Maison Immaculeeand the Kivu Kids Tour

k. alexander peter photography

In 2009 I took part in the first ever Kivu Kids Tour, a seven day cycling tour through the hills of Rwanda, to generate funding to expand Maison Immaculee in the South Kivu Province of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Eastern Congo has suffered through several years of fighting between government forces and rebel factions and the people living in the region have been caught in the crossfire. Millions of people have been killed, terrorized or displaced. Families have been torn apart. The entire po-litical and economic system has crumbled away. Congo’s conflict is one of the worst humanitarian crises on earth.

In the midst of the fighting, Maison Immaculee provides a home for approximately 20 kids affected by war. Mama Immaculee, a Congolese woman, is the founder and director of Maison Immaculee and she is one of the strongest women I have ever met. Despite all the difficulty of a life in Eastern DRC, Mama’s love and generosity is liter-ally saving the lives of the kids under her care.

What Mama is doing in Congo demonstrates an incredible amount of self-sacrifice. She has invested her entire life in the future of the kids at Maison Immaculee. How-ever, while Mama has more than enough love for the kids, offering a safe home, adequate living space, education and health care to 20 kids is impossible without relying on donor support. That is the main reason for the Kivu Kids Tour. All the funds collected from sponsoring cyclists who join the tour go directly to providing for these needs.

Our tour of Rwanda was incredible. Lake Kivu and the hills of Rwanda comprise one of the most beautiful landscapes I have ever visited but the people are what I remem-ber most. These images are portraits of the beautiful and resilient culture that we en-countered throughout all our travels in the region, not only the DRC and Rwanda, but Burundi, Uganda and Tanzania as well.

For more information on Maison Immaculee and the Kivu Kids Tour visit:www.kivukidstour.com

~ Kyle

k. alexander peter photographywww.kapphotography.com

Maison Immaculee, 2009.

k. alexander peter photography

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