Mount Nyiragongo is in Virunga National Park and is of Africa's most active volcanoes. There is abundant evidence from around the globe that post-disaster economies revive quickly if everyone has a little money to spend. Mount Nyiragongo Mount Nyiragongo is a steep sided active stratovolcano at an elevation of 3,470m in the Virunga range, Albertine region located in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Nyiragongo's lava lake is found at a maximum elevation of 3250m (pre-disaster), inside a 3465m tall stratovolcano ; the lava lake has an estimated depth of 600m and contains one of the most fluid lavas on Earth. In October 2001, another volcanic tremor was felt in the region followed by another in January 2002 and this was … New aid workers are warned by older and wiser colleagues never to give cash to beneficiaries. David Peppiatt, John Mitchell and Penny Holzmann, Cash Transfers in Emergencies: Evaluating Benefits and Assessing Risks, Network Paper 35 (London: ODI, 2001). The volcano a few years later in 2010 showed some signs of an eruption but it did not happen until date today in 2020. The steep slopes of a stratovolcano contrast to the low profile of its neighboring shield volcano, Nyamuragira. A Congolese vulcanologist predicted the eruption of the volcano that has devastated the city of Goma and raised the alarm, it has emerged. Then on 6 th February 2001, the neighboring Volcano, Mount Nyamuragira erupted for 2 weeks. In 2002, the last time Nyiragongo volcano erupted, lava raced down its flanks into the crowded city of Goma, on the border between the Democratic Republic of … What they needed was not commodities but cash. Markets quickly reopened after the eruption, and supplies of vegetables and fruit were soon re-established. Yet aid workers persisted in treating people like children who could not be trusted with their pocket money. And that was the one thing aid agencies would not, indeed could not, give. Who could ever tell that someone had gone round twice, or that a family was represented at three different distribution points? The other volcanoes include Mount Karisimbi, Mount Bisoke, Mount Muhabura, Mount Sabyinyo, Mount Mikeno, Mount Gahinga and mount Nyamuragira. Homes, schools, churches and businesses were ruined. Its 2002 eruption killed 50 people and forced roughly 450,000 people to evacuate their communities. Dropping $20 notes from a helicopter would stimulate trade and save an awful lot of food transport costs. Some, like the fear of setting a precedent, might be more plausible than others, like ‘they’ll just spend it’ or ‘they’ll misuse it’. The last eruption that occurred in Mount Nyiragongo was on the 17 th of January 2002 when lava spewed to three sides of the volcano ejecting smoke and ash high in the sky. The Nyiragongo active volcano is one of Congo’s major tourist attractions. The last activity started in June 1994. All material © 2020 Humanitarian Practice Network. Yet the aid community in Goma continued to hold to some moral high ground about giving cash. The depth of the lava lake varies considerably. 2 days volcano hike to the top and back to the base with an overnight at the peak of then . Goma is well supplied with food, which is normally quite cheap; the problem was the money to buy it with. +256 701 703 573 30 m height at intervals of 30 seconds, according to the observatory. Surprisingly, even the need for shelter was not as bad as feared, as most of the 80,000 displaced people moved in with relatives for the first few days. ... Up Next, BBC team caught in Mount Etna eruption. After a week or so, discussions began around rebuilding and the term ‘relancement de l’économie’ entered the vocabulary; I travelled to Nairobi to meet representatives of Habitat, UNESCO and the International Labour Organisation (ILO), and UNDP sent an expert in income-generating activities, but no one was able to respond with the requisite urgency, and some of the projects discussed never happened. Would the misuse of money in Goma have been any worse than the misuse of goods? There was a lot of lava to clear from the airport runway, for instance; there were roads to be reopened. Mount Nyiragongo in Democratic Republic of the Congo, for example, is dangerously close to the city of Goma. 17 March 2017. The most obvious need was to re-establish Goma’s economy to enable people to be self-reliant again. The Mount Nyiragongo eruption on 17 January 2002 destroyed a large part of the centre of Goma, a busy commercial centre in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). A maximum elevation of the lava lake was recorded at about 3,250 m (10,660 ft) prior to the January 1977 eruption – a lake depth of about 600 m (2,000 ft). Eventually, some of this was done. 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Dieudonne Wafula, who has spent years studying the volcano on Mount Nyiragongo, sent urgent e-mails to experts around the world one week before the lava began flowing on 17 January. It was no secret that they were going to sell the goods, and that the ensuing flood of cheap aluminium pots or plastic sheets would debase the local market and make things worse for small traders. It lies in the Congo, close to the border with Rwanda (Goma – Gisenyi Border). An estimated 80,000 people – about 16,000 households – became homeless, and a very large number lost their workplace, their employment and their income, as well as assets and savings. Houses for rent were available, and those who had money rented rooms and space towards the west of the town. Its lava lake is most known for its volcanic activity in the recent times. People can then spend it according to their own priorities and needs, something which the aid world claims to support, and which is specifically mentioned in all its manuals and seminars. Its fell down the slopes of the volcano at about 60 miles per hour and went into the nearby villages killing over 70 people. If the beneficiaries tell us clearly, as they did, time and again in Goma, that what they needed was cash, why did aid agencies persist in giving them goods? Mount Nyiragongo has got the world’s largest lava lake and also the most active. On January 17th, Mount Nyiragongo, just north of Lake Kivu in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) erupted. Yet, much of the damage could have been prevented. This is also home to the critically endangered mountain gorillas and their dense tropical forest habitat, who range among the six "dormant" volcanoes in DRC's Virunga National Park. Nevertheless, it was abundantly clear that, after the eruption, the one thing the people of Goma needed was money. Why was there was such a gulf between what aid agencies were giving and what people needed to allow them to return to everyday life and livelihoods – something which they very clearly said they wanted? The economic activity which the programme revived, based on carpenters and builders, sent a buzz through the whole town and demonstrated clearly what a difference the reintroduction of wages made to the economy. If it circulates in the economy somewhere then it is doing its job. HPN is run by the Humanitarian Policy Group (HPG) which is part of the Overseas Development Institute (ODI). But the most damaging loss was not to people’s homes, but to their livelihoods. Strange Facts about Mount Nyiragongo: Mountain Nyiragongo in the Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo is an active volcano which last erupted in 2002. This is … Mount Nyiragongo is located roughly 10 km (6 miles) north of the town of Goma, near the Congo’s border with Rwanda. There was overwhelming evidence that, within a day or two, the only value of another plastic sheet or another cooking-pot was in its sale. Despite this, agencies gave food, and the addition of food aid to the market depressed prices and impoverished those who were already selling in the market. On Monday 12 July 2004, at 05:30 UTC, Meteosat-8 observed an eruption of the Nyiragongo volcano. Complex justifications are developed. The volcanic activity at this mountain is still going on but still only in the crater. Its eruption in 2002 caused widespread devastation. This became a problem in itself, as agencies had become used to the convenience of doing distributions inside a compound, and were reluctant to stop supporting people in the schools. To misuse their cash any hiking opportunities, the walls of the Congo, close to the profile. 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