skip navigation

JOY! City of Joy Celebrates 17th Graduating Class; Watch NEW City of Joy Short from 'WOMAN' Filmmakers


6/30/2020

JOY! City of Joy Celebrates 17th Graduating Class, Graduating 1472 Women To Date

With gratitude to Christine Schuler Deschryver and the entire team in Bukavu, DRC!

The 17th Women’s Leadership Training Session at the City of Joy is a very special session. It is a session in which residents have not only been transformed by the ingredients of therapy and leadership but have also gained missionary knowledge. For six months, 89 residents of the City of Joy received training in psycho-therapeutic care that helped them heal their trauma caused by the atrocities they had survived.

The six months that these women spent with their sisters and mamas unfolded as the pandemic of Covid-19 killed hundreds of thousands around the world. 50% of the staff confined themselves with the residents at the City of Joy from 23 March 2020 onward to continue and complete the program. 89 women went to their villages as leaders and missionaries. They are leaders who will revolutionize the retrograde mentalities and practices that annihilate the development of women at all levels.

"We are proud of these leaders, who recovered their true potential. We are proud to have journeyed with a dedicated team to reach the expected results of the training and healing of 89 women despite the trying circumstances that the pandemic brought. We are thankful and really grateful to V (formerly Eve Ensler) and to V-Day, who trusted us and accepted our decision to continue our program while most of the NGOs in our area closed their doors and expats left the country. We are thankful to our donors and supporters. Let’s keep Raising the Vibration!" – Christine Schuler Deschryver, Co-Founder & Director City of Joy, Director V-Day Congo

READ the Full Report

SUPPORT City of Joy, DONATE Today

Filmmakers Behind the Documentary ‘Woman’ Create Short About City of Joy to Celebrate Congo's Independence Day

We are thrilled to share this new short from award-winning filmmakers Yann Arthus-Bertrand and Anastasia Mikova. Created to celebrate the independence day of the DRCongo, they have released a behind-the-scenes film of their shooting in Bukavu at City of Joy and Panzi Hospital featuring interviews with women including City of Joy Co-founder and Director Christine Schuler Deschryver.

LEARN more about WOMAN documentary

WATCH the Netflix Original Film CITY OF JOY

TODAY (30 June) is the Last Day of our Fiscal Year. Support the work of V-Day, One Billion Rising & City of Joy

Support V-Day, the global activist movement to end violence against all women and girls (cisgender, transgender, and those who hold fluid identities that are subject to gender based violence).
DONATE to V-Day >
Your Solidarity & Support Make This Movement Possible. V-Day is a 501(c)(3) public charity and is one of the Top-Rated organizations on Charity Navigator and GuideStar.