Chapter 36

I resumed my work as a journalist.

After a three-year hiatus, the situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo had become even worse than before.

The areas controlled by armed groups had expanded to unprecedented levels.

Food crises, cholera outbreaks, sexual violence, and kidnappings were rampant.

This place seemed to have become a "God-forsaken land."

Every day, I witnessed scenes that resembled hell.

I would wonder.

Did anything we did really make a difference?

For me, it felt like I was just documenting a cycle of tragedies.

The world saw the suffering here, but then what?

And for Doctors Without Borders, was their treatment prolonging hope or merely extending suffering?

No one could say for certain whether surviving in such a place was fortunate or unfortunate.

A few months later, Adam told me he had found five of the children from that group.

Among them were Fintan and Mary.

They had managed to escape that day.