I first became aware of the war in the Congo about 11 years ago. I actually had a dream about a violent situation happening in an African country where hundreds were dying and I was doing something to help them. But upon waking up I had no idea where this country was or what I was supposed to do about it. I was studying Theology at the time in Sydney Australia and even though I knew this dream was significant i had absolutely no idea what to do with it.
Three months later, I was sitting in my Global Poverty class when the teacher announced that today we would be watching a video all about the war in the DRC. I didn’t really know where that was or what the ‘DRC’ really meant, but we started watching and i ignorantly turned my eyes to the screen. About a third of the way through the video my attention was arrested when one of the buildings I saw in my dream came up on the screen, it was the exact building and i knew it with everything within me. Shivers ran down my spine and I looked around to see if anyone else was having such a strange reaction to this film. I was definitely alone in my shock but I knew that my dream was not random or strange but that it was about a situation in the DRC and i needed to do something about.
Of course I was eager to figure out what to do, but after a lot of searching and pushing doors I just found no way to do anything of significance other than pray and give. Time and time again over the last 10 years I was looking to see what I could do that would significantly impact this situation and felt that it related to business. However it wasn’t until 2017, 2 years ago when I came to South Africa that it all fell into place.
In the months leading up to coming to South Africa I bumped into 3 different English women who either lived in the Congo or had worked there. It was interesting to me as I had never met anyone from there before, let alone someone who knew of the war and was working in the country. A couple of months later I flew to South Africa and I sensed this trip could be very significant. We landed and I immediately fell in love with the country; the vibrancy, the need, the beauty and the culture. And on day two I was introduced to a ‘friend of a friend’ at a local church we visited, his name was Joël. We got talking and about 5 minutes into our conversation I asked him where he was from as I was struggling to place his accent. Joël explained, ‘it’s because I’m french, i’m from the DRC’. I was slightly shocked to finally meet a native of this land I had thought about for so many years. He later asked if he could take me for dinner that week, and I was keen to go and excited to ask lots of questions, and by that point it wasn’t just because of his homeland I wanted to get to know him as well! By the end of this week of holiday, I knew that I needed to be on this continent and 3 months later I moved to Cape Town, with Joël waiting for me at the airport! Fast forward 1.5 years and we just got married 3 months ago (April 2019)!!
The last year or so I have been busy volunteering in South Africa, helping people in need but desperate to do the same for Congolese women. Now with Asandé finally off the ground and my Congolese husband helping me build this initiative it feels like the perfect time to do what i dreamt about all those years before! My hope is through this social business we can make a profound on women’s lives all over the DRC, thanks for joining us on the journey!
Georgi Kapepula XxX
