/mosessawasawa/

And even in chaos there is creativity and courage in the response from artists and civilians 

In solidarity with people in Goma,

richcoke75

Lava lake in Nyiragongo, Democratic Republic of Congo, in a molten state