Paralyzed by Fear – Women Hope for the Violence to End. News from Women In Goma, Congo.

November 21, 2008 by wfwnotesfromthefield

November 19, 2008, Goma - “I am afraid of the fighting reaching my area. Like all women, I am afraid of being raped,” says Jeanette Yamwerenye, one of the women, who has made it to the Women for Women training in Goma on this November morning. At the age of 28 she has spent half her life surrounded by conflict, poverty, hunger, disease, and uncertainty. Twice Jeanette had to pack her few belongings and run from her home. The last time she was heavily pregnant and gave birth while fleeing the fighting.

 

Like all women in our program Jeanette is paralyzed with fear of violence and concern over displaced family members. “My parents in law are very old and we don’t know where they are.” From the people who have fled the area north of Goma, where violent clashes have displaced more than 250,000 people, she hears that women and children are being killed.

 

The women in the classroom are poor and afraid. They don’t want to lose the small gains they have made toward a stable life over the last year. Completing the Women for Women International program is a way to a self-sustaining life that might enable them to support their families with the skills they have learnt.

 

Marie Jeanne Kabuo is 25 and looks after three children. Last year she was abducted while working on her fields by armed men. They tried to rape her but she managed to escape. Jeanne came to Goma and joined the Women for Women program.

 

“If the fighting reaches us, people will get killed, women and girls will be raped,” she says. “I am praying because I know that there will be so many orphans, widows, and so many people, who had their property looted.”

 

Every woman in the room has a story of suffering, fear, and loss.  Antoinette Kabuo has seven children. When she fled her home three years ago she was beaten up, her husband was kidnapped, and her property stolen. Marie Jeanne Kavira saw her younger sister being raped in public, Tabu Tariane lost her uncle and cousin in the recent fighting, and Eizabeth Baseme lost a child because she could not find proper treatment.

 

They all want to finish their training with Women for Women and improve their lives and provide their children with a better future.

 

Elizabeth sums it up: “We are restless and afraid to become a displaced. We are always at risk of inhuman treatment.”

 

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Fear of Rape and Violence Rising – Women for Women Reaches Out To Vulnerable Women in Congo

November 12, 2008 by wfwnotesfromthefield

Washington, DC, November 12, 2008 - Amidst widespread violence and massive human suffering Women for Women International is preparing to respond to the needs of thousands of women who are threatened by the fighting and are in urgent need of assistance.

“We will reach out to more women including those who now live in displacement camps in and around Goma and hope to offer sponsorships to the most vulnerable among them,” says Karen Sherman, Executive Director of Global Programs with Women for Women International. “Since most women are not able to come to us, we will go to them and offer assistance through financial aid and on-site training.”

Christine Karumba, the DR Congo Country Director

Christine Karumba, the DR Congo Country Director


The direct assistance will help them to pay for food, medicine, and other lifesaving needs. Since the latest outbreak of violence more than 250,000 people have been forced to leave their homes over the last few weeks alone, bringing the total number of displaced to more than 1.2 million.


The worst fighting is occurring close to the provincial capital city of Goma, where Women for Women is training and assisting almost 1,000 women. The UN is reporting that retreating fighters have gone on a rape and looting rampage just 60 miles north of Goma. In another incident on Tuesday night 75,000 people fled their homes following a gun battle in Kibati, just six miles from the city.


“More than half of our women are missing classes in our training program in Goma,” says Christine Karumba via phone from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. “Due to the volatile situation they are unable to reach our training facilities.”


“We worry that many of our women have been displaced and lost all their belongings - or, even worse, have once again become victims of violence. We will find them as soon as the situation allows us to go to their homes and help them to reintegrate into the program.” says Karumba.


Over the past decade, a brutal conflict has devastated much of the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), leaving the country without a functioning infrastructure and most families in a state of crisis. More than five million people have died as a result of the violent conflict, most through disease and malnutrition and. Women are often directly targeted by combatants using rape and other forms of sexual violence as a weapon of war.


 

Women for Women International in DR Congo is currently assisting almost 7,000 women through financial support and a one year program that includes rights awareness, health education, and skills training. The organization works with communities in Bukavu, Goma, Fizi and Baraka in the heavily affected South and North Kivu provinces in Eastern Congo.

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Day One – Sarajevo, Bosnia - Alison Wheeler - Director of Online Marketing

October 28, 2008 by wfwnotesfromthefield

I had been looking forward to my trip to Bosnia for a long, long time. Nearly 10 years ago I became friends with a few people from Sarajevo. They had left the besieged city during the war and made their way to Washington, DC. I had heard each of their stories over the years and wanted to see their beloved city for myself. So when I joined Women for Women International in June, I was already planning a trip to Bosnia with these friends and my family. So a visit to the Sarajevo office was included in the itinerary.

 

 

I spent two full days with the Women for Women International Bosnia teams in Sarajevo and Zelenica and came away with a deep respect and admiration for the women in the program and appreciation for the dedicated staff in each of the offices. Here are their stories:

Better to Belong to Something or Someone Than to Buy A Pair of Shoes

 

 

 

I think I truly came to understand the power of the letter in our sponsorship program during my visit with Renata Raus, the sponsorship coordinator in the Sarajevo office. She told me the participants in the program are “proud of their sponsors.” Just as a sponsor may tell a friend or family about a woman they are supporting in another country around the globe, these women in the field share the stories and lives of their supporters. And they wait and wait for these letters to arrive. They want to hear about what their supporters do in their daily lives. It doesn’t matter to them if they get a whole letter, just a few sentences, just a postcard to know they are connected to their sponsor.

 

 

And the beneficiary of the letter is not just the women in the field. A sponsor got to the heart of this in her letter to her sister in Bosnia, “Better to belong to something or someone than to buy a pair of shoes.” Really, what is the cost of sponsorship? The sponsor continued in her letter, “What is the value of something if others are suffering?” The sponsor gains so much from the relationship, if not more…

 

The Entrepreneurs and Organizers of Olovo

 

During the afternoon of my first day, we sat down to a working lunch with women from our program in Olovo. While munching on burek (meat pie), zeljanica (spinach and cheese pie) and the Bosnian version of Italian panatone (alcohol infused fruitcake), I listened to these women tell their stories of bringing home their first paycheck. There was Ramiza Kricic who was selling milk to neighbors in her area. The staff of Women for Women International introduced her to a dairy factory, Milkos, and now the milk from her farm supplies a factory in Sarajevo. And now 82 families are registered to supply to sell milk to this factory! As Ramiza Kricic said, “It is such a good feeling to go to the bank and get a salary….to know you have done something useful.”

 

 

Despite the doubt of her husband and family, another woman, Senada Imsirovic, started to collect herbs to sell in her spare time. Women for Women International matched her with a buyer, Boletus, and her herbs are now used in teas and creams sold locally and internationally. Now her whole family has joined her business.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Afghan Women’s Progress - Sweeta Nori, Country Director of Afghanistan

November 20, 2008 by wfwnotesfromthefield

The fact that women are making significant progress in some parts of Afghanistan is good news that confirms our own experience in the country.

The province of Bamian will benefit from women taking on new roles as breadwinners, peacekeepers and government leaders; indeed, the area’s relative stability indicates that it already has. In many other areas the change is far less visible and comes in small but significant steps, with women learning skills and finding opportunities to support their families.

But we cannot let these encouraging developments overshadow the life-threatening dearth of health care, education and basic human rights for the majority of Afghan women. Stabilizing Afghanistan must include teaching women how to read and write, develop sources of income and become more active in public life.

Bamian shows that change is possible, even in the most challenging environments.

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It Takes Men To Stop Rape in Congo - Christine Karumba, Country Director of the Democratic Republic of the Congo

November 20, 2008 by wfwnotesfromthefield

The fact that rape victims are breaking the silence around the horrific sexual violence endemic in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is crucial for building peace and stability in the country. But without involving Congolese men, it will be difficult to address this problem successfully. Women have started to speak out on their devastating experiences. Men, by in large, have remained mute while playing a strong part in stigmatizing and excluding rape survivors.

Recently, more work has been done to engage men and encouraging them to change attitudes towards sexual violence and survivors of rape. Our Men’s Leadership Program, for example, appeals to the strong responsibility men have in the patriarchic Congolese society. Men are encouraged to understand women’s rights as a contribution to strong and successful family structures and recognize the vast implications of rape and other forms of gender-based violence.

Our data shows that including male perspectives builds community-wide understanding of preventing and overcoming sexual violence. Although more research is necessary, our experience also indicates that men have emerged from this program as using their position of influence to advocate against sexual violence and social exclusion of survivors.

Honorata Kizende, who was featured in your story, came to us a survivor of sexual slavery and gang rape.  After graduating from our year-long program of rights-based, life skills training, she is now a Women for Women International program trainer, helping others to rebuild their lives and speak out against gender-based violence in the country’s protracted war. Honorata has come a long way from victim to survivor to active citizen. Now Congolese men need our assistance to start their own transformation.

 

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Day Two – Sarajevo & Zenica - Alison Wheeler - Director of Online Marketing

October 28, 2008 by wfwnotesfromthefield

Sahzija - I am the definition of a new business woman

The next morning Seida and her team picked me up in front of the National Theater in downtown Sarajevo and we headed to Vogosca on the outskirts of Sarajevo. We stopped in front of Vildana salon, a freshly painted small building surrounded by a neat white fence. Upon walking in the door, we were greeted by Sahzija Brkanic, a microcredit client with Women for Women International for nearly 4 years. She lost her husband during the war and had to find a way to support her two children, rebuild her home and her life. She stressed to us just how hard things were for her in the beginning. But now, after much hard work, she has opened three beauty salons. Her two daughters run the other two salons and she runs this one.

Solidarity Group Meeting

As we pulled up to our next stop, I noticed two buildings. The one on the right, a bombed out building, had no windows and UNHCR (United Nations High Commission on Refugees) plastic covering what was once the roof. This is how most buildings in and around Sarajevo looked after the war. Then I looked at the building on the left, completely rebuilt with flower boxes hanging on the windows. We went into Sifa Kadric’s home, a client of Women for Women International’s program for 8 years. Inside were nearly a dozen women meeting to make their microcredit payments, talk and support each other – financially, if necessary, and emotionally. One of the women told me about her cosmetics and tailoring business. Another one spoke about growing and selling agricultural goods. As many of them spoke, I kept hearing the same theme. Because of this program, I was able to rebuild my life and put my children through school.

 

 

Gordana – A Woman of Courage

After many cups of coffee (the Bosnians often drink a thick, strong coffee very similar to Turkish coffee), we left the solidarity group meeting and headed to the outdoor market on the outskirts of Sarajevo. We met Gordana, a tall blond Serbian woman, selling shoes in the open marketplace. She told us she had sold goods in this market before the war, during the war and after the war. When Serbs were forced out of this part of Sarajevo, she refused to leave. She didn’t leave during the war and she wasn’t going to leave after the war. This was her home. And as she put it, “Courage. I have courage. I am courageous.” Indeed you are, Gordana.

The Building Blocks of Business

From Sarajevo we then headed to Zelenica, an industrial town an hour north of Sarajevo, to join classes in the core program. In one of the smaller rooms in the Zelenica office, we met a group of women participating in hands on jobs training. About 10 women were watching the instructor trace a pattern and sew a skirt.

In the larger room, we sat with 20 women as they discussed a lesson from the Women for Women International manual, Women in Economics. The women discussed the volume and type of housework they do at home. Then the facilitator asked the group of women, “What are skills you do everyday that you could professionally outside of the home to earn an income?” The women broke into small groups and determined how much they would earn if they provided services such as cooking, cleaning or caring for children. For the next lesson in the program, the woman would be forming small groups and developing a business plan around the services they had identified. They were laying the foundation to start their own business and support themselves.

 

 

 

 

In the larger room, we sat with 20 women as they discussed a lesson from the Women for Women International manual, Women in Economics. The women discussed the volume and type of housework they do at home. Then the facilitator asked the group of women, “What are skills you do everyday that you could professionally outside of the home to earn an income?” The women broke into small groups and determined how much they would earn if they provided services such as cooking, cleaning or caring for children. For the next lesson in the program, the woman would be forming small groups and developing a business plan around the services they had identified. They were laying the foundation to start their own business and support themselves.

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Vocational Training in the DRC - from Jon Thiele, Economic Development Specialist

August 18, 2008 by wfwnotesfromthefield

My task here is to help the DRC Chapter build a program that will help the women earn a living. To do this, it is very important that I learn about the women and the facts of their daily life. These conversations are simultaneously encouraging and painful.

The women are so positive, so pleased with the improvements they’ve made in their lives. I ask what sort of improvement? “Now my kids eat twice a day instead of just once.”

The average income of a woman in our program is probably about sixty cents a day. Almost always this is earned in a “reselling business”– they buy charcoal or something in bulk somewhere and resell it in smaller quantities somewhere else. A day of this and she brings home sixty cents.

We’re trying to improve things. The WFW-DRC provides vocational training– practical classes in which the women learn job skills which they can use to earn a better income. The women in this picture are learning various tie-dying techniques, because colorful fabrics are in high demand here for women’s clothing.

We have classes in tailoring as well, and our program makes an effort to organize the women into groups that can work together to profitably fill a market need– this group of tie-dyers and that group of tailors open a small dressmaking business, that sort of thing.

It’s difficult. They have no business knowledge to speak of. We offer classes in basic business topics like selling and simple bookkeeping, but, as I mentioned earlier, most cannot read or write. A few do not even know numbers; they “count” money by looking at the color of the bills. We work very closing with the women for a year, and we are exploring graduate services, but there is so much to do, so much they need.

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Judithe Registre’s Journal: Behind the Scenes with 60 Minutes

August 15, 2008 by wfwnotesfromthefield

In early November 2007:
Women for Women International received a call from CBS’s 60 Minutes notifying them that they would like to do a piece on the epidemic and effect of rape on women in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. They specifically wanted to visit the program office and speak to the some of the participants for first hand accounts of what they had seen and endured as women living in the DRC.

Saturday, November 10th:
Upon landing at Kavumu airport in Bukavu from Goma; the 60 Minutes crew came directly to the Women for Women program office to start filming. They shot inside the ceramic studio where participants were actively making tiles, as well as participants in rights awareness groups, literacy, cooking class, sponsorship payment, letter writing, etc.

Film CrewThey interviewed several participants in the program and heard them read letters from their sponsors. They talked with Judithe Registre from Women for Women International about what life is like for the women in the program, and what Women for Women International is doing to help.

Sunday November 11th:
The crew arrives in Walungu at 7:00 am. The road is slippery as it is another rainy morning followed by a rainy night.  They begin to interview women, one in particular stood out – her name was Lucienne. She spoke to Anderson Cooper about her life in the DR Congo and about her participation in the Women for Women program. She also spoke about her sponsor, Deborah Nicholson, and the letters they exchanged.

That night Judithe has dinner with the crew, including Anderson Cooper.  She recalls that “It was light and interesting; Anderson tells some funny stories about his travels and work. Also, she enjoyed hearing one of the cameramen describe how amazing it was to see Lucienne light up when she joined her group.

Monday November 12th:
The producer, Michael and Anderson Cooper leave in the morning, after filming last minute scenes in the morning at Panzi hospital with Dr. Mukwege. The associate producer is also following up with the letter translation process; from the writing/translation of the letters, to the packaging and shipment to Headquarters in order to get a sense of how the Sponsorship program works.Judith Registre

“We are overwhelmed with the sincerity and interest the crew took in our DR Congo Program and with the women and men who participate in it. We look forward to having our story told.”

Judithe Registre, Women for Women International

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Letters from the DRC - Economic Development Specialist

August 12, 2008 by wfwnotesfromthefield

Democratic Republic of the Congo

Toward the end of a workshop about good nutrition it was time to distribute the letters from sponsors. Francoise got one; it was the fourth her sponsor had sent, and the other women were a bit jealous.

You might be surprised to learn how important your letters are to the women in the program. On several occasions women have shown me letters they’ve received, every one of them is a proud possession, a link to her caring and “supportive sister”– that’s a phrase they use here, supportive sister.

You letters are passed around and read over and over. And the women absolutely love to get photographs. Some carry the photos with them everywhere they go.

More than half of the women in the DRC program are illiterate. Most have had no schooling at all. WFW-DRC provides ten months of literacy classes which start with the sound of each letter and move through syllables and words to phrases and sentences. At the end of the program, most of the women can write a short letter, and for most of them the first thing they write is a letter to their supportive sister.

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Democratic Republic of the Congo Update - The Doll

August 12, 2008 by wfwnotesfromthefield

The little doll in the picture was made by a woman with a horrific story.

Jeanette Mbango, a mother of five girls, was raped in 2002. As the second rapist stepped up, her husband broke free of his bonds and tried to help but was killed right in front of her. She was separated from her children for nine months until the local church reunited them. Then she lost her leg to a mortar shell. After a year in a hospital she joined WFW-DRC and began to recover.

Now she is settled in Bukavu and making a living sewing and selling these dolls. All of the dolls are of women in colorful clothes, in scenes from daily life. Remarkable to me, every one of the dolls has a smile on her face. Jeanette is a strong woman.

My work here is to help design activities that will enable the women in the program to earn an income. To do this, we match the economic opportunities in the local market to the skills and interests of the women in the program. This determines the focus of our vocational training program. In DRC, the sectors are sewing & tailoring, tie-dying fabric, soap making, growing vegetables, raising goats, and making ceramic floor tiles.

In addition to the training, the women save some of your sponsorship money to buy equipment they will need to operate their own small businesses. Often, the women will form groups like cooperatives to share expenses and to sell their products together.

As you know, WFWI works in poor countries and we focus our attention on the poorest of the poor, the socially excluded women who are victims of conflict. It’s a challenging task, and one very significant goal of our work is to help the women learn to support themselves. We’re showing some progress here in eastern DRC, but there’s a long way to go.

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