A CHARITY worker fresh from a mercy mission to the war-torn Democratic Republic of the Congo has told how the experience has changed her life.
Liz Bowes spent three weeks working in Kinshasa, where she helped to set up a feeding programme for malnourished children and orphans.
Yesterday the 30-year-old, from Little Lever, reflected on her visit to the troubled African nation and said: “We are so lucky to live in the UK.”
The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is striving to recover from a five-year war which claimed an estimated three million lives, either as a direct result of fighting or because of disease and malnutrition.
The conflict pitted government forces, supported by Angola, Namibia and Zimbabwe, against rebels backed by Uganda and Rwanda.
Despite a peace deal and the formation of a transitional government in 2003, the threat of civil war has re-emerged in the east of the country. The fighting has left millions displaced and living in abstract poverty.
Miss Bowes said she struggled to come to terms with the conditions in which families struggle to survive.
She added: “The children in Kinshasa really had nothing. A lot of their fathers have gone off to war. Some haven’t seen them for five or 10 years and don’t even know if they are still alive.
“Other families know the father is alive but they haven’t been getting any money sent home. A lot of the children live on the street and do whatever they have to do to survive. They have to beg and steal. It is very sad.”
Miss Bowes works for Passion for Jesus (PFJ) Ministries, a Bolton-based charity which works to eradicate poverty across the world.
The charity was also working to establish a health clinic in Kinshasa which will help eradicate preventable illnesses.
She added: “It only takes £3 or £4 a month to feed one child. It was a very humbling experience and it really makes you realise what we have here in this country.
“While I was over there, I was looked after by a lot of different families. They were all so generous to me even though I they had nothing. I was amazed at how upbeat they were.”
To donate to PFJ call 01204 799407 or email admin@pfjministries.com.
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