Email 460 | Panzi Foundation

HANDS THAT REBUILD

After receiving medical and psychosocial support from Panzi, the survivors face the fear of what lies ahead: Will they be able to work? Feed their children? Stand on their own two feet again?

For survivors whose physical wounds have healed but who are not yet ready to return to their communities of origin, there is Dorcas House. A transitional housing and vocational training center in Bukavu, Dorcas House offers a safe space where women and girls can rebuild their lives and regain their independence.

One member of the Dorcas House team is Anne-Marie, a seamstress and trainer who helps survivors stitch their lives back together, one day at a time. Since joining Panzi in 2009, Anne-Marie has supported hundreds of women and girls in the patient work of acquiring new skills and regaining hope for their future.

« I teach them cutting and sewing techniques, how to use machines… because if they know how to sew, they can earn money and provide for their households.”

Anne-Marie’s classroom is filled with the hum of sewing machines, soft laughter, and attentive hands learning to create something new. In this room, healing takes a different form. Here, it’s not emergency surgery, but steps on the path to wholeness again.

« My role as a trainer then takes on a profound meaning, far beyond simple technical skills. I am very proud to teach women like myself and give them hope again. »

In 2024, 248 women graduated from Dorcas House’s training programs. Data collected shows that, during their time at Dorcas House, survivors experienced a significant reduction in their symptoms of depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder.

These remarkable results demonstrate what is possible when survivors are supported in learning, growing, and envisioning new futures.

Anne-Marie teaches more than sewing; she opens the way to new possibilities: that dignity can be restored, that a future can be rewritten, that strength can return through small but constant steps.

Your generosity strengthens every step of a survivor’s healing and reintegration process.