AFIA-FEV | About us

AFIA-FEV - Association of Women Nurses to Help Women and Children Who Are Rape Survivors or Living With HIV/AIDS - is a non profit organization working in Bukavu, in Democratic Republic of Congo.

Created in 2006 by five nurses, AFIA-FEV works to improve the daily lives of women and children in the vicinity of Bukavu that have experienced sexual violence or contracted HIV/AIDS. The organization currently aids 175 wives and girls through its education of values and micro-finance program. An important part of AFIA-FEVs work is to help women and children to know their HIV/AIDS-status, so that they can take care of take of their health.

125 women had been medically detected so as to be aware of their health and serological state.
100 women living in Bukavu surroundings and suburbs have received micro-finance value.
Among three girls rescued by AFIA-FEV from sexual exploitation in procurer houses, two are dealing with vocational skills, particularly tailoring and the other has reintegrated formal education and is now in 1st form secondary school.

In our profession as nurses we meet many women that have been victims of sexual violence. Their stories touched us deeply and we wanted to help them beyond what we could do in clinics and hospitals. Under madame Béatrice Kabamba Bapemacho's initiative five of us nurses gathered to find ways to socially reintegrate the women, that were like ourselves, but had had their lives scattered because of violences or sickness. We set a number of objectives to reach in order to help these vulnerable people:

The main concern of AFIA-FEV is to help women and girls victims of sexual violence or living with HIV/AID (HIV positive) to be socially reintegrated.

Identify rape survivors
Provide medical care to cases referred to hospitals
To plead cases of women tested HIV positive to be supplied with anti-virus drugs by local organizations providing this service
Sensitizes and encourage women to do medical tests willingly
To provide micro-finance loans to women recipients so as to promote their family economical empowerment
To educate the program recipients on the importance of practicing virtues/values in their daily life experiences and shares them with other people in similar situation
Provide psycho-social support to women who are pregnant
Provide support to children from poor families
Provide school requirements and fees, clothes and health care to children in difficulty
Denounce abuses daily done on women (wives and girls)
Multiply sensitization sessions and with local leaders.

Since 2006, our actions on the field helped AFIA-FEV identify and meet a great number of wives and girls rape survivors or tested HIV positive. Our two main ways of supporting the women are through the education of values and the lending of microcredits.

The education of values, our psycho-social support program, works by bringing recipients together and letting them share their life stories with each other as well as discussing what values are important to live a good life.

The lending of microcredits to the women enables them to provide for themselves and their children. The foundation for the loans came from the money we nurses were able save from our modest saleries.

Every step AFIA-FEV makes is done thanks to the good will and generosity of the kind people who feel compassion for the difficult situation that our countrymen are in.

The five nurse that constitute AFIA-FEV are:

Béatrice Kabamba Bapemacho
Espérance Zigabe
Yuni Chikobero
Mwanvuwa M. Mwayuma
Simuke Miss

Beside nurses there are also three volunteers that assist these vulnerable women and children:

Semy Ntamwira Kasigwa
Alexis Mushi Kabayu
Pacifique Mufurume Baderha

AFIA-FEV works in partnership with local organizations that share the same cause.

AFIA-FEV is a non-profit organization. Our permit for operating is N° 01 / 126 / CAB / GP-SK/ 2007 and our registration certificate is N'JUST / GS 112 / S-K / 2305 as of October 7th, 2006. In November 2006 we received permission by the provincial division of feminine and family conditions - CONDIFA - to work for the welfare of children and women in difficulties. We also obtaining the identification certificate regarded as a recommendation attestation of an NGO by the provincial division of plan. In January 2007 we got permission to work from the province governor's office.

Please feel free to read these papers regarding AFIA-FEV

The greatest concern of AFIA-FEV is the well-being and safety of the women we work together with. All the pictures on the site are published with this in mind and with the permission of the women.