Judy Anderson; A Shared Humanity

A well-deserved recognition

This Friday, February 18, 2022, the organization Uwema Asbl, a local philanthropic association, gathered in a restricted setting, a few dozen people for a purpose as particular as it is relevant; the awarding of certificates of merit to about twenty "Inspiring Women" of Kivu. For their work and its impact in the region, these women were rightly recognized so that this recognition serves as an amplifier for their voices, some of which have been raised for decades.

Among them are entrepreneurs, women in the media, women caregivers, lawyers, politicians and of course one of the great philanthropists of Kivu; Judy Anderson. This woman of American nationality is one of those who have largely contributed to the quest for resilience of thousands of victims of horrors and atrocities in the province of North Kivu, and in Eastern Congo in general.

A life, a vocation

Born and raised in the Congo, she was struck early on by the condition of the Congolese girl in an environment where her most fundamental rights are violated in the total indifference of patriarchal communities. She travels from the 70s throughout the world, but she does not forget the Congo. She came back and married her fellow citizen, but always on this land of Lumumba. She redressed the injustices of many women, inspired by those whose rights she had watched helplessly being violated in her youth.

In 1999, she went to Goma with her husband. There, they encountered the great work of restoring victims of sexual violence and PLWHA initiated by their friend Lyn Lusi at Heal Africa Hospital. The site presents enormous challenges that she finds an opportunity to help, impact, repair and save. As one can see, she remains humanly dedicated to the other.

Since then, Judy Anderson, with the support of her friends, has left a part of her heart in Kivu. Thanks to her kindness and dynamism, organizations have been incubated, local youth and women leaders propelled, vulnerable populations empowered; all based on the empowerment of different social strata in order to give them the means of their dignity, to teach them to sin rather than to continually receive fish. Basically, to be an opportunity for future generations.

Our Recognition

This certificate of merit awarded to Judy Anderson for both her humanity and her work is also a source of pride for us at AGIR-RDC. It is a deep mark of recognition that we prefer to paint do bold in our turn, as much her involvement through Act For Congo, an organization she co-founded in 2013, in the impetus of our organization, her plural and unconditional support for our work with the communities stricken by the last volcanic eruption, the battered populations of the Beni region or the thousands of children and schoolchildren in need of information for their physical and moral development, all based on programs of psychological care, community mobilization or socio-economic reintegration. Her experience and sagacity are an important contribution to the program of accompaniment and empowerment of domestic women, this other layer long marginalized but whose cruelty of violations can never silence us.

Our faith, our conviction

Judy Anderson is one of those women that Kivu is lucky to have. She draws on her faith, the experiences of others, and the examples of philanthropy and self-sacrifice she has seen among her Congolese collaborators for over 20 years now. She is a woman of culture, a cultivator in the human field, she sows with hope and rejoices when the seeds germinate daily. She remains a source and an opportunity in herself of inspiration, motivation and concrete commitment.