Joyce’s life has been shaped by conflict for as long as she can remember.
As a child, she and her family were uprooted by war – a memory that still sits heavily with her. She recalls how her father struggled through those years of fear and loss, and how much she hoped her own children would never have to experience the same.
For a time, that hope seemed possible.
After finishing school, Joyce met Michel. They married, moved to the village of Rambira in South Kivu, and began raising their children: 11-year-old Buloyez, ten-year-old Larose, three-year-old Etien, and eventually their newest baby, Emiliana. Their life was simple and full of love. A home they built together. A routine they trusted.
But in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), peace is fragile. And early this year, it shattered again.
Will you support a mother fleeing conflict to buy the nutritious food and hygiene supplies that could save her child’s life? Your gift this Christmas could mean safety, nourishment and hope for a family who has lost everything
A baby born as bombs fell
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We would hear about the war in other regions, it hadn’t reached here, but everyone was getting scared.
The night the family fled
Two months later, gunfire reached Rambira. Joyce and Michel hurried their children into the nearby forest. Baby Emiliana clung to her mother as the family waited in darkness, listening to bullets cut through the night.
When daylight came, the danger hadn’t passed. Staying meant being caught. Leaving meant risking everything.
‘They got close to catching us, but we ran. We managed to escape and kept running.’
Without the cover of night, the family of six were prey to be hunted by soldiers. Hope rested on making it to the nearby Bulengo Camp for displaced people.
As they ran, Joyce found herself whispering the questions no parent should ever face: ‘I was asking God, if I die, who will take care of my child?’
She thought of her older children, hoping they would live long enough to look after the baby if she couldn’t.
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I was just so worried I would die and leave my child behind or she would die on my chest.
Survival at Bulengo Camp
Reaching Bulengo Camp brought safety — but not security. What Joyce found there was a new kind of hardship.
Clean drinking water was almost impossible to find.
‘When you see how dirty it is you decide to just stay thirsty,’ she shared. ‘We knew it would bring us disease and that there was no medicine left in camp.’
Food was scarce, shared between neighbours also struggling to feed their own families.
‘I would get heartbroken when it was time to eat. We would share food among five neighbours, and we all had husbands and children.’
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As a breastfeeding mother, Joyce often ate last. ‘Since I am breastfeeding, I won’t get full. The children won’t get full as it is. You just can’t say, “let me have some more since I didn’t eat my fill.”’
After two days in the camp, weakened by hunger, the family faced a choice no one should have to make: stay and starve, or risk returning home.
‘We thought instead of starving here, we’d rather go back to where we had a little something to eat.’
Michel successfully collected food but was devastated to find that the family home in Rambira had been ransacked, their possessions either stolen or destroyed.
Back home – but emotional scars remain
Today, the family is back in Rambira. The fighting has moved on, but the fear hasn’t.
Joyce worries constantly about the impact on her baby: ‘Bringing up a small child during war is very hard. There are so many thoughts in your head – you run the risk of going mad.’ Her eyes fall on Emiliana when she says this – a five-month-old child whose life has never known calm.
‘Emiliana’s whole five months of life have been very stressful. She doesn’t even get enough time to play with me – her mother – due to my fear.’
Yet despite everything, Joyce’s words to her daughter are filled not with fear, but with hope. ‘I asked God to give me health, strength and wisdom to raise Emiliana well. To take her to school, make her love learning, become someone in life, and get a good job.’
And softly, she tells her:
‘You will live like God had planned.’
This Christmas, please support a mother fleeing conflict to buy the nutritious food and hygiene supplies that could save her child’s life. Your kindness could protect her baby in the hardest moments.
