(20 Sep 2025)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo – 29 August 2025
1. Various of technicians fabricating prosthetics at the Shirika la Umoja orthopaedic centre
2. SOUNDBITE (Swahili) Julienne Paypay, prosthetic technician at the Shirika la Umoja orthopaedic centre:
“In previous years, the numbers were not this high. Back then, most people coming here were born with disabilities, but today there are far more amputees than before.”
3. Various of Melissa Hamuli, bombing victim, walking on crutches near her home
4. Various of Hamuli waiting at the Shirika la Umoja orthopaedic centre
5. SOUNDBITE (Swahili) Melissa Hamuli, patient at the Shirika la Umoja orthopaedic centre:
“My situation is very bad. Everything has changed. I have not worked since the bombing. I no longer work, and neither does my mother, so we have nothing.”
6. SOUNDBITE (Swahili) Amani Jérôme Jean-Claude, amputee patient at the Shirika la Umoja orthopaedic centre:
“That day, I was taken to the hospital and that night, my leg was amputated. After that, they continued treating me and told me they had no other solution but to give me a prosthetic, so I could walk like everyone else. When I arrived here, they welcomed me warmly, showed me how it was made, and when I tried it, I felt like I could walk again.”
7. Technician working on prosthetic leg for Jean-Claude
8. Various of staff helping Jean-Claude put on his prosthetic leg
9. Jean-Claude walking with his prosthetic leg
10. Jean-Claude and other patients throwing a ball as part of physical therapy
STORYLINE:
In Goma, the capital of North Kivu province, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, a steady stream of patients arrives at the Shirika la Umoja orthopaedic centre, many of them survivors of recent violence, missing limbs and looking for ways to regain mobility.
Supported by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), the centre has become a critical hub for people injured in the ongoing conflict in eastern Congo, where a surge in violence has left thousands dead and displaced millions more.
Technicians at the clinic say they’ve seen a significant rise in amputees over the past year, a shift from earlier times, when most patients were people born with disabilities.
“In previous years, the numbers were not this high,” said Julienne Paypay, a technician at the centre.
“Back then, most people coming here were born with disabilities, but today there are far more amputees than before.”
One of those patients is Amani Jérôme Jean-Claude.
The 35-year-old lost his wife and four children in an attack by armed groups earlier this year.
He was seriously injured and later had his leg amputated.
He was transferred to the Goma clinic for treatment and prosthetic fitting.
“The same day, I was taken to the hospital and that night my leg was amputated,” he said.
“After that, they continued treating me and told me they had no other solution but to give me a prosthetic, so I could walk like everyone else. When I arrived here, they welcomed me warmly, showed me how it was made, and when I tried it, I felt like I could walk again," he added.
While Jean-Claude is now learning to walk with a prosthetic leg, others at the centre face longer roads to recovery.
Melissa Hamuli was injured during a bombing in January.
Though she avoided amputation, she continues to suffer from the effects of the blast.
She says the war has devastated her family’s livelihood and left many in her community without support.
AP video by Justin Kabumba
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