TUUNGANE CHILDREN'S PROGRAM
After traveling to Goma, DR Congo in September 2008 we had the opportunity to visit HEAlAfrica's Tuungane Children's Program. The Tuungane children's program reaches out to the most disadvantaged children in society, those who are orphans and forced to live and survive on the streets, those who do not have the chance to go to school because their parents cannot afford school fees, and those who have severe medical issues. The Tuungane program, which means "unity" in Swahili, aims to help restore the normal development of a child and prepare them for school or vocational training. The program has three spaces in Goma and seven centers (Ndosho, Masisi Centre, Kibirizi, Kishoro, Sake, Walikale and Kanybayonga) called Espace d'enfants in the North Kivu district.
The children hang around the hospital grounds, as they are not in school and do not have a stable place to go home. Most come from difficult or abusive home situations and some children have experienced direct violence involving armed groups or have been associated with armed groups.
The first Tuungane is a school at the HEAL Africa hospital. The hospital specializes in orthopedic surgery for children. The majority of child patients are from rural areas and come in with severe problems due to preventable diseases such as polio, rickets, and malnutrition. Many of the children pass several months at the hospital with nothing to do. They are given the wonderful opportunity of education. The children receive a year scholarship for their school fees when they are released from the hospital.
The other spaces focus on children who have never been to school or who live on the streets. They meet in the mornings, and the counselor/teacher visits homes in the afternoon. These spaces incorporate counseling, learning games, play therapy, and literacy. The children have suffered unspeakable traumas and the goal is to protect them from an accumulation of distressful and harmful events and prepare them for the future either through education or vocational training.