Emergency Food Welcomed in Central African Republic

Early on a Saturday morning in Bozoum, a town in the northwestern region of the Central African Republic, a local food storage warehouse is already buzzing with activity.

Teams from Catholic Relief Services and our partner, All for Peace and Dignity, have formed a human assembly line, seamlessly passing sacks of rice and peanuts from one person to the next until it arrives at the door, where a truck is waiting to be loaded. Across the room, volunteers pass containers of cooking oil from hand to hand until they too reach the door.

Team members from the Mou Maboko project, which supports families displaced by conflict with emergency food aid, load bags of rice into a truck to be delivered to the distribution site.

Photo by Jennifer Lazuta/CRS

They are preparing to set up a food distribution site to help families who have been affected by the ongoing conflict in the area, as part of a project funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development called Mou Maboko, which means “We Rise Up Together” in Sango, the local language. During the monthly two-day distribution, more than 550 families, or about 3,500 people—living near this site will receive rations of rice, cassava, peanuts, oil and salt, along with $16 cash to buy fresh fruits, vegetables and meat.

Due to conflict and violence in the area, many people are no longer able to go to their fields to farm. The crops they grow are usually their main source of food and a way to earn cash by selling excess produce at the local market. Without the ability to grow their own food, many families are left only eating one meal a day.

Nelly Koboro, a participant in CRS’ Mou Maboko project in the Central African Republic, receives beans as part of an emergency food distribution.

Photo by Jennifer Lazuta/CRS

“Like many people, we had to flee,” says Nelly Koboro, a mother of three. “When we returned a year ago, everything changed. We started from zero. Today we have fields to farm, but they are small and don’t produce well. So that’s why these distributions are so important.”

After buying fresh produce to supplement their meals, Nelly will use the remaining cash to buy household necessities, such as soap and shoes, and pay her children’s school fees.

Dimanche Goumape, a participant in the Mou Maboko project in the Central African Republic, receives dried cassava as part of an emergency food distribution.

Photo by Jennifer Lazuta/CRS

Another participant in the project, Dimanche Goumape, says, “I am looking forward to eating some cassava with meat tonight. It has been a long time since we ate well, so we are very thankful for these distributions.”

The morning after the distribution, at their home in Bozoum, Nathelie Namgoro, a widow who cares for her seven children and three grandchildren, prepares breakfast for her family over a small fire.

Nathelie Namgoro, a participant in the Mou Maboko project in the Central African Republic, prepares breakfast for her family using supplies she received as part of an emergency food distribution.

Photo by Jennifer Lazuta/CRS

“Before the project, the children only ate once per day,” she says. “They were always hungry and one of my grandsons was hospitalized for malnutrition. But thanks to the distributions from CRS—the food and the money—this morning they are eating breakfast. They have rice and beans with oil and are so happy.”

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