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?



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.

From dusty|muddy roads to successful small business: Looking for a micro-loan partner in Congo!

When Action Kivu's team visited Congo, these roads were muddy, rutted, and dangerous. During the dry season, they're dusty and dangerous.  Women walk them from Mumosho to Bukavu, their backs bearing loads of up to 50 kilograms of charcoal or wood, with the hopes but no guarantees of selling the goods in city's markets.  Walking alongside trucks and often in the dark of dusk, they are constantly at risk.

Action Kivu's partner ABFEK wants to keep them in their own villages, working in their own small businesses with the help of micro-loans.With the loans, the women could grown and sell fruits and vegetables, sell banana beer, woven baskets, fish, bread, palm oil, and more, at the Mumosho Peace Market.A pilot micro-loan program ABFEK conducted with 50 women was a great success, and we want to find a long-term partnership to provide more micro-loans to the over 130 women who are interested in starting a business. From our partner:Women in these villages are often the primary source of income for their families, and are the most affected by the ongoing conflict in the region, subjected to rape by gunmen and domestic violence. There are many widows, and many men have left the community for mining areas located far from the Mumosho district. Women have been confronting the legacy of rape for their entire lives in eastern Congo.The women are extremely poor, with no sources of income. Many are war widows and many others suffer from domestic violence for no other reason than their gender.  They have children but cannot afford to send them to school, to feed them, clothe them, or give them a home, and in that context, there is no hope to save any money while trying to meet basic needs.The women who will receive the micro-loans are already trained by ABFEK on micro-finance and worked previously with Resolve Network; they already know how to choose and manage an income generating activity, design a business plan and manage a loan. ABFEK organized a micro-loan pilot project in 2011 - 2012 in which 50 women received micro-loans after a two week training on general micro-finance basics. Their loans ranged between $30USD and $250USD based on their business plans and experience.After 12 months, 99% of the women participants successfully repaid their loans, working in cooperatives of 10 women. A weekly meeting was held for the group members to share successes and failures in their businesses.At the end of the pilot project, the women were able to make remarkable changes in their everyday lives which motivated so many others to join the program.

• Some women were able to fix roofs of their homes, from grass roofs to tin roofs.
• Some succeeded in providing a morning meal for their kids before sending them to school, which was never possible before the program.
• Others bought domestic animals to raise, others learned to live together in peace, bridging the divide between the neighboring Rwandans and Congolese. There is a Rwandan woman living in Mumosho who joined the program and had the opportunity for integration, and felt accepted by the group members.
• Other program participants gained value and respect in their daily family and community lives, as they could now contribute economically, and were able to take care of themselves, their kids, families and community.  Women were able to contribute whenever a community member needed help during social activities such as weddings, funerals, and baptisms.
• After being abandoned by her husband, one participant was hopeless, as even her parents were about to stop supporting her on her and her four children. When she joined the program and started contributing, she was accepted and fully reintegrated into her family.  There are many more examples like this, and the women are eagerly waiting to begin again.

Do you have connections to a micro-loan program?  Please let us know how we might partner by emailing us at actionkivu@gmail.com.   And know that your donations go directly to the work on the ground, supporting women like those featured here in entrepreneurial trainings to prepare them to contribute to the community, creating a sustainable cycle of education and work!Read more about the people with whom you partner through Action Kivu:

• Sewing students: Ernata, Safi, Amie, Bienvenie, Evelyn
• the women and girls in the literacy program,
• the women learning agriculture lessons on the shared farm,
• the community conversation (women AND men!) on the importance of family planning and contraception
• the animal husbandry / goat program
• the women who weave beautiful baskets
• the school kids: girls at the top of their classes
• & meet Amani, community builder, leader, and visionary!  Watch the video to experience his corner of Congo here.

Be Creative: Action Kivu Annual Fundraiser with Great Giveaways!

Have you ever looked at a tote, a skirt, a shirt and thought, "I could make that. I think I could make that. ... I should learn to sew."We're excited to announce that part of Handmade by Alissa's annual Action Kivu fundraiser includes a giveaway of a sewing machine.   Now's your time.  Donate $75 and you'll be eligible to win it ... AND you'll partner with the women in eastern Congo learning to stitch a new life through creative work!  What could be better?The fundraiser supports the work of Action Kivu.  Your financial partnership directly affects the lives of the women and children we work with through our Congolese partner, ABFEK.  Read more about the people you're partnering with:

• Sewing students: Ernata, Safi, Amie, Bienvenie, Evelyn
• the women and girls in the literacy program,
• the women learning agriculture lessons on the shared farm,
• the community conversation (women AND men!) on the importance of family planning and contraception
• the animal husbandry / goat program
• the women who weave beautiful baskets
• the school kids: girls at the top of their classes
• & meet Amani, community builder, leader, and visionary!  Watch the video to experience his corner of Congo here.

Even if you're not feeling creatively inclined, these giveaways make great gifts!  There are so many levels of donations: what will you give today?Donate $15 and you are eligible to win three quilting books: Block Party, Modern Minimal, &We Love Color.  Donate $20 and  you're eligible to win a gorgeous 5 half meter bundle of amazing Echino fabrics.  Donate $30 for the chance to pick up Sew Modern's beautiful Robert Kaufman Kona fat quarter bundle and a $25 give certificate to their shop.

And for the aforementioned sewing machine to kick-start your creativity, donate $75 for the chance to take home this beauty.  It would also be a great gift for a crafty soul in your life.And for $100, you have the shot at receiving this gorgeous quilt - a cozy throw for when the nights get cold this fall.

All donations are tax deductible in the U.S. and go directly to the work on the ground in Congo.  Please consider giving today!  Check out all the giveaways at Handmade by Alissa, donate, and tell your friends and communities to help us reach our goal!If you'd like to connect further with the women and kids of Congo, leave a note in our comment section, and we'll pass them along for Amani to share!(Photos: Top left - HomegrownHospitality, Sew Modern, Sewing Machine, and Quilt via Handmade by Alissa, and mother & child in Congo by Emma O'Brien.)

Family Planning in Congo: Babies on backs, children in tow, women arrived eager to listen, learn, and ask their questions

Visiting eastern Congo, we were thrilled to meet some of the 115 students Action Kivu sends to school through your partnership. In the midst of good news of girls earning higher grades and learning the games they play, we were always aware of the children for whom we do not have the funds to send to school. Often they are siblings of the kids who are in our education assistance program are left at home, helping parents farm or haul heavy loads of stone or brick for $1 / day. Families with six, 10, or 12 kids can barely afford to feed them, let alone pay the monthly school fees in Congo. How can we help? In a country where the Catholic church is against family planning, where the women have few to no rights, how does one educate couples as to the use of contraceptives?

• Every day, approximately 800 women die from preventable causes related to pregnancy and childbirth.
• 99% of all maternal deaths occur in developing countries.
• The high number of maternal deaths in some areas of the world reflects inequities in access to health services, and highlights the gap between rich and poor. Almost all maternal deaths (99%) occur in developing countries. More than half of these deaths occur in sub-Saharan Africa and almost one third occur in South Asia.

In the face of staggering statistics, Amani has long wanted to convene a family planning seminar.  When he learned that Shatreen, a graduate student at Yale in African Studies with a background in women's health, was going to spend the summer in eastern Congo as an intern for Action Kivu / ABFEK, Amani started planning how to host the conversation. Together with Annie, a Congolese woman educated in health and nutrition, Amani and Shatreen prepared to lead the discussion in Mumosho, where they were surprised when three times as many women arrived to discuss family planning. The women came with babies on their backs, children in tow, eager to listen, learn, and ask their questions in the safe space of the Mumosho Women's Center.Shatreen wrote that Amani had emphasized that he didn't want the presentation on family planning to be a lecture, but a conversation.  "When we arrived in Mumosho, we had estimated that the discussion would take approximately 45 minutes. However, upon  arrival at the Mumosho Sewing Center, we saw that over 100 women had arrived, many carrying babies, we realized the presentation had resonated deeply in the community. The discussion lasted for 3 hours. Women were seated in the  sewing center, but because of the large turnout, many women stood or sat along the side.

"The women were excited and  eager to listen to the presentation, and from the way they listened to Amani, you could tell they deeply respected him."The presentation involved defining family planning as a concept, describing its importance, and then explaining  different methods available for women in both Congo and Rwanda -- the latter country relevant since the village was located so close to the border, and people often crossed over. After I explained each method, the questions would begin, and Anny handled them beautifully. Women wanted to know costs of each method, as well as posing questions about how each kind of contraceptive worked. For example, women were curious about birth control pills - did you have to take them everyday? Did they last 24 hours? Or would you need to take them each time you had intercourse?"Although there are different options available for women in Eastern Congo, such as condoms, injections, and birth control pills, certain long-term methods, such as Norplant or the IUD, are available in Rwanda. However, when we talked to doctors at local Nyantende Hospital, one of the major barriers to accessing birth control is religion."Many people in Mumosho and in eastern Congo are Catholic, and because of the Church's stance against family planning, they are reluctant to use contraceptives. Another barrier we noted, after our discussion with the women of Mumosho, was reluctance on behalf of husbands. Although all of the women who attended were eager to use some  form of family planning, we repeatedly heard that we needed to talk to the men in Mumosho about the importance of family planning. Because of our experiences this week, we are planning a conversation with husbands in Mumosho about family planning. This will definitely be a challenging step, but Amani will help lead the conversation. I have more confidence in this next step because of Amani's leadership," Shatreen wrote.Days later, Amani emailed more exciting news:"Shatreen, Annie and I have just arrived from Mumosho for another Family Planning day with the men, husbands of the women we worked with last week. It was an exciting day and 100% of the participants expressed high need of contraception. At the end of the day they said all they want now is practice and not theory. We want to organize another day with both wives and husbands, and we are also planning a day talking Domestic Violence"Your partnership makes these programs possible!  While the education regarding family planning continues, allowing families to give better care to the kids they have, we do not have the funds to purchase the contraceptives for the couples.  Please share this story of encouragement and the needs the community has to fund healthcare, and consider a monthly donation or one-time gift toward the work we are doing in eastern Congo!Read more, from the Guttmacher Institute: More Investment in Contraceptive Technologies Needed to Reduce Unintended Pregnancy Rates Among Developing Country Women