I am the coordinator and founding member of the NGO, MEABF Mutuelle de Micro-Entrepreneurs pour l’Amour du Bien-Être Familial (Mutual Organisation of Micro-Entrepreneurs for Family Well-Being), based in Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Our mission is to empower and train women and young people to help rebuild the country and to foster sustainable peace and social cohesion by restoring the family’s role in society. The founding members took the initiative to establish this humanitarian organisation to improve the socio-economic conditions of marginalised and vulnerable people. To achieve this, we have implemented concrete measures.
What prompted me to establish this NGO personally was the very harsh conditions in which people in my community lived. My parents worked hard in the fields and in animal husbandry to support our family’s needs. This work took between seven and twelve months to produce a yield and often meant I couldn’t afford clothes (school uniform, shoes), pay my school fees on time, or even eat properly.
As a result, when I started school, I began to think about creating a social organisation to build a future for myself and for the other members of my community after my university studies. The idea was to unite people around alternative short-term income-generating initiatives and professional training, with the aim of reducing extreme poverty. I also felt the mission should focus on providing everyone access to education without relying solely on time-consuming agricultural work or animal husbandry.
When it was established, we planned to undertake various activities based on the reality of the communities living in poverty. As a result, at the heart of MEABF, we have made every effort to work with the most vulnerable groups, with the moral duty to serve them effectively.
We decided it would be best to meet with people, identify the challenges they face, and explore possible solutions together. The community was happy and grateful for our contribution, however modest. The resource most frequently requested by communities was capacity-building training aimed at overcoming poverty. Priority sectors included agriculture, tailoring and sewing, catering, and cosmetology, as well as promoting job creation through small businesses, financial management and inclusion, and of course, animal husbandry. At the end of the training, we provide the necessary materials for their chosen career. Services were provided to beneficiaries on a non-discriminatory basis.
For us, these actions are part of our strategy to meet the needs of communities, particularly those impacted by poverty. We also intend to implement an unconditional cash assistance system, but this has not been widely adopted due to the complexity and length of the process.
MEABF provides its humanitarian assistance to children who are orphans or come from single-parent families, people with disabilities, albinos (mainly children), widows, indigenous peoples, and more generally, anyone living in extreme poverty. Our activities prioritise people living in the most remote rural areas, where life is particularly challenging, and who meet the criteria mentioned above.
One of our many success stories is that of Madame Sharlotte M. She represents the many women living in poverty who, through our coaching and support, have strengthened their skills and improved their living conditions. Today, women like her provide for their families without external assistance.
Because of our educational support, several children now speak French, write, count, communicate effectively, and are mastering the foundations of mathematics. One notable case was Batumike [one of the children], whom we identified and supported.
We hope that anyone reading this will follow our lead by providing their guidance and support to make our efforts more visible, more sustainable, and more efficient in assisting the vulnerable people we support.
Considering what we have already achieved and the positive changes observed in the lives of our beneficiary communities in North Kivu and Goma, we at MEABF feel encouraged and proud. Feedback from our beneficiaries has further strengthened our motivation and confidence. We hope to continue helping even more members of our communities, reduce poverty to a very low level, and further promote development through economic and social support, while encouraging social cohesion, solidarity, and resilience.
Currently, our biggest challenge is a lack of equipment (computers, printers, cameras, overhead projectors), vehicles to facilitate the mobility of administrative and field staff, and funding to support socio-economic projects that benefit vulnerable people.
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