Help My Congolese Family Flee Genocide
Donation protected
I'm a Congolese dyke refugee. My mom, dad and siblings and myself fled the war when I was 3 years old and unfortunately, we had to leave most of my family behind, including my aunts and my 4 young cousins, Irene, who you see in the photo, is my mom's younger sister. She's staying with my aunt Gigi and her 4 small children. They are in Goma, Congo. where the ADF and M23 rebels is partnering with Israel to bomb, displace, kill, rape, dismember. It has left my family and myself with a trauma unimaginable to many of you. They are lacking basic healthcare and my aunt Irene has a chronic acute illness due to the war bombings of hospitals. I need your help to protect my cousins and aunts and help them immigrate safely. They do not have luggage, unstable electricity, access to life saving healthcare or clean water. Because of the constant bombings, shootings, military arson, there are many days where my aunts and cousins are unreachable. The genocide they are surviving has permanently affected my family's right to childhood and they are often unable to leave the house for days because of the danger outside. We are estimating costs to fly the 6 of them out, get them immunization, passports and once they get here, we can begin to get them resources so they don't have to continue surviving.
*update
wow, we are all absolutely shocked and speechless at the urgency y’all have had to keep my family safe and escape the active genocide…. we didn’t feel anyone would notice or prioritize their safety and because of how quickly things have been moving we feel it is possible to increase the goal towards a realistic amount.
my mother is a single mother since my father passed and the majority of her income goes towards paying for our house, my little sister who is unemployed and sending money back to our family in Goma.
my mother will be flying to congo to pick them up since my aunts aren’t fluent in french and will need help navigating the airports and flights.
flights for my 2 aunts, her 4 kids, and my mom’s roundtrip ticket: $12,700CAD
the immigration lawyer quoted us $1,000CAD for initial consult
visas are expected to be: $1540 per adult.
*** i will also keep receipts of all expenses for transparency***
the cost of passports, immunizations, suitcases, clothing for when they arrive and eventually longer term goals of getting my aunts a car so they can be independent.
If you have any more questions or resources to share with me, my instagram is @godlessdyke
Organizer
Enya-Zura Citeya-Kanjinga
Organizer
Montreal, QC