You can help cultivate yoga practice in Goma, DRC by contributing to our fund for a 200-Hour Yoga Certification of self-taught Congolese fitness instructor, Virginie!

The Goma yoga community wanted a more sustainable option for an instructor and sought out someone local who would be interested. Virginie took naturally to yoga, quickly grasping the basics, and helping to lead classes just months later. This certification will launch her career as a qualified yoga instructor, give the humanitarian aid community a consistent yoga teacher, and continue the yoga and mindfulness work she is already doing with guiding former street kids in Goma.

Virginie is a motivated, educated, and talented young woman who has the knowledge and drive to run her own business and expand access to the benefits of yoga in her community. Goma is a place where job opportunities are scarce but the market for yoga classes is growing – Congo is a place of many contradictions.

Joining us to send Virginie to instructor training is truly a win-win for herself and for the former street kids and aid workers she leads in yoga practice. This is a heartfelt opportunity to cultivate peace of mind, through yoga practice, for the diverse communities in Eastern Congo, where peace of mind can be hard to come by.

— Our story continues in English after the French blurb. —

Fournir des fonds pour offrir à notre communauté de yoga à Goma une formation d'instructeur pour une professeur de yoga congolais autodidacte, Virginie. Cet investissement soutiendra sa carrière d'entrepreneuse en tant qu'instructrice de yoga qualifiée, donnera à la communauté de l'aide humanitaire un leader de yoga cohérent, et poursuivra le travail que Virginie fait déjà en guidant les anciens enfants des rues de Goma à travers le yoga et les exercices de respiration.

En soutenant nos efforts de collecte de fonds pour la formation de 200 heures d'instructeur de yoga de Virginie, nous lançons sa vie professionnelle et continuons à cultiver la paix de l'esprit grâce à la pratique du yoga pour les diverses communautés avec lesquelles elle travaille !

— Yoga Goma Con’t —

For nearly 20 years humanitarians in Goma have been gathering to practice yoga together, typically led by another aid worker. The trick is, aid workers usually have short contracts and when a leader leaves, the group goes without yoga until a new one (often untrained) is convinced to step in!

Goma yoga was introduced to Virginie in 2021 as they were looking for a Congolese person who might be interested in learning yoga and potentially leading it - creating more stability for the group and a steady income for someone local to Goma. Virginie, who was already leading fitness classes and a keen dancer in the local art scene, took to yoga quickly and was leading sessions within months. Within a year, the income she earned from leading yoga on Saturdays enabled her to pay her final year of university tuition and graduate with a degree in international trade. However, it is very difficult to find stable work in a city like Goma.

For the past year, Virginie has been leading yoga sessions for a local charity for former street kids. The charity takes in young boys from the streets and houses them until they can be reunited with their families. She has adapted her way of teaching to equip the kids with access to a calm mind and the importance of taking a deep breath in the difficult situations life throws at them.

Why now? An opportunity has come up for Virginie to participate in a 200-Hour yoga instructor training course in Italy this October. She has already been offered a partial scholarship, but we are hoping to raise funds to cover the rest of the travel costs and remaining course fees.

This course will improve the classes she already leads and will open up new possibilities for her growth and that of the communities around her. She will be equipped to organize and lead yoga retreats, design classes that will open up yoga to diverse communities in Congo, and provide a launching pad for her kind entrepreneurial spirit.

Eastern DRC is infamous for conflict and strife, but there is so much more to life there. Investing in Virginie’s certification will provide her and her family with income while simultaneously providing peace of mind and improved well-being for the many communities she works with. It is not very often you get a win-win, but we believe this is one!

With our gratitude,

Courtney, Bella, and Virginie

Yoga leaders in Goma, past and present