The city of Beni has been a victim for seven years from the atrocities of war characterized by the massacres of civilians. The Congolese government declared a state of siege in May 2021 in North Kivu and Ituri provinces, installing military control.

Despite several strategies implemented by the government to maintain peace in the area, there continues to be insecurities in the localities located around the main roads linking the city of Beni to the neighboring provinces and those connecting it to some neighboring countries. The restriction in mobility has created a greater level of insecurity which pushes villagers to take refuge in the city, where they struggle for life’s necessities.

The monitoring report of provincial deputies of North Kivu revealed that despite the state of siege decreed to bring stability to the area, the humanitarian situation remains tense.

Given that we believe that we must be a solution, we set up an office in Beni last year to begin establishing roots in the community.  We understand that we need to build trust in the community before we can provide programs that will impact their lives.

From March 14th to 17th, a series of training was held led by our Goma-based team. The general objective of this trip was to strengthen the activities of Beni in the department’s Sons of Congo (SOC), Women of Congo (WOC), Counseling, and Generation Hope (GH).  Subjects covered were transformational leadership, positive masculinity, and women's empowerment.  A seminar on couples was also organized to consolidate trust and unity, covering communication, financial management, and sexual intimacy.

To achieve this ambitious goal, we established specific objectives:

·      Provide mental health support for 150 people (including 50 men; 50 women, and 50 young people),

·      Record programs on Good Mental Health,

·      Create youth peace clubs

·      Support the project activities of the SOC department

·      Support the activities of the WOC department

·      Organize a mixed male-female conference.

Outcomes

The community was very enthusiastic about receiving the training as we initially planned to reach 300 people, but participation grew to 454. We had to close our property gate to slow down the flow of interested participants because we couldn’t effectively train all of them in.  If we left the door open, the number would be more significant, but our effectiveness would have been greatly diminished. This is a sign that there is a need for training in Beni, as community members were asking to be included. Due to the significant interest, we are planning additional training for those unable to attend due to space issues.  We did have some overflow into small groups that started the week following the training.

Before March of 2022, Sons of Congo was the only program we were operating in Beni, but we knew there was an opportunity for much more. The community in Beni was grateful to see our programs that included a focus on women and youth.

We are proud to report that we trained 152 men in part one of the SOC curriculum and 36 men in part 2. We also taught 168 women in our WOC curriculum and 152 youth in Generation Hope.

On the last day of the training, 89 individuals gave their lives to Jesus, including 26 women, 41 men, 8 girls, and 14 boys.

Next steps

-       Replicating programs operated in Goma to Beni.

-       Develop programs for the indigenous pygmy population as well as for couples 

-       Continue with the follow-up of the small groups created

-       Broadcast our programs on the radio. 

Success

“The training you organized prepared us for a positively transformed life in our households; thank you, and God bless you”

GUSTAVE LUSENGI

"The training helped me leave selfishness; from now on, I will cultivate equity wherever I am. Thank you so much."

Fabien MASHAURI

“The 2nd module training blesses me because the insecurity in our area limited me to undertake certain activities before the training. But, after the training, I just learned that you have to overcome fear by putting God at the center of everything. If the working conditions do not allow in certain areas, one can even undertake otherwise in the secure areas; in short, we must pray to God to guide our lives. Thank you for UJN and the Trainers”.

NDUNGO VALIRENDI Reddy

“After receiving the first training on the transformation of the man from Congo, I had to train a group of 15 people; before I did not know that change begins with myself, I learned that I was in ignorance, and I am committed to popularizing this training in all my knowledge, family and friends."

PALUKU SONDIRYA Jerlas

We are thankful to our Goma-based team that traveled to Beni to lead this critical training.  Also, thanks to our Beni-based team for their logistical expertise and facilitation of this training.