INUKA RELIEF will give small grants and business training to women and young entrepreneurs in Goma, South Kivu, DR Congo, whose shops were looted or shut down by the 2025 war. We also help savings groups (AVEC) rebuild their emptied funds, so families can restart small businesses, earn daily income, and recover without waiting for banks to reopen.
In January 2025, fighting reached Bukavu and Goma. Shops were looted, markets emptied, and thousands of families fled. Today, banks and microfinance lenders remain closed, so women and young entrepreneurs cannot borrow a single dollar. The village savings groups that once carried women through hard times, called AVECs, have run dry. Many small businesses have closed or moved away, and families are losing their only income.
INUKA RELIEF gives selected women and youth entrepreneurs in Bukavu a small grant of under $1,000, plus practical training in budgeting, pricing, record keeping, and running a business in a crisis. We also top up savings group funds so members can lend to each other again. Support goes to INUKA RELIEF members who lost stock or equipment, and every dollar is tracked and reported back to donors
When one woman reopens her stall, her children go back to school and eat more regularly. Strong savings groups keep lending locally, even when banks are closed. By building business skills and community savings, this project helps Bukavu families depend less on aid and stand firmer through future shocks. It also creates local jobs for other young people and a stronger local economy
This project has provided additional documentation in a PDF file (projdoc.pdf).
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