Editor's Note: Andre Heller worked as a logistics coordinator for Doctors Without Borders in the North Kivu region of the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). He returned from the DRC in October, after working there for 14 months. Andre reflects here on his time in the DRC on the occasion of the launch of Condition: Critical, a multimedia project produced by Doctors Without Borders that shares testimonies of people whose lives are filled with violence, displacement, and hopes for the future.
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Andre Heller
Doctors Without Borders

It took about 24 hours for me to realize I was going to stay quite a while longer than the three months I originally signed up for. I would have stayed longer than 14 were I not so tired. I’d never seen a place with such beautiful terrain, fertile ground, and lively people. One of the most breathtaking places I’ve ever been in my life. The sad reality of North Kivu is that constant fighting, displacement, and human suffering are as much a part of the landscape as the volcanoes around you. An area this war torn doesn’t leave one wondering if people are OK or not. You know there’s something wrong. It got under my skin and I didn’t want to leave.

When you watch this multimedia feature (Condition: Critical), imagine that for each person that gives their personal testimony, there are 125,000 you have not yet heard.

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