Lemera Hospital

The Lemera Hospital (French: Hôpital de Lemera), colloquially known as Hopital Genera de Lemera or Hôpital Général de Référence de Lemera, is a medical institution located in Lemera, situated approximately 85 kilometers northwest of Uvira within the Uvira Territory of the South Kivu Province in the eastern region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

The hospital is infamous for the Lemera massacre when the facility was attacked and destroyed during the First Congo War by the Alliance of Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Congo (AFDL). It was reconstructed with the international aid assistance.

History
The establishment of Lemera Hospital dates back to 1921 when Swedish Pentecostal Missionaries arrived in the area. The facility was initially established as a dispensary, offering medical care for an unknown illness that had claimed the lives of four missionaries in rapid succession. The tragic event gave rise to a flurry of theories, with some alleging that the missionaries had been poisoned by the native populace who were initially averse to their gospel, while others attributed the fatalities to the harsh climate of the Ruzizi Plains. However, Julius and Ruth Aspenlind, the first European missionaries to reach Lemera in 1924, testified that the propitious weather conditions were instrumental in siting the dispensary in Lemera. Following the Congolese independence in 1960, Jean Ruhigita Ndagora Bugwika transformed the dispensary into a fully-fledged hospital, officially named it "Hôpital de Lemera."

During the mid-1960s and 1970s, the hospital mainly treated Zairean patients afflicted with worm diseases, malaria, typhoid fever, tumor diseases, and cardiovascular diseases. However, it did not have native Congolese physicians. It was administered by Ingegerd Rooth, who initially worked as a nurse before going back to Sweden to complete her medical training and ultimately returned to Lemera to serve as the physician in charge.

In 1981, Jean Bugwika secured funding from the Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA) to construct additional facilities, including halls and a hydroelectric dam for electricity and water to the hospital and Lemera populace. Following Jean Bugwika's death in 1993, Menhe Mushunganya Luanda assumed his position. In 1989, Denis Mukwege relocated to Lemera Hospital and introduced specialized gynecology and obstetrics services. He became the hospital's medical director in 1992 and held the position until the hospital was attacked in 1996.

First Congo War and Lemera massacre
During the onset of the First Congo War, the Lemera Hospital was the prominent medical center and the largest medical facility in South Kivu Province, providing medical care to approximately 300 patients and boasting 230 beds. It catered to wounded Zairean soldiers caught in the crossfire of armed conflicts, local civilians, and Hutu refugees who were fleeing from Burundi and Rwanda.

On 6 October 1996, Lemera Hospital was attacked by members of the Banyamulenge-led armed group. The insurgents pillaged the medical supplies and killed numerous patients, including Zairian soldiers, Hutu refugees, and Zairian civilians. The nurses were killed in their quarters. According to eyewitnesses and the UN Mapping Report, around 37 people were murdered in their beds, either by "bullets or bayonets".