An Update from George Snyman
This is just a brief update of what happened in Goma, the city in North-eastern Congo where Hands at Work is working. On Saturday evening we heard the news that there was an eruption of the volcano called Mount Nyiragongo, which is situated in Goma. And of course it immediately caused huge panic and people started fleeing into Rwanda immediately, and some people fled to the nearest city outside Goma called Sake.
So there are three main things that we need to know as far as Hands at Work is concerned. Firstly, our two communities. One is called Buhimba, which is on the outskirts of Goma and actually quite close to the volcano. And they were definitely in immediate danger and people started preparing to leave, which made our children very vulnerable as it was during the night.
The second village called Luhonga, which is about maybe 40 to 50 kilometres away from the volcano. And they were safe. We never had to worry about them. They were fine. And then thirdly, we were very concerned about Bindu and Zawadi who head up the Service Centre there with the family, living very close to Buhimba.
We followed the news with them right through the night. And by early this morning, we got a latest update that the lava literally stopped one kilometre away from the airport and away from Goma city as it entered. It did damage thousands of houses, but everybody seemed to be fine. And the great news is that Buhimba community did not have to evacuate. So Bindu and his family spent the night there and they managed to convince everybody to stay put and they are safe and as for now, Sunday evening, the information we received is that there is no more eruptions and the lava has stopped. And we ask that you continue to pray for our communities as of course they would face huge trauma backlash and many other challenges, but we thank God that everybody is safe.