In the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), young girls are often forced into hard labor and sexual exploitation while working in local mines. You can support a path to education and healing for 40 of these girls.

Mwendo Congo has been partnering with Congolese-led Let Africa Live (LAV) for the past 10 years. LAV has a vision to create an alternative path for 40 Congolese girls. This holistic 12-month program will provide:

  1. Twenty adolescent girls (ages 10-16) with an education and trauma-focused therapy.

  2. Parents of these twenty girls with entrepreneurial training and a subsidy for a business plan, which will allow for the continued care of their children.

  3. Twenty young women (ages 15-25) who have survived sexual violence with training in hairdressing and beauty care, in order to have financial autonomy when reintegrating into their communities. Mwendo Congo has a goal of supporting LAV’s initiative with a $60,000 grant. Will you join us?

Mwendo Congo has a goal of supporting LAV’s initiative with a $60,000 grant. Will you join us?

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Artisinal Mine in South Kivu Democratic Republic of Congo

Since 1996 The DRC has experienced decades of political and economic crises due to repeated wars and armed conflicts.

  • 6 million Deaths

  • 400,000 Sexual Assaults

  • 50,000 Children Laboring in Mines

Sifa’s Story

My name is Sifa. I am 12 years old from Kalaga, Mwenga. I am the 5th child of 6. My father left us when I was 7 to go to an area called Minembwe to mine gold. I have not seen him since.

My mother left us when I was only 4. I think she left us because life here was too hard for her. Because I had no parents, my grandmother took us into her home. She did her best to give us what we needed. But she did not have the strength to earn the money to care for us. Because we had no money and food at home, I left my studies and went to work in the mines.

The work in the mines is very difficult. My job is transporting water. It is a very hard job for me. Sometimes men drug me with a local drug called Kazamba. We do not talk about the sexual violations. It is too terrible, especially with big boys or men. Sometimes I feel like I'm going to die. Illness and infections are commonplace in the mines.

I have hope that with the help of Let Africa Live (LAV), I will be saved from this ordeal in the mines and I can go back to school to prepare for my future life.