Democratic Republic of Congo V, Congolese Miracle; Congolese Tragedy
December 2008
Wimana and her five children were displaced seven times in fifteen months as fighting continued between rebels loyal to renegade General Laurent Nkunda and government soldiers in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Her one year old son Emanuel, had to be taken from a health center where he was receiving treatment when fighting broke out in the camp where they had taken refuge. He died two days later from malnutrition, his mother unable to find treatment for him in the chaos of the conflict. 1.6m people remain displaced throughout the region and the humanitarian situation deteriorates daily as fighting continues.
Chance was forced to flee her home with her baby son when fighting broke out in their village near last June. She was separated from her husband and thinks that he is now dead because there has been no news of him. Now living in a disused shop kiosk, she went to a poorly equipped health center in Goma to give birth to her baby daughter,
One in eighty mothers dies in Congo during childbirth, and one in five children die before they are five years old.
Left: Wimana Ruhuwreru holds her son Emmanuel where they sleep in the open air.
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Democratic Republic of Congo V, Congolese Miracle; Congolese Tragedy
December 2008
Wimana and her daughter look over the coffin containing Emmanuel shortly after he died in Nygangi orphanage in the provincial capital of Goma, in the Democratic Republic of Congo on the 9th November, 2008.
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Democratic Republic of Congo V, Congolese Miracle; Congolese Tragedy
December 2008
Wimana Ruhuwreru waits for the coffin of her son Emmanuel to be unloaded for burial in Goma, in the Democratic Republic of Congo on the 9th November, 2008.
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Democratic Republic of Congo V, Congolese Miracle; Congolese Tragedy
December 2008
Wimana Ruhuwreru and her daughter watch the burial of her son Emmanuel who died of malnutrition in the provincial capital of Goma, in the Democratic Republic of Congo on the 9th November, 2008.
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Democratic Republic of Congo V, Congolese Miracle; Congolese Tragedy
December 2008
A crude cross made of a banana leaf and a stick mark the grave of Emmanuel after his death due to malnutrition, near Nygangi orphanage in the provincial capital of Goma, in the Democratic Republic of Congo on the 9th November, 2008.
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Democratic Republic of Congo V, Congolese Miracle; Congolese Tragedy
December 2008
Chance sits on a bed in a health centre after the birth of her second child, Noella in a poorly equipped health center in Goma, in the Democratic Republic of Congo on the 13th December, 2009
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Democratic Republic of Congo V, Congolese Miracle; Congolese Tragedy
December 2008
A nurse listens to Chances womb in preparation for the birth of her second child, Noella, by a nurse in a poorly equipped health center, in the provincial capital of Goma on the 13th December, 2008.
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Democratic Republic of Congo V, Congolese Miracle; Congolese Tragedy
December 2008
Chance is screams in pain during the birth of her second child, Noella, assisted by a nurse in a poorly equipped health center, in the provincial capital of Goma on the 13th December, 2008.
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Democratic Republic of Congo V, Congolese Miracle; Congolese Tragedy
December 2008
A nurse delivers Chance's baby over a bucket in a poorly equipped health center in the provincial capital of Goma on the 13th December, 2008.
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Democratic Republic of Congo V, Congolese Miracle; Congolese Tragedy
December 2008
Chance is assisted by a nurse following the birth of her second child, Noella, by a nurse in a poorly equipped health center, in the provincial capital of Goma on the 13th December, 2008.
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Democratic Republic of Congo V, Congolese Miracle; Congolese Tragedy
December 2008
Chance breast feeds Noella for the first time after giving birth in a poorly equipped health center, in the provincial capital of Goma on the 13th December, 2008. Chance breast feeds Noella for the first time. The baby is wrapped in a dirty sheet as the mother had nothing to wrap it in.
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Democratic Republic of Congo V, Congolese Miracle; Congolese Tragedy
December 2008
Noella is photographed shortly after birth in a poorly equipped health center in the provincial capital of Goma on the 13th December, 2008. The baby is wrapped in a dirty sheet shortly after birth because the mother did not have any cloth to wrap it in.
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