Isn't This Progress? A Thank You, Straight from Bukavu

From Nabirugu*, one of the women in the sewing collective that is supported by your donations.

"My name is Nabirugu*. I am 21 years old. I have no father. I joined the ABFEK centre 10 months ago and today I am ready to go and start my own sewing workshop based on the skills I have [learned]. Today I am able to measure, cut fabrics and join them. I can now make dresses, skirts, a pair of shorts, pants, and blouses. Isn’t this progress? I learned to use sewing equipments in this centre, before that time I had never used a pair of scissors to cut fabrics or a tape measure. I am very proud of my training in this centre. Now I have hope and confidence. I hope for success in my life. If I succeed to get my own sewing machine, I can start a small business such as making school pupils uniforms,make [outfits] from fabrics when there is a wedding ceremony, make my own clothes without paying as I was doing before. We need to start learning embroidery and then people will not be taking their fabrics to Bukavu if they need embroidery. I am very happy and I thank everyone who has donated his money to provide us with the sewing equipment we are using in this centre."

(*Names are changed to protect the identity of women in the workshops.)

Pass the buck. Action Kivu on Philanthroper.com - log on to donate a dollar!

Do you philanthrop?  (Philanthropize?  I'm always attempting to coin new verbs.)  Philanthroper.com is sort of like those daily deal sites, but instead, they give you the option to do good, one dollar a day, if you choose.  And today, Friday, July 22nd, they're featuring Action Kivu!

"Passing the buck" is generally not a flattering phrase, so we're re-defining it, and asking you to pass along a buck to the women and children of eastern Congo. $1.  100 pennies.  You've got that to give, right?  Log in at Philanthroper.com, give a buck and tell your friends.  (If you missed our day and, naturally, you want to philanthropize for Action Kivu, you can always donate here.  In fact, you can make it a recurring donation  — 4$ / month, the cost of a latte, will send one child to school.)

Since we're volunteers here in the U.S., every bit of your donation goes to the work on the ground in the Congo. (PayPal takes a tiny percentage, as does the bank fee for wiring funds.) Here's a glimpse at where your money goes: to teach women who are victims of the ongoing conflict and violence how to sew, and embroider! Last year, with your generous donations, Amani bought an embroidery machine for the students at the Bukavu sewing collective. And just this week, Amani informed us that with the partnership and grant from the Rotary club, ABFEK bought another embroidery machine for the Mumosho sewing center. Amani's wife Amini is training the advanced students in this art; as the demand for embroidered fabric and clothing is higher, the women will be able to earn more money with this skill.

So go on.  Log on to Philanthroper.com (if it's Friday, July 22nd, 2011) or anytime at Action Kivu, and pass the buck.  This time it's good for your soul.

Photos from the Bukavu Center

Peace Market Prayers: Time for Hope

"I cannot wait to see this market construction complete. I have been selling clothes for about 4 years here. Every time when it rains, we have no place for shelter. During the dry season, the sun causes a serious problem. When it rains my goods are wet and nobody buys. My friend lost a basin of palm oil because of rain 3 months ago. She no longer comes here because that was the only money she had. I am very excited about this market. We have a place to shelter. Now I believe there’s time for suffering and time for Hope. We thank ABFEK and their supporters. We’ll be selling calmly [in peace]."

The words of just one of the many women whose lives will change because of the creation of the Mumosho Peace Market.

The women (and a few men) of the Mumosho Peace Market at the opening ceremony.

Opening ceremony - Mumosho Peace Market, July 2011

Tangible Dreams: Mumosho Peace Market is Open for Business!

The first thing we discovered when we met Amani was that he's a man of many dreams with one overarching vision, to give hope and a future to the women and children of his community in eastern Congo.  Then, he told us of a place that he envisioned as a "Peace Market," a safe, communal space along the border, where the Congolese and Rwandans could come together and work alongside each other towards peace and  a stronger, healthier economy.

Through ABFEK's partnership with Empower Congo Women, Falling Whistles, and a generous donation from the Rotary Club of Montecito*, Amani's dream of a Peace Market in Mumosho has become a reality. Last weekend, he witnessed his vision become literally solidified, as the community that supports the project traced their names into wet concrete, to mark the spot and space where hope can grow. 

We're so excited to witness the changes that are growing out of Amani's visions.  From the following email and the abundance of exclamation marks, he's pretty excited as well:

"The Market project is gradually being completed!!! We opened it last Saturday but we still need to do latrines and stalls inside. So many people came to attend!!! Children are also very happy,they told us a market was a real need in the community. After the opening ceremony,we asked people and the organizations who donated and who want to donate to sign in the concrete, and the reason why you'll see AK (Action Kivu) on the banners and in the concrete is because you have been supporting ABFEK and they implemented the project!!!! This project is so important that it will help the women in our sewing centres to sell the fabrics they make. The plans are: while school children are on vacation, the women in the sewing centres have to make school uniforms for the kids and will sell some in this market!!!"

To all of you who support Amani, the women and children in eastern Congo via Action Kivu in spirit and generous funds, thank you.  YOU ARE making a difference.

Peace Market under construction - supervised by Mark of the Montecito Rotary Club, an engineer who oversaw the project.

(*Read more about the Peace Market and the other generous Rotary Club donors including Santa Maria Rotary, D.5240, Korea D.3270, and Rotary Club of Wakefield RI, as well as private donors at Empower Congo Women.)

First Action Kivu Intern Arrives in Bukavu!

It's official - Action Kivu / ABFEK has an intern, on the ground, volunteering to assist Amani in all the work, change and growth that he's creating in eastern Congo.

A big welcome to Miriam, who arrived via Rwanda (and Nepal, and a short rest in Germany) just this week, to unexpected rain, open arms, hearts and hope from Amani, his family, and all women and children in the community they work with!

Miriam in the DRC (in purple pants, 3rd from left) with Amani (blue hat, 2nd from right)

In Miriam's own words:

"I'm 27 years old, from Germany. I'll stay in Bukavu from June to December 2011 to work with Action Kivu.

"The fight for women's equality and against gender-based violence has always been a passion of mine, and this is what brought me here. I was part of the staff of the international NGO Women Against Violence Europe for two years when I decided to explore feminist work on a grassroots level. During the research for my final exam for my master's degree in media science I came across the war journalist Kevin Sites. It was through his reports that I became aware of Action Kivu. I had already read about women's situation in Eastern DR Congo so when I learned about Action Kivu I knew I had to get in touch with them.

"Before my stay in DR Congo I spent half a year in Nepal to learn about the situation women are facing there.

"I refuse to let frustration and resignation take over in the face of the overwhelming plight of Congolese women. Instead I would like to learn from the Congolese people and try to support them, one by one and face to face. "

We're thrilled to welcome Miriam, thankful for her giving spirit and adventurous, open heart, and excited to see, through her eyes, camera, and experience, the challenges facing the people of eastern Congo and the changes being made.

Action Kivu Update: These things matter

There’s been a flurry of media attention surrounding the Democratic Republic of the Congo this past week, with newly released statistics regarding the number of rapes in 2006 / 2007.  “A study released this week in a U.S. medical journal concludes that more than 400,000 women are being raped a year, with between 17 percent to 40 percent of women in the east reporting sexual assault during their lifetime,” writes Jason Stearns.

Reading all the statistics, old and new, can be overwhelming, which is why we’re excited to share the new projects, growth and personal stories that we’re hearing from Amani this year. Via ABFEK, partnered with Action Kivu, Amani has been working tirelessly, with an abundance of passionate energy, to serve the women and children who are victims of the ongoing conflict.

Here’s what your donations are doing in eastern Congo:

• The Sewing Collectives

From Amani: "The sewing project is growing since the time ABFEK got new sewing equipment from Action Kivu, USA. New women participants coming from here and there want to get registered and become part of the project. Given this, a graduation event is prepared for June 2011, where about 15 women are to graduate from the program and start their own business based on the skills they got from ABFEK sewing collectives. To make sure the graduation ceremony is a success and the impact is sustainable at the community level, ABFEK needs to provide the women graduating sewing kits for them to start their own workshop in their respective villages and streets."

• Education Assistance

Amani: “This school year, 2010-2011, thanks to the support of Action Kivu USA, ABFEK has been able to provide support to 100 school children by helping them get re-enrolled in school. All of these school children are so happy to be attending classes with no fear of being expelled for lack of school fees. This has positively impacted the results of these school children in school as stated by the Musisi elementary school principal:

“‘The children ABFEK is sponsoring are now doing better in school if we compare their results when they were getting expelled for lack of school fees and today, time when they are calmly and peacefully attending all the classes, most of them are very intelligent kids but they are only unlucky to be orphans and poor. In my opinion, ABFEK could take all the kids if possible. May God bless whoever is helping ABFEK implement this incredible work and this new generation has to take advantage of it.’

“The challenge is still big since there’s a great number of children who cannot go to school for lack of school fees, school kits, food and medical care ….many families in the South Kivu province are unable to meet the basic needs of the household and this causes lots of damages, mostly on the lives of children.”

Amani shares the story of a 10-year-old boy, whose big smile belies his frustration and sadness that his parents are unable to send him to school:

“Look at me, I am very dirty but if I were in school I’d be wearing clean cloths but as my parents are so poor, they cannot afford sending me to school, we even difficultly get food to eat. I do not hope for anything in the future as I am not in school but I wish I were in school like other children like me. I am not happy to have given up on school when I was in grade 2.”

“There are families with a great number of children but ABFEK is financially limited and hence unable to pay for every single child.” ~Amani

I Am Over
A world that could allow, has allowed, continues to allow 400 thousand women, 23,000 women, or one woman to be raped anywhere, anytime of any day in the Congo.
The women of Congo are over it too. When I was there last month they told me they were going to begin a story strike and stop telling about their rapes. They want peace. They are not entertainment. Their suffering is not for consumption. …

I Am Over It.
No more studies of raped women
No more statistics
No more breaking news that is 14 years old
No more pretending you didn't know
Pass the Obama law
Get Rwanda and Uganda and Burundi and Angola out of Congo
With diplomatic pressure
Train women soldiers and police officers
Support local Congolese women's groups on the ground -
Not with directions and agendas but with money
Make noise
Let It Be Over.

~From OVER, by Eve Ensler, Huffington Post

Make noise, make change – support Amani’s work today. Every. Dollar. Counts. $4, the price of a latte, will send a child to school for a month. We pass on to you the overwhelming gratitude that Amani, his family, the kids he sends to school and the women he helps educate feel for your support from so far away. In the face of the overwhelming statistics, these things matter.

Poems and a Play: International Women's Day in Congo 2011

In honor of International Women’s Day, the women and girls of ABFEK / Action Kivu wrote and performed these poems and a play for all to hear:

RAPE 

Rape!  Where did you come from? Who gave you a name?  Who brought you to my home country?

Those who use you have taken my sister like a cow to slaughter. They have taken my friends to unknown countries, where are they? Rape! Why can’t you answer me?  Do you hear me? They have taken my mom in front of me! You have no mercy. Rape! You have damaged our bodies. Rape! Because of you, my family and my community have rejected me Rape! Because of you, my husband has run away Remember what you did to me mercilessly in front of my beloved ones. Rape! Because of you, love on me has changed into hatred. Rape! You have taken my smile, my joy far away from me. BRING THEM BACK. Rape! You have traded my happiness to bitterness. Today, I will ask the whole world to help me and bury you They will help me erase your name and what you’ve caused against my community.Rape! My family, my community, my country, the world and myself, we all hate you.

  ~ Author’s name withheld for privacy and security reasons

Violence has  no Mercy & Excuse

Violence! Why do you not forgive? Why do you not master yourself?  

Why do you not have reservations? Why do you only do evil against evil? You sow terror wherever you go. You fear no one You spare no one You do not negotiate But you treat with force And everyone complains about you For you are the enemy of peace.

La Violence est sans Pardon Violence! Pourquoi tu ne pardonnes pas? Pourquoi tu ne te maitrises pas ? Pourquoi tu ne te réserves pas ? Pourquoi tu rends le mal contre  le mal ? Tu sèmes la terreur partout où tu passes. Tu ne crains personne Tu n’épargne personne Tu ne négocies pas Mais tu traites avec la force Et tout le monde se lamente de toi Car tu es l’ennemie de la paix. ~Author’s name withheld for privacy and security reasons

ABFEK also performed a play to highlight the plight of women’s lives without equal rights and understanding. Using humor and pathos to educate and inform, the play covered a range of issues facing these women, girls and men in their community on a daily basis.Using hyperbole to show the disparity of home life and housework, the play asked the question, do men think women have a thousand hands? They must, if they don’t offer to help as she goes to collect firewood, fetch water, cook food, mop the dirty floor, take care of the kids, go to market for trade and when she comes back she gives the earnings to the “king” husband.The play addressed the lack of basic, equal rights in marriages where men can decide at any time to reject their wives for no reason, can divorce their wives simply because they never give birth to baby boys. Men who say women have no right to inheritance. Who make decisions about everything in family life, able to sell the property of the family without asking the opinion of the wife. An opinion that doesn’t count in bed either, for men who decide when to have sex, regardless of how the women feel. Men who decide what types of food a woman is allowed to eat. Families who cannot afford to send all their children to school and discriminate against girls for being born a girl, and choose to educate a boy, even when he is not as good a student as their girl.We’re so thankful for the women using poetry, plays and songs to change their lives, and the men who are awake and aware and are fighting alongside them for equal rights! Your support helps send girls to school alongside their brothers, teaches women a trade to support themselves and their families, and reminds us all that we stand together, and what affects one of us affects us all.

International Women's Day

In a country that has been deemed one of the worst places to be a woman, girls, women and men walked together, proudly bearing banners and marching to the beat of drums to celebrate International Women's Day.   "Over 2000 women joined forces in Mumosho. It was wonderful," wrote Amani, Action Kivu's/ABFEK's leader, who has been working with the communities in Kivu and Mumosho in preparation and anticipation of the 100th anniversary of the day. He shared his excitement that local authorities, leaders, and police came to witness the performance of plays and poems that denounced gender based violence.  To engage the men in the fight, they catered their messages in sports speak and sang songs to invite them to jointly end violence on a larger scale.

We'll share more of the poems, plays and video as we receive them from Amani.  We're thankful for your support of these strong women, giving voice to their lives, shaping and changing their future.

Running Marathons for Action Kivu

Kevin Sites and his finacée Anita Paul are running the Los Angeles Marathon in March, and they’re doing it all in the name of Action Kivu! Each of them is aiming to raise $5000 by March 20th, the day they hit the pavement. But they’re not only competing on the race course, they’re racing to $5000! Who will reach their goal first?

Visit their fundraising page and pick a side - who will you help over the finish line first?

If you’d like to run a road race in order to raise awareness and funds for Action Kivu please contact us. We’d love to partner with you and help you achieve your goal!

Christmas in Mumosho

Who knew that Santa was a relatively unknown Congolese man with a giant heart?   After Amani heard from the kids ABFEK sends to school that they were too poor to celebrate Christmas or the New Year, he organized a day for the children in Mumosho. 

This year was especially hard for families, as the lack of rain caused a food shortage, denying families the beans they usually survive on this time of year.  As one of the parents on the committee helping to gather and organize the children relayed, "There has been lack of rain. Our beans are not ripe, how do you want us to celebrate Christmas and the New Year? This is the first time in our history, we used to celebrate Christmas by boiling beans and offer some in our churches as symbol of thanking God to have kept us strong up to the end of the year. Is it this time a punishment by God ...? We are all hungry.''

 
Your financial support helped ease that hunger and add the joy of Christmas for 298 children.  Amani and his helpers passed out packages filled with biscuits, sweets and, as a special gift, toys for 12 of the children who volunteered to be a part of the day by sharing their stories of Christmas and the New Year.  The kids call Amani "Papa Amani," so in addition to his own six kids, he is the father to 100s.  "These kids are our own!" Amani claims with joy.

The start of a new year offers a time for great hopes and dreams -- the symbolic end of one year allows us to learn from our mistakes, to celebrate the good, to mourn the losses, and to move forward.  From all of us at Action Kivu, we want to thank you for your financial, emotional and practical support this year.
 
Amani writes, "May 2011 bring Joy and Peace to each of us, wherever we may be, that we may each be a source of happiness and peace in our troubled but extraordinary world."