In 2008, Dr. Mukwege, Panzi Hospital Supporters and colleagues created the Panzi Foundation, with the specific aim to support the ongoing work of hospital and new outreach to rural clinics and communities. The Foundation builds on the work of the Panzi Hospital in order to promote basic quality health care for marginalized populations and in particular it aims to improve access to and the quality of maternal and reproductive health, promote and encourage the application of women’s rights and gender equality, prevent violence against women and children and to support survivors of rape and sexual violence to rebuild their lives and those of their communities.
The City of Joy is an initiative to supported by the international movement V-DAY. It will hold a special place in the Kivus’ region and serve as a leadership and skills training center with the message: “From Pain to Power”. The City of Joy will focus on leadership training and development for women activists to continue the struggle for women’s rights and justice for survivors.
Maison Dorcas
A transit and safety house for survivors of violence or those under long-or medium-term care for fistula and incontinence healing.
Women receive training in literacy and numeracy, small business skills, and other skills training. In addition, women benefit from continuous psychosocial and medical care, including group and individual therapy. The transit houses and partnering local women’s associations and cooperatives also provide assistance with family mediation and micro-credit.
The Panzi Foundation is currently establishing three other houses in zones highly affected by ongoing and past conflicts with high numbers of survivors and near hospitals still receiving large numbers of recent survivors. These transit-safe houses provide women with a safe environment in order to heal and learn new skills for their eventual community and/or family reintegration.
A new building is under construction funded by NCA, and the present activities are also funded by PMU and Unicef.
The Maison Dorcas was initiated 2003 by Zawadi Nabintu and NCA ( Norwegian Church Aid).
The USHINDI Project in Mwenga, Kitutu and Shabunda
The project started in 2010 with financing from USAID and will run over five years in nine health zones in Eastern DRC. Panzi Foundation and HEAL Africa are the implementers of the project in South Kivu.
USHINDI is the Swahili word for victory, and the project aims to support survivors of violence and children born of rape through a holistic approach that includes medical, psychosocial, legal and economic support.
The project involves training of community leaders, providers of health care, police and paralegals, social assistants, and community mobilizers. It will provide psychosocial assistance and medical care for survivors, and supply medicines to a number of health structures in the remote areas of Mwenga, Kitutu and Shabunda. These areas have a high incidence of sexual violence, and few programs are meeting the needs of survivors there due to insecurity and inaccessibility. Legal advice, microfinance services, and literacy training will also be offered to women through the USHINDI program.
Through community mobilization against domestic violence and training of local leaders, communities are expected to improve their capacity of identifying and responding to cases of gender based violence.
