PANZI NAMED RECIPIENT OF 2021 KRISTOF HOLIDAY IMPACT PRIZE

For over 10 years, two-time Pulitzer Prize winner and former New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof has been shining a light on high-impact non-profit organizations tackling some of the world’s biggest challenges via his annual “holiday gift guide.” Since the column’s inception, thousands of readers looking to make a difference have generously donated millions to the organizations he has featured.

Panzi is honored to be named a recipient of Kristof’s 2021 Holiday Impact Prize, which will allow us to greatly expand access to holistic care to survivors of sexual violence in DRC.

PANZI: WHERE VICTIMS TRANSFORM INTO SURVIVORS

Panzi treats thousands of women every year who have been raped as a result of the ongoing conflict in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.

Panzi was founded in 1999 by Dr. Denis Mukwege, an OBGYN who wanted to provide pregnant women in his community with a safe place to deliver their babies. Many of his first patients, however, were not soon-to-be mothers, but instead women and girls who had been brutally raped by armed militias.

Panzi has served more than 85,000 women and girls suffering from rape- or birth-related complications, spanning in age from as young as six months old to over 80 years old. It has earned a global reputation as a center of excellence for treatment of sexual violence, and as a place where patients and victims transform into survivors.  Your donation supports their work to empower women, restore the rights and dignity of survivors, expand access to holistic care, and end the use of rape as a weapon of war.

HOLISTIC CARE: PANZI’S “ONE STOP CENTER” MODEL

Rape is heavily stigmatized in DRC, and Dr. Mukwege quickly realized that medical treatment was not enough to help survivors rebuild their lives. He and his staff at Panzi developed an innovative holistic healing model that combined medical treatment with therapy, legal services, and job-skills training. Survivors receive all four pillars of care in one location (a “One Stop Center”), which mitigates their trauma by ensuring that they only have to tell their story once and do not have to travel to multiple hospitals, agencies, or organizations to get the comprehensive care they need. Watch this video to learn more about Panzi’s holistic model and an example of one survivor’s journey toward healing.

YOUR IMPACT THROUGH THE PRIZE

This year, your donation from the Holiday Impact Prize will be dedicated to supporting Panzi as we expand access to holistic post-rape care, including contributing to the replication of the One Stop Center model in areas where sexual violence is still an epidemic in DRC.

Our One Stop Centers not only provide survivors with holistic care, but also serve as centers of excellence for maternal health, as well as provide primary and pediatric health care services for the communities they serve. One Stop Centers are equipped with solar panels to generate clean, renewable energy. Patient fees collected for non-survivor, elective services contribute toward the sustainability of the center’s ongoing operations.

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