Results
Human interest stories (abridged)
*Due to confidentiality, all names used are aliases and not the actual names of those who testified.
The power of social support
Feza* had a difficult past as a war displaced person in North Kivu. A survivor of sexual violence, she speaks about her case, which she was inspired to bring to the judicial authorities of Goma not long after learning about a local support project for survivors.
“A victim of violence, I had lost so much weight that people believed me to be carrying HIV. But thanks to the Tupinge Ubakaji Program, I am in good health because I received free medical treatment and psychosocial support. The legal clinic managed by the NGO ASSODIP provided me with a lawyer who accompanied me free of charge to the Police and the Tribunal. Finally, I received trainings that help me do good things for those around me.
Before I was a beggar, but now thanks to livestock and agriculture IGAs, I am reintegrated into the community. I just harvested 5 bags of beans at the agricultural season 2017. My children go to school and have enough to eat. Grace literacy training: received at CCP Mugunga in Goma, I can have access to administrative services. Now I am doing my part: I help others who have problems and I am a member of the Management Committee of the Center Polyvalent Community.”
Women supporting women
A survivor of rape by four members of the Nyatura militia in Masisi, North Kivu, Sarah* does not hide her disdain for the initial care she received.
“The day after the incident, my mother took me to the health center close to our village where I had received a few tablets. After two months of the incident, I felt sick almost every day.”
When she informed her aunt of how she felt and the elder woman drove her to a center for psychosocial support. Believing that her situation required medical follow-up, the Counselor Moms at the centre brought Sarah to Kyeshero Hospital where she had a consultation, laboratory tests, and first aid. She found out she was pregnant and received support on how to manage her pregnancy and impending delivery.
Several months later, Sarah recounts the birth of her first child: “I gave birth by Caesarean to a healthy boy in August 2017, but a week later, the baby got sick. At that point, we were transferred from the maternity hospital to a pediatric unit where I stayed until we discharged in late September. Thanks to the medical staff I am healed and so is my baby. I am grateful to the medical and psychosocial team there. God bless them. All the services were free, including accommodation, meals and hospitalization. I even put on a few pounds following the birth!”
From isolation to social connectedness
One night, in the highlands of Minova in South Kivu, Adeline* experienced a violent event that instantly changed her life. Abandoned by her family, husband included, she was isolated from those she loved. To add further insult to her predicament, Adeline had to find ways to care for four of her six children, when they were forced to drop out of school due to lack of financial resources.
After hearing her story a local community care worker referred Adeline an NGO leveraged through the Tupinge Ubakaji Program. There, she received psychosocial support and skills training that allowed for her reintegration into local society. Adeline teamed up with a local coffee producer and learned how to increased production yields along with quality, which helped boost the producer’s business and paved the way for their membership into the largest cooperative of coffee growers in the region that sell their goods to Rwanda.
Because she was empowered economically and socially, Adeline was able to re-enroll all her children in school, and the earnings she does not spend she puts away in a new savings account. Equally important, Adeline is giving back as she expanded her skill set to generate additional income and broaden her networks, providing medical care to other survivors of sexual and gender based violence.
> $55M 
$55M - $25M
$25M - $5M
< $5M
