News from DR Congo May 2011

Each month we've been telling you stories of real people in Congo. When HEAL Africa started partnering with local communities in 2002, we were working to make things better for women returning home after surgery, after the dislocation of war, or after displacement from the eruption of the local volcano. Since 2003, HEAL Africa has been working with villagers and their leaders, helping them come together to discuss and make decisions that will improve the lives of their children and communities.

Little did we dream of the extensive network of programs that exists today. We certainly could not have imagined a symposium of tribal chiefs that would change tribal customs and laws based on new information they had learned about human rights and health from one of HEAL Africa's programs. Click here to read the story from HEAL Africa co-founder Lyn Lusi - she writes about Mama Muliri's continued work with tribal chiefs, building on the relationships of trust forged over the past eight years of working in community. Stories like these demonstrate to us that these types of community partnerships are building a new future for Congo, one person, one village, one tribe at a time.

Peace to you,

Judy Anderson
Executive Director