The Victims of War (1997)

Excerpt from the draft of “Apostle to the Pygmies – The Doctor Jerry Galloway Story”

Later, four young Hutu refugees hobbled up to the mission. They had tropical ulcers on their feet and were in terrible shape. We immediately set the refugees down in the dining room and gave them water, sardines, and rice. We boiled water and added disinfectant so they could soak their feet. They took showers, and I bandaged their sores and gave them injections of penicillin. We gave each one a new pair of shorts and T-shirts, as they had arrived dressed in dirty rags. We housed them in the tuberculosis center.

Things were relatively calm now, as only one group of soldiers passed through. Nine more Hutu refugees arrived, along with a 10-year-old orphan boy, who was found in the forest by hunters. The boy had sores all over his body, and he was unable to sit down. Every day we soaked him in a large tub filled with warm water and disinfectant. The boy improved a lot for the last five days, but he was acutely malnourished. We gave him three meals every day.

Another young man, who was 20 years old, arrived on Tuesday. Scabies covered his body. We treated him each day, and by the end of the week, he improved. A man, two women, and four children arrived. They were in better condition than the previous group, as they stayed in a nearby village for the past two weeks. The villagers fed them.

Another group of soldiers arrived. They had been in a nearby village. Three soldiers got drunk and planned to rape a young woman. The men knew the soldiers were out of bullets, so they beat them with clubs and shot one soldier in the head with an arrow. Dr. Bakoko removed it and sewed up his wounds. The other soldiers were terrified and did not cause any trouble.