WHAT WE DO:
Water - Health - Women's Empowerment - Orphan Care
Water.
Access to clean drinking water remains a critical issue in eastern DR Congo.
More than 2 million Congolese children under the age of five, or one in five in that age group, are regularly sick with diarrhea, according to figures from the country’s department of health cited by UNICEF. Water born diseases account for 1 in 10 children's deaths.
A child living in a Congolese village is four times more likely to drink contaminated water than someone in town. Yet, all children have equal right to survival and development of which drinking water is a vital component,” said Pierrette Vu Thi, the UNICEF representative in DRC in a statement to mark the World Water Day.
howFar in the Congo partners with local north Georgia Rotary and Interact Clubs to provide short term clean water solutions. Thousands of WAPI's (Water Pasteurization Indicators) made by high school and college students, have been delivered to villages in eastern DR Congo.
The WAPI (Water Pasteurization Indicator) is a reusable, inexpensive thermometer employing a soybean wax which melts at 68˚C, just above the 65˚C or 149˚F pasteurization temperature for water or milk, at which point all disease-causing organisms (bacteria, viruses, and parasites) are killed. Since the water is not heated all the way to boiling, and merely reaches the pasteurization temperature, time is saved and less fuel is consumed.
howFar in the Congo helps to insure good health and a future for our partners.
You Can Help.
Your donation allows us to connect people and create partnerships around the world.
We run conservation projects with our partners, seeking the most constructive solutions.
Health.
The ongoing crisis in eastern DR Congo has caused the collapse of the healthcare system. Access to medical care in rural areas is nearly nonexistent. Rural villagers are forced to walk for hours to find even basic care for treatable conditions. Too often the long journey ends with fatal consequences.
Only 20% of the population in DR Congo has access to healthcare.
howFar in the Congo operates a Medical Clinic at Mudja twelve miles north of Goma. The clinic is in the shadow of Mount Nyiragango which erupted in 2002, covering Goma in lava.
Our team of nurses and medical technicians consults approximately 30 patients per day. Diseases are treated, children are vaccinated and healthy babies are delivered.
Our clinic provides hope and a future to the community.
You Can Help.
Your donation allows us to connect people and create partnerships around the world.
We run conservation projects with our partners, seeking the most constructive solutions.
Women's Empowerment.
Conflict in Eastern DR Congo has created a nightmare environment for women and girls. Husbands, fathers, and brothers have joined government or rebel forces leaving women to fend for themselves. Many men never return to their families. To add to their misery, sexual violence is rampant in eastern DR Congo. It has been called the "rape capital of the world" by U.N. Special Representative Margot Wallstrom.
Approximately 1.8 million women reported having been raped in their lifetime (with one half million women reporting having been raped in the preceding 12 months). However, compared with women in Kinshasa, women in North-Kivu were significantly more likely to report all types of sexual violence. Source: American Journal of Public Health.
HowFar in the Congo provides training and education for Widowed and Abused women in five centers. Two in North Kivu Province and three in South Kivu Province.
Widows, who have as many as 8 children, and women who have been kicked out of their families because of diseases contracted when raped are taught to sew, weave baskets, and make soap.
Their lives are transformed by learning a skill that provides an income so that they can care for their children.
Orphan Care.
The war in DR Congo has claimed over five million lives - more than WWII. This, in combination with acute poverty and the HIV/AIDS pandemic, has created on orphan crisis.
According to UNICEF there are over 4 million orphans in DR Congo. Many children have witnessed their parents murdered right before their eyes.
In 2012, howFar responded to the orphan crisis by taking 120 war orphans off of the street. Our children, ages 5 to 12, are safe and well cared for.
We believe that all of our children at the howFar in the Congo Orphanage have a bright and hopeful future.
