Goma, DRC Congo Volcano Victims

400,000 people are displaced in DRC since May 22nd. The government does not have money to help them. Children are drinking dirty water. There is not enough food or shelter for those at the makeshift camp.

Read more to hear a firsthand account of what is happening and about the person who will be getting your donation to those in need. The New York Times has covered it here: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/02/world/africa/congo-volcano-mount-nyiragongo.html.

Per the NYT: "With thousands of U.N. and humanitarian staff evacuated from Goma, many over the border into Rwanda, those displaced by the eruption have had to mostly fend for themselves."

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My name is Jeff Fonda. If you search for me online, you’ll find I’ve started two nonprofits focused in Africa and am a Client Partner Executive at IBM. I’ve donated my time and resources to helping others for over a decade.

This year I co-founded an accelerator for nonprofits. One of our accepted applicants is Bienvenu Kamwendo, from Goma in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). He is a Fellow of the Amani Institute, an alum of the Young African Leaders Initiative (started by Obama and hosted on a state.gov site), a pastor and founder of Remember Youth for Change. His organization helps reintegrate child solders into the community and helps them become self-sufficient, so they do not return to the militant groups. In short, he can be trusted. I vouch for him and his ability to use these funds to help his people.

DRC is one of the most war-torn nations on this planet. The per capita income is $457/year. According to the IMF, it is fifth poorest nation on the planet. The government does not have money to deal with a crisis.

But now there is a crisis.

In Goma, DRC, a volcano has erupted requiring mass evacuations. The people have been moved to a makeshift camp. There is limited food, shelter or water.

As of yesterday, children were drinking water out of dirty puddles. Below are the words of Bienvenu, who is in the camp.

I can vouch for Bienvenu that all the money will go to these suffering people, a something that can rarely be promised when giving money to the global aid organizations (their failures in Haiti, Hurricane Sandy and many others, are well documented). Your donation will go to sustain these people through the crisis, although no one knows what will be left of their homes when this is over. Help Bienvenu buy water, baby formula, sanitary napkins , food, blankets and tents. The money raised will go to the bank account of New Convenant Missions DRC, a church Bienvenu is part of.

From Bienvenu, on June 4th, 10:56am EST, via WhatsApp:

"The Nyiragongo volcano is responsible for 40% of the earthquakes recorded in Africa. It last erupted on May 22nd, 2021 and razed 17 villages, forcing the evacuation of half of the city of Goma (400,000 people).

The consequences of the eruption have caused a huge psychological shock among the victims, especially women. In additional to looking after children, many of whom have gone missing, they have to care of themselves and their husbands. The shutdown of businesses and disruption of economic activities have affected to supply of basic necessities, including sanitary towels. In addition, there has been a shortage of water due to the fact that the lava has buried water pipes, standpipes and some reservoirs, creating a health risk for all Gomatracians, especially women, as they are forced to use dirty sanitary towels."

Please donate.