Donations
Donate anytime or attend an event!
Look for us on venmo @brightercongo. If you prefer another type of donation, contact Emma Timmins-Schiffman at [email protected].
Look for us on venmo @brightercongo. If you prefer another type of donation, contact Emma Timmins-Schiffman at [email protected].
Join us on October 19, 2018 for a traditional Congolese meal at the University Friends Meeting. There is no cost to attend, but there will be an opportunity to support an joint project with INIREC to cover school fees and mentoring for 50 girls in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Please RSVP on the RSVP page!
Dinner and conversation, October 19, 7-9 pm
University Friends meeting, 4001 9th Ave NE, Seattle, WA
See below for details on the project.
We strive to give as much money as possible to the groups that work directly with affected women and girls in the DRC. No one in Brighter Futures collects any salary for the work that we do for our organization. We attempt to keep the costs of our fundraisers low to maximize our impact in the DRC.
Dinner and conversation, October 19, 7-9 pm
University Friends meeting, 4001 9th Ave NE, Seattle, WA
See below for details on the project.
We strive to give as much money as possible to the groups that work directly with affected women and girls in the DRC. No one in Brighter Futures collects any salary for the work that we do for our organization. We attempt to keep the costs of our fundraisers low to maximize our impact in the DRC.
The assault on women in the DRC.
Ongoing ethnic conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has resulted in the rape of hundreds of thousands of Congolese women and girls. Over the last few decades this ethnic violence within the DRC and with neighboring countries has led to the creation of various militia groups that go in and out of favor depending on the political climate. These groups use rape of women and girls as a weapon in their ongoing wars. Militia members often are told that they must partake in this rape culture. There has been shockingly little pressure from the Congolese government, or from international powers, to prosecute the perpetrators and organizers of these actions.
The women and girls who have become victims of this perpetual violence frequently find themselves ostracized from their communities and blamed for the violence done to them. This leaves them with little hope of supporting themselves, or their children. It is not uncommon for a woman to be attacked multiple times. Many also suffer serious physical injury in these rapes. There are multiple organizations in the Congo that work to help these women physically, emotionally, and economically. We sought to find organizations that help these women and girls reintegrate into society and that strive to change this ingrained culture of sexual violence.
The women and girls who have become victims of this perpetual violence frequently find themselves ostracized from their communities and blamed for the violence done to them. This leaves them with little hope of supporting themselves, or their children. It is not uncommon for a woman to be attacked multiple times. Many also suffer serious physical injury in these rapes. There are multiple organizations in the Congo that work to help these women physically, emotionally, and economically. We sought to find organizations that help these women and girls reintegrate into society and that strive to change this ingrained culture of sexual violence.
Congolese Dinner October 19, 2018
Our focus this year has changed to measures that could prevent the continual cycle of sexual violence in the DRC. In our view, the best way to do this is to educate and empower girls so that they are able to have more dominant and visible roles in their communities. We have worked with our ongoing partner INIREC to design a project that will support 50 Congolese girls throughout the school year. Our funds will pay for all their school supplies, clothes, and personal hygiene needs throughout the school year. Additionally, INIREC will mentor the girls, their parents, and their teachers on the importance of uninterrupted and complete education for girls. We strongly believe that by supporting an established Congolese-run NGO to do our on-the-ground work that we will have a stronger and more lasting impact on local communities.
Please join us!
Please join us!
Our Congolese Partners
Congokazi has been helping women and girls in the DRC gain access to education and economically viable trades since 2009. The focus of this group is to empower and educate women so they are able to have more control over their society. The organization also mobilizes demonstrations against sexual violence to increase awareness. Financing education for one girl costs between $100 in rural areas, $120 for urban state schools, and $450 for private schools per year. Congokazi is run on a volunteer basis so that all acquired funds go directly towards their efforts of helping girls and women in the DRC.
Initiative for Community Reconciliation (Initiatives pour la Réconciliation Communautaire, INIREC) has been working in the DRC since 2006. INIREC is founded on Quaker principles of equality and non-violence and runs programs in the DRC to help people integrate these principals into their society. Their goals are to reduce violence and reintegrate vulnerable groups that have been disconnected from their communities (such as victims of sexual violence). Recent projects include: 1. Socio-economic reintegration of vulnerable groups (e.g. refugees, victims of sexual violence) through job training in computers and sewing; 2. Outreach to children about peace; and 3. Increasing awareness about HIV/AIDS.
Simama Imara was created by a group of women in Lubumbashi who were aware of the socio-economic position of women as victims of sexual violence and gender-based violence in human society. Their goal is to support women in championing their own causes. They do this by fighting against poverty and marginalization of women, increasing female engagement in elections and running for office, increasing awareness of gender-based violence, helping groups of women start agricultural work, and teaching reading, sewing, and farming.
Association de Soutien aux Opprimés (ASO) works for human rights, specifically the rights of women and children affected by armed conflicts. ASO strives to remind everyone that women and children are equal members of society and that their basic rights should not be overlooked. A main focus of ASO's is the reintegration of child soldiers into society by providing them with a safe place to live and creative forms of therapy. The conscription of children into armed groups in DRC, and elsewhere, perpetuates the cycle of violence that leads to the continued abuse of women and children in these areas. Healing and re-integrating these young people gives them a chance to be part of positive change in their communities.
What led me to this cause.
In 2016 I heard a story on NPR about the rape of young girls and women in the DRC. I was strongly affected by this story and I was left feeling that I couldn't just turn the other way and go on with my life. I decided that if more people knew about these atrocities and decided to help in any way that they could, then maybe these girls and women would have a better chance of reestablishing their lives and future girls and women would have a better chance of living a life without this violence perpetrated against them. My first step is to organize events to raise support for charities located in the DRC that work directly to help victims of sexual violence and to create societies that are less likely to foster such large-scale abuse.