Students as Teachers: Jewish World Watch & Lessons from Congo Kids

We are so thankful for Jewish World Watch, their work, and their partnership with Amani and ABFEK's educational assistance program!  Read an excerpt from JWW's recent visit by Diane Kabat to learn about how funding education is changing these kids lives, giving hope, and shaping the future of a peaceful Congo.  The kids in the education assistance program speak with confidence about their goals, teaching us never to give up hope.

"As we leave Bukavu, we must say 'au revoir' to our dear friend, guide and translator, Amani.  He has been with us every day and has managed every detail on the ground with Naama in the JWW office. Amani makes things happen here in Bukavu, not only for his JWW partners, but for the people in the South Kivu region.

"...One of the successful projects that Jewish World Watch sponsors with ABFEK is the Educational Assistance Program.  Yesterday, for over an hour, we once again maneuvered the difficult hillside roads of Bukavu to Amani’s village of Mumosho (comprised of 6 districts) to see ABFEK. JWW has sponsored 52 secondary students (50% girls, 50% boys) during the last school year (2012-2013) by paying school fees. In addition, we supported 113 younger primary school students with school supplies and uniforms.

"After another celebratory greeting, we gather in the community room to meet the older students, many of whom are 'double orphans,' a phrase used to describe the loss of both parents to the war.  All of us are eager to share our stories.  The first student to speak is Bamanye, a dynamic 16 year old girl who says (translated from French), 'I finished the last school year without difficulty (fees paid).  I was able to concentrate on my studies and work hard.  I want to be useful for society.'

"We are all very surprised when she continues to speak in English, 'My mother has to care for everyone by herself and work very hard.  But, she does not see much improvement for her family.  She prefers the ABFEK action for her children.  She knows that it will improve the well-being of women and children in Kivu.'  Bamanye thanks us for sponsoring her this school year, and hopes we will continue.  After hearing from about 20 students, we are left with the feeling that these teenagers, all wanting to be lawyers, teachers, doctors and engineers, will be able to make societal improvements for their generation and the generations to follow."

If you'd like to support the education assistance program, consider a monthly donation! Just $10 / month sends a secondary student to school, giving kids, and especially girls, previously denied an education, the opportunity to change their lives and impact their communities. 

The Jewish World Watch team with students and Amani, and our new Action Kivu intern Shatreen.

Read more from our blog:

Top of the Class: Girls Sent to School by Action Kivu Supporters
Back to School Stories: Hope and Thanks from Congo

Mi Casa Su Casa ... My Goat is Your Goat

50 women gathered at the Mumosho Women's Center to meet their goats. Given to each through Action Kivu's partner ABFEK, the goal is to breed these lovely lady goats with a billy goat, to improve the milking productivity, and to grow the goat family.

When a baby goat is born, the family caring for the goat will return the baby to ABFEK to pass it on to another neighbor who is waiting.  Paying forward the good in their lives, providing more milk to drink and sell, the community will grow stronger, Amani explains.  Which is why the project is called, "My goat is your goat." 

Creating community is crucial in our work.  But sometimes, in the midst of life, it can be easy to forget the basics:  "When you go out into the world, watch out for traffic, hold hands, and stick together." ~ Robert Fulghum (All I Really Needed to Know I Learned from Kindergarten)

To hold hands with the women in eastern Congo, help grow the community and the goat families, please consider a donation to Action Kivu!  All funds donated are tax deductible in the U.S., and go directly to the programs on the ground in the Congo.

Connect with Congo: Women who Weave

Walking out the door to the local market to fill up your cupboard with locally grown fruits and vegetables  – don’t you wish you could pick up one of these beautiful, hand-made baskets for your market day?

The women at the Mumosho Women’s Center have begun to learn basket weaving.  Depending on the size, they can sell these for 3, 5, 6, or 8 dollars.  A bundle of the colorful cords that are woven into the patterns costs between $50 and $70, used to create approximately 12 large and 2 medium baskets, that sell at $8.00 USD and $5.00 USD, respectively. 

Connect with the women in Congo — post a comment or tweet @ActionKivu with your words of support for the women in eastern Congo, weaving their way to empowerment through earning regular income, sending their children to school, and being the change we all want to see in Congo!  We'll send your thoughts forward, where your words will be printed out and translated, posted in the women's center to encourage the women on their journeys.

To support the weaving women, consider a monthly donation! Every dollar makes a difference in the lives of the women learning to read & write, to sew, to weave, to farm.

Threads of Education: Meet Sewing Trainer Rosine

Rosine meets with the sewing students at the Mumosho Women's Center, leaning over a shoulder to check one woman's work, eyeing the stiching of another's, offering encouragement and tips on creating gorgeous garments from a bolt of fabric, needles, thread, and a simple Singer sewing machine.

At 22, Rosine is as young as many of her students, teaching a marketable skill to teen mothers and other young women who could not afford school. Rosine had to drop out of elementary school in the sixth grade, her mother unable to pay for further education. Four years ago, desperate for a way to help her family, she found a job on a farm, growing beans for a small wage. Selling her harvest was just enough to pay someone to teach her to sew. Her hard work led to a position as a teacher at ABFEK's sewing workshop in the Mumosho Women's Center, supported by Action Kivu, which offers free classes to train women in eastern Congo to start their own businesses.

"By training the other women," Rosine says, "I am always thinking that the women and
rest of the community will become able to take care of themselves, their
families and why not the community."

Rosine learned about ABFEK's work from her brother, a student who is sent to school through Action Kivu/ABFEK's sponsorship. "I also know that ABFEK built the Mumosho Peace Market," a safe place for the community to gather to sell their fruits, vegetables, fish, and goods.  After she attended last year's sewing graduation ceremony, she was interested in teaching at the workshop.

"Being a sewing trainer makes me happy," she says, taking a break from work. Rosine has seen the benefits of what she teaches directly, through her ability to help her family with her income, especially after her father passed away a year ago. "I help my mom to take care of the rest of my family. Whenever my mom is unable to buy food and I have some money out of my savings from sewing, I jump in and fix the issue. If one of my brothers needs to pay school fees, I am able to help from time to time."

When asked what their greatest needs are, and how the partners of Action Kivu might help, Rosine reminded us that they need support to make sure they have all they need to continue training the women, to ensure the sustainability of all the programs hosted by Action Kivu through ABFEK. 

Rosine's story is just beginning, as she plans for her upcoming marriage, and worries about how to continue helping her mother and brothers, while she starts her own family.  We work to surround Rosine, and all the women working and learning and living in the communities of eastern Congo, with support.

You can partner with the women and children of Congo by donating here!  To start their business, sewing graduates are each given a sewing kit, including a pedal-powered machine, fabric, scissors, thread, and more, totaling $195 USD. (Action Kivu is a U.S. 501c3, and 100% of the funds go to the programs on the ground, minus nominal banking fees.)

How You Can Connect with Congo: Action Kivu Monthly Donor Drive

It’s spring and Action Kivu’s programs in Congo are growing!

The new Mumosho Women’s Center is up and running, and offering a new outlook on life for the women taking part in the classes offered there. “What we like the best with this Center is that we are offered free trainings whereby we acquire skills, and the men who abused us are now going to respect us. Being here means no longer being worthless.” And from Amani: "Sewing, farming, literacy: the women are so proud they are able to write their names, read and write a few sentences!"

Writing practice in Action Kivu's Literacy Program. Photo courtesy Emma O'Brien - emmaobrien.com

But we can’t grow without you – and the best way for you to support the women and children in eastern Congo is with a monthly donation. Under Amani’s leadership, the community has so many ideas of how to learn and grow and thrive, but they need our support. With every dollar going to the work on the ground, your tax deductible donation of $10, $20, $50 … $100, $200 per month means that you’re investing in a better future for the people of eastern Congo.

Planting Seeds of Hope

What will your kids be doing to fill the lazy days of summer? The kids in ActionKivu’s Education Sponsorship Program in eastern Congo will be on vacation starting July 2nd to August 30, but have no camps to attend or pools to swim in. With your help, over 130 school kids who are able to get an education because of your partnership, will grow vegetables and flowers this summer, and the harvest will belong to the children. Planting seeds is in itself a symbol of hope – holding in your hand a small, shriveled brown seed that holds the possibility of life, of a flower to open slowly to the sun and add a bit of beauty to the day, of a ripe vegetable to bite into after tending the plant and watching it grow. In groups of 10 to 15, kids from different schools and different villages will form their own summer camp, where they will learn lessons of growing food as well as sharing stories and making new friends. Their camp counselor is a local woman who studied rural development and will guide the kids in agriculture lessons as they meet for lessons at the Mumosho Women’s Center, and grow their gardens three days a week.

The Community School Garden's seeds will cost $1350 for the whole summer, plus $200 / month for the supervisor’s salary, at three months, totaling $1950.00. The supervisor will start work in June, preparing the seed beds, from which the kids will transplant the seedlings to each community garden. The project gives them hope and a sense of responsibility and success, as they work together, investing in the future of their land, and contributing toward feeding themselves and their families.

Mumosho Women’s Center

With your help, we will reimburse the community who gave talent and materials to complete the new Mumosho Women’s Center. A beautiful, safe space that now houses Action Kivu’s multitude of programs, including literacy classes, job and skills training workshops like sewing, embroidery, soap-making and more, the center also provides a gathering place for the community to address social problems such as domestic violence or women’s rights. Empower Congo Women partnered with Amani to help build the center, and started a Teen Mother’s 12-month program, while Action Kivu is partnering with the newly formed Peace Exchange to start a Fair Trade program, where the top graduates of the sewing workshops will create fantastic products for you to purchase! The outstanding cost from finishing the Women’s Center remains at $8,200.00.

Mom and child - Mumosho. Photo courtesy Emma O'Brien - emmaobrien.com

It’s a very exciting season of growth, but we can’t do it without your partnership. We need to meet ongoing basic needs: to pay the program instructors, hire a program assistant, expand our education assistance so more girls go to school, and purchase kits for the graduates to can start their own small businesses. Visit "how you can help" and click on the drop down menu to choose a monthly donation amount here.

Giving shows the women and kids that their stories matter. Giving reminds us that we’re all connected, that what we do with our time and money impacts others, so we’re all sharing a better world.

“It really boils down to this: that all life is interrelated. We are all caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied into a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one destiny, affects all indirectly.” ― Martin Luther King Jr.

Please share with friends, colleagues, strangers, the woman on the subway platform! A great way to introduce our work is through introducing Amani via The Enough Project's beautiful video:



(Many thanks to Emma O'Brien for the use of her gorgeous photos from a recent trip to Mumosho with Amani!)

Some Things That Are Eternal

“Young children give us glimpses of some things that are eternal.”

― Jonathan Kozol, Letters to a Young Teacher

Girl Rising and Generosity: Celebrating International Women's Day

Happy International Women's Day! What are you doing to celebrate? To reflect? To give to continue the movement of equality and opportunity for the women and girls in your life?

Today is a great day to practice generosity, whether that's giving to support Action Kivu in our work sending girls to school and teaching women valuable life and job skills, or writing a note to encourage a woman you know. 

The writer behind DailyOm shares about Giving with Joy, that "Today, courting happiness can be as easy as incorporating a philosophy of generosity into your existence.

"When we give others the gift of self-sufficiency by helping them prosper, we simultaneously give ourselves the joyous gift of knowing that we have contributed to the advancement of humanity as a whole. Our lives feel emptiest when we feel we have little to give the world in the way of charitable contributions. Yet by simply helping others whenever we can, we become part of something far larger than our individuality. Any isolation we might have felt disappears and is replaced by a wonderfully potent sense of personal satisfaction. Our efforts, no matter how small, remind us that we are, in fact, capable of making a difference using only the tools and resources we have in our possession. You will feel that your life is laden with gifts today when you share your abundance with all who are in need of aid or solace."

And, if you have the opportunity, find a screening near you to watch the film "Girl Rising."  Here's a bit of its inspiration for your day.  Watch and share! 

When I Think of Beauty - Gifts of Possibility

"When I think of the word "beauty," some of the faces of those that I love come into my mind. When I think of beauty I also think of beautiful landscapes that I know. Then I think of acts of such lovely kindness that have been done to me, by people that cared for me, in bleak unsheltered times or when I needed to be loved and minded. I also think of those unknown people who are the real heroes for me, who you never hear about, who hold out on lines — on frontiers of awful want and awful situations and manage somehow to go beyond the given impoverishments and offer gifts of possibility and imagination and seeing."

~John O'Donohue, from "The Inner Landscape of Beauty"  (Listen to the full piece at On Being.)

 (Photo by Cate Haight)

Safi's Story: Sewing to Support Her Mother

"The vehemence of emotion, stirred by grief and love within me, was claiming mastery, and struggling for full sway; and asserting a right to predominate: to overcome, to live, rise, and reign at last; yes, — and to speak."
~ Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre

As we listened to Safi softly answer our questions in Swahili, I remembered how important it is, that moment you speak up, you find your voice, discover not only what you want to say, but what you need to say.

Safi, at the Bukavu Sewing Workshop

On our visit to Congo, we met more and more women in workshops and classes, in the fields and at their homes, and asked to hear their stories, not of rape or abuse, but of daily life, daily struggles, and hopes for the next day to come.  We began to hear individual voices growing stronger in clarity and volume, and the shared voice of place, of community began to form a song.

Safi, 17 years old, had little to do before she discovered the Bukavu Sewing Workshop. Her father had abandoned her family, and she was too poor to have gone to school. Her face brightened as she shared with us how much she loves her mother, and likes to cook and help take care of her mom when she returns from her back-breaking work of transporting goods and wares across the nearby border to Rwanda.

When Safi discovered the Bukavu Sewing Workshop, she found a place where she could learn skills that will help her mother.  Young and still shy with us, strangers to her, we saw how sharing her story made her stronger, and wanted to share it with you. When asked what she would tell you, partners of Action Kivu in the U.S. and around the world, she asked that God might pour blessings on you, and said, "We will never forget them in our lives."

A woman carrying a load of bricks, for which she will be paid approximately $1 USD for a day's work.

(Photo credits: 1. Safi sharing her story, photographed by Cate Haight, 2 & 3 Women working, photographed by Amani Matabaro)

Meet JD Stier, Action Kivu's New Board Member

When Amani first introduced us to JD Stier, the Campaign Manager for Enough Project's Raise Hope for Congo, we were excited to have another friend and ally in our work in eastern Congo, especially one with so much experience.  Little did we know what the future would hold.

JD's enthusiasm knows no bounds, and his heart for Amani, Action Kivu and the women and children of Congo have been evident through his own work and his unending support of Action Kivu.  JD oversaw the creation of Enough's "I am Congo" video series which so beautifully shares Amani's story and his life's work.

We are honored to have JD join our board, and welcome his insight, intelligence, and compassion in leading and partnering with Action Kivu this new year! 

JD Stier (right) with Amani (left) and Fidel (middle) in Amani's ABFEK offices in Bukavu, DRC.

Born in Georgia, USA to a civil rights attorney father and a mother deeply connected to her church, JD was raised with a respect for social justice and fighting inequality. JD has fought for social justice, environmental protection, and youth affected by gangs and drugs throughout his life.

While studying at the University of Wisconsin, he traveled to Africa with his housemate and friend Kou, a former Lost Boy from Sudan, on his homecoming trip in 2002. Through that and numerous trips back to east and central Africa, JD grew to know and increasingly fight for the people he came to call friends and the communities he now considers an extension of his home.

JD has held leadership positions within numerous campaigns, including the 2008 U.S. Presidential Campaign, leading to a Presidential Appointment in the White House in 2009.

After serving in the White House JD was tapped to lead the Enough Project's Raise Hope for Congo Campaign. Under his leadership, the campaign increased public pressure on the electronic industry to further address their role in cleaning the conflict minerals supply chain. In 2012, Raise Hope for Congo highlighted Congolese activists, including Amani, in the I Am Congo documentary series. The campaign also initiated a gold campaign calling on the jewelry industry to lead the way to a clean gold sector in eastern Congo.

He is a frequent contributor to the Huffington Post, advocating for solutions to the crisis in eastern Congo. He asked Apple for increased leadership addressing conflict minerals; partnered to raise awareness of the crisis in Congo; and asked President Obama to increase his engagement in eastern Congo.

JD has forged a friendship and partnership with Amani, spending time together throughout eastern Congo as well as in Washington, D.C. JD holds Action Kivu and Amani in the highest regards and is deeply passionate about supporting Action Kivu's life-saving community-building work.

Top of the Class: Girls Sent to School by Action Kivu Supporters

As school begins again this January, Amani wrote that three of the top students at Horebu Elementary are supported by Action Kivu. And that they are girls, which is a great success in a region where girls are often not sent to school solely because of their gender.

Amani, with three of the top students at Horebu Elementary

From the right, meet Feza, who lost both her parents to HIV/AIDS. With your financial support, Feza is now in grade 5 of elementary school, although at 15, she should be in grade 3 of secondary school. After her parents died, she moved in with her grandmother, who is a widow and has had no means to pay for Feza's school. She likes mathematics and is determined to become a medical doctor.

Second from the right is Asifiwe, who is 13 and is in grade 4. Asifiwe and her six siblings lost their father, who died in the conflict. She is the only child of the seven in her family who goes to school.

And on Amani's left is Mapenzi, who is 10 and is in grade 2. Mapenzi also lost her father. At the top of her class, Amani notes she is extremely intelligent with 92% average in school.

Amani included this group shot of many of the children at Horebu Elementary, signing his email: "I love these kids and they give me hope!"

Reading these words from Amani, and reading Brené Brown's new book Daring Greatly,  a previous blog post came to mind, on the definition of hope:

Dr. Brené Brown discovered that "hope is not an emotion, it's a way of thinking or a cognitive process." She quotes the research of C.R. Snyder, who defines hope as a trilogy of goals, pathways, and agency. " 

Hope happens when:

• We have the ability to set realistic goals.

• We are able to figure out how to achieve those goals, including the ability to stay flexible and develop alternative routes.

• We believe in ourselves.

Amani is the face of hope in Congo. In partnering with him, we have witnessed him set realistic goals, find the necessary resources, move with grace and flexibility through the obstacles he faces from both people and the physical terrain. He not only believes in himself, he believes in the power of the people of the Congo, particularly women and girls, translating that hope and belief into their lives.

By partnering with the women and children in Congo, you're telling them their stories matter, and you believe in them, too.

(For more student stories, click here to read "Back to School Stories: Hope and Thanks from Congo)

We Belong to Each Other: Aime's Dreams of Sharing her Sewing Skills

If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other.   ~Mother Teresa

The eldest of six, with four sisters and one brother, Aime and her siblings had to leave their home in Kinshasa, Congo's capital city, and move 940 miles east to Bukavu. Both their parents had died, and the six children had to move to the eastern city to stay with Aime's father’s family.

Moving was very difficult. “I am having a tough time here, because nobody is taking care of us. In Kinshasa it was okay because we had parents who were taking care of us,”  Aime told us in a small office behind the Bukavu Sewing Workshop.

"I went to school, but in the third year of secondary school, I had to quit, I was not able to keep going.  When I was in school, I dreamed of becoming somebody who could help other people."

Aime discovered the Sewing Workshop in Bukavu when she saw a group of women together on the street talking.  Curious as to why they were gathered, she approached them, and met Amini, Amani's wife and the lead trainer at the workshop.  When Aime learned that girls and women were being trained as seamstresses, for no charge, to be able to earn their own income, she asked to join the program. No, it was too late in the term, Amini told her. But, "When I explained my problems, when I explained my situation, that I had come from Kinshasa, that I had lost my parents, she [Amini] welcomed me, even though it was a little bit late."

Aime is 25, and some of the girls in the sewing workshop are as young as 15.  "In the program, [age does not matter] older, younger, we are all one, we are all friends," Aime explained.

She was eager to share her goals with us, dreams that had not changed since she was a secondary school student, her hopes for an education to share with others.  "As soon as I graduate from this program, I am going to gather all the orphans and other people around me who are unable to take care of themselves, and help them, to create conditions where I am able to help them.  I don’t want to keep what I’m learning for myself, I want to make sure I train other people who have difficulties."

To many, Aime seems to have nothing, but to her, an education and vocational training has empowered her to live her dream of serving others with her knowledge.  With her generous spirit, she's always thinking of others, even when asked what she would say to you, the partners of the workshop through Action Kivu:  "Thank you. We love you. [You] should not keep on helping only this group, but think of other people who are suffering, too." 

To help women like Aime realize these goals, please consider a donation to Action Kivu today! 

(Photo by Cate Haight)

Clothes for Christmas: School Kids at Play

When we traveled to Congo in January, we met so many kids, at their schools and at the annual New Year celebration Amani holds for the children of Mumosho. Shy girls stepped forward to show us local games they play, using stones and dances. Amani recently sent us these photos of the kids at Burhembo secondary school, near the border of Rwanda. The kids change out of their uniforms to protect them while they “jump the rope,” for what equates as gym class where this is little place to play.

They take such pride in their uniforms, and the children whom we send to school via your support recently told Papa Amani, as they call him, that they have nothing else to wear other than the school uniforms that we supply for the whole year. They feel badly that they have to wear them all the time, making them less presentable for school. Your partnership not only sends kids to school and provides them with that uniform, but with your donations, we’re able to send an extra $650 for a Christmas gift of “play” clothes and shoes (for the many children who are barefoot) for approximately 100 children. Thank you, as always for your partnership! There are so many needs to meet, and many more thousands of children to clothe and send to school, and you’re making a difference.

Read more school stories here!

A Congo Massage - Riding the Roads of Eastern Congo

Amani, who founded ABFEK, Action Kivu’s partner in Congo, and is a true community builder, responding to the needs of the women and children with innovative programs. To do his work safely and sustainably, Amani needs an SUV.

Action Kivu’s founders Cate Haight and Rebecca Snavely visited Amani and ABFEK’s wonderful work in January 2012, and witnessed, first hand, the danger of driving during rainy season in the overcrowded vans that serve as buses. After nearly sliding off a mountain road, Cate and Rebecca hired an SUV for the rest of the trip. But that expense is too much for ABFEK to handle on a daily basis.

To monitor the programs in Bukavu and the surrounding villages, Amani and his staff wait on dirt roads overcrowded with people, trucks and buses. The heavy, humid air is filled with dust from the dirt road and exhaust from the cars and trucks that narrowly miss people's sandal-clad feet. The women wear long skirts in bright colors and beautifully busy patterns, carry fruit, a jerrycan of water or a basket on their heads, and wait for overcrowded buses that have no schedule to run on. When it's muddy during the rainy season, the buses slip-slide through the sludge, getting stuck in the ruts, skidding sideways and putting passengers' lives in jeopardy. This is their reality, and without a 4x4, when the roads are rain-washed, plans are canceled and work comes to a grinding halt.

Take a look at one of our many rides, lovingly nicknamed a "Congo massage," through Bukavu, on the road to Panzi hospital, out to the even rougher roads on our way to Mumosho. Amani narrates:

Celebrating Fall Harvest - Women Hold Up Far More Than Half of Agriculture in Africa

The women who learn from and work the soil of the Action Kivu / ABFEK shared farm carefully cart their harvest to sell at the Peace Market in Mumosho, the bright reds and greens of tomatoes, cabbages, eggplants and amaranth displayed with pride.

Harvest for sale at the Peace Market

Do you know the percentage of Africa's food that the women produce?

"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 Women

When you support Action Kivu, you partner with the women who are learning sustainable farming in Mumosho. 

Finding shade for an afternoon break.

Learn more about the shared teaching farm here!

"Beans Green and Yellow"

In fall it is mushrooms
gathered from dampness
under the pines:
in spring I have known
the taste of the lamb
full of milk and spring grass;
today it is beans green and yellow
and lettuce and basil from my friends’ garden —
how calmly, as though it were an ordinary thing,
we eat the blessed earth.

~ Mary Oliver

An Education: Kabibi or Kabwana?

Kabibi and her brother Kabwana stood before their school principal, silent while their mother explained to the headmaster why Kabibi must drop out of school. With seven children to feed, earning a dollar a day working on her neighbor’s farms, their mother cannot afford to send both teens to secondary school. She chose to pay for Kabwana’s education, because he is a boy.

Kabibi, left, and Kabwana.

At 18, Kabibi is three years older than her little brother Kabwana, and should be finishing secondary school in grade 6. But, like many children in eastern Congo, because her family wasn’t financially able to send her to school consistently, she’s behind in her studies. Domestic violence is common in the community, and after years of suffering, Kabibi’s mother was abandoned, publically rejected by her husband at her own church service, and left with nothing but her seven children to care for.

The headmaster told her that Kabibi has always been more intelligent than Kabwana. In tears, Kabibi’s mother replied that Kabibi has to stop simply because she is a girl. Kabibi also cried in front of other students and teachers.

What does it do to a girl’s thinking, to be told that because she is female, she is not worthy to be educated? For a month after being forced to leave school, Kabibi was showing signs of depression, isolating herself from others. When a representative of ABFEK (Action Kivu’s partner in Congo) arrived for a school visit, Kabibi asked if there was any way to find a sponsor to pay for her education. It was too late, as ABFEK had already used all the funds to enroll students this school year, but a friend visiting with ABFEK heard her story, and gave the money for Kabibi to attend the first half of the school year.

Amani wrote: “Kabibi had spent the whole last month with no smile, but after it was announced that someone has donated for half a school year for her, she is smiling!”

Kabibi at school

"I want to become a medical doctor if I have chance to go to University," Kabibi says.

Would you like to pay for the other half of Kabibi’s school year? It only costs $50, and if you set up a recurring donation of $10 / month, your dedicated giving will cover her school fees for the following year.

There are hundreds of children like Kabibi, whose families cannot afford to send them to school. Please consider a recurring monthly donation; $10 a month tells them they are important, their stories matter, and they’re not alone.

“What we are learning around the world is that if women are healthy and educated, their families will flourish. If women are free from violence, their families will flourish. If women have a chance to work and earn as full and equal partners in society, their families will flourish. And when families flourish, communities and nations do as well.”
— Secretary of State and former First Lady Hilary Clinton

Literacy Training: Rewriting the Future

"Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever."
~ Mahatma Gandhi

Asking the women of eastern Congo what their hopes and dreams are for the future proved to be a difficult question. They must focus on today, Amani explained. On finding food and feeding their children today. On where they will sleep tonight.

A heartbreaking revelation for those of us, so comfortable in our today that we make plans for years ahead, and read self-help books to help us live in the present moment. The women we met in Mumosho and Bukavu didn't have the time or the emotional capacity to answer that question.

That is changing, however. As the women see their daughters excelling in school, thanks to Action Kivu's education assistance, they begin to hope for the future of their children. That hope ignites a spark of what could be in their own lives. As we previously shared one mama's words from the Sewing Workshop graduation: "I am very proud of my daughter," said one of the mothers present at the ceremony. "This sewing certificate is a symbol of victory and respect. And I will be the first to register in the literacy program because I was not happy with the last November 2011 presidential elections, when I asked people to help me vote but they did it according to their own will. I want to make sure next time I am able to read the name of the candidate of my own choice."

Other women echo her drive, and are now learning to read and write in Mumosho, where there are now three literacy classes, with a total of 80 students.  At age 17, Tumaini wasn't sent to school because she is a girl. "I am proud to be part of this group," she says. "I want to learn how to read and write. Many times I have difficulty taking medicines because I cannot read,I always need someone to explain them to me." She is dedicated to her studies, especially to be able to vote a leader of her own choice.

This is a group of very determined young girls, forced to drop out because they did not have money to pay for school. Some were victims of domestic and gender-based violence, and chances were given to boys in their families. They want ABFEK | Action Kivu to help them learn to read and write, to fulfill their dreams of passing the primary school tests to begin secondary school.

Action Kivu is currently able to send only $1500 USD a month to support all these programs that ABFEK runs in eastern Congo - and your donation will help us sustain the current programs, and the more we raise, the more girls we can send to school, the more women we can teach to read and write, the more women we can include in the sewing workshops to learn a trade.  Please consider a monthly donation. 

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.

Walking Free with No Fear: Ntaboba’s Story

Ntaboba, before his surgery, with his aunt and mother.

Ntaboba is 14, a slight boy with a wide smile that is often masked by his look of concentration. Ntaboba, who attends school with the help of Action Kivu's education assistance program, is focused. Focused on school, on his dreams of becoming a doctor, and on walking without the crutches he used to depend upon. At age 14, he should be in grade 2 of secondary school, but because of physical setbacks, he is in grade 5 of primary school.

It’s been two years since we first introduced you to Ntaboba, whose name means “no fear.” Then a school boy of 12, we shared how at age six, he stepped on a live grenade in the jungle near his home in eastern Congo, mangling and twisting his leg, forcing him to walk with a metal pole for support, which further twisted his spine. Because of the injury, he often missed classes and fell behind in his education when he could not navigate the five kilometers to his school.

Margaret Johnson and Betty Merner, two Americans visiting their friend Dr. Victoria Bentley of Empower Congo Women, met Ntaboba in Mumosho, through Bentley’s work with Amani. They quickly connected to Ntaboba’s soft spirit and strong character,and were determined to do what they could to help him. Thanks to the emotional and financial support of these women and school kids they work with in Rhode Island, Ntaboba received a surgery on his leg from Heal Africa in Goma, a hospital renowned as one of only three referral hospitals in the DR Congo.

Ntaboba, Summer 2012, after his surgery.

Though the surgery was successful for as much damage had been done to his leg, Ntaboba still misses school during the rainy season, which turns the dirt roads of Mumosho into deep, slick mudslides.

According to Amani, there are few solutions to this problem. One is to board Ntaboba near the school, which costs around $400 USD each quarter. The longer-term sustainable solution is to find a place for his family to live after we build the Peace School. The Peace School will offer the traditional Congolese curriculum, as well as teach alternative courses in human rights, giving orphaned and vulnerable kids like Ntaboba a place to study and play in peace, growing the future generation of peace builders for Congo.(We're currently working with Amani on a budget and outline for the cost to build and staff the school, looking to raise approximately $100,000 USD. More to come, soon!)

Ntaboba is doing his best to walk without crutches, determined to finish school so he can live his dream to become a doctor. No Fear.

Thanks to Margaret, Betty, the school kids of Rhode Island, and everyone who partners with us!  It's only through supporting each other that we make a difference.

Back to School Stories: Hope and Thanks from Congo

Were you ever THIS excited to go back to school?

"Papa Amani" with the kids Action Kivu / ABFEK sends to school. One student proudly displays a mathematical kit earned with scores over 70% last year.

When you've been kicked out of class because your family can't afford the $7 - $8/month it costs to go to school, an education becomes even more precious.

Your partnership and support means that these kids have hope for a different future, filled with dreams of being doctors and teachers and nurses, oh my!  In addition to the 115 primary students Action Kivu / ABFEK sends to school, thanks to a partnership and generous grant from Jewish World Watch, ABFEK is now sending 52 students to secondary school.  Finishing a high school education is critical to breaking the cycle of poverty that permeates eastern Congo, poverty that stops girls from achieving their dreams. (Read more about the positive results of educating girls at Women Deliver.)

Your donations began a cycle of good.  Because you support the women studying at the Sewing Workshop and purchased sewing machines for them, they are able to make school uniforms for the children so eager to attend school. "What a big day!" Amani writes. "Our campaign was ''Young Girls, Stand Up, It's Time!'"  Amani and his colleagues have spent the last two years raising awareness and encouraging girls, families, and local leaders to make sure girls are sent to secondary school immediately after graduating elementary school.

"Today I was happy, so happy and more than happy again," writes Amani. "In one secondary school where 26 students are recipients of the JWW grant, there are 380 students total. 240 are  girls and 140 are boys. 67.3% of students here are girls. This is a big success in our everyday work!"

Two of the girls share their stories:

SHUKURU: "I am 13 years old, grade 1 secondary and have been getting education support  by ABFEK for about three years now. I very much like Maths because I want to become a medical doctor one day in my life. I am from a family of five, among four sisters and one brother.  Only two of my sisters and my brother are in school . My elder sisters got married [too young] because nobody could send them to school. I am lucky and I want to achieve my goal — to be become a medical doctor.  I like ping pong. For this school year, I want to succeed with a high score at the rate of 99%. I am determined to achieve my goal. I want to become able to help my mum. I do not want an untimely marriage. As long as I have someone to help me stay in school, I will make every effort to succeed. My thank you words are sent to each and every single person who has donated his or her money to pay for my education this school year. May God bless  and keep them strong."

NOELA:  17 years old, grade 3 secondary school.  My uncle has been struggling to send me to school.  I very much like French  and want to become a French teacher. I am from a family of five, three are in school and two are not because I have no father and mum is unable to afford school for us. My purpose for this year is to succeed with 80% and challenge all the boys in my class who think they are more intelligent than I. I like domestic work and want to become a secondary school teacher. Look, I am 17 now, I should now be in grade 5 secondary school, but I had nobody to take care of me, put me in school, but I have HOPE. Thanks for people who do not know me but are paying for my education."

Secondary students start school - "My purpose for this year is to succeed with 80% and challenge all the boys in my class who think they are more intelligent than I." ~ Noela

Huge thanks to Jewish World Watch and to you, for helping these girls achieve their dreams!  If you want to partner with Action Kivu, consider a monthly donation.

Primary school fees, including uniforms, copy books, pencils and slates = $6.25/month, or $75.00/year per student.

Secondary school fees, including uniforms, copy books, pencils and slates = $8.00/month, or $95.00/year per student. 

Visit our How You Can Help page to learn more, and read more about the students and success of other elementary school girls here!

Asante Sana, Merci, Grazie, Danke, Dank U, Tack, and Thank You!

How can we say thank you to everyone who donated during Alissa's 3rd Annual Action Kivu Fundraiser, contributing $17,570.00 to fund the sewing workshops, education assistance and other programs that empower and engage the women and children of eastern Congo?  We'll start by saying it in as many languages as are spoken by our generous donors!   Merci, Grazie, Danke, Dank U, Tack, and Thank You!

Through Handmade by Alissa, we heard and felt the support and love from 43 states of the U.S., Washington DC and Puerto Rico, Canada (Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, Ontario, Saskatchewan, Nova Scotia, Quebec), New Zealand, Australia, UK, Italy, Sweden, Switzerland, France and The Netherlands.

From the women and children learning to sew, to embroider, to speak and write Swahili and French, studying math and science and poetry and farming and human rights - a huge ASANTE SANA.

"To leave the world a little better; whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is the meaning of success."     

~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Nzigira and Tantine, graduates of the Mumosho Sewing Workshop.