Women break down volcanic rock into gravel in the hope of earning a few dollars. The May 2021 eruption of Mount Nyiragongo in The Democratic Republic of the Congo left thousands of people homeless. But the displaced say aid is slow to arrive amidst a highly politicized response. (Sophie Neiman, July 2021)
30,000 displaced people living in makeshift camps say that aid promised by the government and humanitarian organizations has been slow to arrive, and is not enough. (Sophie Neiman, July 2021)
Many lives in Congo have been shaped by Mount Nyiragongo, which previously erupted in 1977 and 2022. Janette Mwana’s husband chocked on a cloud of gas in 2022. She lost all of her possessions in the 2021 eruption, and now lives in a tent made of scraps of clothe. “We are starving. There is nothing [here],” she said. (Sophie Neiman, July 2021)
Pascaziya Kahumba and her five children are living in Bujuri camp – one of roughly a dozen sites where displaced people say they are struggling to meet their basic needs (Sophie Neiman, July 2021)
Bembeleza Musalia fell onto lava rocks after Nyiragongo erupted, breaking her arm. Her husband, who has no medical training, helped her cut off her cast using a small metal file. Musalia worked as a tailor before the may eruption, but the lava destroyed her sewing machine, leaving behind only scraps of twisted metal. (Sophie Neiman, July 2021)
Long ques for water are common at displacement sites, like this one in Mujoga. The water often runs out before everyone has gotten their share. (Sophie Neiman, July 2021)
Displaced people await a distribution of aid from a foundation operated by Congolese First Lady Denise Nyakéru Tshisekedi. (Sophie Neiman, July 2021)
Denis Katambo spent a long morning in August moving heavy stones to mark where is house once stood. The heat and smell of sulfur were overpowering on the lava fields, but he intends to build a new home despite the risks. He says he his angry Nyiragongo erupted without warning from the authorities, preventing him from saving precious belongings from the lava. “We couldn’t do anything,” he said. “We were just waiting.” (Sophie Neiman, August 2021)
Men shovel gravel made from hardened lava rocks into trucks in the city Goma in an attempt to make a little money. The Mount Nyiragongo eruption destroyed the livelihoods of thousands of people. (Sophie Neiman, July 2021)
Volcanologists walk across hardened lava in Goma. They were measuring the width of new fissures that had cracked open in the earth in May. (Sophie Neiman, July 2021)
Mount Nyiragono casts an imposing shadow over the city of Goma. (Sophie Neiman, 2021)