Survivor Stories

FROM CAPTIVITY TO COURAGE, SHE IS RECLAIMING THE LIFE THAT WAS TAKEN FROM HER

A recent high school graduate in the capital, Cathy returned to her native village in the Plateau Bateke to work on the fields and save money. In an instant, everything fell apart: her father and brothers were murdered, her mother went missing and she was raped.

In 2022, Cathy* had just completed her high school diploma and was preparing to begin university. Unable to afford tuition, she returned to her family’s village on the Plateaux de Batéké. Just days after her arrival, she set out for the fields with her parents and brothers, and on the way, gunshots rang out. Within moments, they were surrounded by armed men who killed her father and two brothers on the spot.

Cathy and her mother were taken captive and led deep into the forest, where Cathy was raped by more than seven men. For five days she remained in captivity, losing sight of her mother entirely, with no way of knowing where she had been taken. On the morning of the fifth day, Cathy and several other detainees made the decision to flee.

On the road, they encountered a group of FARDC (Forces armées de la République démocratique du Congo) soldiers who escorted them safely to Kinshasa. Since 2022, another deadly conflict is spreading in the Kwamouth territory, just north of Kinshasa, fueled by land disputes between traditional landowners from the Téké community and Yaka farmers.

In 2025, Panzi provided psychological care for 2 659 beneficiaries through our holistic mobile clinics.

I found myself completely alone in the world, no family, no future, my life had no meaning anymore.

Back in Kinshasa, Cathy was living in a church with other displaced people. She was unable to sleep and haunted by the image of her brothers being slaughtered before her eyes, the thoughts of her missing mother and the vision of her father’s body left behind in the forest at the mercy of birds.

Then one day, word came that Panzi would be sending a mobile clinic to the Nsele area where she was staying. There, Cathy was seen by a psychologist, and referred to the Kinshasa One Stop Center for further care. From the moment she arrived, things began to shift and for the first time in months, she slept without nightmares.

In 2025, Panzi provided psychological care for 2 659 beneficiaries through our holistic mobile clinics.

Through her therapy sessions with the psychologist, her grief began to ease, the suicidal thoughts faded, and little by little, she started to trust herself again.

“After my stay at the Panzi clinic, I regained the strength to look for a job in order to finance my studies and take care of myself.”

Despite everything she had lost, Cathy left the clinic with a renewed desire to find work, fund her studies, and take care of herself. She later found a job working in a shop, a first step toward the university dream she had put on hold.

Today, she is doing better, and holds onto the goal of returning to her studies once she has the means to do so.

Disclaimer: The name used in this story is a pseudonym to safeguard the survivor’s privacy. Any photos accompanying this content are illustrative only and do not represent the individuals involved