Our first ever Healing Arts Fundraiser
was held at Crush Champagne Lounge on Jan. 21st, 2007
We are happy to announce it was a complete success!!!!
"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter."
- Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Since 1997 the Democratic Republic of Congo has suffered through a war that has claimed 4 million lives and left the country utterly devastated. Sexual violence is astoundingly ubiquitous and the rape and torture of women has become one of the primary and most destructive weapons of this almost decade long war. Thousands of women have suffered from the devastating aftermath of these rapes with high rates of sexually transmitted diseases, HIV, and many women develop vesicle vaginal fistula (VVF), a debilitating tear between the urethra and vagina, which causes the woman to constantly leak urine and faeces. In addition to suffering the extreme pain incurred through VVF, many women are ostracized from their family and village due to their condition. The war has destroyed villages, roads, and crops, creating countless children that are victims of malnourishment and disease. Many children contract HIV/AIDS through their mother at birth or through rape.
HEAL Africa, an organization committed to equipping men and women for holistic healing (physical, social, and spiritual) in the context of community, is dedicated to meeting the needs of this group of women in Eastern Congo as well as children with HIV/AIDS. A native Congolese nurse travels in to rebel infested areas to identify women with VVF and bring them to the hospital in Goma. The HEAL Africa hospital in Goma has performed over 4,000 VVF repair surgeries since 2003. In addition, HEAL Africa provides at home care for 150 HIV positive children which includes anti-retroviral treatment as well as supplemental food as the medicine will not work if the children are malnourished.
As previously mentioned, HEAL Africa is dedicated to holistic healing, recognizing that the road to recovery encompasses much more than physical repair. Counseling and literacy training is provided for the VVF women at the hospital, yet many women find the transition home unbearable. The majority come from rural areas, which often means that they have minimal, if any, education, vocational skills, or knowledge about how to grow effective and productive crops. When they return to their village most women come back to the same struggle to survive. Though they are physically healed, they continue to suffer. Likewise, the HIV positive children are physically treated, but if they receive no education they are trapped in a cycle of mere survival.
After spending time with the VVF women and hearing their heart-wrenching stories, we knew that it was imperative for them to learn skills or improve upon existing knowledge that would enable them to generate income once they were released. In addition, not all of the children of the VVF women, child patients, or the HIV positive children have received the opportunity for education, which is the crucial element for development. The following proposal lays out the goals of the program (Healing Arts), the budget, and the plan for action. Tax deductible donations can be made ... Please contact us by email a
[email protected] for information on how to do so. Thank you very much for your consideration.
