Interests
General
Our mission is to provide holistic care for the people of the Democratic Republic of Congo: training health professionals, strengthening social activists and providing physical, spiritual and social healing.
HEALTH CARE - HEAL Africa's medical center in Goma is well recognized as a teaching hospital venue, providing ongoing training for health care professionals. It is the hospital of choice for good care in the region and acts as a referral center for the most difficult cases.
HIV/AIDS INTERVENTIONS - The Choose Life program has been working since 2000 to educate communities about HIV/AIDS by mobilizing all the faith communities (Muslim, mainline Protestant, Pentecostal, Catholic, and Kimbanguist) to teach how to respond with compassion to the challenge of HIV/AIDS. All of the activist trainers are volunteers, chosen by their community.
GENDER BASED VIOLENCE - Heal My People is a program that provides medical treatment to the victims of gender-based violence. It identifies women and girls who have been raped or who have fistulae from difficult childbirth, and offers treatment so that ultimately they can enter society as productive and healed people.
HEALING ARTS - Healing Arts equips women and vulnerable populations with skills, opportunities, and education so they are economically capable to support themselves and their families. Through Healing Arts products we advocate for conscious consumerism and promote active awareness in the western world regarding the role and responsibility to combat extreme poverty and conflict in the Great Lakes region of Africa.
ASSISTANCE FOR WIDOWS AND ORPHANS - The ongoing unrest in Congo has produced huge numbers of widows and orphans over the past few years. Two programs supported by HEAL Africa are working to address the needs of these groups.
POST-CONFLICT REBUILDING - The Nehemiah Initiative brings different local communities together to help them reintegrate the most vulnerable populations: the handicapped, widows, orphans, and victims of sexual violence.
COMMUNITY-BASED NUTRITION - Living Stones is a special agricultural branch of HEAL Africa. This innovative program for food security introduces new techniques to improve food production, and then shares findings with community groups in Goma and beyond.
CHILDREN LIKE US - Children Like Us is a new community-based rehabilitation program started in Masisi territory in June 2006, under the leadership of a young woman, Hortense, who lives with physical disability after childhood polio. The purpose of the program is to identify children with disability, give them surgical care, assist their families with income generation grants and works to combat the community attitudes towards people living with physical handicaps.
Blurbs
About me:
Lasting change cannot be imposed. Lasting change cannot come from outside. Change comes from within communities themselves. HEAL Africa works with communities in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo to recognize the potential for development and facilitates the steps at the medical, economic, and social levels. As one of the most prominent actors against sexual violence, HEAL Africa performs over 300 fistula repair surgeries a year and has done over 1400 successful reparations since 2004. Fistula is a tear in the vaginal wall occuring from either brutal rape or prolonged labor complications in birth, which results in incontinence. HEAL Africa also provides economic support for survivors of sexual violence and is taking legal action on behalf of the victims.
Who I'd like to meet:
For more information or to make a donation please visit:HEAL Africa
All international aid agencies have evacuated their staff, but HEAL Africa, with over 150 Congolese staff members, is working hard to respond to the crisis. None of the international relief organizations were active during the climax of the conflict while HEAL Africa has already treated over 160 war casualties and provided a safe haven for patients. Please visit the website for four easy ways that you can help.
Comments
Dec 15 2008 11:50 PM