Congolese Women on the Road to Recovery: Updates on Our First Training Groups, Summer 2005

Women for Women International has been operating in the Democratic Republic of the Congo for just over one year, and Congolese women have begun the journey from victims to survivors to active citizens. Read about their participation in rights awareness education classes and how your support is making a difference.


Panzi I

Panzi I is composed of 19 women and is located approximately three miles from the Women for Women International -- DRC office. The majority of the participants are excited about having a place where they can express themselves. Participation in the program is also helping them to strengthen their relations with one another, which is important because they live in the same community. Women in the Panzi I group are currently participating in rights awareness and leadership education and vocational and technical skills training through the Renewing Women's Life Skills (ReneWLS) Program as they receive your sponsorship support. The women have already taken part in four trainings including Women's Role in Rebuilding Society, Job Opportunities for Women, The Business Women in Everyone, and Basic Business and Marketing Skills. In particular, Women's Role in Rebuilding Society is extremely important for the women survivors of this war -- known as the deadliest conflict in modern African history. This topic generated the most vibrant and intense discussion. The vocational and technical skills training aspects of the ReneWLS Program are expected to begin in February 2005. Most of the participants have already started to explore opportunities for income generation activities. We will be working closely with them to help them in their quest for a better life. In order to increase participants' potential for income-generating activities, Women for Women International -- DRC works with each women to save $5US of her monthly sponsorship funds. These funds are given to each woman in one lump sum when she graduates from the program and will provide "seed funding" so she can start or expand a sustainable income-generation activity. Some women in the group are already running small income-generating activities with help from their sponsorship funds. They sell items such as cassava flour, matches, soaps, or fruit. Basic Business and Marketing Skills was of particular interest to these participants. This session allowed the women to think about the various activities they could do to generate income. It has allowed the women to start thinking about various income-generating activities they could start or how they can improve their existing activities. It has also helped them to explore various ways to attract customers and techniques for successful small business development and management. One participant, Machozi Lunanga, is 28 years old and married with six children. She is a dressmaker and when she first joined the program, she was renting a sewing machine. Now, she and another participant, Chantal Mukambilwa, are saving their funds together to purchase a sewing machine to expand and strengthen their dressmaking business. Women in the Panzi I group are moved and astonished by their sponsors' commitment. They are so excited about having a sister somewhere in the world who is interested in their lives and what has happened to them. They send their sincerest thanks to their sponsors for their dedication to helping them and their families.


Kadumu Group
The Kudumu-Panzi group is composed of 20 women living in the Panzi district, one of the poorest districts in Bukavu, the city in Eastern DRC where Women for Women International - DRC is located. The population of this district has no stable or regular employment. Both women and men survive on small activities that enable them to barely make it from one day to the next. "Kudumu" is a Swahili word which means "to have a long life; to prosper." The women chose this name believing that what they will gain from the program will lead to a prosperous and long life. Women in the Kudumu-Panzi group are currently participating in rights awareness and leadership education and vocational and technical skills training through the Renewing Women's Life Skills (ReneWLS) Program as they receive your sponsorship support. The women have already taken part in several trainings including Women's Role in Rebuilding Society, Women's Role During the War, Women Protesting War, Job Opportunities for Women, The Business Woman in Everyone, and Basic Business and Marketing Skills. One participant, Awezaye M'Kanywa Bahizi declared the following: "It's like we were living in ignorance. The training sessions have enlightened us. Basic Business and Marketing Skills helped me understand that I can undertake an interesting activity with little money." The vocational and technical skills training aspects of the ReneWLS Program are expected to begin in March 2005. Most of the participants have already started to explore opportunities for income-generating activities that they will begin after completing their training and participation in the program. In order to increase participants' potential for income-generating activities, Women for Women International -- DRC works with each women to save $5US of her sponsorship funds each month. These funds are given to each woman in one lump sum when she graduates from the program and will provide "seed funding" so she can start or expand a sustainable income-generating activity. One participant in particular, Neema Kabungulu, is married and a mother of two. She has used the sponsorship funds she has already received to start selling palm oil. After receiving her first sponsorship funds, she sent her older brother to buy the oil for her in the nearby city of Hombo where one gallon costs just under $1US. She initially purchased 10 gallons of palm oil. Here in Bukavu, she can sell one gallon for $12US - meaning she will gain a profit of nearly $100US from her small investment! She said that apart from the household expenditures, she succeeded in buying clothes for her baby and has kept a profit of $16US to continue her activities. Women in the Kudumu-Panzi group are truly moved by your act of kindness towards them and send their thanks and appreciation for your commitment to helping them recover so they can provide for themselves and their children. They are looking forward to establishing a relationship with you through the exchange of letters. They say that it is unbelievable to think that people from far away care about them. Machozi Mazambi, a 24 year-old participant said, "I am surprised to know my photo has been sent to a country where I have never been and where I will probably never go, to a person who truly wants to know about me."


Kahuzi Group
The Kahuzi group is composed of 20 women, 15 of which are wives of physically disabled men. While 15 have disabled husbands, the 5 other women in this group are the main sources of income for their families. Two young women from this group, 25 year-old Esther and 26 year-old Berthe are not only providing for their parents and siblings, but are also working to pay their own way to school. The Kahuzi group participants live in very precarious socio-economic conditions with a range of duties and responsibilities. The disabled husbands of the 15 women in the program help to support their families by crossing the border between Rwanda and the DRC with the commodities of Congolese traders on their wheelchairs. In the DRC disabled people are exempt from customs fees, so traders and merchants who purchased materials in Rwanda to be sold in the DRC hire these individuals to transport their goods. Throughout the day, they can make about 5 to 10 trip across the two borders for the equivalent of the small salary of $1.80US. Women in the Kahuzi group are currently participating in rights awareness and leadership education and vocational and technical skills training through the Renewing Women's Life Skills (ReneWLS) Program as they receive your sponsorship support. The women have already taken part in several trainings including Women's Role in Rebuilding Society, Job Opportunities for Women, The Business Woman in Everyone, and Basic Business and Marketing Skills. In particular, Women's Role in Rebuilding Society is extremely important for the women survivors of this war -- known as the deadliest conflict in modern African history. This topic generated the most vibrant and intense discussion. The vocational and technical skills training aspects of the ReneWLS Program are expected to begin in March 2005. Most of the participants have already started to explore opportunities for income-generating activities that they will begin after completing their training and participation in the program. In order to increase participants' potential for income-generating activities, Women for Women International -- DRC works with each women to save $5US of her sponsorship funds each month. These funds are given to each woman in one lump sum when she graduates from the program and will provide "seed funding" so she can start or expand a sustainable income-generating activity. While some participants have used their sponsorship funds to meet the immediate needs of their families, many of the participants who already engaging in small businesses have used their funds to expand their activities. One participant in particular, Esther Masumbuko, is a 25 year-old woman who has been supporting her family and trying to obtain her state diploma by selling donuts. Before joining the program, she could only afford about two pounds of wheat flour to make the small donuts she sells, limiting her ability to make a sufficient income. Using her first three months of sponsorship funds, Esther was able to purchase eleven pounds of flour for her business, thereby vastly increasing her profits. Esther had just taken the National Exam for her state diploma when she joined the program and was still waiting for the final results. Since then, she has found out that she successfully passed the exam and she has enrolled at the Bukavu Technical Medical College where she is studying nursing. She continues to sell the donuts at the college during school break. Because of the breakdown of the economy in the DRC since the war, many students feed themselves by purchasing these small donuts she sells. In addition to selling donuts, she knits. These two activities are enabling her to pay the tuition fees of US$100 to make her dream of becoming a nurse one day a reality. Esther and the other women in the Kahuzi group are moved and astonished by their sponsors' commitment to them. They are so excited about having a sister somewhere in the world who is interested in their lives and what has happened to them. They send their sincerest thanks for your dedication to helping them and their families.