Impact

Marie BWAMI BYAKALILANWA is the focal point of the Coalition of Women Leaders for the Environment and Sustainable Development (CFLEDD) in South Kivu and coordinator of the Association for the Community Conservation of Biodiversity (ACCB). She has benefited from several training on the leadership of women and indigenous peoples offered by Well Grounded. Today She puts the skills acquired at the service of many development and conservation activities.

«In 2016 I started working on my leadership development with Well Grounded. It was for me at that time a very new and very moving concept which pushed me to question myself. My first challenge was my shyness and lack of confidence in myself. I was also scattered in my way of working, and it tired me more, because I did the same thing a thousand times without noticeable results.I thought I could do everything on my own and that others were slowing me down. But with Well Grounded, I first managed to have a clear vision of what I want to do, with a well-defined mission. From there I knew that I couldn’t achieve this vision and mission alone, I had to work as a team. Now, with the Well Grounded training, I have become a woman of responsibility, a woman who takes direction with determination in order to produce a positive change. I understood that there is no magic in changing the world, you just have to believe in what you are doing, drawing inspiration from other leaders who have gone before us, and above all working in symbiosis with those that surround us ». Marie BWAMI BYAKALILANWA.

It is in the Buyungule village located in South Kivu on the edge of the Kahuzi-Biega National Park (PNKB) and inhabited by indigenous Pygmy peoples, that Marie BWAMI carries out some of these activities through the Restoration and Sustainable Management project. of Mountainous Agricultural Ecosystems in South Kivu, funded by FAO and executed by ACCB.

With her association, Marie BWAMI trains and transforms the local and indigenous Pygmy communities of South Kivu into real agents for the conservation and restoration of their natural ecosystem through reforestation and the sustainable management of natural resources.

« We have activities and small projects that we carry out with the communities. We support them in raising small livestock, we support them in market gardening, we have vegetables, amaranths, cabbage, red onions. We also support them in the cultivation of fruit trees: mango trees, orange trees, mandarin trees… » Marie BWAMI BYAKALILANWA.

Salom NDAVUNA, Chief of the Buyungule village, thanks the ACCB for the various projects carried out in his village. The nurseries received are already producing good fruit. The various trainings received on livestock breeding techniques and the protection of bees contribute to the restoration of the natural ecosystem through reforestation and the sustainable management of natural resources by the communities of Buyungule.

Francine BIKULU, 30, is a mother of 3 children. She has since been making artisanal baskets made from wild lianas and tree residues. Francine BIKULU regularly goes in search of customers with her baskets in the neighboring regions of her village. She walks up to 20 to 25 kilometers on foot and sells her baskets between 500 and 1000 Congolese francs. She makes a living from this work, which helps her feed and educate her children and meet their various primary needs.

« Before, we had poor management of natural resources. We were going to cut the trees without thinking about tomorrow, but thanks to the various training sessions offered by Maman Marie on the conservation of natural resources, we manage to manage the few trees around us with moderation and we also plant other trees for our future children » Francine BIKULU.

Faced with the success of her association, Marie BWAMI BYAKALILANWA is increasingly solicited and consulted on gender issues by civil society, partners and organizations specializing in the defense and protection of women’s rights.

« It’s really hard, if not impossible, to go through Well Grounded and stay the same person. Well Grounded sowed in me a seed of leader and trainer, which allows me to captivate my interlocutors and all those around me. Today, I am a person who can be counted on to support others in their own achievements. The additional support that I would like to have is the technicality in the search for the right and best allies in my actions to bring about positive change, especially in terms of respect for women’s rights. There is still much to do in our patriarchal communities. I would like the communities and I to benefit from capacity building training in advocacy techniques and industrial processing of products from our various activities ». Marie BWAMI BYAKALILANWA.