Educate 130 Children of Rape Victims in DR Congo

We are expecting a check soon that will bring us within just under $1K of the funds we need to keep these kids in school. Please consider a generous donation today (pref'ly by end of Jan.); any amount is appreciated.

Paraphrased from the kids in the Congo (translation):

We would like that people in the Americas to continue assisting us with paying our school fees as they have done this year through the support they have given to AMCAV. We thank them for their support in our favour and God bless them abundantly. They have demonstrated great love for us Congolese children who are born from rape and we ask them to seek help from other Americans. You [GlobalGiving donors] are the only ones in the world who have a great concern for us; no one else has thought of us. We the children of Uvira, we will remain grateful for everything that is in our favour. Neither we nor our mothers can pay for our fees. Thank you.

Good news to report, straight from DR Congo. Bernadette and other AMCAV officials spoke with schoolgirls (the vast majority of Global Giving donors support girls), their mothers, school officials, and teachers:

Remember, the older students we're supporting were born of rape and had never, until now, attended school because they're considered rejects of society. According to the teacher, Ms. Neema, of the school ELIMU BORA, KILIBA SUCKI, our students were initially ill at ease with the younger schoolchildren. Today, however, thanks to "multiple awareness sessions" organized and implemented by counselors at AMCAV, the children are well integrated. Even the games have been changed to accommodate the diverse age groups.

I had Bernadette ask the children how they like going to school. She reports, "All the children that we have asked responded that they always want to go to school. The teachers confirm that the children we send to school thanks to Global Giving donors are never absent even if they are sick. They truly like to attend school."

The Global Giving/AMCAV students report that they are studying hard. They are surpassing their younger classmates in studies in their native tribal language, but they are having difficulties with learning government-required French, having never been exposed to the language before.

We have been gifted 5 desktop computers for these students, which could potentially be loaded with level 1 French software, but our huge problem is that the offer does not include shipping. If anyone knows of another organization that can donate shipping service from Washington, DC, to eastern DR Congo, please notify us.

More will be revealed in Part 2 of this report. For now, let's just say the kids and their mothers are extremely grateful for each and every donation that comes to this project. Please consider supporting them again, perhaps with a recurring donation.