In response to escalating needs and worsening conflict, Direct Relief issued emergency funds to a health center operating in the Democratic Republic of Congo to support medical needs and staffing.
The Jericho Road Wellness Clinic, located in Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo, will be receiving $25,000 from Direct Relief to support the local purchase of critical emergency medical products, including antibiotics, essential supplies, and chronic disease management medicines. This grant is intended to cover the immediate medical needs of clinic patients until regular shipments are able to reach the team at Jericho Road.
The clinic, which offers essential health services, has seen an increase in patients, many of whom are internally displaced persons, or IDPs. Hundreds of thousands of people who have been displaced due to unrest were living in IDP camps surrounding Goma until recently, but the camps have been evacuated and destroyed, displacing people yet again as Goma and surrounding areas have been impacted by recent unrest from rebel groups.
Jericho Road staff reported health workers were sleeping at the clinics to make sure they can provide services consistently to patients in need, as transportation to and from the clinics had been interrupted by military checkpoints.
The Goma airport has been closed since Goma was captured by the M23 militia at the end of January, preventing the regular flow of supplies to Jericho Road and other Direct Relief partners in Goma. At the time of the airport’s shuttering, six Direct Relief shipments were underway to Goma. These shipments have now been rerouted to the airport in Kigali, Rwanda, to be trucked to Goma.
“This work in Goma and across the globe would not be possible without the continuous and unwavering support of Direct Relief. We are so grateful,” said Fidele Menavanza, Jericho Road Community Health Center’s Chief Compliance and Global Health Officer.
Direct Relief has supported the clinic in Goma since 2016 and recently funded a Jericho Road-implemented mpox prevention program that supported education, outreach, and prevention efforts in large encampments of internally displaced people surrounding Goma. In addition to mpox, Direct Relief has worked with Jericho Road during previous outbreaks, including during the 2019 Ebola outbreak in eastern DRC.
