The Democratic Republic of Congo has been going through war for several years. The war started in the eastern side of Congo in the provinces of Sud Kivu, Nord Kivu, Province Orientale and Maniema. The war was devastating for the population especially for women. Thousands of women have been raped by the Interahamwes.(Interahamwes are a militia group allegedly responsible for the genocide in Rwanda)
In 1994, the genocide in Rwanda let to an exodus of over a million Hutu to the Democratic Republic of Congo. they crossed the Ruzizi River to arrive in Bukavu. Among the refugees were the Interahmwes who crossed the borders with all their weapons.
This situation was the trigger to the current insecurity in the Democratic Republic of Congo. the forest of the eastern side of the Democratic Republic of Congo was invaded by Rwandese militia. the situation has endured to this date, it is the source of pain and trauma for the populations of eastern congo.
This is the context from which the girls in Bideka came from. They were kidnapped in the forest by the interahamwes. At night, Interahamwes use to raid villages. they looted, raped women in front of their children. They tortured, killed and burned houses at will. They destroyed everything that could be destroyed.
At Mwangaza International, we felt compelled by love to respond to that situation. with our little resources, we have assisted them emotionally and we have provided to their basic needs in order to facilitate their reinsertion. we have done that since 2008 and now we feel that it is time to move to the next part of the vision for these women which is to empower so that they can become truly independent.
Our other challenge lies in the fact that these 20 women have children who do not know their father and are rejected by the community because they were born from rape. Our heart are breaking for these children and we need help taking care of them. In the area of Bideka, thousands of women are in the same situation living in the midst of trauma and stigma. we feel sometimes that the 20 women we assist is just a drop in the ocean but we also know that our God is able and that we will change lives by the power of the cross in this area. On behalf of these women we want to ask for your help and your prayers, thank you for walking them through their road to healing.

By Christian Mukanya