ChildVoice Visit

Investing in war-affected youth: Congo-Uganda connections

Mwendo Congo co-founder and on-going advisor Pastor Kubisa received a $3000 travel grant from Mwendo Congo to visit ChildVoice sites in Uganda, followed by the ChildVoice director visiting Let Africa Live in the DRC.  Kubisa reflects on commonality in vision of their two organizations, the value of learning from one another and the potential for future partnership.

MC: What was the purpose of your trip?

USA Team and Kubisa visiting ChildVoice in Uganda

Through a series of events in 2021, I was introduced to Conrad Mandsagar, founder and CEO of ChildVoice International.  ChildVoice is an organization that invests in “the future of war-affected children and youth through sustainable interventions, research, collaboration, and advocacy.”  Once we met, it was clear we were meant to be in relationship with one another, as ChildVoice and Let Africa Live (LAV) are doing such similar work.  

I received an invitation to join ChildVoice’s annual trip to their programs in northern Uganda in November 2021, and in turn Let Africa Live invited Mandsagar to visit our various sites in eastern Congo.  The hope was that, from this first contact, we might build a long-lasting partnership of some sort between Child Voice and Let Africa Live.  Because Let Africa Live is dependent on outside grants to fund the programs we run, we are always seeking new affiliations that can support the youth we serve.  Mwendo Congo supported this trip as part of their commitment to help DRC partners expand their funding sources.

MC: What commonalities did you discover between the work of Let Africa Live in Congo (which you founded) and the approach of ChildVoice in Uganda?

A young Congolese girl in training at ChildVoice, Uganda

We had a positive experience in Uganda while participating in the activities of ChildVoice. Seeing how similar their activities are to Let Africa Live’s activities was a highlight.  Just like Let Africa Live, ChildVoice works with young women, victims of sexual violence, and their children, as well as young men who come out of army groups. The only difference is that ChildVoice focuses more on psychological-related activities than professional training.

MC: What were a couple of highlights from the trip?

Meeting with South-Kivu Vice-Governor in Bukavu, DRC

ChildVoice in Uganda is a large organization.  I gained so much from seeing the various aspects of their residential programs for war-affected youth – professional skills training, psychological healing for trauma, small enterprise development like hog-raising, and more.

On the first day in Bukavu, DRC, we were received by the Vice Governor of South Kivu province who was interested to hear more about the work of ChildVoice. He talked about the need for support that many Congolese children have and recognized the work that Let Africa Live has done since the year 2000. He concluded by asking the ChildVoice director to help Let Africa Live mobilize funding and more partnerships to continue our work of helping young men and women victims of armed conflicts.  This was Conrad’s first time in the Congo, and I am proud that Let Africa Live will be part of the story he will tell when talking about visiting the Congo.

MC: What was the value of the visit?

Visit at Let Africa Live professional skills training site in Bideka, DRC

Experiencing the work of ChildVoice firsthand, meeting local staff and interacting with their youth participants (some of them Congolese!) gave me many ideas and affirmed what we are doing at Let Africa Live.  

Conrad and I were able to talk about funding models for the kind of programs both organizations run.  I learned that Childvoice partners with many organizations that fund their activities, including Rotary Clubs in North America and Europe, church mission boards, and individual donors. Conrad provided some very useful perspectives that will inform the future fundraising efforts of Let Africa Live.  Having the infrastructure that we currently have, Let Africa Live should think about ways to utilize it to its full potential.  As a U.S. partner, Mwendo Congo should consider ways it can seek grants to support the work in the DRC.

There are several possibilities we will pursue for ways we can support each other in our efforts moving forward (more on this to come!).  Perhaps most important, we really connected at the heart-level and developed a friendship that will continue into the future.