MAARIFA Learning Academy

More than 500,000 displaced people in eastern DR Congo are without shelter, food, or water after thirteen displacement sites in Goma were destroyed. Many have sought refuge with host families, while others are crowded into churches and schools. Some return to their villages, only to find their homes in ruins and face immense hardships. Meanwhile, global funding cuts are further limiting humanitarian aid and exacerbating human suffering. Reports indicate that over 3,000 lives were lost in Goma alone after rebels seized the city following intense clashes with the Congolese army. With homes, schools, and healthcare facilities reduced to rubble, both displaced individuals and host communities are left extremely vulnerable and in urgent need of humanitarian assistance. Immediate support is critical to delivering life-saving aid and developing long-term solutions for those affected. The American Friends of Maarifa Learning Academy at Myriad USA in collaboration with World Relief are launching a humanitarian response to the ongoing crisis in Goma to Support over 500,000 displaced and affected households in North Kivu by providing emergency assistance and fostering sustainable recovery through integrated support in shelter, food, health, water, sanitation, protection, and education.  Introduction Maarifa Learning Academy locally led nonprofit in DR Congo which fiscally sponsored by Myriad USA, a US public charity.  The organization was set up to address the complex challenges of poverty, unemployment, and inequality in DR Congo. We empower youth and women in the DR Congo with the skills, resources, and capital needed to break the cycle of generational poverty by launching small businesses and creating job opportunities for themselves and their communities. To support this vision, we organize skills development training and business fairs throughout the year, providing small-scale industry entrepreneurs and artisans with opportunities to showcase and sell their locally made products. The current crisis is severely undermining Maarifa’s social impact to date and directly affects and disrupts the livelihoods of its target demographics.  To minimize the loss of these impacts and continue to support livelihoods of individuals, Maarifa, in collaboration with with World Relief has been providing vocational training to displaced women at the Mugunga Camp in Goma, equipping them with valuable skills such as sewing, soap making, baking,  and other crafts. These skills enable them to generate income, rebuild their livelihoods, and achieve financial independence, allowing them to support their families both within and around the refugee camp and once they return to their home villages in the future. World Relief has been responding to humanitarian crises in the DRC since 2001. Through strong partnerships with local churches and organizations, it works closely with communities to provide agricultural and food assistance, child development and protection programs, healthcare services, nutritional support, sanitation and hygiene initiatives, and aid for survivors of sexual and gender-based violence, among other vital interventions. This humanitarian response is providing critical support to 500,000 people whose lives have been upended by the ongoing conflict in North and South Kivu. The escalation of war has severely disrupted livelihoods, with the region’s two large cities now under the control of the M23 rebel group. Families have been displaced, access to basic necessities has been cut off, and the need for urgent assistance continues to grow. For more background on the worsening crisis unfolding in eastern DR Congo, see reports from The New York Times  here  and The Associated Press  here . *For more information please contact:  *  John Kavyavu, Executive Director, Maarifa Global , john@maarifaglobal.org Rumbidzai Pairamanzi, World Relief Country Director DR Congo, rpairamanzi@wr.org

Education and vocational training are crucial tools for improving lives of internally displaced persons (IDPs) and facilitating their integration into host communities. Some participants in our training are IDPs from Mugunga camp in eastern DR Congo and the skills they are learning will better position them to secure a meaningful employment to financially sustain them and their respective families while in the camp and when they return home. This 6 month training in garments making and sewing machine kits provision to 150 women will allow them to survive on their own and live with dignity.