HEAL Africa in located in Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo. HEAL Africa programs have become a ray of hope in a sea of challenges. 20% hospital and 80% community based programs, HEAL Africa has a holistic vision for training leaders in health care and creating healthy communities.

Heal  a rape victim:

$10      Feed a Patient.  This gift will feed one person for a week at HEAL Africa hospital.  Patients come with a caregiver who helps clean, launder and cook for the patient.  Many of the women who come for care have come without money for food.

$30      School costs for one patient for three months.  Girls and children who come for medical treatment sometimes stay for months because they come from very long distances.  A school at the hospital provides the chance to learn to read and write, and go to school—sometimes for the first time ever. 

$75      Provide a counselor.  This keeps one counselor working for a month.  Most of the counselors are volunteers, but transportation and some basic costs are covered to enable them to do their work.

$100    New lease on life for a woman.  Provides training in literacy, numeracy, sewing or small business development for a woman spending months at the hospital because of the severity of her medical condition.  It may provide a start-up grant for income generation with the training.

$500    Heal one woman.  This covers the transportation to and from the hospital, major surgery, and accommodation at the hospital during the recovery period.  Many women come from distant villages and several provinces.  While many walk, some must come by airplane, truck or van, or on the back of a bicycle.

$1000  Prevent the rape and violence!  This gift provides one session with village elders to teach the curriculum developed by HEAL Africa staff for leaders, primary and secondary teachers to discuss gender and justice using the village’s own observations, their proverbs, their practice, their wisdom books (Bible and Koran), and introducing the new constitution of Congo of 2006 which provides new clarity and protection to women and children.

$5000   Buys a simple village “safe house” for women in a village, where a counselor provides a listening room for victims of rape, meeting room for women exchanging knowledge and wisdom.  This is an opportunity to learn as well as a safe place to sleep for women who have come for medical care.  There are no motels in Congo for women who are victims of violence; the alternative is to sleep by the side of the road. 

$8000   Provides a Wamama Simameni (Women Stand Together)  house in a central town, and includes a demonstration food plot, small livestock provisions and training.  It also is a place for women to learn new skills, exchange experience, for networks of counselors to meet, and can house 6-8 women and their children who are in transit.  This connects the women into a network that is active and well-respected, and provides several avenues of safety for women victims of violence.

$15,000   Provide one year of tuition for specialist training in Obstetrics and Gynecology or Surgery.  Part of HEAL Africa’s mission is to train Congolese medical professionals who will be the leaders for the future.

$36,000  Pay one doctor’s annual salary.   HEAL Africa wants to keep excellent Congolese doctors working in Congo.

$1,000,000.   Build HEAL Africa’s new hospital.  The present facilities were built as temporary facilities after the volcano destroyed the first small clinic in 2002.   The demand for care has overwhelmed the present structures and does not permit the quality of care that Congolese women deserve.

Teach a Child:

$10      School costs for one patient for a month.  Girls and children who come for medical treatment sometimes stay for months because they come from very long distances.  A school at the hospital provides the chance to learn to read and write, and go to school—sometimes for the first time ever.  This gift provides one month of education at the HEAL Africa hospital school.

Assist an Entrepreneur:

$100    Pays for training and a start-up grant.  Victims of violence need a new start, because many cannot resume their normal activities.  They receive small business training when they’re at the hospital and are accompanied through the network of Heal my People counselors.   Foster mothers of HIV orphans, parents of children with disability, and child-headed households also receive training and grants for their businesses, and are placed in solidarity groups to ensure that their businesses survive and they preserve their capital through a variety of savings and mutual help commitments.

$1500  Buy a field for a women’s cooperative, which provides access to land for widows or displaced women.  Growing food helps improve nutrition for the women and their children, and provides some cash when they can sell some of it.  This provides a way to live with dignity and foster a sense of belonging.

SUPPORT A MOM:

$25    One pregnant mother can join a maternity group.  Safe Motherhood is critical for women in isolated rural areas who don’t know much about the process or how to prevent fistula, prolapsus, or death in childbirth.  This program provides training for traditional birth attendants, nurses in rural clinics, and women and their families.  It groups women in solidarity groups throughout the time of their pregnancy.  Who knows what ties it will create in an area that has known conflict for fifteen years?

 $600   Create a maternity group for a village.   This ensures access to a village, to 24 pregnant women and the medical team which will care for them.  It will strengthen local knowledge and provide the tools needed to ensure safe delivery.  More than 283 groups like this are changing the maternal mortality rates in North Kivu.  Much more is needed.