Sewing Student Cozi: My Entire Life is a New Story

Cozi sits surrounded by women, girls, swaths of fabric, thread, scissors, and sewing machines. This is her new community at the Mumosho Women’s Center sewing workshop, and also her path to realize her dream of supporting her child as a single mother.
Cozi was raised in a family of seven children, where she helped her mother with her younger siblings, farming, collecting water and firewood.  For fun, she played a game called zero, “where you jump higher and then go down and you clap,” she said. Cozi went to school up until the second year of secondary school, but after her father died in the 1996 war in eastern Congo, her mother was unable to afford to pay for Cozi’s education.  She discovered the sewing workshop through her sister, Bienvenie, and Ernata, one of our graduates who frequently works at the Center, sewing school uniforms for the kids we send to school, and the pieces for our Fair Trade partner, The Peace Exchange. 
Cozi plans to start her own business with her new sewing skills and the machine and fabrics that she will receive upon graduation.  “Joining the sewing program … means I will become able to take care of my child whose father is not known and I will also be able to take care of myself and help my mother,” she tells Amani. “My entire life is a new story after I had joined the ABFEK sewing program. My colleagues in the program have become a huge support for me and my child. This program is an answer to so many of my problems.”
You can help Cozi make these dreams her everyday reality.  We are raising the funds to buy her sewing kit (and 62 fellow students) for graduation in May.  Your tax deductible donation of $195 purchases a pedal powered Singer sewing machine (critical in a place without electricity), fabrics, thread, needles, and scissors to launch their small businesses!  Can you give today? 
When Cozi was asked what she would say to you, she replied, “I want to thank people in America for their support to our Programs … and I would ask them not to stop. I want to ask People in America and Europe to support Peace  in the Congo. … Above all, war should stop!”
When you support these women, you empower them to send their children to school, to raise up a new generation of people to call out for peace in Congo. 
Every dollar makes a difference, and your partnership tells the women and girls that their stories are heard around the world, and they matter.  
Read more about the people with whom you partner through Action Kivu:

Meet Marhonyi and Her Students: Literacy Training in Mumosho, Congo

"Once you learn to read, you will be forever free." ~ Frederick Douglass"In 2012, a study conducted by UNESCO and UNICEF revealed that 52.7 per cent of the 7.3 million children out of school in the Democratic Republic of the Congo — some 3.8 million children — are girls. Among the obstacles to girls’ education are low family incomes and lack of school infrastructure, in some areas."Meet Marhonyi, one of Action Kivu's three literacy teachers at the Mumosho Women's center. In spite of the statistics, Marhonyi was able to attend school, and graduated secondary school with her certificate in Pedagogy, which focuses on teaching. She now passes along that knowledge to other women and girls who, because of their gender, were not sent to school.

One of her students is M'Bidundu, who at 17 had never been given the chance at an education. She is very proud being part of the program and today can read and write a few words as a result of the literacy program. ''This program gives me a new hope for the future in, my life. I feel like I was blind but now I can see,'' she says.

Marhonyi leads literacy class, Mumosho, February 2014

Your donations make these programs possible. Please consider a donation and help us fund these important programs, and partner with the women in eastern Congo, studying and working to create change in their community and country!We're excited to share the women's stories and progress with you here, and to ask you to partner with them. If you have words of encouragement, please share them here in the comments, or via e-mail to actionkivu@gmail.com, and we will forward them to Amani, to share with the students! If you'd like to include a photo of yourself, please do, and Amani will post with your note, reminding the women and children that they are not alone.

Growing Change: From Seed to Harvest, a Second Shared Farm in Congo

From seed to harvest, the women in Mumosho are celebrating a second demonstration farm. Located next to the newly built Mumosho Women's Center, the farm is a place for the women to gather, to learn agricultural lessons, to grow good food for their families to fight malnutrition, and veggies to sell at the Peace Market.Your partnership makes this possible, and we can't do it without you.  If you want to grow a little good from giving, consider a monthly donation to Action Kivu.  Every dollar makes a difference in the lives of the women in eastern Congo.

Cabbage harvest - February 2014

"Women are the backbone of agriculture and food production in Africa, working its arable land and feeding its population by producing 80% of its food. But African women farmers’ perspectives are excluded from conversations that determine agricultural policies and priorities, while discriminatory laws and practices deprive them of their land, their rights, and their livelihoods." - Global Fund for WomenOn the ground in Congo:Planting Seeds in Congo: Hope Seen Through a Photographer's LensCelebrating Fall Harvest - Women Hold Up Far More Than Half of Agriculture in AfricaSowing Seeds of Presence & Partnership: Shared Farm

Happy New Year from the Kids in Congo to You!

The Christmas Eve celebration started with a song led by Arsene Mudasa, who at 9 dreams of becoming a priest to implore peace in the Congo.  Arsene is from a family of four and is the only one able to be in school because he is in the ABFEK — Action Kivu — Jewish World Watch Education Sponsorship program. Arsene told Amani, ''I had no hope of what to wear tomorrow ! Christmas is a big day, now I will go to church  and after that I will come back home and spend time with my brothers.''On Christmas Eve, 2013, thanks to your support, ABFEK, our partner in eastern Congo, gathered together all the kids we support to celebrate Christmas and the new year.With the wonderful support and grant from Jewish World Watch, these kids are now attending school regularly, without fear of being kicked out for lack of school fees. And with the money donated to this Christmas event from Action Kivu partners, ABFEK bought shoes, clothes, and snacks for the kids who have been orphaned or lost a parent. Each and every single child received a pair of shoes, a blouse and skirt for girls and a shirt or T-shirt and a pair of shorts for the boys, as well as a sandwich and a bag of nuts.Amani's example inspires not only those of us who support his work, but the kids he works with and for: Rehema Ludunge is 12 and from a family of eight children and wants at all cost to become like Amani. ''When I graduate from School I will work for ABFEK. Christmas and the New year should mean Peace in the Congo."Safariu Byamungu is 10 years old, from a family of three children, and told Amani, "I want to become a medical doctor. This  Christmas gives me hope! I did not know where I could get clothes and shoes from. I am so happy and I am sure 2014 should bring Peace."Irene Bashimbe, 16 years old, should already be in secondary school but, unable to afford the school fees, has missed years of school until the time ABFEK enrolled her in the program. A very courageous girl from a family of 12 children, she is the only one in school. ''I want to become a teacher and educate other children. I am so happy and proud of ABFEK giving us new Hope for this new upcoming year."Happy New Year, from Congo to you!

Sewing Together the World, Spinning Meaningful Stories

"I sometimes imagine my whole life that way, as though each step was a stitch, as though I was a needle leaving a trail of thread that sewed together the world as I went by, crisscrossing others' paths, quilting it all together in some way that matters even though it can hardly be traced. A meandering line sutures together the world in some new way, as though walking was sewing and sewing was telling a story and that story was your life."The verb to spin first meant just this act of making, then evolved to mean anything turning rapidly, and then it came to mean telling a tale....the wonder is that every spinner takes the amorphous mass before her and makes a thread appear, from which comes the stuff that contains the world, from a fishing net to a nightgown. She makes form out of formlessness, continuity out of fragments, narrative and meaning out of scattered incidents, for the storyteller is also a spinner or weaver and a story is a thread that meanders through out lives to connect us each to each and to the purpose and meaning that appear like roads we must travel."~ Rebecca Solnit, The Faraway NearbyThe women in Action Kivu's sewing workshops have stories that, beyond their control, have been shattered by others. Today, they are weaving them together, making meaning from the seams and threads of their lives.  As we approach a new year, we look forward with optimism to the present day, where women are learning a trade, earning income to support their families and send their children to school. And we have hope for the future, to grow the trainings and move into other villages where the need is great. We ask you to consider partnering with these women in the stories they're creating in Congo!

Holiday Giving: Clothes and Shoes for Kids in Congo

For Christmas this year, we'd like to give clothes and shoes to the kids we work with in Congo, that they will wear for the whole year. It's the only Christmas gift they are likely to receive, and it takes just $850 to make 250 kids' lives a little brighter. Can you give toward that this week? Visit: http://actionkivu.org/donate.htmlYou can donate via PayPal or send a check to the address on the link, and note ("to seller" on PayPal) "Christmas Clothes."Every dollar makes a difference!  Can you give $5, $10, $15, or more to help us reach our $850 goal?

We'll post photos and stories from the day the kids receive their shirts, shoes, and pants.  Thankful for your generosity this holiday season, that we can provide these things!  100% of your donation will go directly to Congo, minus nominal banking fees.

Giving Tuesday: Choose Education, Entrepreneurial Trainings, & Community Building -- Action Kivu!

Tomorrow is GivingTuesday - kick off the holiday gift-giving season with gifts to your favorite non-profit. (Hint: education, entrepreneurial training and community building in #Congo!)Can you make a tax-deductible donation to Action Kivu - to help up create sustainable change in eastern Congo? Your genorisity goes to sewing workshops, sending kids to #school, #literacy training, #farming, and much more! http://actionkivu.org/donate.htmlTag @ActionKivu in your #GivingTuesday posts, and share why you care about #Congo. Deep thanks from us and the women & kids you partner with through your donations.

Visiting two graduates from the Mumosho Sewing Workshop, a little one peeks out to greet us.
Two sewing workshop graduates running their business from a family member's home that is in progress.

Stories from Mumosho: Amani Shares His Reasons Why Women are the Future of Congo

Every now and then one wonders, how does Amani, our partner, peacemaker, and community builder in Congo, keep going? Where does he get his strength and drive to create and manage community programs for women to access a place of empowerment and equality? And why? In a place where women are often less than second-class citizens, where they have no land rights, and are often discarded in divorce if they don’t produce a male heir, how did a man like Amani decide women are the future of Congo?

Amani and Nawa

Speaking to Amani on Skype recently, he shared his own recent realization of why this work is so close to his heart.

Amani has spent years investing in his childhood community of Mumosho, starting sewing workshops, education assistance programs for kids who can’t afford school, building a Peace Market for the safe and local sales of products and food. “I’m feeling a big difference,” he said, “when I meet children on the street, moms, the elderly. … I believe in the power of women, especially the women of Congo. My mom was left a widow after my dad died (Amani’s father was killed in the conflict in 1996). She was illiterate, but she raised us, she made every effort so that we would have the space for education.

“I shared my experience, my story, with the women [I work with],” Amani told me. “I see we are doing what we are doing because I trust the power of women. I trust what I learned from my mom, when she showed us that she believed, ‘My children are going to remain my foundation.’”

Amani’s belief in the power of women and education is what fuels his work in eastern Congo, and what we at Action Kivu work to support. His mother, who inspired this work, was also killed in the conflict, in 1998. In honor of all she taught him through her strength and love, he has created a community in Congo where women are learning entrepreneurial skills like sewing, baking, basket-making, and literacy training.

We learned last week that Democratic Republic of Congo's M23 rebels have declared a ceasefire after a 20-month rebellion in North Kivu province to allow peace talks with the government to advance. It’s a hopeful step. But only yesterday we read that the fighting rages on, endangering more innocent civilians. At least 800,000 people have been left homeless since the conflict started.

NOW is the time to empower women with a voice for peace. Women in Mumosho stop Amani on the street, telling him they’ve observed their neighbors who are taking the literacy classes at the Mumosho Women’s Center. That they see women able to read and write their own names for the first time, enabling them to vote in their country’s elections. These women want that right, too. When they learn to read and write, they’ll be able to teach their children the value of literacy. And their children will learn, as Amani learned, that their mothers and aunties are strong, and won’t be stopped in their work for a better future for their children.

Meet Amani via video: The Enough Project’s “I Am Congo” Series.



Donate today and partner with the women currently in classes, and help us expand our programs to include more women!

Back to School: Brigitte's Dream of Education and Rights of Women

In honor of International Day of the Girl, and the power of education, we're thrilled to share Brigitte's story:"Now I have a home, the Women's Center is my new safe home. I feel safe here. I am in school now, it was a dream. I was forced to cut off school when I was 14 years, I was sexually abused, now I have a 2 year old son. 2 years ago, I could not dream to be back in school. Being at the Women's Center gives me hope. I want to [study] to become a lawyer and defend the rights of of women. I am 16 years, am in grade 3 Secondary." ~Brigitte

Brigitte heads to class in her school uniform.

Your partnership with Action Kivu makes these stories possible. We still have 91 children, who were in school, and now not able to afford to continue, who were formerly supported by another organization that recently folded. If you can, please visit our page to start a monthly donation of just $10/month to send one of these kids back to school, and give them the hope Brigitte has!Primary school fees, including uniforms, copy books, pencils and slates = $6.25 a month, or $75.00 a year per student.Secondary school fees, including uniforms, copy books, pencils and slates = $8.00 a month, or $95.00 a year per student.And huge thanks to all our current monthly donors who support the kids and women in eastern Congo!

Ennock's Dream in Eastern Congo: Education & Engineering

Ennock is SO happy to be in school.

Ennock's father died in the conflict while working as guard at a local power station, and Ennock plans to do well in school to become an engineer, focusing on electricity. He's one of the 169 children going to school because of Action Kivu / ABFEK's education assistance program, made possible through a grant from Jewish World Watch.There are so many more children who need assistance to pay for school fees, supplies, and a basic uniform. In fact, there were 91 kids attending school through a different sponsorship program that had to fold.  Your donation goes directly to sending these kids back to school, and makes a marked difference in the lives of the children, who are so eager to learn, graduate, and create a better community in Congo.Primary school fees, including uniforms, copy books, pencils and slates = $6.25 a month, or $75.00 a year per student.Secondary school fees, including uniforms, copy books, pencils and slates = $8.00 a month, or $95.00 a year per student.Start a monthly donation today, or send a check for one year (see site for address).  On PayPal, please write "School Fees for new student" in the Notes to Seller spot.