After the Fire in Mulengeza: Bukavu Youth Bring Relief to 20 Households

On 27 October 2026, the Réseau Communautaire des Jeunes du Congo (RCJC-RDC), YWF’s partner in Bukavu, distributed food and household supplies to families hit by a fire in Mulengeza 1, in the Panzi neighbourhood of Bukavu, South Kivu.

The team had planned a youth workshop on resilience and global citizenship. After the fire, they asked to use YWF’s $300 grant for the affected families instead. An Ebola outbreak in the region then halted public gatherings, and the distribution went ahead once local authorities allowed activities to resume.

Before the distribution, the team visited affected households, assessed their needs and gave each selected household a token to collect its share. YWF’s grant paid for maize flour, rice, cooking oil and soap for ten households. RCJC-RDC extended the distribution to ten more from its own resources, reaching 20 households and 78 people in all. Supplies were handed out in small groups to limit crowding.

The Centre de Recherche en Intervention et Innovation en Travail Social (CRIITS) at the Evangelical University in Africa joined the team to give the families psychosocial support, offering them a space to be heard and to talk about what they had been through.

In their report, the team wrote that global citizenship and human unity “are not merely theoretical principles; they can be translated into concrete local actions.”

The need is larger than one distribution. Other families hit by the same fire were not reached, and the households RCJC-RDC did reach still need roofing sheets and tarpaulins to rebuild their homes.

How to help

Donations go directly to RCJC-RDC, not through YWF. To give money, roofing sheets or tarpaulins, contact the team in Bukavu on +243 997 172 750 or +243 971 474 727.

Read about RCJC-RDC’s earlier work in From South Kivu to the World: Bukavu Youth Take Up the Question of Global Authority.