MutimaAfrica

19/09/2025

✨ A milestone day at Mutima Psychosocial Center! ✨

On Thursday, September 18th, our team welcomed 25 patients for psychological care:

🆕 9 new patients came for their very first consultation. Diagnoses included epilepsy, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, and non-psychogenic headaches.

👥 16 returning patients received ongoing chemotherapy combined with psychotherapy and psychoeducation, tailored to their individual conditions.

💡 For the first time, all returning patients met with our psychologists before seeing the doctor, following our new care pathway at Mutima. This approach was warmly welcomed and highly appreciated by both patients and their families.

🙏 No incidents were recorded during the activities — only progress, care, and resilience.

Together, we are building a model of integrated psychosocial and medical support for communities living through conflict and hardship.

14/07/2025

11/07/2025

In the middle of chaos, they chose to show up.

In the Kivu region, where armed groups keep attacking and life feels like a battlefield, a group of student interns has joined Mutima.

They continue their mental health training while responding to crisis every single day. They listen to stories of death, displacement, fear—and they stay.

💬 They study in the same space where people mourn their children.
💔 They take notes while rockets fall nearby.
💡 And they are learning not just psychology—but courage.

Without them, we could not attend to the number of people who seek help every week.

We see you. We thank you. We admire you.

05/06/2025

Every week, over 50 new people walk through our doors.

They come from Kambamba, Irhambi-Katana, Bugorhe and Miti—areas shattered by armed violence over the past two months.

💥 We receive daily images of the dead.
🔥 People killed in crossfire.
😔 Mothers carrying children in silence.

Mutima is holding the line.

But the volume of psychological emergencies is overwhelming. Many arrive in deep shock, unable to speak. Others cry uncontrollably. Some just sit and stare.

🧠 Our team—though traumatized themselves—continues to care.
💊 But medication is not enough. Time is not enough. Hands are not enough.

Mutima is doing everything we can.
But we need help.

31/05/2025

In Memory of Madame Devote

It is with deep sadness that we share the passing of Madame Devote, Mental Health Coordinator in Bukavu and a key ally in the work we’ve carried out together over the past five years through the Mutima project.

From Coopera Congo, we express our heartfelt gratitude for her unwavering commitment. Together, we delivered joint trainings for psychologists, doctors, nurses, and social workers. We convened assemblies that brought together all organizations working in mental health in South Kivu. Madame Devote, a psychiatrist by training, worked with great dedication at the advanced SOSAME clinics in Kalonge and Bunyakiri.

We met regularly during the monthly mental health thematic group meetings, which she chaired with strength and clarity. Her leadership, perseverance, and deep sense of responsibility made her a pillar in a field that too often remains invisible.

From the whole Coopera Congo team: thank you, Madame Devote. Thank you for standing with us, for believing in mental health, for fighting for it even when it was hard.

If we ever hurt or disappointed you, we ask for your forgiveness.

You will remain in our memory and in the foundations of everything we continue to build. May the earth rest gently upon you.

23/05/2025

💔 Raphaël was only 7 years old.
On February 3rd, he witnessed his parents being shot and killed in Goma. Since then, he had been living with his two little sisters in Mululu, under the care of their elderly grandmother — a woman doing her best with nearly nothing.

A few days ago, our beloved Dr. Daniel from Mululu (Lwiro) called us in desperation asking for help. The child was severely malnourished.

Coopera Congo immediately reached out to John Woods from Upright Africa (), who responded without hesitation: Raphaël was admitted into their nutrition program and underwent tests to check for any underlying illness.
Two days later, Raphaël passed away.
Yesterday, Dr. Daniel attended his funeral.

Raphaël represents thousands of children.
In Congo. In Gaza. In Ukraine. In Sudan...
How long will we keep silent?
How long will we accept these ruthless, dehumanizing wars where those who suffer the most have nothing to do with the interests that drive them?

Raphaël lost everything.
But there are still millions of children in the same situation.
And even if only a few of you support us, we will keep going.
Because hope is something they can never take away from us.

🌍

🤲🏽 If you’d like to support our work on the ground, you can donate here:
🔗 https://donorbox.org/tu-corazon-para-el-congo

Every gesture matters. Every life matters.

19/05/2025

With great sadness, the Management of the Lwiro Hospital Center announces the passing of Madame KASHIBONDO Célestin, a beloved and devoted cleaning staff member of the Mutima Psychosocial Center, which occurred on the evening of Thursday, May 15th.

Mama Kashibondo made sure that Mutima was always beautiful, and she welcomed everyone with a warm smile — one of those smiles that remind us life is about doing what we do with love and being kind to those around us, because we never know what they are going through.

She was a true example of resilience. Her warmth was a vital part of both the Lwiro Hospital and Mutima, where many people found comfort in her presence.

We will not forget you.
Thank you for all you gave us.
Please forgive us if we ever let you down.

Coopera Spain and Coopera Congo accompanied her family during the funeral held on Saturday, May 17th.

15/04/2025

"The Spanish lantern of mental health" — that is how journalist Alfonso Masoliver referred to our beloved psychosocial center Mutima, supported by Coopera Congo in the midst of war in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.

In February, Alfonso travelled to South Kivu to meet the team while bullets were still flying. He did so with the integrity of a true journalist and the warmth of an exceptional human being. His perspective was not only technical, but also empathetic, courageous, and deeply committed. His mission was to give voice to what is happening on the ground.

He found a devoted team, people who continue to choose life despite the pain. And he, too, gave himself fully. Our team adored him. They admired his closeness, his humanity, and the deep respect he showed for every story he heard.

Alfonso didn’t come to extract a headline — he came to understand.

Today we share some images from that visit, now that I know he is no longer in the country, because we were afraid something might happen to him.

From here, our gratitude to him and to all journalists who risk their lives to report what the world ignores. The conflict in Congo remains silenced by the international community, but not by those who choose to look with open hearts.

Read the article here:
https://www.larazon.es/internacional/depresion-traumas-farolillo-espanol-salud-mental-guerra-congo_2025032567e28838b425ef0001eb9680.html

Thank you, Alfonso, for joining your voice to our campaign and for bringing light where it is most needed.

09/04/2025

🦋 From one child to another 🫶🏽🌍


The world is starting to look at Congo with more open eyes and bigger hearts. And sometimes, that change begins in a classroom—with children’s laughter, a theatre play, and one honest question:

“How do children live in other parts of the world?”

At Mariposa School in Munich (Germany), teacher Alicia Levy led a beautiful solidarity day dedicated to Mutima: theatre, music, creative activities, and a fundraising market—all under the powerful theme:
“From one child to another.”

Thank you, Alicia Levy, for this soul-filled initiative 💛 and thank you to all the families who supported it. The money raised will help fund group therapy for children living through the war in Congo. As Alicia shared:

“Many families were thrilled with the project. They enjoyed taking part and appreciated that their children could learn about other kids in the world from an early age. There were questions, conversations, reflections at home… it was beautiful.”

These small seeds of awareness are what can truly change the world. 🌱
Because solidarity born in childhood blooms forever.

20/03/2025

🆘 The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is enduring one of the most prolonged and devastating humanitarian crises of our time.

📊 The Harsh Reality:

Over 6 million internally displaced people, the highest number in Africa.

More than 27 million people suffering from severe food insecurity, making it the largest hunger crisis globally.

Endless cycles of violence, human rights violations, and displacement continue to devastate families and communities.

Recurrent outbreaks of Ebola, cholera, malaria, and other infectious diseases, worsening the already dire situation.

A broken healthcare system and lack of basic resources leave countless people without essential care.

💔 Despite its magnitude, this crisis continues to be forgotten by the world.

Yet, amidst the darkness, hope remains. At the Mutima Psychosocial Center, we are raising funds to provide psychological and psychiatric support to all those hearts still beating in pain and anguish.

🙏 Stand with us and be part of the healing process. Every contribution makes a difference.

📲 Coopera Bizum: 10132
🏦 BBVA Coopera -- Cooperation for Development: ES85 0182 3500 2802 0176 5320
🌍 Donation Platform: Your Heart for the Congo
📢 Share this message! We cannot allow the suffering of the Congolese people to be ignored.

💙

20/03/2025

🆘 The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is enduring one of the most prolonged and devastating humanitarian crises of our time.

📊 The Harsh Reality:

Over 11 million internally displaced people, the highest number in Africa (OCHA, February 2025)

More than 27 million people suffering from severe food insecurity, making it the largest hunger crisis globally.

Endless cycles of violence, human rights violations, and displacement continue to devastate families and communities.

Recurrent outbreaks of Ebola, cholera, malaria, and other infectious diseases, worsening the already dire situation.

A broken healthcare system and lack of basic resources leave countless people without essential care.

💔 Despite its magnitude, this crisis continues to be forgotten by the world.

Yet, amidst the darkness, hope remains. At the Mutima Psychosocial Center, we are raising funds to provide psychological and psychiatric support to all those hearts still beating in pain and anguish.

🙏 Stand with us and be part of the healing process. Every contribution makes a difference.

📲 Coopera Bizum: 10132
🏦 BBVA Coopera -- Cooperation for Development: ES85 0182 3500 2802 0176 5320
🌍 Donation Platform: Your Heart for the Congo
📢 Share this message! We cannot allow the suffering of the Congolese people to be ignored.

💙