JOURNALIST AND AUTHOR KEVIN SITES SPOTLIGHTS EASTERN CONGO

Posted by Robert Padavick on Oct 29, 2009

In early October, RAISE Hope for Congo held a fundraiser to benefit Actions for the Welfare of Women and Children in Kivu (ABFEK), an organization based in Bukavu. Founded in 2007 by Amani Matabaro, ABFEK spearheads two programs: the Kivu Sewing Workshop for the Welfare of Women, which helps survivors of violence and rape rebuild their lives, and Education Assistance for Children, which partners with local school headmasters to provide financial and social support to vulnerable children unable to afford school fees.

Thanks to a great turnout at Washington D.C.'s Stir Lounge, we raised $1,000 for ABFEK.

Now, pioneering journalist and author Kevin Sites is working to match that amount. Kevin, who has devoted his journalism career to reporting on the human toll of global conflict, met Amani while in the Congo for the "Kevin Sites in the Hot Zone" war reporting project on Yahoo News (full disclosure: I was supervising producer of the project). Amani served as Kevin's fixer, or local producer.

In a post on his Facebook profile, Kevin is calling for donations. It's simple: just visit the donation page. Be sure to write "Facebook match campaign" in the "In Honor of" field.

You can also mail your donations to us by December 1st, 2009. Make checks payable to "The Enough Project" and be sure to write “RHFC Fundraiser - Facebook match campaign” in the memo line. 100 percent of the proceeds will go to ABFEK. You can mail them to:

Enough Project
c/o RAISE Hope for Congo Fundraiser
1225 Eye Street, Suite 307
Washington, DC 20005

A big thank you from RAISE Hope for Congo and the Enough Project to Kevin, for helping to spotlight the invaluable lifesaving efforts of people like Amani in eastern Congo.

Photo: Amani Matabaro at the sewing workshop. (Enough/Candice Knezevic)