Biography

Amani Bukanda was born in Eastern Congo and like millions of others, is a victim of the nation’s violence. Both of his parents were killed in the late 1990s during the many waves of fighting there. Amani finished his education with help from his elder brother, Ephraim, and then earned a degree in Applied Pedagogy with a concentration in English Language Teaching Methodology and Translation. He has worked as an educator and interpreter for numerous international organizations. When Amani’s cousins, Kahumba and Mirenge took refuge in his home after both were raped in 2006 by Rwandan rebels known as the Interahamwe.

Amani and his wife Amini Bukanda wanted to find a way to help them develop a sense of purpose and self-worth as well as sustain themselves economically. Amini was an accomplished seamstress, and training them in sewing skills seemed the best solution. In a one-room shack with three sewing machines, they started teaching them. Word spread of the work that Amini was doing and other survivors arrived at their doorstep, and Actions pour le Bien entre de la Femme et de l'Enfant au Congo (ABFEC) was born. Since those humble beginnings, their work has expanded to include other vocational training programs such as baking, basket making, animal husbandry, and much more.

ABFEC has become a refuge for girls who were shunned from their homes and villages because of rape and unintended pregnancies. Here they are able to create a new family in this community of girls and enroll in a vocational training program which will give them the means to support themselves and their children.