News Story

Church Aids Congolese Refugees in Uganda

What does a country do with an extra 33,000 people seeking refuge within its borders?  With the unrest in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, refugees have continued streaming across the Uganda border into refugee camps, like the one at Kyangwali near Lake Albert.

Elder and Sister Stevens, Humanitarian Missionaries from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, joined with an inter-ministerial committee to visit the barracks where over 1000 refugees are currently living while waiting to be settled.  Supplies donated by the Church included 1500 mosquito nets,  400 blankets, 400 hoes, 400 pounds of fast growing seeds for greens, bundles of clothing, 400 jerry cans, and over 100 sets of cooking pots.  Earlier this year, the Church financed and completed a solar powered water pumping and storage system to provide water access points for the villages that cover the surrounding hillsides.

Honorable Ecweru Musa Francis, Minister of Relief, Disaster Preparedness and Refugees, escorted the visitors into the camp and recognized the Church for their efforts in helping to meet some of the needs in the area.  Smiles of appreciation were evident on the faces of the refugees who had arrived with just the clothing on their backs.

Before leaving the settlement, Elder and Sister Stevens also distributed blankets at the St. Patrick’s School for orphans and HIV infected children in the Kyangwali settlement.  Songs of welcome and thanks were sung by over 60 students as they hugged their gifts. 

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