William Chan Guang Yu

Hi everyone,

This summer I will be heading to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) as part of an initiative with Lawyers without Borders in partnership with the Menelik Education Foundation and the University of Kinshasa, DRC. Our goal is to set up the first ever Citizens Advice Bureau in the DRC to provide legal advice and representation to the people of Congo. On the side, I will also be teaching English at St George's school, Congo.

As part of the project I need to fundraise £1,000 for the Menelik Education Foundation. This money will go directly to the Menelik Education Foundation and will be used to fund the provision of education and healthcare for the children of the Democratic Republic of Congo.

More about the project: The Democratic Republic of Congo has the lowest nominal GDP per capita in the world (despite having untapped deposits of raw minerals estimated to be worth in excess of US$ 24 trillion); the prevalence of rape and other sexual violence was r... more

Hi everyone,

This summer I will be heading to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) as part of an initiative with Lawyers without Borders in partnership with the Menelik Education Foundation and the University of Kinshasa, DRC. Our goal is to set up the first ever Citizens Advice Bureau in the DRC to provide legal advice and representation to the people of Congo. On the side, I will also be teaching English at St George's school, Congo.

As part of the project I need to fundraise £1,000 for the Menelik Education Foundation. This money will go directly to the Menelik Education Foundation and will be used to fund the provision of education and healthcare for the children of the Democratic Republic of Congo.

More about the project: The Democratic Republic of Congo has the lowest nominal GDP per capita in the world (despite having untapped deposits of raw minerals estimated to be worth in excess of US$ 24 trillion); the prevalence of rape and other sexual violence was recently described by the U.N. as the worst in the world and the Second Congo War in 1998 is the world's deadliest conflict since World War II, killing an estimated 5.4 million people.

However, there is still hope for the people of Congo. In 2006, multiple peace accords were signed and on the 30th July 2006 the DRC held its first multi-party elections since achieving its independence in 1960. This was followed by its first ever democratically approved constitution which encompassed a wide range of progressive and protective human rights.

However, as it stands, the rights of the Congolese people are all too often stuck in the pages of the statute books, and come nowhere near the people that they are intended to protect. Women beaten and abandoned by their husbands are totally unaware that they can claim property and remove their abusive partners from their homes under Congolese family law legislation. Landlords are able to evict families from their homes, simply by threatening action in the courts martial, despite the clear laws in place stating that civilian cases have no place in such a military setting. Too often, without access to legal advice, the vulnerable and victimised believe that there is nothing that they can do.

The Citizens Advice Bureau will address this problem head on by providing independent, reliable legal advice and representation. The Citizens Advice Bureau will also provide the necessary tools and knowledge to assist Congolese civil organisations, thus indirectly helping to spread democratic values in the DRC. In short, we hope to take the rights of the Congolese people out of the law books and put them straight into their hands and minds.

The centre will be established in Kintambo, one of the poorest parts of the Democratic Republic of Congo.