Reference :
V-P-BI-E-00294
Date :
02/03/2026
Caption :
Southern Burundi, Burunga province, Musenyi, a refugee camp hosting people from the Democratic Republic of Congo. Mama Vicky Mugwoli is a Congolese refugee who fled the city of Goma to seek refuge in Burundi and now works as a volunteer for the Burundi Red Cross.
Confidentiality level :
public
Publication restrictions :
publication without restrictions
Description :
When you open the door to the ICRC office in the Musenyi camp, the first thing you see is Mama Vicky’s face. With a warm smile, she welcomes visitors, plugs their phones into one of the 100 sockets available to refugees, and hands them a ticket so they can collect their devices two hours later. While performing these tasks, she shares stories about life in the camp and the many challenges she and the other refugees face.
"My name is Mama Vicky, and I am a Congolese refugee. I live here in the Musenyi camp in Burundi with one of my daughters. I am also a volunteer for the Burundi Red Cross. I am a dynamic, energetic woman. I love talking to everyone, exchanging stories, and listening to others. Every day, I walk through the camp, greeting people and offering them a helping hand. But sometimes, behind my smiles, there is a pain I cannot hide.
When we sat near my tent to share a bowl of fufu, a traditional Congolese dish that reminds me of home, the memories came flooding back. My smile faded. It’s hard to talk about what brought me here to Musenyi.
I grew up in Goma, where I lived with my husband and our seven children, three of whom I adopted after my sister passed away. But last year, my life fell apart. Bandits killed my husband. They also did terrible things to me and my daughter—things I cannot even bring myself to describe. The night we fled Goma, on January 27, my daughter and I were in the hospital, recovering from what we had endured. We took the last boat to Bukavu and then continued our journey until we reached Burundi.
Here, we were welcomed as refugees, and I was fortunate to be accepted as a volunteer. But even with this welcome, the fear never leaves me. At night, I am afraid. My children are scattered, living in different places. They, too, are threatened by the bandits. These men send us terrifying messages. They say, 'Do you think that just because your husband is dead, we won’t come for you?'
What if these bandits come here? What if they take refuge in this camp too? Because of the situation in the DRC, my children have become nomads. They no longer have a home or stability.
But despite everything, there is one thing that gives me strength: the Red Cross. In Goma, I received first aid training. That’s when I started volunteering with the Red Cross. The Red Cross has given me incredible strength. It has helped me get back on my feet and keep moving forward, even during the darkest times.
I am so grateful to the Red Cross. Thanks to them, I can help others, even here in this camp, and it gives me a purpose—a reason to keep going. 'The Red Cross has given me strength,' I say this with all my heart. 'I am deeply grateful to them.'"
Since early 2025, clashes have intensified in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, displacing hundreds of thousands of people across the region. Tens of thousands have fled to Burundi, where more than 80,000 Congolese refugees are seeking safety in overcrowded camps such as Busuma, Musenyi and Cishemere. This sudden influx has placed significant pressure on Burundi’s limited resources. The ICRC is working in collaboration with the Burundi Red Cross to provide essential humanitarian services, such as water trucking and disinfection operations. Together, they are also striving to reunite families separated by the conflict by helping them restore contact with their loved ones.
Original material :
digital
Resolution :
7809x5857
Orientation :
landscape
Colour/B&W :
colour
