<div>I am <a href="https://msha.ke/lifeoftanyamarie#ig-links" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Tanya Marie</a> , a visual storyteller, a first-generation Congolese American, a mother, a daughter, and a direct descendant of Mwant Yav Ditend, the traditional monarch of the Lunda Kingdom in what is now the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). I was raised in a Congolese household in America and my mother was the heart of our home. She carried our Congolese culture across an ocean and made it the foundation of everything we were.
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<div>For a long time I knew my platform was meant for something bigger than content. I have always felt called to make a real change in the world. But I also know that timing is everything. You cannot pour from an empty cup and for the last few years I was running on empty. Two babies back to back. My mother's stage 3 myeloma diagnosis. A year that brought me to my knees. I was surviving, not living.
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<div>But something shifted. My mother fought for her life and came out the other side. I started coming back to myself. And I made a decision that everything from this point forward had to be intentional. Every move, every piece of content, every use of this platform had to mean something. This is that moment.
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<div>This year I took my mother to watch DR Congo play in the FIFA World Cup. It was the first time in 52 years that our country had returned to that stage. We stood in those stands together teary eyed. While we were celebrating, DR Congo was suffering. There is an active Ebola outbreak devastating communities in eastern DR Congo right now. Women and children are dying. These are our people. This is our home.
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<div>I built a community of over three million women not for myself but for all of us. Women who are “Becoming Her” together. Women who are reclaiming their identity, their joy, their purpose. Women who understand that “Becoming Her” means using what you have for something bigger than yourself.
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<div>I have been waiting for the right moment to use this platform for real change. This is it.
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<div>Every dollar raised goes directly to Doctors Without Borders, one of the most trusted humanitarian organizations in the world, actively responding to the Ebola outbreak in DR Congo right now.
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<div>This community has always rose to the challenge. I know we can do this together.  If just 2,000 of us give $25 each we are there. That is it. Two thousand women Becoming Her together and making a real difference in the lives of people who need us most.
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Anonymous

Nadine Bradley

KARL MUKAZ

Itzayana Rios

Mpanga Ontama

Chanell Sykes

Alexia Platenburg

Valene McDonald-Edward

Chioma Udunka

Rachel Melvin-Zenon

Jordan Latham

SOPHA RUSH

Miranda Rangel

Yvonne Kaimukilwa

Aid for DR Congo Ebola Outbreak with Tanya Marie & Mama Coco

Aid for DR Congo Ebola Outbreak with Tanya Marie & Mama Coco

Still $4,997 to go. Help us build momentum.