Gala Fun!

Susan Lidstone and Emily Ramkishun co-hosted. See the brilliant flowers at each place, carrying out Susan’s lovely theme of the African flame tree Elsie climbed as a child in Congo.

       Emily made creative flame trees to show what each of our partners has achieved with our help – with YOUR help, through the years.

Cheryl Ciaranca and Elsie McKee gave brief histories of those achievements.

Michele Tuck Ponder was a great emcee and auctioneer. We are so grateful to all who contributed at the auction and especially the Fund-A-Need!! With auction, purchases, and donations in person and from afar, we will be sending over $11,000 to Congo!!!  YOU are WONDERFUL!

 William Ponder, Aditi Rapaka, and Anna Griffiths delighted us with lovely vocal selections, while Raphael and Andrew Aryeetey amazed us with their piano gifts. Thanks to each of them and their parents, with special appreciation to their teacher and accompanist, Dr. Tom Skelton.

Maman Monique brought an update from Congo, with a very moving account of the current situation and deep gratitude for all who are helping address violence and natural disaster with food and ways forward to a more hopeful future.

Goma Still in Trauma

On the international scene, there are peace meetings of sorts. Qatar hosted some between the government of Congo and the M23. Now the US is reportedly helping negotiations between Congo and Rwanda. We shall see.

For the people on the ground, it is still dreadful: daily violence, food prices ever higher, and now the Rwandan-M23 rulers of Goma want to institute taxes to support their regime. Yet amazingly Community Charity School goes on!!! We help with food.

Situation in/ near Uvira

Although M23 did not conquer Uvira, its action has emboldened many of the other c.100 militias in the region. Some of them (Congolese) claim to be fighting Rwandans and so have become more active, but they terrorize local citizens. Land routes to and from Uvira are blocked, but it is possible to cross the lake to Burundi, as the administrator of CENEDI does to get supplies.

In the nearby villages where our partners live, a militia group has been occupying the larger of their two communal fields, stripping it of crops and terrifying the women who have been hiding in their homes. (Almost all them were raped by militias in the forests where they used to have their little fields; they thought they were safe when we helped them buy 2 fields in their village.) We have helped with food assistance as they hid from the soldiers. It now appears that the latter may be planning to move on…….. We hope.

Floods in Kinshasa

In mid-April Kinshasa was inundated by the worst flooding in memory. About 2/3 of the city was under water; passengers returning from the airport had to hire canoes to ferry them along the streets. There were 77 deaths, and thousands of families lost everything; many people scrambled to refuge with only the clothes on their backs

    The government is helping somewhat; 1700 women have been housed and supplied with food and medicine. But there are many many, many more,…

    … including many members of FEBA. Ten of the young women in the sewing and cosmetology classes and their families escaped with their lives. When they were able to get through the streets to the Women’s Center, FEBA staff began to make new clothes for the students (from material intended for internship practice, but it was an emergency), and bought food and urgent supplies. See the girls smiling!

     Bit by bit, as they hear from those in need, FEBA is working to respond. The second Thursday of the month is FEBA Day, when as many as possible gather for fellowship and assistance, so those who can get to the Center have sought help and others will be contacted.

HURRAH for Volunteers!

We are so happy to celebrate some of our special volunteers! Ayushi Kagarana, Nikita Goyal, Elliot Zorn, Tracy Eskridge, and Melanie Riley all played very important roles in our gala. THANK YOU!

We are very grateful for all those who give of their talents; Bawa Wavezwa helps us with tax filing, Maren Sonstegard-Spray keeps our FB/ Instagram going, and Linda Gilmore and Jean Desravines are financial consultants.