Support NDOTO GOMA KIDS to acheive their dream

Hello, with this CrowdFunding we are reaching out to you to be part of NDOTO GOMA KIDS growth!

My name is Lukah Katangila, I am a Choreographer, Dancer, Interpreter and Activist born in Goma North Kivu eastern DRCongo, based currently in Brussels. I am starting this CrowdFunding in the name of the whole group.

WHAT IS NDOTO?

Ndoto (means Dream in Swahili) is a group of 7 young artists from the city of Goma. We came together to create a place of expression and sharing through the body by traditional, urban and contemporary dance in order to achieve our common goal of defending the rights of children in DRCongo.

After the eruption of the Nyiragongo volcano in 2002 we founded the project NDOTO GOMA KIDS (engl. "Dream of Goma’s Children"). Children are often nicknamed Kadogo (engl. "little unimportant thing") by armed groupes in the Kivu eastern DRCongo. This project between Congo and all the great lakes regions claims the rights of children, speaks up against ethnic conflicts and the enrolment of children in armed groups. Our message is clear: STOP the abuse of children in the front lines of war.

Dance for us works as a heavy weapon, as a means of education, shared empowerment and political message. Choreography, art and movement provide a safe collective space, a moment of stopping the violence.

Video : NDOTO GOMA KIDS Dance For Change Dance For Peace

WHAT WILL YOU SUPPORT?

- Buying a property in the city of Goma.

- Building there a small stage in order to share the works of the children and promote our culture.

- Building there a dance studio, with a wooden floor specially designed for dance to meet the safety requirements for working with children without taking risks.

- Building a second studio for multiuse (other artistic education, space to store books, etc).

- Building showers, toilets and changing rooms.

- Buying an electric generator to provide stable power for the center.

- Providing scholarships for children (including school kit, school fee, basic medical care).

- Buying children's books, artistic and educational books to create a library to offer the children a direct access to knowledge and learning.

- Buying sound equipment (speakers, music mixer, microphones, etc).

- Paying a salary to the teachers.

WHY NDOTO GOMA KIDS?

One aim of having an artistic space in Goma is to encourage and empower our young people to invest more in the transformation and reconstruction of our region and invite the local youth to become creative at home. Encouraging them to value their own culture will help to stop dreaming about going to Europe and eventually dying during the crossing of the sea.

A few decades ago, the Congo lost its peace because of its coveted wealth, tribalism, ethnic conflicts, corruption and power struggles that caused the unending war in the east of the DRC (Kivu). This war has claimed millions of victims, including many abused and raped women, as well as children who were abducted and forced to become child soldiers. One third of the Congolese population is affected by the violence generated by the armed conflicts in the countries bordering the Congo, which creates an economic crisis. The majority of the victims of this crisis are children who have no knowledge of politics and are unaware that they are being forced into the army and used as shields by rebel militias. Therefore, they are the part of the population most at risk because of their lack of discernment.

This is why we have set up NDOTO GOMA KIDS, an artistic and cultural structure based on the supervision of children and their follow-up in order to reduce the violence in the Great Lakes region. And also to reintegrate these young people, who are often traumatised, into society.

NDOTO GOMA KIDS, with its goal of dance as a heavy weapon, defends children's rights specifically in Goma.

WHY GOMA?


The choice to build the center in Goma is a strategic and an emotional choice. Indeed, the city of Goma is located at the foot of the Nyiragongo volcano and is full of disaster-stricken and war-displaced people from the Great North and other neighbouring countries in conflict. Moreover, Goma is where most of the members of our group were born and raised.

In Goma, many children show a certain talent and predisposition in art. However, they lack education, training or professional opportunities. These children do not receive any promotion or government support. As they grow up, the majority become a danger to society because they have no access to the possibility of believing in a better future, the dream of a career in order to succeed independently. Without a future, they end up easily on the streets, exposed to drugs and delinquency.

Video : NDOTO GOMA KiDS our humanitarian mission in war zone North-Kivu RDCongo Refugees camp

OBJECTIVES

To provide a sustainable place for young people in Goma to gather and learn, by providing adequate and secure infrastructure.

To promote formal and non-formal education, offering courses, workshops and training programmes in various areas such as civic education, vocational skills, minuserie, couture, painting, dance, arts and culture.

To promote the personal development of young people by offering counselling, psychological support and guidance services.

Strengthen the social inclusion and civic engagement of young people by organising community projects, volunteering initiatives and environmental awareness activities.

Encouraging entrepreneurship and economic empowerment among young people, by providing entrepreneurship training, access to financial resources and support for starting small businesses.

To promote a space of multidisciplinary expression for these children, to offer them a way to take the steps towards a professional career in the field of art.

To help these children obtain scholarships for a good education.

To promote and strengthen the capacities of young dancers, enabling them to take charge of their artistic creations after their studies for a professional career.

To promote respect, freedom and solidarity to consolidate peace and cohabitation in the Great Lakes region.

To allow these children to express themselves freely through their bodies with movements so that they feel equal and valued in the community.

Protecting the child and his or her rights by creating a space for physical and mental recreation.

To guide the child through dance in order to offer him or her an ideal dream.

To cultivate in our community the taste of supporting and promoting traditional african, urban and contemporary dance as an artistic profession and an important element in empowering youth.

To provide physical and psychological well-being through the production of endorphins, serotonin and dopamine through dance and education.

Art as a general important factor in the development of the city of Goma.

THANK YOU!

The success of this project up to now would not have been possible without the great financial support of the Fondation Marie & Alain Philippson (BE), with Mrs Françoise Philippson being the godmother of the NDOTO GOMA KIDS project.

We also had the great financial support of the VOCATIO Foundation (BE).

Further we enjoyed the financial support of the Guythou Thierry Foundation (BE) in collaboration with the King Baudouin Foundation KBF (BE) with the generous support of Mr Hervé Lisoir who has boosted our project all the way from Kigali in 2016 to the present day.

We would also like to thank all the heroes behind the scenes who have supported us morally, mentally and physically to make this project a success and keep it going until today.

And thank you! Thank you for every bit of support that can help to continue the project and make these young people's dreams come true.