The frail 13-year-old is sitting on a bed in a tent on the grounds of a packed hospital in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo city of Goma.
Heshima’s parents have been slaughtered, his tummy is spotted with fire marks, and his left leg is a bandaged stump.
Tantine, a relative, identifies the culprit: Rwanda-backed M23 rebels are fighting the FARDC, the Congolese army. The two biggest cities in this mineral-rich region, which borders Rwanda, are currently under rebel control.
Her words were, “It was a Sunday,” and “They and the FARDC were engaged in combat. After they dropped the bomb, I lost six family members.
