HEAL Africa's medical, social, and economic initiatives foster peace and development.

Based in Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), a region where war has claimed over 6 million lives since 1998, HEAL Africa's medical, social, and economic initiatives foster peace and development.

Formed in 1996 by Congolese orthopedic surgeon Jo Lusi and his wife, Lyn, a prominent social activist, HEAL Africa functions with a staff of 18 Congolese doctors, 28 nurses, 70 community development advocates and educators, an administrative team, and hundreds of Congolese volunteers.

The US HEAL Africa office was created in 2005 to support the activities on the ground in DRC and to promote advocacy efforts in the US about the situation in central Africa. The US team consists of 4 staff members.

HEAL Africa began as a hospital aiming to give quality training to Congolese medical professionals in orthopedics and fistula repair. The hospital has over 200 beds, but is often over capacity. The patients, who are identified by local volunteers, rarely have to pay for their treatment as most are from war-torn, poverty-ridden regions and are incapable of even paying a small amount. HEAL Africa performs over 1000 orthopedic operations a year.

As one of the most prominent actors against sexual violence, HEAL Africa performs over 300 fistula repair surgeries a year and has done over 1400 successful reparations since 2004. HEAL Africa also provides economic support for survivors of sexual violence and is taking legal action of behalf of the victims.

Recognizing that health problems are the visible symptoms of greater societal ills, HEAL Africa made a commitment to not just improve healthcare, but to tackle these issues at the individual community level. HEAL Africa works with committees of local village and religious leaders (Nehemiah Committees) to develop plans to care for the area’s vulnerable populations through:

• Training rural healthcare professionals
• HIV AIDS prevention and treatment programs
• Public education about the law and human rights
• Micro-grants and collective insurance
• Widows and orphans support structures
• Community reconciliation efforts

Our mission is to provide holistic care for the people of the Democratic Republic of Congo: training health professionals, strengthening social activists and providing physical, spiritual and social healing.