Lemera Hospital

The establishment of Lemera Hospital can be traced back to the arrival of the Swedish Pentecostal Missionaries in 1921. The facility was initially established as a dispensary, offering medical care for an unknown illness that had claimed the lives of four missionaries in rapid succession. The tragic event gave rise to a flurry of theories, with some alleging that the missionaries had been poisoned by the native population who were initially resistant to their gospel, while others attributed the cause of their deaths to the harsh climate of the Ruzizi Plains. However, Julius and Ruth Aspenlind, the first missionaries to arrive in Lemera in 1924, testified that the favorable weather conditions in the area played a pivotal role in their decision to locate the dispensary in Lemera. Over time, the dispensary underwent a transformation and was developed into a fully-fledged hospital by Jean Ruhigita Ndagora Bugwika.[8][9] It was officially named "Hôpital de Lemera". Prior to this, Jean Bugwika had worked as an evangelist, teacher, and school inspector, overseeing institutions such as EAP, ESAM, BAMS, and UMPBGJ.[8] The hospital provided medical care to patients suffering from various conditions, including worm diseases, malaria, typhoid fever, tumor diseases, and cardiovascular diseases. The hospital did not have native Congolese physicians, and it was administered by Ingegerd Rooth, who began her career as a nurse before returning to Sweden to complete her medical training and ultimately coming back to Lemera to serve as the physician in charge of the hospital.[10][11][8][12]

In 1981, Jean Bugwika secured funding from Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA) for the construction of additional facilities, including halls and a hydroelectric dam that provided electricity and water to the hospital and the inhabitants of Lemera. After Jean Bugwika's death in 1993, Menhe Mushunganya Luanda assumed his position, and in 1989, Denis Mukwege, a renowned gynecologist and obstetrician, relocated to Lemera Hospital. He introduced specialized gynecology and obstetrics services and became the medical director of the hospital in 1992 and held the position until the hospital was attacked in 1996.[8][13]

First Congo War and Lemera massacre

Main articles: First Congo War and Lemera massacre

A nurse at Lemera Hospital, April 2020

During the onset of the First Congo War, the Lemera Hospital was an invaluable institution, providing medical care to approximately 300 patients, boasting 230 beds, and was the most sizeable medical facility in South Kivu Province. The patients who received care from the hospital included a diverse group of individuals, ranging from wounded Zairian soldiers caught in the crossfire of the escalating armed conflicts, local civilians, and Hutu refugees who had fled from Burundi and Rwanda.[14]

On 6 October 1996, members of the Banyamulenge-led armed group attacked the hospital and pillaged the medical supplies, resulting in the deaths of many patients, including Zairian soldiers, Hutu refugees, and Zairian civilians. The nurses were killed in their quarters. According to eyewitness accounts and the UN Mapping Report, around 37 people were murdered in their beds, either by bullets or bayonets. The attack left the hospital in ruins and caused widespread shock and outrage in the local and international community.[4] Denis Mukwege, the hospital's medical director at the time, took refuge in Nairobi before eventually returning to the DRC, where he emerged as a powerful voice and advocate for the oppressed and silenced communities.[15][16]

• Lemera massacre