Through the generosity of our donors to Project HEART, Mwendo Congo was able to send a first grant installment to our partner in eastern Congo, Let Africa Live (LAV). These funds are helping LAV expand services and operationalize their Auto Mechanic Shop. With the funding received thus far, LAV has been able to complete a hangar and order new machinery. Only $7,000 remains to reach our goal to support this important work!

Meet board member Wema Sabrina Kubisa. Wema currently serves as the board secretary and is a member of the Trauma Bridge Healing group. She brings a global health perspective and commitment to partnerships to her work with Mwendo Congo.

Professionals engaged in trauma healing in Minnesota and Congo convene quarterly to share struggles and successes in their work with youth to build positive identities. Learn more about their recent conversations and how you can get involved.

Meet Debbie Wuerffel who just began a two-year term on the board.  She is a middle school teacher for English language learners, a member of the Community of St. Martin, a parent, and a person committed to social justice and racial equity.  She’s been connected to Mwendo Congo since 2015.

Mwendo Congo granted $5800 to Let Africa Live (LAV) in January for the purchase of safety equipment to use in the carpentry workshop, now fully operational.  LAV immediately obtained the equipment and trained carpenters on proper use.  Worker safety is enhanced, thanks to donors like you.

Board member Dave Chatelaine was instrumental in dialoguing with Let Africa Live about safety concerns and determining the needs.

Mwendo Congo recently granted $10,000 to partner Let Africa Live (LAV) for support of internally displaced women as they seek to manage their menstrual cycles in dire circumstances.  LAV-trained tailors will produce reusable cloth pads, one part of complete kits for 150 women and girls whose needs are often overlooked.

Krista Nelson, a Minnesota-based licensed independent clinical social worker and long-time friend of Mwendo Congo, began conversations with Let Africa Live staff in 2019 about approaches to trauma healing here and in the DRC.  Those initial discussions led to an ongoing “trauma healing bridge group” that Krista convenes online quarterly for exchange of ideas and practices as well as mutual support in weathering the immense challenges in this work.

Liz Andress, board chair, along with her husband Steve Solbrack, spent ten days in December in Bukavu, DRC.  “We visited tailors who received graduation sewing kits in 2015, now thriving in their own workshops.  We were thrilled to see the new central production site in full swing.  And we were once again inspired by the Let Africa Live leaders.”

“The hard truth is that war is still going on in the Congo, despite the hope that people had after the 2018 elections,” says Pastor Kubisa, one of Mwendo Congo’s key advisors.  “This makes the work of partner organization Let Africa Live as crucial as ever in responding to the impacts of violence.”  Kubisa spent three months in the eastern Congo recently and reflects on the dire realities he observed on the ground.

Adam Hochschild tells the story of King Leopold’s Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror, and Heroism in Colonial Africa.  The author says, “This is the story of… [a] long period of exploration and conquest, and of the way the world has forgotten one of the great mass killings of recent history.”