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Supporters Witness Heartland Alliance’s Transformative Impact in Central Africa

March 10, 2009

This winter, a delegation of 18 Heartland Alliance supporters and staff made a special trip, traveling from the Midwest's Great Lakes to the Great Lakes region of Africa to visit some of Heartland Alliance's international programs. The trip is part of an annual retreat Heartland Alliance coordinates for investors who have made a significant contribution to our work.

"The retreat provides investors with a more in-depth understanding of the issues with which Heartland Alliance is involved and an opportunity to engage in discussions about our present and future work," said Sid Mohn, president of Heartland Alliance, who led the weeklong journey.

Building on our domestic expertise providing primary and mental health care for survivors of torture and trauma, Heartland Alliance has developed programs and partnerships in Rwanda, Burundi, and the Congo, areas heavily afflicted by violence and war. These programs include:

  • Reintegration of female former child soldiers in Burundi
  • Comprehensive mental health services for women living with HIV/AIDS in Rwanda
  • Training community mental health workers to provide mental health support to survivors of sexual and gender-based violence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

The trip took the visitors to diverse locations showing the range of life in Central Africa, from hospitals and genocide memorials to soccer pitches and even a community organic gardening project.

Jennifer Miller, a longtime investor in Heartland Alliance, has been to Africa several times in the past 22 years and says she's excited by the possibilities she sees there.

"Nobody is doing what Heartland Alliance does in Central Africa," she says. Miller was most encouraged by the comprehensive approach to health care Heartland Alliance is developing in the region. She says the kind of counseling provided helps people get the skills they need to integrate themselves back into society and build community.

Miller acknowledges that the challenges in this genocide-torn region are complicated and numerous, and that no single effort will be able to help everyone affected by years of violence. But she is optimistic about the future.

"If we can change these lives, they can change other lives," Miller says. "In Rwanda, in Burundi, and even in the Congo, there is hope."

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