Darkrooms

In Mulo (Lubero - DRCongo) a mental clinic hosts over 70 people from across the North Kivu area. Many of them are victims of post-traumatic stress due to the conflict that has been stifling the region for more than 20 years. Several former rebels are hospitalized each year, according to medical staff, many of them are subject to delirium due to drug abuse during permanence in militias. The priests, who manage the structure, defy it as a holistic clinic which aims to recover the patient primarily through a soul care path. The use of psychoactive drugs is only foreseen if necessary. The reality of the facts is very different. Many of them have clear symptoms of use - and abuse - of psycho-drugs. Patients discharge in precarious hygienic conditions and in rooms with few light. According to managers, few light contributes to faster mental recovery. This project is part of a cycle of documentation works on the condition of some private structures that supply primary goods and services in the North Kivu region and financed by non-governmental/religious entities. The objective is to monitor these projects in order to be a starting point for a better intervention procedure in the area.