- LOCATION: Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo
- PROJECT: Women’s Empowerment Center and School
- DIRECTOR: Rev. Udjasiri and Josephine Wakahasha
- FINANCIAL GOAL:
$5,000 annual costs for tailoring school and literacy classes
$60,000 Construction costs for school and classrooms
The Democratic Republic of Congo has one of the worst records of mistreatment of women in the entire world. In fact Congo is unofficially known as the “rape capital of the world.” This is partly because soldiers raped many women during times of war. And very few of these women have ever had counseling for the trauma they endured. This is why we are providing counseling. We are working with Rev. Udjasiri and Josephine Wakahasha to build a sewing center to help local women start their own businesses. This sewing center was completed in October 2021, and now we are building a school for the children of single mothers. We will also use this center to provide trauma counseling for rape victims.
In 2021 we began construction on our women’s empowerment center, and we raised $20,000 for this. We also purchased the sewing machines and supplies. I went to Goma in August 2022 to dedicate this center and to speak at conferences for women, men and pastors. We need additional funds for a literacy program. We also plan to build a school and daycare to give women more opportunities to support their families.
