Providing medical aid to Brazzaville, the Republic of Congo
Abstract
Following five explosions in Brazzaville, the Republic of Congo on 4 March 2012, a field hospital was flown in from South Africa to help deal with the aftermath. Donated by the Ichikowitz Family Foundation, it aimed to treat the injured patients who were in excess of 2 300.
On arrival, a singular old-style army tent, sponsored by the French petroleum company Total, was the only medical service on the site. The tent was manned by staff from the French charity Médecins d'Afrique.
Building the hospital from the ground up took eight days and several late nights, during which time the population of the neighbouring refugee camp was growing. A four metre high wooden fence was built around the camp and hospital to keep some sort of control. The Red Cross and several other non-governmental organisations (NGOs) became actively involved, supplying clean water and food aid to the people.
Since the events of 4 March 2012, the field hospital has gone on to provide medical aid to the communities of Brazzaville, dealing predominantly with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), tuberculosis (TB), cholera, hepatitis A, typhoid and malaria.
This article is a personal perspective that explains the origins of the field hospital and the work that it has done since 2012.
On 4 March 2012 around 8 am the first of five explosions were heard in Brazzaville, the Republic of Congo. The blasts originated from a military ammunition storage facility in the area of Mpila near the neighbourhoods of Talangi and Oenze. The shock waves were felt across the city and debris struck buildings 4 kilometres away. The explosions were heard in neighbouring Kinshasha, capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), across the river Congo.
The event resulted in the death of 250 people and the injured were in excess of 2 300. The hospitals were inundated. Injured patients were lying in the corridors. The majority were transported via taxis, military and police vehicles.
Due to the force of the explosion, it raised the military facility to the ground and destroyed all surrounding dwellings. It also caused several wide spread fires, leaving 13 800 people destitute. The refugees were relocated to the cathedral in the city centre and a covered market at Nkombo district in the North.
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