Harvest Party + Goats to Benefit Action Kivu's Work in Congo

actionkivu_harvestparty_invite_oct2016$50 suggested donation for those 21 + older (kids are free) | RSVP today!

Harvest Party Tickets

When: Sunday, October 30th, 4 to 6pmWhere: 3293 Fryman Road, Studio City 91604What: Grab a date or your kid, come carve some chèvre and pumpkins, clink glasses of wine, and pet a goat's kid as we raise money for Action Kivu's work in Congo!Alongside their goat co-hosts Bootz & Meadow, hosts Jennifer and Jonas Pate welcome you to their beautiful home in Fryman Canyon.Come celebrate the success stories of the graduates of our programs in Congo, girls and women who now have hope and a path out of poverty to be able to change the future of their communities. Hear updates on the latest from Mumosho, and learn more about the My Goat is Your Goat animal husbandry program, and our goal to grow it to make goat cheese in Congo! We're excited about creating greater business opportunities for the women and their families, as well as combating the epidemic of malnutrition in kids in Mumosho.We clearly love kids: all ages are welcome, under 21 is free! Please note in your PayPal donation "note to seller" or in a message to us (actionkivu@gmail.com) if you need more than one pumpkin per donation. Carving tools will be provided, but feel free to bring your own. Light bites and kid snacks (human AND goat friendly) will be served.Learn more:Virtually travel to Congo to meet Amani, our partner and inspiring leader, here.Learn more about our My Goat is Your Goat program (and the difference between a goat and a sheep):  “Our goat is our wealth,” says Nshokano Patrick. “We’ll bring back one of these small goats to ABFEC [Action Kivu’s partner organization in Congo] and keep one small goat and the big goat. My mom has said she will sell our small goat for her to start a small business to make sure she can start taking care of us.”Read all about Action Kivu's programs on our blog.SaveSaveSaveSaveSave

Tearing Down Taboos: HIV Education Saves Lives in Congo

quote_photo_all-together-against-hiv-_-aids-1To shake off the stigma that surrounds AIDS and HIV testing, our partner Amani volunteered to be publicly tested at the opening of World Soccer Day this September 25th. Funded by the Dillon Henry Foundation, the tournament brought together 8 teams of footballers to play it out on the pitch, 4 of which were girls’ teams, a first in Mumosho, which explained the crowd of 4000 spectators.In front of the crowd gathered at the Mumosho Women’s Center, Amani stepped forward to have his blood taken by Nurse Jeanine for an HIV test, and was quickly followed by one of the star players from the community, a young man geared up for the game. Shortly after him, a line formed to be tested, as kids and community members signed on to learn more about the disease, and how to stop it from spreading.amani_volunteer_hiv-testing-img_9-25-16One week earlier, on a hot September Sunday afternoon in Mumosho, Congo, a slight breeze stirred the air in the sparse room of the church where Nurse Jeanine sat in front of 45 students and community members. Though they had just started the school year, these students were spending their Sunday in a different kind of class, learning the facts about HIV/AIDS, so that they could share their education with their peers and family members. Sub Saharan Africa represents almost 70% of the total new HIV infections in the world, according to UN AIDS. Nurse Jeanine, Amani, and the kids and community leaders of eastern Congo learning about the disease intend to change that.img_0458“HIV / AIDS is considered taboo in Congolese society, thus the high risk of going untested and spreading HIV. The message of education about HIV/AIDS can deeply penetrate the fabric of society, and literally save lives,” says our partner and community leader, Amani Matabaro.Working in tandem with Amani’s community building programs and vocational / educational training workshops, Nurse Jeanine is committed to changing how the new generation of Congolese thinks about HIV/AIDS, spending much of her time in the villages of Mumosho, proctoring tests and raising awareness to the facts about living with the disease, while not passing it on.The determiner kits that Jeanine uses to test on site for HIV offer an immediate reading of whether the person shows the signs of HIV/AIDS, at which point she contacts them confidentially, and schedules a full blood test at a nearby hospital for the conclusive results. With those results, the person is then referred to Panzi Hospital in Bukavu, or the local clinic in Nyantende for treatment with antiretroviral (ARV) drugs.Even then, knowing they are HIV positive, many people in eastern Congo ask to be sent to a clinic in neighboring Rwanda, terrified that their family, friends, and neighbors might find out they contracted the disease. Thus, the critical, life-saving aspect of Amani and Nurse Jeanine’s program ALL TOGETHER AGAINST HIV/AIDS consists of diversified activities centered in the community, with a focus on settings with large populations such as schools, churches, and community-based organizations in eastern DRC. Thanks to the generosity of Robin Wright and Karen Fowler’s company Pour Les Femmes, Action Kivu currently pays Nurse Jeanine a monthly stipend that helps with her tireless work, but the HIV field test-kits are paid for out of Amani’s pocket at $25 per kit, and each tests 80 individuals. If you would like to give toward covering that cost as well as for Nurse Jeanine’s assistant, please donate today, and in your PayPal “note to seller” mark HIV. We are grateful for your investment in this life-changing work!img_0461SaveSave

Songs of Hope from Congo: There is Peace Here! Hear Our Voices, Oh You, the World

"There is peace here. Hear our voices, oh you, the world!"Celebrate with the girls and women of Action Kivu's Sewing Workshop Class of 2016! Thanks to donors like you, the sewing community who donates via Alissa Haight Carlton's fundraiser, and our partners Stand With Congo and Pour Les Femmes, 63 women and girls graduated this year with the skills and sewing machines to start their own businesses.Check out a sneak peek of the video from the graduation celebration, and stay tuned for more stories from the women!SaveSave

Women and Girls Growing a Healthy Congo: Field Report from Action Kivu's Shared Farm

“...we are custodians of deep and ancient thresholds. In the human face you see that potential and the miracle of undying possibility.” ― John O'Donohue,"Should agriculture be a required school subject?" writer Dan Nosowitz asks in his Modern Farmer piece that highlights Kenya's attempt to add agriculture to its curriculum. At Action Kivu, our Organic Food for All (OFFA) program trains women and girls, denied a formal education, in the skill and art of agriculture. Here five farmers weed the beans they grow on the lush land down in a marsh in Mumosho, critical in the dry season for the water to grow food when vegetables are rare and expensive. "Having access to this land, thanks to Action Kivu support, makes a huge difference," our partner Amani tells us.Invest in the women and girls growing a better future for Congo here!Read more about our Entrepreneurial, Educational, and Community Building Programs:

Action Kivu Fundraiser & Giveaway: Get Creative for Congo

Quilt GiveawayEvery morning, parents everywhere wake up with the same questions and hopes for their children: what to feed them, how to get them to school on time, whether they'll be safe out in the world.In Mumosho, Congo, many parents wake up wondering if they'll be able to feed their children, if they can afford to send them to school, and they dream of the day that eastern Congo is a safer place for their family.Because of your donations, Action Kivu is creating pathways for those hopes to become reality. With your investment in Congo, we are able to provide the training and tools for hundreds of mothers to break this cycle of extreme poverty, to send their kids to school, to learn to read and write and put pen to paper and raise their voices for peace and a better future for the kids of Congo.When you donate this week, you'll be entered into Alissa Haight Carlton's Annual Fundraiser & Giveaway! $100 puts you in the running to win the gorgeous quilt pictured above, and pays the monthly salary of one of our Literacy Program teachers in Mumosho, Congo - a critical course that is the entry point for our Sewing Workshop and other vocational training programs. Invest in the girls and women of Congo today - and check out the other giveaway levels and prizes at alissahaightcarlton.com.We are grateful for you being part of our family, and your role in creating the beloved community, taking action to invest in women and children and a brighter, more peaceful world for us all. Read about all we've been up to on our blog.

When you donate, please share the fundraiser and Action Kivu's stories with friends and family, telling them why you believe it's world-changing to invest in women and kids!

Microloan Moms: Adherents of Hope Writing the History of Congo

"We write history with our feet and with our presence and our collective voice and vision."~Rebecca Solnit, Hope in the Dark

ACTION CONGO WOMEN FAMILY PICTURE_withAKwebsiteCLAUDINE BARHISHINDI SELLING MAIZEWalking the dusty dirt roads of eastern Congo to run her small business as a trader of local beer and the maize to make it, Claudine’s feet are on the ground, writing her chapter in the history of the women of Congo. There is great dignity in presence, in showing up daily for her work.Claudine is still amazed at how much her life has changed in such a short amount of time after she received a microloan from the Power in Unity group, a program that began with donations from Action Kivu supporters and has grown into a sustainable economic system of investment, where each member pays forward their loan in small monthly installments, giving back part of their profits to create another loan for a new entrepreneur."The way you see me here, I don't know where to begin telling you about my life," Claudine tells us. "But before I talk about my life, I first want to say thank you very much to Action Kivu / ABBEC. I consider them like my parents because they have done a great thing in my life. It gave sense to my life."Married, and the mother of seven children (three girls and four boys), Claudine had first tried to run a business on her own, borrowing 10 dollars from a friend here, 20 dollars from a neighbor there. But it was never enough; she couldn’t pay back her loans and also feed, clothe, and pay the fees to send her kids to school.“Since I got the loan,” Claudine reports, “five of my children are studying and we eat one meal a day.” One meal a day is not sufficient, “but at least we know that there will be a meal every evening,” Claudine says. “I can also save a little money. I also got a goat from Action Kivu / ABFEC. It helps me with fertilizer for my soil and I have hope that I will gain many other things from it.”Claudine adds her voice and vision to the collective when she meets with the other women in the Power in Unity group twice a month. They voted in a president and a committee of eight women who oversee the meetings and the finances. The women pool their resources and have created a sustainable system in which their profits make it possible to include new members, while also depositing into a social fund to help members who need money for medicine, or marriage, or who are too sick to work, or are grieving the loss of a loved one.The community the women have created has never been seen before in Mumosho, but that is the underlying meaning of hope: it fertilizes and tills the ground for the foundation of a new reality, allowing hope’s adherents to write their new history.collageof3_2016Read more Microloan Mom stories here:

To invest in women like Claudine, donate to Action Kivu here! 

Microloan Mom in Congo: Nsimire's Vision for the Future

WITH QUOTE_NSIMIRE_ SELLING FRESH BEANSIf you were to meet Nsimire selling her fresh beans at the Peace Market in Mumosho, you might address her as "Mama Nsimire," as the women in Congo are called. The moniker could not be more true for Nsimire, who is the mother of 18 children.Due to extreme poverty, eight of Nsimire's children have died, and she and her husband now care for 10 kids. Before she received a loan through Action Kivu's Power of Unity group, Nsimire was working on a farm, earning around a dollar per day of labor. With her husband unemployed, they were unable to feed or clothe their children, let alone pay for their school fees.After receiving a loan of $50 USD from Action Kivu's Power of Unity group, Nsimire began her business selling fresh beans at the market, and now seven of her 10 children are enrolled in school!Part of the Power of Unity program is to pay forward her loan, to invest in more women entrepreneurs joining the group to start their own small businesses. Beyond that investment, Nsimire envisions sending all of her children to school, and opening a big shop in Mumosho.To invest in women like Nsimire, visit ActionKivu.org. Every dollar makes a difference in changing the lives of these women through literacy classes and vocational training programs, and immediately affects the lives of their children through nourishment, health education, and formal education, helping to break the cycle of poverty. We're grateful for and depend on our generous monthly and one-time donors! Click here to learn more.Save

A Birthday Video for our Family: Action Kivu Field Report

6 year anniversary collageIt's Action Kivu's birthday today, and to celebrate being 6 years old, we want to thank each and every one of you who has partnered with us and invested in the women, children, and communities of Congo!Your generosity continues to make a meaningful impact in the lives of the people in Congo. Action Kivu began partnering with Amani Matabaro and his non-profit ABFEC in 2010. For five years before that, Amani / ABFEC had been operating a Sewing Workshop and Education Assistance Program out of his own pocket. In 2005, there were 7 women in the Sewing Workshop, and 15 children being sent to school. After launching Action Kivu and growing our family of donors, we have now graduated 236 girls and women from the Sewing Workshop, giving them the machines, necessary tools, and financial literacy to start their own small businesses, and are registering new students for the Class of 2017 now! With a grant from Jewish World Watch and your donations, over 400 children are now enrolled in school.With your monthly donations and annual gifts, we've grown from those two programs to a variety of educational, vocational, and community building programs: 245 girls and women are in the Literacy Program, over 100 women and girls are enrolled in the Vocational Training Programs including basket weaving and bread baking. More than 100 families have been given goats and the animal husbandry support to breed them, to give back the kid to the next family awaiting a goat. Goats are a symbol of friendship and deepening connection, and a part of the circle of organic farming in our Shared Farm / Organic Food for All program, in which 180 women and girls are learning to farm, and growing healthy food for their families and to sell at the market.With your support, we send a stipend for a nurse to teach HIV / AIDS awareness courses, family planning, and education to prevent and treat common diseases like malaria.Without you, our Action Kivu family, none of this would be possible. Amani sends this message from Congo to honor the 6th Anniversary of our partnership:"I'd like to thank everyone who has so far supported the work we do here via Action Kivu! That is the way to build a beloved community, to give hope to those whose hope has been stolen by the forces of evil. The support of our work is light in darkness, and communities feel a sense of worth that someone cares, and takes action."Visit our programs through a beautiful video filmed and edited by Hélène Estèves:Thank you! Merci! Asante sana! We are grateful for you being part of our family, playing a part in creating the beloved community, taking action to invest in women and children and a brighter, more peaceful world for us all.Read more about the impact of your giving:

Microloan Mom Faida Cibanvunya's Miracle

For years, Faida and her husband had no work, and no means to feed, clothe, or send their six children to school. “We suffered for many years,” she says. “Some of my children were going to school, but in very bad conditions.” They had no food to eat, no shoes to wear, and often went to class without the necessary books. “I can’t even talk about a school bag [backpack] – I had no money to ever buy one for any of the kids. I could never think about buying clothes. At that time, when one of my children was sick, I could not afford to take them to a doctor. Can you imagine that?” she asks. “Seeing your child suffer, and not being able to do anything about it?”Faida confided that she had been losing hope. Uncertain what she could do, unable to find work to care for her family, she thought about suicide. That day she saw a friend who invited her to go to apply for the Microloan Project with ABFEC (Action Kivu’s partner organization in Congo).“I got the loan,” Faida says with a smile. “It was a miracle that I had never seen in my life. I started my business, selling cassava flour, and I thank God – everything is going well. With this small business, I am now able to pay the school fees for all my children, buy food for them, and I save some money. ABFEC also gave me a goat, which helps provide fertilizer for my soil. I don’t know how I can describe my former life, but I can say that I have seen a great change in my life because of Action Kivu’s support. Thank you so much to the people who made this possible.”Thanks to individual donors giving initial investments through Action Kivu, ABFEC’s Microloan Project is up and running in eastern Congo, sustaining itself as the businesswomen re-invest a portion of their proceeds back into the program, funding more and more women to launch their own small businesses.Your donation enables Action Kivu to continue to fund the Literacy Program and Vocational Trainings that teach the women skills to transform their lives. Consider giving that gift of real hope today!FAIDA CIBANVUNYA SELLING CASSAVA FLOUR (2) 

Children's Day in Congo: How Much Does a Birth Certificate Weigh?

Mothers_Children_Annan_QuoteHow much does your birth certificate weigh? Likely not a question you've ever asked yourself. You may not know where it is, and if pressed to present it for a new passport, you'd have to go through the hassle of ordering another copy. Such a light piece of paper for such a weighty document: proving who you are, where you were born, what name was given to you. Yet for the children born because of rape in a country where sexual assualt is a common weapon of war and societal control, a birth certificate is heavy with meaning.May 28th, 2016 felt much like any other day for these kids in Congo: waking with the sun, as toddlers around the world are wont to do, despite their mothers' wishes for an extra hour of sleep. Eating breakfast. Melting down in a toddler-sized-tantrum as their developing brains fight to accept that they can't have everything their way.For their mothers, May 28th was a momentous day. It was a day of healing, of helping to transform the horrific memory of rape into a celebration of life. Born without a father on record, their babies didn't have an official record of citizenship in their own country.Six months ago, Amani Matabaro began work to rectify that. The co-founder and Executive Director of ABFEC - Action Congo, Action Kivu's partner in eastern Congo, he is known to the kids in Mumosho as Papa Amani. And known to all of his friends and partners as an activist and feminist who believes that equality for women and the rights of children are the only way for us to move forward to create a more peaceful, just world.A just world isn't born without the work of many, and Amani, at heart a community builder and connector, knew just the organization to coordinate with: SOS-IJM, a civil society nonprofit which works tirelessly for human rights and the legal protection for the people of DRC. Working with a young lawyer named Nancy, ABFEC's field team researched and investigated the mothers' experiences of sexual assault and pregnancy. Together, with legal guidance from Nancy and SOS-IJM, they listened and recorded the stories of the girls and women, and SOS-IJM filed with the Congolese government for birth certificates for each child.The official document holds great weight in legal terms for the future of the children, but for their mothers, that piece of paper represents acceptance. It signifies social standing in a place where most girls and women are shamed and shunned for being victims of rape. It is a picture of the transformation from being subjected to blame to recognition as a member in the community.Join us in celebrating these children today, June 1st, known internationally as The International Day for Protection of Children (#ChildrensDay)!  And consider partnering with the kids, their mothers, and the communities in Congo through the life-changing programs Action Kivu supports:

  • Education Assistance to send children to school;
  • Vocational training programs at the Mumosho Women's Center, including the Sewing Workshop that graduates women with a machine and the tools to run their own businesses;
  • Literacy Courses – beginning, intermediate, and advanced;
  • Organic Food for All program, teaching sustainable farming and providing healthy, organic food for families;
  • My Goat is Your Goat animal husbandry program, providing goats and chickens to families and follow-up education and veterinary care;
  • AIDS/HIV education and family planning and health services;
  • Power in Unity: providing $100 investments and financial literacy training for women to start their small businesses.

Read more stories on our blog, here.IMG_3956 (1)IMG_3954 (1)