Rasing funds: Voices for the Silent People president Jean Marie Mupenda and St Brendan’s Church are raising funds for an orphanage in eastern Congo.
Photo by
Megan Fisher
St Brendan’s Church is using this year’s Christmas mass donations to help fund a vital orphanage in the Democratic Republic of Congo via the Shepparton-based organisation Voices for the Silent People.
Hold tight - we’re checking permissions before loading more content
The organisation seeks to help promote human rights around the world.
Jean Marie Mupenda is one of the founders of the organisation and as the president is the main link between the organisation and St Brendan’s Church.
Mr Mupenda came to Shepparton as a refugee in 2007 after being imprisoned three times for his work as a human rights advocate in the Congo.
Mr Mupenda said the conflict was tearing the country apart.
“The war in Congo is mostly maintained in eastern Congo because the chaos allows some businesses from foreign countries to illegally exploit the minerals of that region,” he said.
Packed: St Brendan’s is set to be busy with multiple Christmas masses to be held.
Photo by
Lachlan Durling
“The impunity is now a green light to allow others to start the same criminal activities.”
The orphanage that Voices for the Silent People is assisting is located in the eastern Congo town of Butembo.
This area of the Congo has been the site of repeated massacres during the decades-long conflict that has been plaguing the country.
The orphanage is run by a carer who lost her entire family and has since taken in war orphans.
The orphanage currently has 11 children of various ages.
The money raised at St Brendan’s Christmas mass will be given to Voices for the Silent People to buy supplies for the orphanage.
“We use the money to pay for food, school fees, clothes, medical fees, school materials and other household needs,” Mr Mupenda said.
St Brendan’s parish priest Father Joe Taylor said the church had been collecting money at Christmas for the orphanage for the past two years.
Mr Mupenda said the church’s work in raising funds was invaluable.
“I thank the church for the donations they have been giving since a few years ago, as well as the individuals making the donations,” he said.
