[thermometer raised=2428 target=3500 width=150px align=left currency=$ alt=‘Thank you for the donations!’ trailing=false] As we enter the holiday season, we reflect on the generosity of our Action Kivu family - you! Though we can't all gather around a table to celebrate and thank you in person, we gather online, in emails and Facebook posts and Instagram photos, to share stories of the lives of the children and women, siblings and mothers, who have new hope because of your support. We're asking you to help us reach our $3500 goal to gather 300 kids together in Mumosho to celebrate with a pair of shoes, clothes, and a holiday meal, often the only shoes and clothes they'll receive all year.
Many of the children in our Action Kivu family have lost a mother, a father, or both parents to the ongoing conflict in Congo. They are "silent victims of violence," as this NYT piece reports, and "over 4 million kids have been orphaned in Congo."
"These children have grown up amid conflict fueled by ethnic strife and the fight over Congo's valuable minerals. The violence and displacement are eroding the tradition of families caring for their own."The breakdown in family means some orphans are forced to look after themselves and their younger siblings. Some are vulnerable to recruitment by armed groups. And many also face sexual exploitation, in a country where rape has become commonplace on the streets."'They are the orphans with a story of violence since 1994 — it's a generation of victims that continues,' says Francisca Ichimpaye, a senior monitor at the En Avant Les Enfants INUKA center. And the children 'lose their story in the violence.'" We'll share some of the stories of the kids we know to let them know that their stories are not lost. Kids like Arsene, who last year told us: ”I am so happy again today because the red t-shirt I am wearing was given to me last year at the Christmas Celebration. I have nobody since my father passed away 4 years ago. I am in school because of your support, every year I get a new pair of shorts and a shirt or a T-shirt and a pair of shoes.”
Please visit our Facebook, Instagram or Twitter page to help us share their stories and ask others to join you in investing in the kids and women of Congo. And please consider giving this week to buy shoes, clothes, and a meal for 300 of these kids in Mumosho!
