In Birao, in northeastern CAR, women and children have been particularly affected by what they nervously call “the events”, the fights between the rebel forces of the Movement of Democratic Forces for Unity (UFDR) and the government forces.
In their own words, the women of Birao talk about the attacks on their villages, their escape, their pain and their memories.

First woman

“During the battle, I was giving birth. I took my daughter on my back and walked until Am Dafock… I reached Am Dafock at night. In the morning I had given birth… a baby boy. My husband went the other way. Me, I took the children of my dead brother. Three boys. Their mother went back to her parent’s.”

Second woman

“I was fine with my father and my mother. I married at the age of 18 and I live in my husband’s house… there is no trouble, there is no pain. But with the fights, there was a lot of trouble. I have three children. The first is five years old, the second is four, the last one is two and I am pregnant now. During the attack, my husband ran away and left me with the children.
I am crying, I take the youngest, I carry him on my back, the other one, thank you grandma… she takes him. When we come back, there is nothing left in the house, the criminals stole everything, the tools, the food, the clothes… To go back to our old place it is a bit difficult.
My husband came back from Bria with a sewing machine. Thank god.”

Third woman

“During the events, with my three kids… who do I take with me? Where do I go? How do I leave? Thanks to my neighbours…
I take a child on my back and a child in my arms. My neighbour takes a child. I take something to eat, and some clothes. In my head, things like fear. Those things cannot be forgotten, but still we will forget them. The pain for women, this can never end…”

Making room for dialogue

In the Vakaga region, NGOs and international organizations are trying to support the population who suffered from the violent conflict between rebel forces and government troops until last year. The ceasefire signed in April 2007 has noticeably improved the situation in the city of Birao, but the surrounding roads and villages are still periodically attacked by armed men.

In this tormented context, the Comité d’Aide Médicale (CAM) is providing psycho-social support to women and children through various activities such as writing, drawing, sewing, plays or metal workshops. With the help of local youth associations, women groups and NGOs fighting HIV/AIDS, the CAM is trying to open room for dialogue with the women and children who have been traumatized during the conflict. These testimonies have been collected by social workers during individual interviews.