An estimated fifty thousand Efe survive in the north- eastern corner of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Living in small family groups, their survival is based upon seasonal mobility - honey gathering when trees are in bloom, antelope hunting during the dry season, termite capturing at the beginning of the heavy rains. The forest is their shopping mall - houses made of green leaves, cooking pots made from clay, clothes hammered from tree bark. Everyone who has personally known the Efe remembers them with a warm smile. Yet, there are times of hardship and of pain - and there is no medical care of any kind.
Simple infections cause most of their medical problems, resulting in prolonged and severe suffering.
An estimated fifty percent of children die before reaching adulthood. The pain and suffering of the Efe is preventable. The Efe Medical Project is organized to fund a medical dispensary in the Ituri forest with the primary mission to stop the suffering from malaria, yaws, tropical ulcers and bacterial infections. Our project goals are easily attainable as they target immediate relief of pain and suffering. Albert Schweitzer believed that the true worth of alleviating pain and suffering can be understood only by those of us who have suffered pain themselves.