See below related links to our trip.
Our sponsoring church, First Presbyterian Church of Berkeley.
Our host site in Goma, H.E.A.L. Africa.
Don't know where Congo is or what it looks like? Here's a Map of Congo; find Goma on the Eastern Border next to Rwanda.
Goma sits on the north shore of Lake Kivu, which is full of methane and CO2 gas from the nearby volcanic activity. While these gasses often pose a threat to the community, they are also being harvested for energy. Read more here.
Cell phones are often made from materials plundered in the Congo - Click here to send an email to your representative in support of the The Conflict Minerals Trade Act of 2009. Track this bill here. Click here for more info about resource plundering in the Congo. A conflict minerals provision was passed with the Wall Street Financial Reform bill on July 15, 2010.
Rape is used as a weapon in the continuing conflict in the South Kivu province Congo (Goma is in the North Kivu province). Read more about healing from rape in the Congo here.
The AIDS Epidemic continues to ravage the African continent, and now the AIDS effort is failing due to a contraction and diversion of foreign aid to other diseases, coupled with treatment-only drugs, rather than a cure or vaccine (yet to be developed).
