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Dina-News on CBN

Last week millions of viewers could watch a news report on CBN about the 22 sexually abused girls that got a new home at the Dina Centre in Goma.

CBN (Christian Broadcasting Network) have daily news broadcasts on satellite that reach large parts of the world. A team from CBN was in Congo two weeks ago to make a story about the Dina Foundation’s work. They were then able to join a team from the Dina Foundation that went to a refugee camp to offer 22 sexually abused girls a home a Dina Centre in Goma. Many of the girls had watched their parents getting killed, and all of them had been raped. The girls were warmly welcomed by the other children at the Dina Centre with similar backgrounds. The story was broadcast Monday October 19th on CBN.

CBN’s humanitarian branch, Operation Blessing, is now entering a partnership with the Dina Foundation to help fund new projects in Congo.

Watch the news story here:

22 new girls to the Dina senter in Congo
In the first week of October Rune Edvardsen retrieved 22 abused girls from a refugee camp in Kiwandja in Congo. All of them are now well cared for at the Dina Foundation’s orphanage in Goma.

It was one of IWM’s pastor’s in the region who first came in contact with the girls in Kiwandja. He reported their fate to the Dina Foundation’s staff in Goma. Together with Rune Edvardsen they went to the refugee camp to offer the girls a place to stay at the orphanage where 130 girls from similar backgrounds already live.

Raped by six soldiers
The stories the girls told were terrible when they were taken from the awful conditions of the refugee camp. All of them had been raped, and many had witnessed their parents getting killed.
13 year old Zawadi said that only a few days earlier she was out in the fields harvesting vegetables. Suddenly six soldiers attacked her. They gagged her with a piece of cloth to silence her screams while they raped her. She was taken to the hospital for treatment, but she is suffering from great pain and trauma. All 22 girls had similar stories, and several witnessed the brutal killing of their parents.

After formally arranging for their release from the camp authorities and family, the girls were taken to IWM’s orphanage in Goma. They are now receiving medical help and they will start school as soon as they are able to.

The world community must wake up
-What is happening in Goma is an unbelievable tragedy, says Rune Edvardsen, the director and founder the Dina Foundation.
-Everywhere we go we hear stories of violent attacks and rape. At the same time it is so easy to help, it takes so little. To watch how the girls at the Dina senter caringly received the new victims was very touching. But the world community must wake up and act. We can’t be silent bystanders anymore.

Please consider making a financial gift to the Dina Foundation.

Your gift will ensure that the girls at the Dina senter and the boys and the Betsaida senter in Goma in Congo will continue to receive life changing support and help.

A New School is now being built
A new volunteer team is now in Congo to help build a much needed school for girls at the Dina center. After only a few days, the new structure is already rising from the ground.

Monday May the 4th a new volunteer team from Norway arrived in Goma in east Congo. They were immediately able to confirm that the new house with facilities for 70 girls that has been built through team effort over the winter months is now complete. This week beds and mattresses were purchased, and Monday, May the 10th, the first girls were able to move in to their new home.

New school next
The completion of the girl’s living quarters meant that the next project in line, a new school, could start.
Project manager Andre Moseid and the rest of the building crew are now working together with locals to raise a 340 square meter school that will provide education for 120 of the girls now living at the Dina-center.
The work is going well and the foundation of the school was finished after only a few days.

The building crew from Norway will return to Norway on May the 16th. A new trip with volunteers is scheduled for November, 2009.
If you are interested in joining a volunteer team to Congo, please contact Helge Flatøy at helgef@mac.com.

Nkunda’s arrest does not stop the new Peace School

The director of the Dina Foundation, Rune Edvardsen, confirms that the Peace School will be built despite General Laurent Nkunda’s arrest.

Rune Edvardsen had a new meeting with General Laurent Nkunda in Congo only days before the general’s arrest in Rwanda on Saturday the 24th of January.
The purpose of the meeting was to work out the details of the new Peace School that Edvardsen had planned to start building in February in the area controlled by Nkunda’s army.

It was during a trip to Congo in November of 2008 that Rune Edvardsen was able to meet with the war general for the first time and gain permission to build a peace school in his territory (see the story further down on the web page).
The recent arrest of Nkunda has temporarily put the building plans on hold until the situation in the area has stabilized.
-We will not risk the lives of other people, so now we have be patient and see what happens, says Edvardsen who fears more bloodshed as a result of the arrest.

But Edvardsen makes it clear that a Peace School will be built. The school is meant to promote peace and understanding between children of different tribes.

-I have always said that the school will not belong to Nkunda, but to the local people. The school is to be built in a place where many ethnic groups live and there are many such places in Congo, so we don’t need to build it exactly here, he says.

Rune Edvardsen is one of few who are in close contact with Nkunda, and he knows people on all sides of the conflict in eastern Congo. He has regular talks with the Norwegian government on how the current situation in Congo is developing and what Norway could do to help.

Difficult conflict
Edvardsen is clear about the fact that he does not support Nkunda’s violent methods to get power in Congo, but he believes that not everything in this complicated conflict gets told in the media. Nkunda is fighting for a better country for all ethnic groups.

-Nkunda has formed a party and is not any longer only the leader of an army. Their ideology is a bit different that what the media reports. Nkunda wants to build a new Congo. The country has great riches, and Nkunda has big ideas and large visions for how these resources should be used.

-The enormous wealth goes in the wrong pockets. As long as all the unrest and violence can be blamed on an ethnic conflict, the need to do something with the corruption and other problems are avoided, says Edvardsen.

Laurent Nkundas fort in Bunagana.

Spent two days with Nkunda
Rune Edvardsen spent two days with Nkunda in his headquarters in Bunagana in the east of the North Kivu region only days before Nkunda’s recent arrest. He also spent the night in the general’s camp.

-We talked for two days. I got insight into how they see the future. Congo’s bloody history is a tangle with no ends. Perhaps I am going against the crowd, and many may disagree with me but I believe in being honest and saying what happened, he says.

Small tile franchise will sponsor the entire Peace School in Congo

Even the editor of the local newspaper praises the initiative of both staff and owners of a tile franchise that has agreed to sponsor the building of the new Peace School in Congo.

The charitable spirit of the business “Modena Tiles” in southern Norway even caught the attention of the largest newspaper in southern Norway, “Fedrelandsvennen”. The staff decided to donate all proceeds from the sale of fireworks for New Years Eve that was meant to finance a staff trip abroad. The staff instead decided to give the money to the new peace school that the Dina Foundation is building in eastern Congo.

It was Rune Edvardsen, the founder of the foundation, that was able to meet with and get permission from general Laurent Nkunda, who rules this area, to build a peace school for both Hutu and Tutsi children. Much of the war in eastern Congo is a continuation of the strife between the Hutus and Tutsis that led to the genocide in Rwanda in 1990. At the school, the children will learn respect and tolerance for each other with positive interaction, sowing the seeds for future peace in the region.

When the owners of “Modena Tiles” heard what their employees were doing, they decided to add whatever is needed to complete the entire project, up to 1 million kroner, or approximately 150,000 dollars.
The editor of the newspaper writes:

“The staff at Modena makes a new way by action. They are an example to uphold and model. During the financial crises we are experiencing, it is easy to look inward and think mostly about our own needs. Then it is remarkable that there are people who not only recognize that there are people who suffer much worse than we do, but who are also willing to do something about it. It helps us put our own problems in perspective.”
With the promise of the funding at hand, Rune Edvardsen traveled to Congo in January of 2009 to make further preparations for the building of the school.

22. desember 2008:
Company donates all profit from firework sale

All proceeds from the sale of firework for New Years Eve celebrations will go directly to the new Peace School the Dina Foundation is building in east Congo.

The Modena Fliser (Modena Tiles) branch at Lumber in Kristiansand in Norway has decided to give all profit from the annual New Year’s firework sale to the Dina Foundation. The sale of fireworks in Norway for the festive New Years Eve celebrations is considered an easy and profitable turnover as individuals are still allowed to light up the sky for this one evening a year.

The profit from the sale of fireworks at Modena Fliser was to be divided in two. Half would fund a staff trip abroad, and the other half would go to the company.
But after the company had a visit from the Dina Foundation, the staff decided to cancel their trip and give their share of the turnover to the children in Congo. When the owners heard this they decided to donate their share as well.

-These funds will go directly to the new Peace School that we are building in eastern Congo in the area that General Laurent Nkunda controls. Rune Edvardsen was able to cut a deal for the school when he met Nkunda in November. This is a very promising project, and Modena Fliser tells us that we have not heard the last of it from them yet, says Helge Flatøy from the Dina Foundation.

Supplier Company gives 40 000 dollars to Dina

The Norwegian on/off shore supplier Werc has more on their mind than mere profit measured in dollars. Investing in aid turns a different kind of profit with benefits far beyond themselves.

-This is just fantastic, says Helge Flatøy from the Dina Foundation. He says that after two coincidental encounters with one of the owners of the Norwegian owned company Werc (www. Werc.no), he expressed a desire to give 40 000 dollars to the work for suffering women and children in Congo.

-I have learned not to celebrate too early when it comes to the promise of really large donations. There are many kind hearts out there that would like help the Dina children, but it’s not always easy for a company to release this kind of money, says Flatøy.
–So it felt really great when the owner I met convinced the other owner and the staff to join in this venture.

Flatøy was also invited to give a presentation of the work to the staff. This way they can all share the joy of knowing where part of their profit is heading.

-Everybody in the office heard about the Dina work, and it was clear that they were all really touched, he says.

Positive for companies
Kjell Rune Nakkestad runs a coaching company for other companies in Kristiansand in Norway. When he helps companies define their own values, he often advices them to get involved in projects outside their own company.
-Most people like to do well towards others. Even if most companies acknowledge that their greatest resource is people, in reality this is often forgotten. By getting involved in an aid project outside the company they are strengthening and reinforcing their own values, explains Nakkestad.

This can turn into a positive circle for a company. When the staff know that their work has a deeper meaning it can lead to greater motivation, and in turn, greater profit.

The Dina Foundation’s work in Congo is continually expanding as the needs are so great.
Right now 90 young girls from Kahele in Congo are waiting for room at the Dina senter in Goma. All the girls are victims of rape and many have lost their families. They are all between the ages of 6-7 and 17.

21. november 2008:
Rune Edvardsen met General Laurent Nkunda in Congo

Rune Edvardsen met with rebel General Laurent Nkunda in Congo last week. Nkunda agreed that Edvardsen could start a school for both Hutu and Tutsi children in the rebel area.

-My desire is to build a school for both Hutus and Tutsies and other minority groups in Congo. We will start a new project where children will come together from an early age to learn to see the world in a different light than what they do now, says Edvardsen.

It was Thursday afternoon on November the 20th that Edvardsen had talks with General Laurent Nkunda and his staff at Nkunda’s headquarters in Rutsuri in east Congo.
During a meeting that lasted for two and a half hours, Edvardsen heard Nkunda’s thoughts about the conflict and was able to start talks about aid work in the area.

-Right now I come from a meeting with Nkunda and his chief in command. We shared some food together with his staff of “ministers” and talked together. It was a very unreal feeling to be there, says Edvardsen.

Edvardsen’s television producer, Geir Egeland, who filmed the meeting, says that it was really Nkunda’s chief in command that had agreed to see, so they were taken by surprise when Nkunda suddenly showed up.

-They were all very friendly towards us at the headquarters. I was served food by Nkunda himself. But our driver, who is a Hutu from Goma, did not want to get out of the car. He showed great courage by his willingness to drive us right in to the lions den, so to speak, Egeland explains.

Rune Edvardsen says he got the idea for this meeting a long time ago.
-I have a theory that I wish to work with all people, no matter who they are, what they believe or what they think. I would like to do something for the children in the area that Nkunda controls. A few months back I therefore contacted the rebels, and after arriving in Goma a few days ago I sent them a text message. I got contact and he said we could come and visit.

Rune Edvardsen said that it was interesting to hear the ideology and the thought behind their rebel movement.

-Nkunda first of all thanked us for coming to see them. He says that the media coverage internationally does not correspond with what they stand for. They want to unite Congo morally and believe that there must be one power that has control over the borders so that outsiders can’t come in and strip the country of its valuables. At the same time he said that he supports the minorities in the country. The people who really know all about this can judge if this is what it really is all about, but it was very interesting, says Edvardsen.

Edvardsen makes is very clear that he does not take sides in the conflict between General Nunda’s army of rebels and the government forces.
-It is not possible in a conflict where there is so much wrong on both sides. We will work towards the individual. There are many tragic human fates on both sides of this war. We have offered to assist with humanitarian aid and to try to make contacts with other people. To achieve peace people must talk together.
Rune Edvardsen has traveled to Congo more than 30 times since 2001 on behalf of the Dina Foundation.

If you would like to help the people in Congo with a donation to the Dina Foundation, please click here.

The Dina-children are safe in Goma
-The 70 girls and the 50 boys at the Dina-senters in Goma in Congo are safe and still attending our school during daytime, despite the escalating war conflict in the area, says Helge Flatøy who is coordinator for the Dina Foundation.

Despite the ongoing conflict in the area that has killed and maimed thousands of people while hundreds of thousands are homeless, a team of 15 Norwegian volunteers arrived in Goma on November the 9th to assist with a much needed expansion of the Dina-senter for girls.

-We have not had any personal confrontation with the war yet, but it is clear that people here are nervous. They get some of the same news that we get at home. But for them this is quite normal. The only difference really is that the western press finally started reporting what is happening in eastern Congo, says Helge Flatøy who is now in Goma.

The goal of this trip is to help expand the Dina-senter where 70 girls are living under very crowded conditions. With the additional rooms now built the Dina-senter can provide shelter, medical help and schooling for 115 girls.
One of the Norwegian volunteers, Aud Korsvik, says that the past days in Goma have been filled with stark contrasts, causing her to cry many times.
-During mealtime one day I got to hold the youngest girl here, who is a 3 years old toddler, on my lap. That was a very emotional experience and I thought about what had happened to this little girl, the terrible violence she suffered. And yet here am I, that was pretty unreal, says Aud.

From the youngest 3 year old to the oldest 17 year old, all 70 girls have had horrific crimes committed against them. They have been violated and many have watched their own parents and siblings get killed.
-But I can see that the children at the Dina-senters are well provided for. I have watched them play, they sing a lot and they really like to dance while using the water buckets as drums, says Aud.
–In fact, that is what the children at the kindergarten I work at in Norway also likes to do.

As an extra gift she brought 1000 dollars that was a donation to the children from the kindergarten and school where she is employed. After conferring with the local director of the Dina-senter, they have decided to use the money to buy chickens and rabbits and pens and cages to keep them in.
-This will really make a good contribution to the children’s diet, she explains.
Some of the children are still a bit malnourished but this will improve over time, particularly when they now will get more protein in their diet. As chickens and rabbits reproduce so quickly, they will also be able to sell what they don’t need at the market, which will be a valuable contribution their daily budget, Aud explains.
The volunteers are leaving Goma on Saturday November the 22nd.

Donors give new life to Congo children
By: Bente Rognmo Thakre

-The wedding at the orphanage last summer really gave the children a new hope for their future. Now they all want a wedding, says the director of the Dina and Bethsaida center in Congo, dr. Kabutu Biriage.

-Claudine, who got married last summer, is now expecting her first baby, says dr. Kabutu Biriage. He is the local coordinator and director of the Dina Foundation in Congo. Claudine was the first girl to get married after the Norwegian founder, Rune Edvardsen, started the orphanages in 2002 for boys and 2003 for girls. Claudine was one of the very first to seek refuge at the Dina center for abused girls. She was then 14 years old and had been living on the street working among the market stalls carrying goods for shoppers from she was 8 years old.

-The wedding really gave the children hope that they do have a future and the possibility of having their own family one day. That they will find somebody who will love them despite of what they have experienced, explains dr. Kabutu.

-Now all the children want to have a wedding, he adds and laughs.

The Dina Foundation includes two orphanages built as two separate compounds a few hundred meters apart. The Dina center for girls houses the roomy chapel where all the children attend services. The Bethsaida center where the boys live facilitates the school all the children attend.
Most of the 32 girls presently living at the Dina center are victims of rape and abuse by soldiers. Several had to make their livelihood as porters among the market stalls. Others come from remote villages where the parents have been unable to help them through their traumas after being raped. The Bethsaida center houses about 50 homeless boys, some of them surviving victims from the horrendous volcano eruption that struck Goma in 2002. In the cases where it is possible, the children will be reunited with their families to make room for new children at the orphanages.

Dr. Kabutu and his wife Eva visits with Snefrid in her bridal shop. Snefrid donated the gown and all the accessories for Claudines bridal outfit.

-We really thank all the donors who support the Dina Foundation, says dr. Kabutu.
-Girls and boys who were beggars at the market in Goma have now got a completely new life. Some of them are even becoming young evangelists in their own right, telling their powerful testimonies, a witness to God’s love, he says.

United Nations and the Red Cross are uncovering chilling reports of mass rapes as cruel war strategies to shame and destroy families. This happens daily in Congo, and Rune Edvardsen says he has been in areas in Congo where 9 out of 10 women and girls were raped.

-One of our problems are that young homeless children from the markets are now knocking on our doors, hoping for a place to live, but we simply do not have any more capacity and have to turn them away, Dr. Kabutu is sad to admit.
He hopes to be able to expand the two orphanages that now house, feed and school about one hundred children.

-We also need money to pay the teachers at the school 250 children from the community attend as well, he says.

There are now 50 boys living at the Bethsaida centre in Goma.

– All the children have regular classes from 8-12 in the morning. In the afternoon they have their vocational training, such as sewing or carpentry, and some bible classes as well.
Dr. Kabutu, who is a professor at the university in Goma, says they have intensified the teaching and are able to complete the regular 6 curriculums in 3 years.
-It is really incredible to see how the children have changed in this short time, he says.
-Now they can read, write and do their math as well as learn a trade to provide them with an income once they leave us.

The children also have bible classes and sing in a choir where they share their testimonies.

- I really hope we can acquire a buss for the purpose of evangelizing. The children make a strong impression wherever they go, they are such a powerful testimony to the gospel of love and restoration, he explains.

He adds that at their own initiative the children will fast and pray for 2 to 3 days at a time.
-Then they will pray for peace in Congo, for the leaders of their nation and their own future and families. And perhaps a wedding, he adds with a smile.

-Girls and boys who were beggars at the market in Goma have now got a completely new life. Some of them are even becoming young evangelists in their own right, telling their powerful testimonies, a witness to God's love, says dr. Kabutu.

Practical needs:
The practical needs at the two orphanages that dr. Kabutu mentions particularly are:

- A 300-meter long water pipe connecting the two orphanages. It is only the boys orphanage at the Bethsaida center that has access to running water, and the girls have to hand carry all the water they need for cooking and washing across to the Dina center.

-Fabric for their sewing lessons. The children need fabric to practice on, dr. Kabutu explaines.

-New parts to the sewing machines as they wear out.

-A tall wall around the Dina senter for the protection of the girls.

Dr. Kabutu emphasizes that all their practical needs are available and can be bought at the local markets in Goma.

Click here for more information on how you can help support the Dina Foundation project for sexually abused girls and homeless boys.

17. februar 2006:
Assessed the Damage

Rune Edvardsen assessed the damage at the Dina center after staff and children were wounded in a guerilla attack in December.

Dr. Kabuto, the local supervisor of the Dina Foundation in Congo, was the target of an assassination attempt by a group of guerilla soldiers.

-I saw the van at the orphanage and the place where the attack happened, says Edvardsen, the Norwegian director of the Dina Foundation.

-The car was a total wreck with several bullet holes. It was only a miracle that no one was killed. The soldiers ambushed the van as it was approaching the Bethsaida center and fired several rounds of bullets at the vehicle. Dr. Kabuto was driving and panicked. He sped up and as the vehicle took a corner it tipped over. More soldiers lay in ambush. They pulled him out of the car and took his money and valuables. One of the soldiers put a gun to Dr. Kabuto’s head and pulled the trigger. But the bullet missed and Kabuto scrambled to his feet and fled. The driver and Kabuto’s son were hit by bullets but survived. Seven of the children were injured when the van tipped over, but they also managed to get away, recounts Edvardsen.

It is believed that the guerillas have a death list with the names of people with higher education. Dr. Kabuto is also the director of the correspondence school ”The New Life” and lectures at one of the Universities in Goma.

New school
Despite the guerilla attack there is good news to report from the Dina center.
The telephone company, Vodpahone, entered into a sponsorship agreement with the center to support a new school. Three classrooms will be added to the Bethsaida center. In return the center will build a number of market stalls for Vodaphone.

The following quotes do not really fit after what’s written above.
-The children were very disappointed that I couldn’t stay an entire week, Rune admits.
-They were in great shape. I also brought with me medical testing equipment for HIV/Aids, and now all the children will be tested.

Wedding at the Dina-center
One of the girls at the Dina-center, Claudine, is preparing to get married. Claudine has lived at the girl’s center since it was opened in 2002. She lost he parents in 1994. After that she was forced to live on the streets and was raped by street boys she considered her friends. After that she started selling herself in Goma to survive.

-She is a sweet little lady who is always smiling and good humored. We will send an extra money to the center so they can give her and her husband a great wedding, promised Edvardsen.

New Dina-center in Bukavu
After visiting Goma Edvardsen continued on to Bukavu in South-Kivu province. At temporary quarters provided by the Dina Foundation 14 girls with their babies, all victims of rape, waited to receive him.
-The youngest girl is about the age of my own son, Dan Alexander (9). Her baby is a sweet little girl only a few months old. After visiting and sharing a meal together the next day, I went to inspect our new property in Panzi where we are going to start a Dina-Bukavu center exactly for little girls like this one who need help to take care of their babies, Rune explains.

If you would like to give a gift to help young victims of rape and homeless boys in Congo, please click here.

12. desember 2005:
Staff and children shot and wounded

Guerilla soldiers opened gunfire at the director and children from the Bethsaida centre in Congo.

The director of the orphanage, Dr. Kabuto, his son, the driver of the van and 7 children were shot at when the car they sat in was attacked by guerilla soldiers outside the Dina Foundation’s orphanage for boys in Goma.

The guerilla soldiers, who were waiting at three different intersections, fired several shots towards the car as it pulled up to the orphanage to let the boys out.

Dr. Kabuto, his son, the driver and several of the children were wounded, but are now released from the local hospital.

The attack was most likely aimed at Dr. Kabuto.
Norwegian Church aid has received reports of several fatal attacks against individuals with higher education in the area. Dr. Kabuto is the director and administrator of all the Dina Centers in Congo and the director of the New Life Correspondence School as well as a professor at one of the universities in Goma.

What appears to be a Congolese guerilla group is rumored to have a list of people with higher education. By killing these people the guerilla want to achieve continued unrest in eastern Congo.

Today there are 41 homeless boys living at the Bethsaida Centre. It’s the first time the staff or orphans has come under direct guerilla attack.

The Dina Foundation is now in need of extra gifts to replace the van that was borrowed from the university. There are also extra hospital bills that need to be paid.