sewing for independence

while conditions for women in the dr congo are already deplorable, women left widowed face financial ruin... left with very few options for ways to support themselves and their children. in the virunga national park, death among park rangers is very high (125 deaths in the last 10 years) as rangers continue to put their lives at risk to protect the park, the extremely endangered mountain gorillas, and other wildlife. while emergency donations for rangers widows through the iccn (you can donate on the gorilla.cd website) greatly help these families in the short term, a new program is helping these women gain financial autonomy

with help from the igcp (international gorilla conservation program), a group of 32 women are learning the skills of sewing... giving them the opportunity to learn a skill that will ultimately give them a way to support their families. upon completion of the program, each woman gets her own sewing machine to set up shop independently!

you can read more about the ranger widows, the work the rangers give their lives for, and ways you can help, over on the gorilla.cd blog