Heal My People is a program that provides medical treatment to the victims of gender-based violence. It identifies women and girls who have been raped or who have fistulae from difficult childbirth, and offers treatment so that ultimately they can enter society as productive and healed people.

The program began in 2003 in response to the high rate of sexual violence being committed against girls and women in DR Congo. HEAL Africa works with a network of trained counselors in areas outside of Goma to identify and assist women who have been raped and tortured by rogue militias. Local counselors do initial counseling, refer patients to local hospitals or to HEAL Africa when care is needed, and continue to monitor the women following their medical care. The program is sustained by a grassroots voluntary effort of local dedicated women.

Since the program's inception, over 11,717 women throughout North Kivu and Maniema Provinces have been identified and helped, and over 1,315 fistula reparative surgeries have been done.

Some examples of the women who have benefited from this program:

• "Anna" walked 400 miles (700 km) to get to HEAL Africa. She had been living as a sex slave for years after being captured. She was shot in the arm, and escaped into the forest, walking and running for seven months, heading for HEAL Africa and Goma. Her arm is being treated before her fistula can be repaired.
• "Katie" is eight, and is also waiting for fistula repair, but she can't have the surgery until the sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) she also has have been treated and cured. She has been part of the community for three months now, and she's already learned to read at HEAL Africa. It's the first school she has ever attended. Her smile is beautiful; but what is her future? Part of it will never be the same because she now knows what it's like to be loved and cared for.
• "Susanna" arrived in Goma for care from Maniema. She had been married at 13 to a 30 year old man. She quickly became pregnant, and had traumatic labor for six days. The baby died, and she was left with an obstetric fistula. She was rejected by her husband and by her family. For twenty years she lived on the margin of society, unable to participate because of the smell associated with the incontinence from the fistula. She was repaired by surgery at HEAL Africa and was able to return home two weeks later, cured! What a transformation: her life is dramatically changed.

Heal My People:

• provides quality medical treatment for women who have lived with fistulae.
• provides a community for physical, psychosocial and spiritual healing.
• trains village women who become counselors in outlying areas who can refer women victims of sexual violence for treatment.
• provides the opportunity to learn new skills (literacy, sewing, crafts) so that women return with new knowledge and experience to their communities.
• provides opportunities for learning for the resident doctors and is the subject of several published articles;
• has raised visibility internationally about the problem of sexual violence in the DR Congo.
• trains counselors and trainers from other organizations working with victims of sexual violence;
• provides awareness of sexual violence and venues for discussion to the larger community through soccer tournaments, a video, and radio programming through Light of Africa and other national media.

In Sept 2005, through HEAL Africa's partnership with the German Development Bank, Heal My People began a three year program in neighboring Maniema province to address the consequences of gender based violence in four health zones and Kindu; this program also allows HEAL Africa to bring continuing medical education from specialists to medical personnel working in rural areas. This program works closely with the local faith communities' leaders.

Women who have "graduated" from Heal My People have had counseling, training in family mediation, and have learned to make peace with women from various tribes, often from the tribe who committed the sexual violence. This is an important first step in the process of conflict transformation. They have learned new skills which they bring back to their villages. They may have learned to read and write, or sew, or make new craft items. They may have taught their skills to someone else. They have been part of a community and have experienced love and hope, which they bring back home with them.

Grounds for Hope

Some women have not yet been healed. Others have no family to return to. Others have HIV/AIDS as a result of the rapes, and some need continuing medical treatment. Through a partnership of Souls in Stride and the Upper Room Community, a plot of gardening land for gardens and housing in a sheltered community have been purchased so that women and their children may live, work and go to school in the area.

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