The FOYER in DRC





Foyer (a French word) meaning a training center for women in the village of Mulongo.

Shortly after the war, the United Methodist Women of Mulongo in the Democratic Republic of Congo realized they needed a place for women to meet and share stories and support one another.   The war took many casualties not only in lives but in spirit especially the women.   Adult women were killed or sometimes worse raped in front of the their families.   The same was true to many young women.   Consequently, the villages were full of scorned women for the enemy knew within the DRC culture, raping a women in front of the family would not kill her but it would mark her for life. 

Around 2005 or 2006, women began to talk louder about needing a Foyer.   The church was growing by leaps and bounds and churches were popping up all over.   There never seemed to be enough money for a Foyer.   In 2012 the women took the project into their own hands... literally.   They made 20,000 bricks which is very much men's work (all the time also doing their work which meant that they were spending all but about 4 hours per day working).   When the bricks were completed they came to the church council, sat on the floor, (women had no seats at the leadership table), and asked to present their case.  In early 2013 they were granted permission and land space to start their Foyer.  All that was needed was money for the mortar and roofing to get the project going. 

During this same time period in 2007, we met a pastor and mission person on a journey to Cambodia.   He told us about work he'd been involved in for over 15 years in DRC.   I kept asking him about when could Indiana mission folks take a team to DRC.   He always replied "Not yet, until we can guarantee your safety we can't accept teams."    Because I serve on the North Central Jurisdiction UMVIM committee and we have a program for young people called Mission Discovery, I would ask yearly if now was the time.   Suddenly in 2013 when I asked, Bob Walters indicated he thought they were ready.  Things were falling into place quickly.  The raids and violence along the river had subsided. If fact they were planning for a small team of Boy Scouts to come during the summer of 2015.   And about that time, the women had been granted the OK to build their Foyer.  One of the positives for getting a mission team to come is there is usually money that comes with that to help with a particular project.   Bob indicated that we would need $10,000 from the team for the cost of the project. 

Leaving out lots of the details, we invited the Conference United Methodist Women to help finance this team of young women by helping with the cost of the project (that $10,000).   They agreed and the rest is history.

Not only did they raise $5,000 (our Indiana Conference Mission team put in $5,000), by  mid-July 2014 they had raised $12,000 plus dollars.   Before all was said and done, Indiana mission folks had raised one dollar for each brick the women had made.  This is one huge miracle. 

Getting supplies to  the village of Mulongois is often a 3 - 4 month ordeal but as soon as the supplies arrived, the construction began.  The women cleared the land, moved all of the rocks from where they had placed them to be used for the foundation.  Within months the Foyer had walls up and roof in place. (Note the photo above.) Now they have been on hold because they lack the funds to purchase the windows and doors and put in a floor.   About another $6,000 is needed to get those in place.  After the rainy season is over, the women will begin meeting there and it is quite possible they will also be working on getting the floors prepared as they work together.  

Why is this building so important?   These women are problem solvers and community life is very important.  There are so many young women in the community with babies from being raped and none of them have an education.  One of the village women  (shown at the left) in North Katanga (a region in DRC) is shown advocating for women's literacy. A strong, poised, articulate young woman who cannot read because she wasn't sent to school as a girl.

The Foyer is located near a Nursing School so there will be resources for leadership from the school to teach the women about community health issues.   They will also use this facility to teach sewing and cooking.  They hope that it will be used by the community for other functions and generate some income for upkeep on the building.  Not only will the Foyer assist women in becoming better wives and mothers (many women in the 20's have raised themselves because mom was killed during the war), but most important it will give women a place to come together to solve the problems village life - problems of malaria control and treatment, problems of unsafe water, issues around literacy or lack there of.   Women want to read the Bible, not just always be read to.   Women want to be productive in their society.  The Foyer is where all this will happen. 

The Foyer (Women's Training Center) will transform women for better family life in the future.   What a joy it is to be part of the story.  Oh how I wish I were younger... guess where a team from Valparaiso 1st would be going next year if I could only lead the way?