Join us in helping
The survival of Congo depends on the survival and well-being of its women. The mothers and daughters of Congo are its very life. It is the women and girls of Congo who plant, cultivate, harvest, and bring to market the produce that nourishes the population. It is the women of Congo who give birth and sustain its population.
Heal and give them the most fundamental human right: a healthy life and physical well-being.
Educate the children and the women. Unlock their God given human potential and promote prosperity.
Empower the women with social and economic autonomy for a better future.
Who we are
HEAR CONGO is a grassroots organization with enormous impact. Since 2008 we have enabled thousands of vulnerable women and children, including those who have been brutally displaced by civil war, to safely resettle and begin healthy, constructive lives. As a result of our work, these women have received medical care and literacy, education, leadership and job skills training, allowing them to become leaders, entrepreneurs, and contributing members of their communities.
AND LEADERSHIP TRAINING
Who we serve
Congolese women and girls suffer disproportionately from high rates of violence, famine, disease, displacement and extreme poverty. Since 1998, war, especially in Eastern Congo, has amplified this oppression. Rape is systematically used as a weapon of war against hundreds of thousands of women and children who are without protection.
Women of the Democratic Republic of Congo refuse to acknowledge themselves as victims by insisting on education, health services, political representation, fair participation in the labor market and inclusion in peace talks. Gender equity is a primary goal in Congo. Gender equity is key to a stable and prosperous Congo and a stronger Africa. This is why HEAR CONGO has made women the focus of our efforts.
What women of congo need
HEAR CONGO trains women to teach others how to avail themselves of disease prevention knowledge (like using screening to protect from mosquitos and thereby prevent malaria). The organization establishes the means to build dignity and gain a passport to entrepreneurial opportunity through literacy education and job skills training. Its leadership training teaches skills to bring about self-sufficiency and change.
Information cited from United Nations Development Programme Human Development reports-2016 Gender Inequality Index
The Democratic Republic of the Congo has a GII (Gender Inequality Index) value of 0.663, ranking it 153 out of 159 countries in the 2015 index.
8.2 percent of parliamentary seats are held by women.
14.5 percent of adult women have reached at least a secondary level of education compared to 35.0 percent of their male counterparts.
For every 100,000 live births, 693 women die from pregnancy related causes Adolescent birth rate is 122.6 births per 1,000 women of ages 15-19.
Female participation in the labor market is 70.5 percent compared to 71.8 for men.
A note from the Founder:
Kaleba H. Ngoie-Kasongo
Thank you for stopping by today! Here’s my little story which I hope will inspire you to join our movement.
I am a Congolese native. Throughout my childhood, I considered myself privileged in comparison to the millions of other girls who, unlike me, had no access to education, daily meals, protection, security, or basic freedom. Every day, I saw poverty all around me, but as I passed it by, I had no idea as to how I could be of help. I was touched by the resilience of the Congolese people in general and, especially, by that of the women. They worked tirelessly to feed and clothe their children and to find a way to send them to school. Observing them, I understood that they represented hope.
I grew to understand that educating women is essential to a nation’s economic growth. If the uneducated women I observed could be so resilient, I thought, then how much more powerful and effective could an educated woman be in terms of what she could accomplish for her family, community… and nation?
When war struck DR Congo, I refused to accept seeing Congo’s female population reduced to non-productive human beings. Congo’s women represent its HOPE and are its most important resource.
I hope you’ll join me and the HEAR Congo team as we work to better the lives of the people in DR Congo.
EDUCATING WOMEN TO EDUCATE OTHERS
Education is key to liberation. Educating a nation’s female population is essential to its economic growth. As a result of the work of HEAR CONGO, women throughout the country have received medical care, literacy instruction, and job skills training, enabling them to become community leaders and entrepreneurs. They and their children have been rescued from the omnipresence of malaria and HIV and been taught how to educate tens of thousands of others to similarly protect themselves. Their training has also given them economic power -- the means to pay school tuitions for their children and to learn more effective practices in growing and selling their agricultural products.