Hero Women Rising 2022 Summary

My dear friends from all around the world, we send you joy, peace and happiness during this season of celebration and reflection.

 

As we approach the end of 2022 we look back on yet another year of wonderous highs and gut-wrenching lows.

 

The area that encompasses our focus on woman and girls is located in an area characterized more benignly as a Red Zone, more definitively as an active conflict zone, where women of every age and in every situation of life, are traumatized. This is not only where the Mama Shujaa live, but this is where we work, this is the segment of the planet’s population we serve. The work we do is life changing on the individual level and paradigm changing on the community level.

 

Because of our ongoing presence and paradigm changing development programs, we have become more and more visible to all actors in the Red Zone. Whether they are considered good or bad or outright devils, the Mama Shujaa of Hero Women Rising deserve honor and respect as women giving their lives for the betterment of our communities.

 

Included among the gut-punches is the fact that we still have girls who are having babies at the age of 13 and 14 years old. Some are made pregnant by neighbors, some by militias. We see other sisters conscripted into slavery by the rebel militia of their tribe. We have to be very careful when seeking to liberate our sisters, when seeking justice for our daughters, otherwise we could be killed in an instant.

 

We remain strong in spirit and constitutionally determined. But, we must be wise, for in this unconscious patriarchal society, we are as vulnerable as soap bubbles.

 

This is our situation, this is our environment, and as dancing flames on a newly kindled fire, we also have so much to celebrate, despite the surrounding darkness. Our women and girls continue to press forward and RISE:

• 88% of our Street Business School  (SBS) participants started their own business
• 97% of women in SBS increased their personal income from before the start of their training
• 45,000 trees have been bagged in polythene bags for planting during the upcoming January 2023 rainy season
• Seed beds of vegetable crops were distrbuted to 437 families impacting the lives of 2,585 family members 
• 66 graduates from our Media Center now have completed computer and internet skills training

Our Education, Rights, and Empowerment programs directly impacted the lives of almost 7,000 women, indirectly impacting almost 50,000 family members, and countless members of their communities, and will continue to do so in 2023 and many generations to come.

 

~EVENT HIGHLIGHTS FROM 2022~

 

INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY

One of the highlights of our year was celebrating the women of the Haut Plateau on International Women’s Day, women who have lived in the bloody heart of the Red Zone for three straight years, speaking out against the injustices and advocating with not only their voices, but physically holding peace vigils outside the government military base and on the dirt runway that brings the military supplies. Seven women were randomly murdered and many others beaten badly, suffering concussions. Several were in a coma for a short time.

Among the 2,500+ women that came to celebrate with us, we gave out 12 Peace Awards for outstanding examples of women contributing to an atmosphere of peace and harmony among all the tribes of this isolated, conflict-ridden region.

Every celebration holds a measure of solemnity for the suffering endured daily, but hope fills the air; our hope in each other and the future we are bringing into the world.

 

We were blessed to celebrate our Ten-year Anniversary. We reflected on all that we’ve come through to be able to celebrate 10 years of serving our Congolese sisters and their vision for a different future for themselves and their families.

Neema states, “This big event gave me such gratitude toward all of those standing with us, and for all the work this enabled.”  Whether a monthly donor or giving periodically, you are truly our heros. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Please join with us as we celebrate the extraordinary life of

Ngabo Rutare Rene. The educational contributions he provided to our students and their families in Minembwe were tremendous. He was a true advocate insuring  education as a right for all.  He will be missed as one who shared his passion for community  lovingly and believed in the power of education and learning.  While we experience depths of sadness given his very sudden and unexpected death, we will press forward with hope for greater peace and safety in the region for all.

 

 

 

 

 

As women working on the frontlines of Climate Action activities in the midst of a Red Zone, we were invited to a Pre-COP27 event in Kinshasa, hosted by the German and Swedish Embassies, whose theme was Climate and Security; how insecurity impacts Climate Change and/or Climate Change mitigation activities.

We were able to share our first-hand experience on how “war” is considered justification for every sort of wrong, whether murder, rape, destruction of environment, killing of endangered or protected animals, confiscation of lands, goods, etc. We were able to share how some of the restored habitat we’ve planted with over 200,000 trees, is now occupied by people creating war and conflict, while the population lives in Internal Displacement Camps.

 

Finally, we proudly shared how we’ve seeded and planted over 200,000 trees by hand across 350+ hectares of land, sequestering 5,577 tons of carbon per year.

WE THANK EACH OF YOU!

In closing 2022, we want to again acknowledge and give special thanks for the ongoing support and collaboration generously provided during the entire year by; Project Redwood, GNWP and WECAN. Your generous donations together with these committed partnerships is what makes our great work possible. 

We look forward to having you continue our journey along side us again in 2023 and we wish each of you and your families a wonderful New Year!

With Deep Appreciation,

Neema & The Hero Women Rising Family

If you would like to donate to Hero Women Rising, please click here: