This is not a school in the DRC (not right now, anyway)

But for families like Rose’s, the future remains uncertain as they have now been encouraged to leave the relative safety of the temporary shelter to return home with very little to restart their life and livelihood.

In spite of the harsh circumstances, Rose and her son smiled at our photographer as they took the opportunity to wash their clothes. The family had already lost their home once and prior to this new escalation in the conflict, they were living in a camp called Rusayo for internally displaced people (IDPs)**. Living in makeshift tents there, the family did not have an easy life, but they had felt a measure of safety from the horrific attacks they had run from. That safety was shattered last month when the violence reached them once again.

Reports estimate that 3,000 people have been killed and 2,800 injured in and around Goma since the ongoing conflict escalated. Even the IDP camps were not spared in the onslaught.

The humanitarian situation in the DRC was already desperate. By the start of 2025, around 6 million people in the country had been displaced by the ongoing fighting. Tearfund has been helping provide life-saving support, including in camps like Rusayo, and now in the school where Rose and her family have sought refuge.

Schools have been told to reopen, but this is a challenge given the remaining people living in them. In many cases, all the educational materials have also been destroyed, and alongside all of this, parents remain fearful of sending their children away from them after the recent terrifying violence.

Tearfund has been helping people access clean water, hygiene supplies and cash to buy food. For Rose, her children and the hundreds of other families who have found a temporary home here at the school and in other similar places nearby, having safe drinking water at least gives them some protection from the diarrhoeal diseases that could be as deadly as the armed men.

And hygiene kits give them back some dignity as they face circumstances that are beyond nightmarish.

For days, Goma was cut off from electricity, water and the internet. These supplies have been restored and markets have reopened, but for those who have lost everything, each day is a struggle to survive.

Since the conflict in DRC began, more than 20 million people have required humanitarian assistance.

In the context of any crisis, access to clean water is one of the most pressing needs. Here men, women and children queue to collect water from Tearfund trucks and water points.

So far, in response to the situation, Tearfund is doing the following:

• conducting water trucking of 1,5 million litres of clean drinking water – enough for 5,300 people per day for three months,
• distributing 1,000 WASH*** kits that include water containers and essential hygiene items,
• providing 525 women and adolescent girls with menstrual hygiene management dignity kits,
• raising awareness about hygiene practices that can help prevent diarrhoeal diseases to 25,000 people in local languages.

Tearfund has set up an appeal to help provide for some of the urgent needs people like Rose and her family are facing right now. Please help if you are able. Just £15 could provide ten people with vital clean water for a whole month. Donate here.

We'd also value your prayers for the situation. We've created this guide if you'd like to use it to help you pray.

*Names have been changed for protection.

**What is an IDP/refugee?

People who have been forced to flee their homes and find safety in other places within the country are often referred to as internally displaced persons (IDPs). Refugees are those who seek safety across country borders.

***What does WASH stand for?

Water, sanitation and hygiene – work around this involves things like: helping people access clean, safe drinking water; building latrines; safe human waste disposal; education around good personal hygiene practices to avoid diarrhoeal diseases etc.