Democratic Republic of the Congo – Africa | Project #1 of 72

The Bread of Mercy will strengthen one of the many activities already carried out within the community of the Sisters of Saint Gemma: cutting and sewing, with particular emphasis on producing sacred vestments through the art of embroidery. Sacred vestments are not widely sold in the village of Kavimvira, and purchasing them requires travelling dozens of kilometres. In December 2023, a young woman qualified in cutting and sewing was sent to Bukavu to attend a six-month specialist course in embroidery. At the end of the course, the sisters will employ her in their foyer, where her specific task will be to produce embroidered sacred vestments.

The sister leading the HIC SUM project is Sister Jacqueline of the Missionary Congregation of the Sisters of Saint Gemma. In 2021, immediately after returning to Kavimvira in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, she began forming a group of spazio + spadoni inhabitants — now more than 30 — who join her in carrying out Works of Mercy and who adopted the name “Misericorde Sainte Gemma – spazio + spadoni”.

Kavimvira is a village in South Kivu, on the border with Burundi and Rwanda. The situation is highly unstable because of continuing civil wars and reprisals aimed at claiming territories rich in resources such as gold and coltan.

The sisters’ community, located between the rebel-controlled mountains where the clashes take place and Rwanda, is a point of reference for the many wounded people who can receive care and relief at the dispensary run by the sisters.

The sisters’ facility in Kavimvira is self-sufficient. They have clean water from a nearby spring, which the local sisters and priests connected to the buildings through internal pipes. They also have a 5,000-litre tank that they fill with purchased water and rainwater.

Approximately 80 to 100 patients visit the dispensary each day for medical consultations. In 2020, the population of the health district for which the dispensary is the referral centre was 19,488.

The most common conditions are malaria, respiratory infections, parasitic and waterborne diseases, sexually transmitted infections, AIDS, tuberculosis, leprosy and malnutrition. The dispensary has 42 beds, three observation rooms, a delivery room and a postnatal room. Its services include consultations, hospitalisation, surgery, maternity care and assistance for patients with AIDS and tuberculosis. The dispensary also provides treatment for malnutrition, organised as follows: on Thursdays, it sees children whose health condition is moderate, currently 124; on Fridays, it sees the most serious cases, children at risk of dying, currently 67. However, the waiting list exceeds 200 children. It is not possible to care for all of them because of insufficient food resources; whenever a child recovers, the waiting list moves forward.

Mothers of malnourished children are given food supplies for 15 days.

In addition to the dispensary, there is also a FOYER containing a cutting and sewing school that awards a highly prestigious qualification recognised locally and valid for opening a workshop.

On 29 September 2021, Sister Jacqueline founded the Association des Volontaires Misericorde Sainte Gemma – spazio + spadoni with the support of the local parish priest. The initiative began with nine volunteers and now has more than 30 within a structured organisation. Their apostolate is to perform Works of Mercy in Kavimvira and the nearby villages. Sister Jacqueline provides spiritual guidance to the volunteers, reminding them always to place the face of the suffering Christ at the centre of their work. In October 2022 and February 2023, a volunteer from the Misericordia di Santa Gemma undertook a missionary experience in Kavimvira, bearing witness to the twinning established between the Congregation and the Confraternity. Sister Audacieuse currently oversees the volunteer group because Sister Jacqueline was transferred to a community in Côte d’Ivoire.