Meet Twizere
Twizere is 22 years old and a mother of two young children – a four-year-old son and her six-month-old daughter. In 2006, Twizere fled the violence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo with her parents and arrived at Nakivale.
“We heard gun shots and knew we were too close,” she says. Here at Nakivale, Twizere has found peace and stability. She’s incredibly happy – she met her husband here, who is also Congolese, and they were married. He is a crop farmer, raising mostly maize and beans.
But they still face one consistent threat – malaria. She and her children get malaria about three times a month. They sleep under a bed net every night, but when night falls, the mosquitoes come into her home through the open door and windows before they’ve all gone to bed.
Malaria takes a heavy toll on her – when she’s sick, she cannot care for her children. Her husband helps to cook and care for them when she’s ill, but this means he cannot work.
She smiles as she talks about the joy it brings her to be a mother and hopes to have many more children. She’s incredible grateful for her baby girl, and wants her to stay healthy.
“My baby is a miracle,” she says.
Protect Children Now
