Mount Nyiragongo Volcano is the very last stop of every hiker’s volcano remarkable tour of Virunga National Park (a region that should always be included to any trip to Democratic Republic Of Congo). Homes, schools, churches and businesses were ruined. Goma is well supplied with food, which is normally quite cheap; the problem was the money to buy it with. Localized carbon dioxide toxicity, known locally as ‘mazuku’, has killed children even more recently. G. Saunders, Housing, Lives and Livelihoods: Lessons in Post-Disaster Assistance from Goma, unpublished case study, 2002. Many UN and NGO bodies, though often themselves affected by the destruction (UNICEF lost a warehouse full of medicines and school supplies worth $700,000), were already in place in Goma, and several new agencies came in to help. Twice in recent history, Nyiragongo has had two devastating volcanic eruptions, the first related to the lava lake, while the second from a deadly eruption off the flank of the volcano. Why did aid agencies ignore all their rhetoric about responding to the needs of people, and just give what they thought the people needed, not what they said they wanted? Dieudonne Wafula, who has spent years studying the volcano on Mount Nyiragongo, sent urgent e-mails to experts around the world one week before the lava began flowing on 17 January. Yet the aid community in Goma continued to hold to some moral high ground about giving cash. After a few days, a system of joint UN and NGO coordination ‘commissions’ was well in place, notably for health, education and child protection, and food and non-food aid. But in the first days of the response, as the ‘aid machine’ swung into action, this was not even discussed. Then on 6 th February 2001, the neighboring Volcano, Mount Nyamuragira erupted for 2 weeks. For this major and crucial need, only cash would do. Despite this, agencies gave food, and the addition of food aid to the market depressed prices and impoverished those who were already selling in the market. FAQs Perhaps goods should have been given only to women, as at one point UNICEF had decided to do, or only to children, or only through churches. +250 780 870 670 Nyamuragira last erupted in February and March 2001. If it circulates in the economy somewhere then it is doing its job. After a week or so, discussions began around rebuilding and the term ‘relancement de l’économie’ entered the vocabulary; I travelled to Nairobi to meet representatives of Habitat, UNESCO and the International Labour Organisation (ILO), and UNDP sent an expert in income-generating activities, but no one was able to respond with the requisite urgency, and some of the projects discussed never happened. This 2002 eruption started with a few signs in December 2000 where there were a few earthquakes/ volcanic tremors in the region that were prolonged. On January 17th, Mount Nyiragongo, just north of Lake Kivu in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) erupted. That eruption was also marked by columns of erupted ash and long fluid lava flows, some of which are apparent in the image as dark greyish swaths radiating away from Nyamuragira. Complex justifications are developed. An estimated 80,000 people – about 16,000 households – became homeless, and a very large number lost their workplace, their employment and their income, as well as assets and savings. Mount Nyiragongo in Democratic Republic of the Congo, for example, is dangerously close to the city of Goma. David Peppiatt, John Mitchell and Penny Holzmann, Cash Transfers in Emergencies: Evaluating Benefits and Assessing Risks, Network Paper 35 (London: ODI, 2001). In October 2001, another volcanic tremor was felt in the region followed by another in January 2002 and this was … Carlo de Hennin and Patricia Kormoss, Independent Evaluation of DEC Goma Crisis Appeal (Aachen: GFE Consulting, March 2003), http://www.dec.org.uk/uploads/documents/DEC_Report_1_doc.pdf; and http://www.dec.org.uk/uploads/documents/Goma_Evaluation_Report_-Vol_II_Annexes.pdf. Most Recent Eruptions Recorded: 1884, 1894, 1898, 1899, 1900, 1901, 1902, 1905, 1906, 1908 (? Mount Nyiragongo is Congo’s beauty and one of the top tourist attractions that attract thousands of travelers to come and hike the amazing active volcano and one of the best tourist destinations in Congo.. People can then spend it according to their own priorities and needs, something which the aid world claims to support, and which is specifically mentioned in all its manuals and seminars. Exactly the same problems of identification and duplication would have occurred. In January 2002, fast-flowing basalt lava, (1,000 kilometres wide) poured out of Mount Nyiragongo and into the city of Goma. Could the clue be in the agency stickers plastering every aid vehicle in Goma, and the agency logos everywhere? The eruption of Nyiragongo on 17/18 January 2002 led to a massive international response following the spontaneous and temporary evacuation of 400,000 people from the city of … North of Goma, Mount Nyiragongo is currently still active, its last deadly eruption taking 147 lives in 2002. It was the first eruption of Mount Nyiragongo since 1977, when lava flows killed almost 2,000 people in less than half an hour. This is also home to the critically endangered mountain gorillas and their dense tropical forest habitat, who range among the six "dormant" volcanoes in DRC's Virunga National Park. The Nyiragongo active volcano is one of Congo’s major tourist attractions. There was a lot of lava to clear from the airport runway, for instance; there were roads to be reopened. Video, 00:00:24 BBC team caught in Mount Etna eruption. It is located inside Virunga National Park, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, about 20 km (12 mi) north of the town of Goma and Lake Kivu and just west of the border with Rwanda. The Mount Nyiragongo has erupted in the years of 1884,1894,1898,1900,1977,1982,1994 to 1996 and 2002 in May which was the last year there was an active eruption at the volcano. Homes, schools, churches and businesses were ruined. There was no immediate danger of starvation. Some, like the fear of setting a precedent, might be more plausible than others, like ‘they’ll just spend it’ or ‘they’ll misuse it’. There is abundant evidence from around the globe that post-disaster economies revive quickly if everyone has a little money to spend. +256 701 703 573 The crater presently has two distinct cooled lava bencheswithin the crater walls – one at abo… If the beneficiaries tell us clearly, as they did, time and again in Goma, that what they needed was cash, why did aid agencies persist in giving them goods? Published. The 2002 Eruption – Nyiragongo last eruption. The volcanic activity at this mountain is still going on but still only in the crater. The depth of the lava lake varies considerably. Mount Nyiragongo. Yet, much of the damage could have been prevented. Why was there was such a gulf between what aid agencies were giving and what people needed to allow them to return to everyday life and livelihoods – something which they very clearly said they wanted? The world`s largest active lava lake has become eminent since 1960`s and 70`s depending on various studies about Nyiragongo volcanic mountain from volcanologists like Kraffts and Tazieff. Family kits, providing household items, were important and greatly needed, but everything in the kit could be bought in Goma. It has erupted about 34 times since 1882 and the last eruption was recently in 2002. Barry Sesnanwas head of the UNICEF Office in Goma and Provincial Humanitarian Coordinator for the UN at the time of the Nyiragongo eruption. In 2002, the last time Nyiragongo volcano erupted, lava raced down its flanks into the crowded city of Goma, on the border between the Democratic Republic of … Who could ever tell that someone had gone round twice, or that a family was represented at three different distribution points? Primary Effects. Large fissures have developed along the slopes of Mount Nyiragongo, prompting fears that lava and toxic gases could be released and cause even more damage than the last eruption. The aid response, both by the UN and NGOs, focused on this loss of shelter, and defined entitlement to assistance according to its loss. The Sphere Project, Humanitarian Charter and Minimum Standards in Disaster Response, revised edition, 2004. 30 m height at intervals of 30 seconds, according to the observatory. For over a week before Nyiragongo erupted, local people felt tremors and small earthquakes. The main crater is about two kilometres (1 mi) wide and usually contains a lava lake. It lies in the Congo, close to the border with Rwanda (Goma – Gisenyi Border). 2 days volcano hike to the top and back to the base with an overnight at the peak of then . This became a problem in itself, as agencies had become used to the convenience of doing distributions inside a compound, and were reluctant to stop supporting people in the schools. A Congolese vulcanologist predicted the eruption of the volcano that has devastated the city of Goma and raised the alarm, it has emerged. Copyright © 2020 Virunga National Park Congo, 5 Days Ngila Classic without Nyiragongo package, 7 Days Kahuzi Biega and Virunga National Park, 5 Days Virunga Gorilla & Volcanoes Golden Monkey Trekking, 5 Days Virunga Gorilla & Akagera Wildlife Tour, Travel Guide for Gorilla Trekking in Virunga National Park, African Golden Cat sighted in Virunga National Park Congo, Newborn baby gorilla in Virunga National Park, Eastern Lowland Gorilla Families in Kauzi Biega National Park. Markets quickly reopened after the eruption, and supplies of vegetables and fruit were soon re-established. 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