About Us
We are a group of volunteers that have been inspired by the amazing resilience of the Congolese people and the organizations that serve them directly. We started organizing and giving presentations in the spring of 2014, we officially registered as an nonprofit organization in the spring of 2015, and we became a 501(c)3 tax-exempt organization in the fall of 2016. Our mission is to promote health, education, and peace in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). To that end we have given over 80 presentations on the context of the DRC, visited our partners in the DRC three times, held various fundraisers, and granted over $400,000 for projects in the DRC. If you would like to learn more, or know of a school/organization/social club/church/etc. where we could present about the DRC and our work, please contact us at info@mwendocongo.org.
Vision: Mwendo Congo envisions conscious and equity-driven relationships between the people of the US and the DRC. We come alongside Congolese leaders in health work and education as our valued guides and companions in the effort to address legacies of colonialism and racial injustice, and their particular impact on Congolese youth and women.
Mission: To promote community development in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) through health work, education, and relationship building between the people of the U.S. and the DRC.
What We Do:
Support job skill development and trauma healing of Congolese youth impacted by ongoing armed conflict in the DRC.
Increase access to health care for underserved communities, with special focus on women and children.
Organize exchanges between the USA and the DRC to raise awareness and build solidarity
Three-Year Strategic Plan
The board has laid out three strategic priorities: strengthen relationships with our DRC partners; engage our U.S. network in creative and effective ways; and increase organizational capacity. Mwendo Congo remains vibrant and eager for the next phases in our work to support education and health in the DRC.
Our Donors Make Our Work Possible
Our work would not be possible without the ongoing and generous support of our donors. Mwendo Congo is an all volunteer organization, which keeps our expenses very low. To see a full list of our 2023 donors click here.
Mwendo Congo Board
Elizabeth Andress is a co-founder of Mwendo Congo and serves as Chair of the Mwendo Congo board of directors. She visited our partners and their communities in the DRC in August 2015. Liz holds an M.A. in Education from the University of Minnesota. She worked for 20 years as an adult educator, teaching English and job skill classes with immigrant and refugee adults and consulting statewide in adult education professional development. She has held a variety of administrative positions in college-level international and experiential education. She has many years of experience organizing for social change at local, national and international levels. Read more about Liz.
Wema Sabrina Kubisa serves on the Mwendo Congo board of directors as the secretary. She is a graduate of St. Catherine University where she studied public health education and completed her masters in global health. She currently works at the Minnesota Department of Health as a Communication Specialist and previously worked at Global Minnesota as an Administrative Coordinator and International Fellow. Wema was born and grew up in South Kivu province in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Dave Chatelaine serves on the Mwendo Congo board of directors as the treasurer and is active in the education working group. Dave lives in Owatonna, Minnesota and is a retired technology education teacher. He continues to coach cross country and track in the Owatonna school district. He also taught and coached at Totino-Grace High School for 5 years prior to moving to Owatonna. Dave and his wife Kathy were introduced to Kubisa Muzenende, Let Africa Live and Mwendo Congo through their daughter Amy. Dave hopes to visit the DRC in the near future to meet Let Africa Live partners and see the planned production facility in operation.
Dave’s wife Kathy is Assistant to the Bishop and coordinates the global programs for the ELCA Southeast Minnesota Synod. His daughter Amy completed her MDiv degree at Candler School of Theology at Emory University and is in a chaplaincy residency program. Dave and Kathy’s daughter Katie and son in-law Chris are both pastors in Winona, MN and parents of first granddaughter Junia. Dave and Kathy’s son D.J. and his wife Carrie both serve at First English Lutheran in Faribault, MN. Read more about Dave.
Keira Kim is a long time board member of Mwendo Congo and serves as financial secretary. She currently works in Product Management at Legrand focused on eCommerce and serves as financial secretary. She graduated from St. Olaf College with majors in Economics and Asian Studies and minors in Finance and Mandarin Chinese. During college, she spent time in China studying language and has since returned for business and personal travel. Read more about Keira.
Peder Garnaas-Aryal is a cofounder of Mwendo Congo. He graduated from St. Olaf College with a degree in French and Psychology in 2012 and from the Humphrey School Of Public Affairs with a Master’s Degree in Science, Technology, and Environmental Policy. Peder visited the eastern Congo in 2014 and 2016 to make connections with local initiatives such as Panzi Hospital, Let Africa Live, and Idjwi Initiative. Read more about Peder.
Cathy LaCount joined the board of directors in 2022 as a member-at-large. Cathy graduated with honors from Augustana University in Sioux Falls, SD in 1971 with a BA in elementary education. She spent her entire teaching career in Owatonna, Minnesota, teaching mainly first and second graders. Cathy is an active member of Trinity Lutheran Church in Owatonna. She has hosted new member classes, served community meals, distributed food boxes, and assisted with church communications. Cathy has been a member of the Woman’s Club of Owatonna since 2008, serving on several committees and as president in 2011-2012.
Cathy and her husband have five adult children, all busy with careers and children. “One of my sons I adopted from Korea when he was four years old. My daughter, also adopted from Korea, passed away after many years of struggling with mental health issues in 2012 at age 36. I have another son, two stepdaughters and a stepson.” Read more about Cathy.
Richard Mann joined the board of directors in 2022 as a member-at-large. His journalism (BA) and training and development (MEd) degrees from the U of MN provided the basis for his 30-year career in technical writing and training for medical device and software companies. In his retirement years, he has returned to the U of MN to audit history and art history classes that have included African history. He has experience with other boards that address the varied needs of U.S. immigrants from several African countries who must deal with the broad consequences of settler colonialism. This includes healthcare disparities, as well as navigating local daycare licensure requirements for providing services to immigrant children. He has also provided ad hoc support for Mwendo Congo programs.
Richard’s wife Peggy is a retired elementary school teacher. Since her retirement, she has been enjoying her “Grandma Academy” tutoring of their grandchildren in reading and math. Their two adult children have careers in the private sector (Target) and the public sector (Friends of the Mississippi River).
Kris Emerson holds a BA from the University of Minnesota and a nursing degree from St. Catherine University. She has been volunteering in East Africa since 2013, mainly in Tanzania and Kenya. She also spent a month volunteering in Peru. She has worked in clinics administering medications to children, performing well baby checks, and administering TB and AIDS medications. Kris most recently spent two weeks at the Brydges Centre in Kenya (founded by a Minnesota couple in 1995), setting up a medical clinic and training staff on basic first aid, medication administration, and taking blood pressures.
Deb Wuerffel graduated from Valparaiso University with a BA in Biology and a minor in Humanities. While at Valpo, she spent a semester studying in Namibia and South Africa with the Center for Global Education. This experience was her entry point into issues of social justice and anti-racism work, as she learned from Professor Pandu Hailonga the importance of "decolonizing our minds." Deb started her career in the non-profit housing arena, including providing homeless youth services and working with homebuyers at Habitat for Humanity. She also spent 10 years in the foreclosure intervention and homeownership counseling space, managing programming at the Minnesota Homeownership Center. She is a member of the Community of St. Martin faith community, and in-between housing jobs she managed their nonprofit café and bookstore, St. Martin's Table. Deb returned to school in 2018 to pursue her teaching license, earning a Masters of Arts in Education from Augsburg University. She is currently a middle school teacher for English Language Learners. Deb lives in Minneapolis with her husband, Jake, and their two kids.
Other Leaders and Guides
Pastor Kubisa Sosthene Muzenende is the founder of Let Africa Live (Laissez L'Afrique Vivre or "LAV" in French), a non-governmental organization providing job skills training and psycho-social support to victims of war. LAV programs address the needs of survivors of violence and sexual abuse and serve former child soldiers as they reintegrate into society. As a human rights advocate, Pastor Muzenende has spent time in Europe and in many African countries raising awareness and money for the needs of the DRC. International partners include the Rotary Clubs of Bromma, Sweden and Bukavu, DRC; Norwegian Church Aid; Cordaid Hollande; and Eastern Congo Initiative. Pastor Muzenende currently resides in Hopkins, Minnesota, with regular visits back to the DRC consulting with LAV and contributing to the further development of civil society.
Dr. Edwige H. Mubonzi earned her medical doctorate in 2011 at the University Evangelical in Africa (U.E.A) in the Democratic Republic of Congo. She graduated with honors. From 2011-2013 she worked in the OB-Gyn department at Panzi Hospital in eastern Congo with Nobel Peace nominee Dr. Denis Mukwege. During her two years at the Panzi Hospital, Dr. Mubonzi completed a fellowship in fistula repair surgery and was a member of the Mobile Clinic which traveled to outlying communities to find and treat women victims of rape. Since 2013, Dr. Mubonzi has lived in Minnesota where she is engaged in work to inform US citizens about the war in the Democratic Republic of Congo and to advocate for peaceful resolutions to the conflict. She has successfully passed the U.S. Medical Licensing Examination.
Krista Nelson (LICSW, LMFT) is a Saint Paul, Minnesota-based family therapist and specialist in trauma and attachment healing for children, adults and families who have survived overwhelming terror or loss. Since 2001 she has been lead educator with the Wilder Foundation’s Attachment and Trauma Training Program, creating training for children’s treatment programs, foster and adoptive family organizations, community mental health, advocacy and housing organizations and child welfare programs.
Krista is also a founding member of the St. Paul psychotherapy practice Family Circle Counseling PLLC, has been adjunct faculty at the University of St. Thomas School of Social Work and consults with Minnesota mental health professionals seeking to increase their attachment expertise. A 1983 graduate of Macalester College and 1987 masters graduate of the University of Chicago School of Social Work, Krista holds a lifelong passion for cross-cultural exploration of how people cope with adversity and organize themselves toward resilience. As the lead of Mwendo Congo’s trauma healing bridge group, she seeks to link innovators in trauma healing in Minnesota with those in the DRC. Read more about Krista.
How We Got Started
In January 2014, English teacher Liz Andress heard the remarkable life stories of students Pastor Kubisa Muzenende and Dr. Edwige Mubonzi. Just months earlier, they had been working as human rights activists in Congo, known to each other by reputation only. They left Congo, arrived in Minnesota months apart, and independently found their way to the Hubbs Center in St. Paul. Their chance meeting at Hubbs and encounter with teacher Liz Andress set the stage for amazing things to happen.
Deeply moved by their charisma and courage, Liz asked Pastor Kubisa and Dr. Edwige to speak at her church, Grace University Lutheran Church in Minneapolis. Peder Garnaas-Aryal, a Grace member and recent St. Olaf graduate, served as the French translator for this talk. Awe and respect filled the room on April 13, 2014 as Pastor Kubisa spoke of his work providing vocational training and psychosocial support for former child soldiers and Dr. Edwige spoke of her work providing wholistic medical and surgical care to women victims of rape. People were profoundly affected by their message and were inspired to learn more.
Liz, Kubisa, Edwige and Peder scheduled dozens of speaking presentations in the following months. Those who heard the story invariably wanted to participate in the healing work of Pastor Kubisa and Dr. Edwige. As financial contributions increased, so too did the need for an accountable organization. Thus, in March of 2015, Mwendo Congo incorporated as a Minnesota non-profit dedicated to promoting community development in DRC through health work, education, and relationship building between the people of the U.S. and the DRC.
