For more than 20 years the Democratic Republic of Congo has been ripped apart by unrelenting waves of armed conflict, the worst of which lasted five years (1998-2003) and claimed the lives of an estimated 5.4 million. Often referred to as the African World War, it was the deadliest conflict in the world since World War II. These years of war, corruption, and political instability have devastated this nation of more than 80 million, now considered one of the least developed countries in the world. Because of its massive size and almost complete lack of infrastructure, many of DR Congo’s interior provinces have been isolated from the help they so desperately need.