A cheer of delight went up around the crowd; the first overladen truck of desperately-needed humanitarian assistance was rumbling into the rural village of Ntamugenga.
Around ten kilometres from the town of Rutshuru, the territory around this small village was rocked by some of the heaviest armed activity during the recent flare of fighting in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Hundreds of thousands of people fled for a second time, from camps they were already living in. Some ended up in rural areas, sheltering with strangers in villages.
Isolated for many weeks, they had no help, and the situation became desperate.
“Since the last of the food I had was finished, we have collected grass to eat. Can you imagine, one month living on grass?” Mazirane Nzahera tells me, tutting and shaking her head sadly.
“Bombs were falling on the camp, too many people died, including three of my neighbours. I left with nothing but the clothes you see me wearing.”
On Monday, assistance from CAFOD and local church partner Caritas Goma finally reached Mazirane and 12,000 others, taking clothes, blankets, cooking pots, soap, and watercans to people in desperate need.
Bishop of Goma, Faustin Ngabu, was the first to hand over a blanket to an elderly lady at the front of the long queue.
Holding a megaphone, he addressed the massing crowd, saying humbly: “I know what CAFOD and Caritas Goma have brought today will not remove all of your suffering, but we hope it will alleviate some of it.”
As Bishop of Goma for more than 35 years, Bishop Ngabu has seen all of the long conflict that has afflicted the population in his care.
He says: “Caritas Goma has confronted difficult situations but, unlike others, the Church cannot leave the people.
“I would say to the people of England and Wales that supporting us through CAFOD is one way to express their love and communion with their brothers and sisters in trouble here in Congo.”
Michel Monginda, CAFOD humanitarian officer, has been working in Goma for four years, and told me that, although the situation is currently calmer, thousands in remote areas still have not been reached and need our help.
For Mazirane, the future is uncertain, “I’m very afraid, I have nothing to eat in my village, and I don’t know if we will continue to get humanitarian assistance. Our trust is in God.”
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