Goma (DR Congo) (AFP)

The fight against Ebola in Goma, a commercial hub plagued by severe water shortages in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, depends on the generosity of Lake Kivu, which supplies water to health teams.

A golden rule to prevent the spread of Ebola: wash your hands regularly. In Goma, the Ebola response team needs 33 cubic meters of water a day to supply ten or so checkpoints for the disease, says Leon Salibaya, a leader of the team responsible for the prevention and control of the disease. infections.

"The lake's water helps us particularly in prevention, because it's abundant," says Jean Nepo, the Ebola response supervisor at Goma's public port.

Finding water is a puzzle in Goma. The distribution network managed by the public operator Regideso is obsolete and does not cover all the neighborhoods of this city of about two million inhabitants.

"The public operator only covers half of the water needs of the city's residents," said Mutete Mwenyemali, a local government official.

Every day, many people will stock up at the lake, at the edge of which lorries are lined up waiting for pumping.

- Washing compulsory -

Those responsible for the response organize several rotations of tank trucks on a daily basis. Once recovered, the lake water is treated with chlorine and then distributed in the reservoirs located at the various control points.

Placed high, these tanks - stamped IOM (International Organization for Migration) or Unicef ​​(United Nations Children's Fund) - are visible in the city at checkpoints. Members of the response teams draw chlorinated water that is used to wash the hands of passersby.

Mobile, some agents go to passers-by with pressure carafes, forcing them to wash their hands to disinfect them before continuing their journey.

For a year, the DRC has been fighting against the tenth Ebola outbreak on its soil. The disease that is transmitted through direct and close human contact has already killed more than 1,930 people. This epidemic has long been confined to rural areas of North Kivu (mainly Beni and Butembo) and neighboring Ituri.

But four cases, two of them fatal, have recently appeared in Goma, with the risk of spreading to a large, densely populated city and the additional regional transport hub. This has led the World Health Organization (WHO) to elevate the epidemic to a global health emergency.

Public checkpoints where handwashing is mandatory include the port, the border with Rwanda, and some busy streets of Goma.

Lake Kivu is an essential element in stopping the spread of the disease but also a valuable resource for the local population. Here everyone gets this water: individuals, hotels, schools, health centers, drinking establishments.

"If the lake was not there, it would be catastrophic, maybe the teams of the response would take the water elsewhere, maybe in Rwanda, but it would be terrible.The lake is our only source of life in drinking water, "sighs Jacques Sinzahera, a pro-democracy activist.

© 2019 AFP