As we peer into a new year with all the unknown and expectation it holds, we also take a moment to reflect on this last year, and invite you to join us for a short journey to Congo. Because of your partnership and investment in Action Kivu, women like Faida and Ernata are able to start small businesses, earning income to feed their children and send them to school. More families are receiving goats as our animal husbandry program grows, and more girls and women denied an education are learning to read and write and acquire skills to launch new businesses in sewing and farming and bread-making.When you take action by investing in hope, you are the change we need in this world, and we are grateful. Please take a moment to connect with the kids and women in our Congo community, and share with your friends, family, and colleagues to let them know why you are investing in the lives of the people of Congo.Happy new year from our family to you and yours!
We Are the Ones We Have Been Waiting For: Joyeux Noël | Merry Christmas from the kids of Mumosho, Congo
The weather gifted the kids of Congo with a dry day in the midst of rainy season this Christmas Eve, and our Action Kivu family of donors gifted the kids with shoes, clothes, and a holiday meal of rice, beans, and a banana. The kids send their wishes for our beloved community to have a Merry Christmas, a happy New Year, and wish for the Congolese people a new year of stability and new hope.Borauzima, pictured above, is the only of her family of 7 kids who is able to attend school. In the 4th grade of primary school, she is always at the top of her class, and dreams of teaching French as a university professor. When she learned what her tee-shirt says, she smiled, saying: That is what I want! To shine like a star.In Alice Walker's book We Are the Ones We Have Been Waiting For, Walker writes: "It was the poet June Jordan who wrote 'We are the ones we have been waiting for.' Sweet Honey in the Rock turned those words into a song. Hearing this song, I have witnessed thousands of people rise to their feet in joyful recognition and affirmation. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for because we are able to see what is happening with a much greater awareness than our parents or grandparents, our ancestors, could see. This does not mean we believe, having seen the greater truth of how all oppression is connected, how pervasive and unrelenting, that we can 'fix' things. But some of us are not content to have a gap in opportunity and income that drives a wedge between rich and poor, causing the rich to become ever more callous and complacent and the poor to become ever more wretched and humiliated. Not willing to ignore starving and brutalized children. Not willing to let women be stoned or mutilated without protest. Not willing to stand quietly by as farmers are destroyed by people who have never farmed, and plants are engineered to self-destruct. Not willing to disappear into our flower gardens, Mercedes Benzes or sylvan lawns. We have wanted all our lives to know that Earth, who has somehow obtained human beings as her custodians, was also capable of creating humans who could minister to her needs, and the needs of her creation. We are the ones."In this season of giving, if you feel moved to connect with the women, kids, and communities Action Kivu partners with in Congo, please take a moment to read more stories on our blog to learn how your donation is an investment in community building programs that are bringing new hope to women long denied equal rights and access to an education through our Literacy Courses and Vocational Training Programs, as well as life-transforming work in HIV / AIDS prevention, sustainable farming training, animal husbandry, and education assistance for kids like Borauzima.
We are grateful for all our partners who donate annually or on a monthly basis - thank you! We feel surrounded by the power of people reaching out to care for each other in this holiday season and into the new year.
Seeds of Hope - Planting Cabbage and Peace [Congo]
I've just arrived from Mumosho, our founder Amani reports. I am so happy to have spent time with this new group working on the shared farm near the Women's Center today. They are continuing to learn new agricultural techniques, skills they use to improve the harvest through organic fertilizer. They had sprouted the cabbage seeds down in the marsh farm to plant today in the farm next door to the Women’s Center. Today this group is so happy, and so am I, to plant these cabbages.
Planting the cabbage and seeds today is parallel to planting peace: they need to be tended to every day, as people need to work for peace every day, says Amani.
Through Action Kivu's shared farm program, Organic Farming for All [OFFA], women and girls who have been denied an education are learning sustainable farming, growing food to feed their families and to sell at the market. Those who have been given a goat through our Animal Husbandry program, My Goat is Your Goat are able to transform their goat's feces into fertilizer.Sikitu and Neema pause to explain how they use organic fertilizer. The women have been tending a compost pile made of grass, domestic waste, and soil for one year, raking it over every four to six months, depending on how fast it composts. 35 years old, Sikitu is the proud mother of eight, but two of her children died of malaria when they were 13 and 3. Sikitu never got the chance to go to school, and is now part of both our Literacy and OFFA program. Mama Sikitu works beside Neema, who at 18 years old is one of 9 children who did not get the opportunity for an education. Neema is also a student in the Literacy Program, the entry point for all Action Kivu's vocational training courses.
Nsimire and her sister Lelo load organic fertilizer from the compost pile that is ready to use. Neither had the chance to go to school for lack of support, and are so happy and committed to learn more agricultural techniques to acquire new skills.
The girls and women receive some specific training from Mukengere Bienvenu, a student graduating from the Evangelical University of Africa (UEA) in Bukavu in the field of Agronomy. Fresh from the classroom, he brings new energy to the farm, teaching the latest skills.
Planting seeds and small plants in the soil symbolizes the hope that we plant, knowing we will harvest it in the future.~ Amani Matabaro, Founder
Read more about how we are planting seeds of hope and peace in Congo on our blog, and consider supporting this life-transforming work today! A monthly donation is an investment in the future of Congo, and ensures the sustainability of projects like our Organic Farm for All and Literacy Program.
Show Kids in Congo Their Stories Matter: Gift 300 Kids with Shoes, Clothes, and a Holiday Meal
[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!
Microloan Mom Bahati: A Life-Saving Loan
The power, if accessible in remote areas of eastern Congo, is off more often than on. Bahati sits in her small shop, selling the vegetables and fruit that grow in this lush part of eastern Congo as well as odds and ends, flour, canned food, and the batteries that are necessary in an area with poor infrastructure or no access to electricity.But because of your partnership in Action Kivu's work, Bahati has access to a different kind of power, the Power in Unity Microloan group. Created and organized by a group of entrepreneurial women, the women pay forward an original investment, each borrower paying back part of her profit to provide the funds for a new member to take a loan for a small business.Her husband has no job, so Bahati's loan was life-saving. They were struggling to feed their children. Starting with her $100 loan in 2013, Bahati began her small shop, and began to not only feed her kids, but send her children to school - five of her seven children are now receiving an education, and she plans to send the youngest to school when they are old enough."This business has helped me because I can pay school fees for my children and also feed them," Bahati tells us. "I saved some money and I bought a pig. I repaid the loan I borrowed and I have an amount of $130, this is what I gained." Bahati sends her thanks and blessings to you, Action Kivu partners, who make these life-changing programs possible.“The story of any one of us is in some measure the story of us all.” ~ Frederick Buechner
Connect with the women and kids in Congo:
- Microloan Moms: Adherents of Hope Writing the Future of Congo
- Microloan Mom Faida's Miracle
- Mama Aimericiane: Accomplishment and Vision [Sewing Workshop Graduate]
Dig deeper: Donate today to invest in this life-changing work!
Water is Life: The Lasting Impact of the Mumosho Water Project in Gender Equality and Education [Congo]
When Amani asked what this water tap means to this little boy, he replied: Let me show you!
Our partner Amani Matabaro's leadership in his local Bukavu Mwangaza Rotary Club made water flow into areas where people previously had no access to clean drinking water. Thanks to a Global Grant facilitated by the Montecito Rotary club, Amani was in charge of overseeing the project implemented by the Mumosho Local Water Committee. The task was to build one large reservoir and repair three existing reservoirs in Mumosho, where Action Kivu works with Amani in vocational training, education, and community building programs.Amani does not settle for what is, but asks: what might be? And in this case, his community organizing turned the 22 water taps scheduled to go in to six villages into 51 taps that now serve 12 villages! Mark Magid, a representative of the Montecito Rotary Club, traveled from California to Congo to witness the work, and was amazed by the success of the project, that also included repairing 30 dysfunctional taps, so there are 81 newly working water taps.How did Amani more than double the impact of the grant? We witness this in his work with Action Kivu every day – how Amani engages people in his passion, giving them ownership of the project. He invests his time: connecting with individuals, community leaders, church priests and pastors, and small groups of people. Once they’ve embraced the vision, in this case – access to clean water for their communities – they reach out to bring others on board. The community also talked to their children who had moved away from Mumosho, and found one person able to donate 150 pipes to the project. Local workers volunteered their labor.The water project now provides the Mumosho Health Center with a water tank and a tap to ensure clean water is available there, especially for the maternity clinic. The grant requires training for the water committee to maintain the reservoirs and taps, as well as instruction in water testing, sanitation, and the components of water and peace, and the protection of water infrastructures.In more ways than one, water is life. The project is also training the community on gender equality: shattering myths and long held traditions, the training teaches men and boys that collecting water is NOT only women’s work, it is everyone’s responsibility. The training also highlights the importance of education – children should be in school, not walking long distances or waiting in long lines for water. The increased number of taps means shorter wait time for life-giving water.We’re honored to work with Amani and invest in the various ways his tremendous community building leadership creates lasting change in Congo. Please read more about his life-changing programs on our blog, and consider investing in this work through a one-time or monthly donation today!
- Namwezi to Antoinette: My Goat is Your Goat
- Tearing Down Taboos: HIV Education Saves Lives in Congo
- Meet Mama Aimericiane: Accomplishment and Vision in Congo [Sewing Workshop Graduate]
- Women and Girls Grow a Healthy Congo: Field Report from Action Kivu's Shared Farm
Mama Aimericiane: Accomplishment and Vision in Congo
Four years ago, Aimericiane was unsure how to feed her six kids, let alone find the funds for their education. When she heard about Action Kivu's Sewing Workshop, she enrolled as quickly as possible to learn the skills and business training that would help her create a new life for her family.During her eight months of sewing training, Aimerciane continued to help her husband cultivate their field, the only source of income and food for their family. Daily survival was difficult, and farm labor typically yields around $1 per day of work. They could not afford the six to ten dollars per month, per child, to send to their six children to school.Aimerciane graduated the Sewing Workshop in 2012, and is proud to report that with the sewing machine she received at graduation, she started her own business. Four years later, with weddings, special events, and regular customers, she averages earning $60 USD a week."I am so proud of myself, and proud of my business because it has helped me to solve so many problems in my family: now I am able to pay for school, food, clothes, and the hospital for all my children," Aimerciane tells us. "With my sewing machine I earned money to buy a $40 table where I can put my machine. Before children start school, I sew uniforms, and earn around $150."My vision is to work hard, to become a great seamstress and also to buy a plot of land where I’ll build my cutting and sewing workshop, a place that will allow me to train others, people who are in need. I say thank you so much to ABFEC (Action Kivu's Congolese partner) because they gave me knowledge and they changed my life. I pray for them to prosper and expand in the whole word. God bless them."
Read more about how investing in the women and children of Congo through Action Kivu transforms lives!
- Adolphine's Story of Hope: It's Never to Late to Learn
- Namwezi to Antoinette: My Goat is Your Goat
- Tearing Down Taboos: HIV Education Saves Lives in Congo
Adolphine's Story of Hope: It's Never Too Late to Learn
The rainy season in the Sub-Saharan country of Congo makes many of the dirt roads in its eastern corner impassable, and the journey to school almost impossible. The road to an education for girls, in a culture where they are not valued as equal to boys, is fraught with even more barriers, from extreme poverty to early marriage. But Mama Adolphine never gave up hope.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. And according to A World at School, in some areas of the DRC, "around 70% of children who start primary school will drop out before the end of school. If you’re a girl, the risks of dropping out are even higher – as many as 77% of girls drop out of primary school in some areas of the country. ... Early marriage contributes to the low secondary school attendance for girls."Aldophine doesn't need to be reminded of these statistics - she lived them. Her parents did not think it important to spend money on their daughter's education. "Women did not have any right to go to school," she says. "But I liked studies so much. I never lost hope that one day I would study."Adolphine is 60 and the mother of six. Two of her daughters are married, four of her children are in school, and Adolphine is now a student in Action Kivu's Literacy Program.
"I am learning how to write and read," Adolphine reports. "I am very happy because now I can read my bible, I can choose and write the name of the candidate I want when there is an election in my country."The Literacy Program is the entry point to all of Action Kivu's vocational trainings - teaching girls and women to read and write gives them the first tools needed to run their own businesses upon receiving skills training in sewing, bread baking, basket weaving, and the micro-loan project. To support this critical step in the road to equality for women and girls, please consider a monthly donation!Adolphine is an inspiration: it is never too late to learn!Read other stories from the girls and women in our Literacy Program here.
Namwezi to Antoinette: My Goat is Your Goat
In Shi culture, the dominant tribe in the areas where we work in eastern Congo, a goat represents good standing in the community, as they are payment for dowries in marriage, or given as gifts as a sign of cementing goodwill and friendship. They've also come to represent the rooting in connection and community inherent in Action Kivu's programs. In "My Goat is Your Goat," one family's goat becomes the mother of the next family's goat, passing one kid forward, growing the family, one goat at a time.
$80 is the cost of buying one goat for a family in Congo, and Action Kivu is working to raise funds to buy more goats to expand the program in Congo, which currently serves 600 people in area of 50,000. Our goal for 2017 is to buy milk goats from Uganda ($185 to purchase and properly transport the goat to Mumosho, DRC), to expand the animal husbandry program to milking and making cheese, not only to combat the malnutrition that is a cause of death for children under 5, but to provide new entrepreneurial opportunities for the women in Congo to earn income and invest in the future of their children!Consider a monthly donation to Action Kivu today!
Meet Brigitte: Stories of Hope and a New Future in Congo
Read more about Brigitte in the following stories:
- To Achieve Their Dreams: All Together Against HIV/AIDS (Congo)
- New People, New Actions, New Congo: Christmas Celebration and New Year Resolutions
To partner with Action Kivu, click here.