Programs
HEAL Africa runs a wide variety of different programs, targeting social, physical and economic needs.
Gender-based Violence: Heal My People
Heal My People is a program that provides medical treatment to the victims of gender-based violence. It identifies women and girls who have been raped or who have fistulae from difficult childbirth, and offers treatment so that ultimately they can enter society as productive and healed people.
| More...HEALing Arts
HEALing Arts began in 2006 as a way to provide practical occupational skills to the women waiting for and healing from fistula surgery at HEAL Africa. Two seamstresses work with the women daily, teaching them to sew skirts, purses, bracelets, tablecloths, shirts and wallets. Another teacher trains the women to weave and carve with banana leaves, creating beautiful baskets and wall hangings. The items that the women create are sold to hospital personnel and visiting volunteers. The women are paid for each piece that they complete, giving them a way to generate income while at the hospital.
| More...Assistance for Widows and Orphans
The ongoing unrest in Congo has produced huge numbers of widows and orphans over the past few years. Two programs supported by HEAL Africa are working to address the needs of these groups.
| More...Post-Conflict Rebuilding: The Nehemiah Initiative
The Nehemiah Initiative brings different local communities together to help them reintegrate the most vulnerable populations: the handicapped, widows, orphans, and victims of sexual violence.
| More...HIV / AIDS Interventions
The Choose Life program (known locally by its French name, Choisir la Vie) has been working since 2000 to educate communities about HIV/AIDS by mobilizing all the faith communities (Muslim, mainline Protestant, Pentecostal, Catholic, and Kimbanguist) to teach how to respond with compassion to the challenge of HIV/AIDS. The program was founded by Ndungo Sakoul, who continues to lead the program. Most of the activist trainers are volunteers, chosen by their community. Over time it has expanded, and now covers Goma, Rutshuru and Masisi territories.
| More...Living Stones: Community-Based Nutrition
Living Stones is a special agricultural branch of HEAL Africa. This innovative program for food security introduces new techniques to improve food production, and then shares findings with community groups in Goma and beyond.
| More...Children Like Us
Children Like Us is a new community-based rehabilitation program started in Masisi territory in June 2006, under the leadership of a young woman, Hortense, who lives with physical disability after childhood polio.
| More...Training Medical Professionals
HEAL Africa's medical center in Goma is well-recognized as a teaching hospital venue, providing ongoing training for healthcare professionals. It is the hospital of choice for good care in the region and acts as a referral center for the most difficult cases.
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