Crisis in the Congo

Water crisis

The Democratic Republic of the Congo has been suffering from a water crisis for quite some time now. Seventy-five percent (50 million people) of the population lacks access to clean water sources. In rural areas, there are very few water pumps and the ones that do exist require a monthly maintenance fee that many villagers can not afford. Because of his, many people rely on unsafe drinking water. This unsafe water causes numerous diseases and has caused the Congo to have the highest child mortality rate in the world.

Womens’ Illiteracy

Often times, girls in the DRC are forced to hike miles a day to and from unsafe water sources. This means that young girls spend their time collecting water while young boys are educated. This has caused a large gap between the literacy rates between these two genders. According to a study done in 2016, 88.52% of men living in the Congo were literate compared to 66.55% for that of women. However, the Malaika School is working to fix this by providing free access to education for girls in the village of Kalebuka. This education is expected to cause these girls to increase their future earnings by 10-20% for each additional year of schooling and reinvest this into her community.

Dangers to Women

Devastatingly, of the Congolese population which is made up of 70 million men and women, 1.8 million women have been raped. This is about 433,000 women per year. These actions are often carried out by armed men in a gang rape. Being raped is an everyday fear for women in the Congo. Since most acts of sexual violence towards Congolese women are committed by armed forces and militias who are seen as powerful figures in the DRC, these actions have become normalized. Jane Freedman found in her 2011 article Explaining Sexual Violence and Gender Inequalities in the DRC that Congolese men made a distinction between “normal rape” which is acceptable and a result of a man’s lust and “evil rape” which is wrong and includes additional unnecessary violence. The mindset around rape and sexual violence in the Congo needs to be amended in order to restore the safety of Congolese women. Thankfully, the Malaika School has a great security team and creates a stress-free environment for the students to learn.