Field Updates

Field Updates:

November 2009- Training of Trainers
September 2009- USAID Provides $7 Million to Survivors of Sexual and Gender-Based Violence in Eastern DRC
Latest update from Zainab Salbi on the Epidemic of Rape in the Congo
Ending Violence Against Women in Eastern Congo: Preparing Men to Advocate for Women's Rights, Winter 2007
Men's Leadership Training, July 2006
Congolese Women on the Road to Recovery: Updates on Our First Training Groups, Summer 2005

 

Group Updates:

Tuhimizane/Kasheke Women Group Update_April 2009
Washindi/Camp Bien Aime Group Update

 

November 2009 - Training of Trainers

Entry 1

WfWI-DRC has the largest program in the Women for Women International network, serving over 7,000 women this year. Looking at a map of the country at large, the areas in which we work seem rather close in vicinity, especially relative to the size of the country (nearly the same landmass as Western Europe). However, looking at the prominently placed map of DRC in the Bukavu headquarters, it is clear that the communities WfWI-DRC serve are nowhere near each other; from North to South, Goma, Bukavu, Baraka, and Uvira are hours away from each other. It is a 13 hour drive, north to south. Unfortunately for me, it means that my time in the country will be primarily limited to Bukavu. Luckily for me, the training staff from all the sub-offices are here for the Training of Trainers (ToT).

The ToT’s purpose is to give an in-depth orientation to the newly deepened Women’s World Manual Curriculum, help the Renewing Women’s Life Skills trainers improve their facilitation skills, and most importantly help them solve problems so they can more effectively serve the women participants. I already knew that the DRC training crew have significant challenges, but I also know that they are uniquely placed to have a great impact on the women we serve. Having worked on the curriculum revision for two years as WfWI Program Coordinator in DC, I am very excited and happy to be here.

This is also a unique opportunity for the trainers; such great distances mean that they have little opportunity to interact, share experiences, and focus exclusively on their training techniques. They seem especially excited that Nina and I are here to focus on their important work. On the first day of training, it seems quite a lot like the first day of “school”; the ReneWLS trainers stick with the people they know. The Bukavu group sits together, the Goma group sits together, and the Baraka/Uvira group sit together. I know they are excited, but they also seem nervous. This is not surprising; having worked on the revised curriculum for a long time myself, I know that the new manual is more than double the size of the original, which makes it imposing before you even open the book. But, as lead training consultant Nina Nayar says as she introduces the curriculum, we have complete confidence in the training staff. We know they can master the new material. All that is really new is the methodology, and I am more than confident that the trainers can learn from each other and teach Nina and I things as well.

Nina introduces herself, and then gives me the floor. I tell the trainers about my work with WfWI, and I also tell them that I am a first generation American whose parents are from Nigeria and Ghana. This is my first trip to Africa since I was a child. This brings lots of smiles and applause to the room.

Then the 37 trainers, plus office and sub-office staff introduce themselves. The youngest trainer is 22 – the oldest trainers playfully decline to give their age. The trainers are young, mature, married, widowed, divorced, single, and have training in many different fields. There are trained teachers, nurses, lawyers, and agronomists in the training staff. Also present is Honorata, the prime example of WfWI successes, is present among the Baraka group of trainers. As we finish introducing ourselves and begin dividing up sessions and exercises to practice, I am certain that WfWI-DRC has the best trainers to be had in the country. I am excited to see what they make of the new material.
Entry 2

This afternoon, the trainers (or formatrice, in the local French) discuss their favorite sessions and least favorite sessions to deliver. We know the sessions that the participants tend to enjoy most from their evaluation forms (women in the economy is the overwhelming favorite), so it is interesting to hear what the trainers have to say.

Most trainers enjoy delivering the health and wellness sessions. It can be amazing how little the women we serve know about their bodies and basic things like basic hygiene and nutrition. Their poverty makes it difficult to effectively manage their health. When you live in a mud hut with a thatched roof, no indoor plumbing, and no electricity, how healthy can we reasonably expect our program participants to be? It isn’t surprising that the trainers enjoy delivering this module. Its impact is immediate and visible, and makes the trainers feel good about their jobs.

Further discussion reveals that there is a split on the Stress, Post-traumatic Stress Disorder, and Stress Management session. Many trainers enjoy delivering this session because they know that their participants suffer from varying degrees of stress. All of our women face stress from being poverty-stricken in their daily lives. Then there is the stress that comes from difficult family situations; many of our participants suffer from domestic violence. Finally, there is the overwhelming stress that comes from the unstable security environment. Many participants are displaced, living in IDP camps, or are returnees who have to rebuild their lives from scratch. They have lost family in the conflict. Many have been raped or otherwise exploited as their communities have been destroyed. Several of our trainers, including the very vocal Mai (from Bukavu) and Josephine (from Goma), enjoy delivering the Stress and Stress Management session because they are well aware of how desperately their women are in need of relief.

Others disagree, and it is interesting that they dislike the Stress and Stress Management topics for the same reasons that their fellow trainers enjoy it. Denise, one of our Bukavu trainers, says that her participants are so traumatized by the conflict that they cannot handle this session. They start weeping in class, and Denise is often at a loss for how best to comfort them. Marie Claire, another Bukavu trainer, agrees. The unstable environment affects all the women, and there is unfortunately no end in sight.

Mai adds to the discussion. She enjoys delivering the stress session, but she dislikes the sessions on women and politics. She says that this is because she, as well as the women she trains, blame Congo’s local and national politicians for their poverty and suffering. She isn’t wrong. I’ve only been here a few days, but I can already see that there is little infrastructure and even fewer facilities.

Mai goes on to say that there is only one trained psychologist in the Bukavu area. How can one psychologist provide for thousands of women who are in such great need of counseling? She understands her colleague’s frustrations; there is only so much that our trainers can do for their women.

As it turns out, Mai was a trained HIV / AIDS counselor during her former career as a nurse. She suggests that the trainers with a background in health receive additional training in trauma counseling to help our own WfWI participants with their unique needs. Nina and I ask how many trainers think this would help their women in need, as well as help them deliver the stress sessions more effectively. All 37 trainers raise their hands. Mai and Josephine make it their personal mission to hammer this point home to Nina and I for the rest of the week. I understand, and hope that we can strengthen trainer capacity in this regard. No one can deny that they in DRC, trauma healing is vital to out success and to our women’s recovery from the conflict.

USAID Provides $7 Million to Survivors of Sexual and Gender-Based Violence in Eastern DRC

Kinshasa, DR Congo, MM/DD/YY – The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has provided $7 million to  assist survivors of Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV) in the Eastern provinces of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Through this three-year program, nearly 15,000 vulnerable girls and women will receive assistance in the provinces of North and South Kivu.

This program follows Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s visit to the DRC during her trip to Africa in August 2009. “Over the recent years, the United States Government has stood with the Congolese people to address of the epidemic levels of rape and abuse against women and girls. This new project will provide thousands of SGBV survivors with critical care and help protect and promote their rights in North and South Kivu,” said Stephen Haykin, USAID/DRC Mission Director.

Entitled “ESPOIR”, or “Ending Sexual Violence by Promoting Opportunities and Individual Rights,” this program will be implemented by the non-governmental organization (NGO) International Rescue Committee (IRC) through its network of local NGOs.  The program includes support for clinics, hospitals, community centers for women and children, and mental health services through its partnerships with seven Congolese NGOs and 65 health facilities in North and South Kivu provinces. The program will also provide specialized training for medical personnel and help protect and promote survivors’ rights.  A total of 45 community-based groups in the targeted provinces will also receive assistance to help individuals and families regain their livelihoods and roles within their communities.  Through this program, USAID will seek to improve SGBV survivors’ access to quality care and reintegration services in rural areas where violent rape and sexual abuse occur.
 
The IRC has also partnered with the NGO Women for Women International, which will provide rights-based education, vocational and business skills training, and income-generation assistance to SGBV survivors and other vulnerable women.

Since 2002, the United States Government has been a major bilateral donor to respond to severe and widespread SGBV in the DRC.  Through USAID and the Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance and the U.S. Department of State, U.S. programs aim to improve access to care and treatment services for survivors, fight impunity for perpetrators through support for legal reform and judicial system strengthening, and promote community awareness of and response to SGBV.  To date, the United States has assisted well over 100,000 SGBV survivors in the DRC through its activities in North and South Kivu, Ituri District of Orientale Province, and Maniema Province.

Tuhimizane/Kasheke Women Group Update_April 2009

Tuhimizane women group live at Kasheke district in the surrounding of Bukavu town.  This group was selected from a vulnerable district selected after a community assessment conducted by the sponsorship team.  People from this district have no source of income; they are unemployed and live on carrying loads either in the market or at the beach.  Only a small number of women do petty trade with a very little capital.  There are several street children in this district as the parents are not able to school them. 

This group is composed of 20 women who wanted to create a women’s network in order to develop friendship.  Tuhimizane is a Swahili name which means let’s awake awareness of each other.  These women justified the choice of this name saying that alone, one easily forgets or her duties but if there is somebody to awake the conscious, one takes courage and may evolves in whatever she undertakes. 

Of the 20 enrolled women in October 2008, only 18 are active to the training sessions.  They began their manual training sessions in November08. 
To date, they have received 11 topics out of the 26 scheduled in the training manual and which are:

• Program introduction and overview.
• Job opportunities for women.
• Business women in everyone.
• Basic business and marketing skills.
• Women’s rights and DRC constitution
• Women and family law.
• Domestic violence.
• Stress and stress management.
• Women involved in social Actions.
• Health is a human right.
• Reproductive anatomy and physiology

To date, they have received their sponsorship funds four times.
These women declare to have gained much from these topics because they ignore many things before joining the sponsorship program.  They declare the following: We have learned our rights, good selling, how to manage stress, how to live in harmony with our husbands and neighbours in our district, and mostly useful information on our reproductive organs.   

Despite the hard situation within their households, some of these women have made some progress.  This is the cases of:

Byamungu, Aimerance,a married mother of a 4 years boy sells fresh milk with a capital of $10. Before joining the program, she used to do business without any calculation.  After receiving the business related topics, she now has the notions of profit and loss.  Thanks to these notions, her capital increased to $30.  Now she easily pays her monthly rent, feeds her family and meets her other family needs.

Gisele M’kazige is married to a husband who left her since 3 years now and he went to live at Burega, a village located at 300 kms drive from her location.  Gisele sells sorghum flour with a capital which increased from $10 to $20 after she got enrolled to the sponsorship program and received the business related topics.   Gisele declares that despite the absence of her husband, she tries to meet her family needs of which food, the $8 of monthly rent and other basic needs. 

Chantal Nawezsa M’buhendwa is a married mother of 5 children of whom 3 go to school. Her husband sells small items at Walikale in a different province in North Kivu.  She used to borrow money in order to sell palm nuts with a capital of $10 and could only take the profit and give back the capital.  Thanks to her monthly sponsorship funds, she has her own capital of $30.  She is now working for herself and takes care of her family peacefully.

 

Washindi/Camp Bien Aime Group Update

Washindi is a women group from Camp Bien Aime district, a poor district where most inhabitants are load carriers, most children do not go to school, and people have one poor meal a day at night.  Washindi is a Swahili name which means the Winners.   They justified the choice of this name saying that their enrolment to the Women for Women International sponsorship program will enable them to overcome their hardships and become winners in all the challenges.   Initially, the group was composed of 20 women when they started the program in November 2008. Currently, only 19 women are regular to the training sessions. 
 
Women from this group have received their sponsorship funds five times and have received 11 topics of the 26 scheduled by the program.  Hereafter the received topics:

• Program introduction and overview.
• Job opportunities for women.
• Business women in everyone.
• Basic business and marketing skills.
• Women’s rights and DRC Constitution
• Women and family law.
• Domestic violence.
• Stress and stress management.
• Women involved in social Actions.
• Health is a human right.
• Reproductive anatomy and physiology.   

 
These women group declare that all the topics were important but they were mostly moved by the business, rights and anatomy related topics.  They said that they even ignored the usefulness of their organs. 
Please find the testimonies about the progress of some women:

Bibich Kahiriri is a married mother of 9 children of whom 6 go to school.  She sells fish with a capital which has increased from $30 to $50 thanks to her participation to the Women for Women sponsorship program.  She lives in her family in-law.  The profit she makes from her small business enables her to feed her children and to meet her other needs. 

Judith Mulumenkana is a married mother of 5 children of whom only two go to school because the other 3 are not school aged.  She lives on selling small fresh fish  with a capital that goes from $20 before joining the Women for Women sponsorship program to $45 after receiving business related topics and the monthly sponsorship funds.  As her husband is unemployed, she is the one to take care of her family by feeding, clothing, schooling children, paying medical fees and other basic needs of the family.   
  
Note that on both photos, the Manual Trainer is standing on the right.

Data collected by Therese LASSE, women group Manual Trainer.
Translated by Emery H.

Latest update from Zainab Salbi on the Epidemic of Rape in the Congo

Zainab shares the heart-wrenching stories of women lining up at the gates of our DR Congo offices and what we are doing to help in an email to sponsors and supporters.

Ending Violence Against Women in Eastern Congo: Preparing Men to Advocate for Women's Rights, Winter 2007

Women for Women International’s report “Ending Violence Against Women in Eastern Congo: Engaging Men as Advocates for Women’s Rights” discusses the need for the Men’s Leadership Program, its methodology, the results of surveys, interviews and focus groups with participants and women in their communities as well as an Action Agenda for the future.

Men's Leadership Training, July 2006

Over the past decade, a complex web of local, regional, and national conflict has devastated much of the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Ethnic strife and civil war broke out in 1996, sparked by a large inflow of refugees from the neighboring Rwandan genocide in 1994. Rebel groups from neighboring countries entered the conflict in 1998. The war, involving seven African nations and many groups of armed combatants, is the deadliest in documented African history. Mortality surveys estimate that nearly four million people have died as a result of the conflict, which has been marked by gross human rights violations, often directly targeting women by using rape and other forms of sexual violence as weapons of war. A fragile transitional government of national unity has been in operation since June 2003. General elections, the first since independence from Belgium in 1960, are scheduled for July 30, 2006.

In response to horrific reports of rampant sexual violence from the international NGO community and Congolese women themselves, Women for Women International launched its multi-tiered program of direct aid and emotional support, rights awareness and leadership education, vocational skills training and income-generation support in the DRC in May 2004 to provide services to the socially excluded Congolese women who endured, witnessed and survived these atrocities.

Echoing the reports from humanitarian and human rights organizations, many of the program participants told stories of the horrors they had endured during the conflict, including gang rape, mutilation and sexual slavery. The women also reported that because of the social stigma attached to rape in Congolese culture, they were rejected by their husbands and other members of their communities, in some cases being deserted or literally turned out of their own homes. Still others talked about the daily battles of private violence behind closed doors. As these women began to find seeds of hope through Women for Women International’s program, they called upon the organization to help them educate the men in their communities.

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

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…

 

Outreach

Read Our Newsletter