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Changemakers Around the World: Neema Namadamu · Stuff Mom Never Told You

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  Speaker 1: Hey, this is Annie and Samantha and welcome to Stephane
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: Never Told You production of I Heart Radio, and welcome
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  Speaker 1: back to our lovely segment. And I'm gonna call it
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  Speaker 1: because we're gonna play around with names change makers around
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  Speaker 1: the world, because i Am too literal for it to
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  Speaker 1: be women. I'm too literal to be for it to
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  Speaker 1: be activists and advocates. Because we talk about an array
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  Speaker 1: of people who are doing amazing things and we don't
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  Speaker 1: want to leave anybody out because they all should be celebrated.
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  Speaker 1: And we have enough time because we do this every Tuesday.
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  Speaker 1: So today I'm calling it change makers around the world.
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  Speaker 1: I'm in. Today we are celebrating Nima Damu, who was
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  Speaker 1: born in the Democratic Republic of Congo in the South
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  Speaker 1: Kivu Province and is a Binya Maloon Gay or children
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  Speaker 1: of Maloon Gay, which is part of the Tutsi. Through
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  Speaker 1: the love for her community and her family, Namadamo has
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  Speaker 1: become a passionate advocate for women and disability rights and
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  Speaker 1: environmental activists. And part of her love and passion is
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  Speaker 1: due to our own mother's influence and actions. At the
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  Speaker 1: age of two, Namadam contracted polio and became disabled due
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  Speaker 1: to it. During this time, many saw her disability as
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  Speaker 1: a quote curse from God, and her father took on
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  Speaker 1: a second wife when her mother was not able to
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  Speaker 1: give birth to a son. Though having a second wife
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  Speaker 1: was allowed in the d r C, there was a
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  Speaker 1: level of shame placed on the family for doing so.
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  Speaker 1: Her mother moved past all of that. As Namadamu writes
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  Speaker 1: about her family and a Huffington's Post article, quote, my
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  Speaker 1: mom loved me with all her heart. Our extended family
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  Speaker 1: and community would continually challenge her investment in me. My
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  Speaker 1: mother brazenly, if not defiantly, went to great links to
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  Speaker 1: support me and protect my opportunity for a different future
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  Speaker 1: to the one they all expected. I didn't have any
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  Speaker 1: crutches back then, so if it was raining and the
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  Speaker 1: trails were money, my mom would carry me on her
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  Speaker 1: back to and from school while the other children had
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  Speaker 1: to make their own way. The love and respect my
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  Speaker 1: mom had for me nurtured to strength and confidence within me.
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  Speaker 1: Her love, her sacrifice, her wisdom, and her resolve lifted me.
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  Speaker 1: My mother's vision for me led me into that better
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  Speaker 1: future she had in mind. Um Yeah, as in fact,
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  Speaker 1: she calls her mother the hero woman in her life
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  Speaker 1: and it comes to reference something that she's a part
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  Speaker 1: of later and it's a beautiful story. You see pictures
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  Speaker 1: of them together and just how it inspiring her mom
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  Speaker 1: was for her um as. In fact, in the seventh grade,
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  Speaker 1: her mother sit Nima Damu to her uncle's where she
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  Speaker 1: was able to enroll herself into the secondary school UM
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  Speaker 1: and she continued on in her education, becoming the first
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  Speaker 1: disabled woman and the second woman all around to graduate
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  Speaker 1: from the university and the d r C from her tribe.
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  Speaker 1: And it was during her high school years that some
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  Speaker 1: of her advocacy work started. She started hosting a radio
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  Speaker 1: show pushing for the rights of children with disabilities and
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  Speaker 1: she's been speaking up ever since. After graduating from the university,
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  Speaker 1: she went on to serve as deputy to represent her
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  Speaker 1: community in Parliament, where she later was appointed the Chief
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  Speaker 1: Advisor for the DRC Minister of Gender and Family uh
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  Speaker 1: But much like myself and many of us, she became
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  Speaker 1: frustrated at the lack of results and impact and working
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  Speaker 1: for the government and she began her path and nonprofit
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  Speaker 1: and community programs. In two thousand and seven, she founded
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  Speaker 1: her first in GEO to support disabled survivors of sexual
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  Speaker 1: assault in Eastern Congo. In an interview with her culture magazine,
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  Speaker 1: Namadamu talked about her love for her culture and community
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  Speaker 1: and why she advocated for the women in her home.
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  Speaker 1: I love my country with an intense, passionate love. When
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  Speaker 1: I am fighting for the Congolese women, I am fighting
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  Speaker 1: for the Congo. I believe that in order for Congo
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  Speaker 1: to get right, things will have to be made right
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  Speaker 1: for its women, because in its women is everything that
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  Speaker 1: Congo is missing, and it's off kilter orbit. And she
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  Speaker 1: kept going in that fight. In nam Adamu founded the
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  Speaker 1: Synergy of Congolese Women's Association are safe CO after her
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  Speaker 1: twenty five year old daughter was attacked by government soldiers.
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  Speaker 1: She started the organization as an action for peace rather
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  Speaker 1: than trying to seek revenge. Safe CO is a forum
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  Speaker 1: that was quote to foster collaboration among women led NGOs
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  Speaker 1: to collaborate on their peace, rights and development agenda right
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  Speaker 1: and with the help of World Pulse, which is a
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  Speaker 1: quote independent women led global social network for social change.
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  Speaker 1: According to their site world Pulse dot org, the women
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  Speaker 1: of SAFECO came together at a cyber cafe to find
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  Speaker 1: their voices around the world seeking peace in Eastern Congo.
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  Speaker 1: They named themselves the Mom and Suja which is Swahili
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  Speaker 1: for hero Women. Named Madamu had been traveling in the
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  Speaker 1: US as a speaker sponsored by World Pulse and had
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  Speaker 1: been building up these amazing supporters and created the Mom
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  Speaker 1: and Suja um and according to their site, hero Women
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  Speaker 1: Rising dot org quote SAFECO was founded in twelve to
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  Speaker 1: increase the capacity, confidence, and the ability of women to
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  Speaker 1: set a new course for their communities and their nation.
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  Speaker 1: Their synergy of Women's Association takes a holistic approach to development.
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  Speaker 1: Safeco's first priorities are person having the richness of Congo's
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  Speaker 1: greatest resource, it's people. We are for prudent measure development,
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  Speaker 1: development that holds people, communities and the environment in the
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  Speaker 1: highest regard. Therefore, it is our bent to move forward
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  Speaker 1: with the prudence and wisdom, with a mind that not
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  Speaker 1: only cares about Congo's future, but one that is mindful
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  Speaker 1: of our world stewardship of the vast resources of this
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  Speaker 1: richest nation in the world, setting a new global standard
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  Speaker 1: for developed nation status. And with the organization, she was
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  Speaker 1: able to gather one hundred thousand signatures for a petition
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  Speaker 1: on behalf of the Hero Women, which opened the opportunity
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  Speaker 1: to go to the White House to help to get
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  Speaker 1: an appointment of a U S Special Envoy to the
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  Speaker 1: d r C. And the organizations and nam Edamu have
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  Speaker 1: continued their work not only to continue to advocate for
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  Speaker 1: the rights of women and disabled individuals in the d
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  Speaker 1: r C, but even taken on environmental rights within the land.
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  Speaker 1: Safeco partnered with the Women's Earth and Climate Action Network
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  Speaker 1: or we Can to add to the fight against illegal
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  Speaker 1: logging and deforestation of the Autumbwe rain Forest UM to
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  Speaker 1: their ever growing list in advocacy and awareness. As an
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  Speaker 1: organization who has utilized the online platforms, Safeco has been
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  Speaker 1: able to provide easy access for local women to advocate
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  Speaker 1: and implement a protection plan for the rainforest right and
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  Speaker 1: with Namudama at the lead, they've been educated the people
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  Speaker 1: of the harms of industrial deforestation as well as planting
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  Speaker 1: local trees and native plants and local nurseries UM and
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  Speaker 1: with that they've started local initiatives for food sovereignty for
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  Speaker 1: the local women who are the caretakers of the gardens
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  Speaker 1: around the areas of displacement camps. Uh yeah, and she's
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  Speaker 1: been leading to provide help for a community during the pandemic.
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  Speaker 1: She has continued to teach advocacy work through online programs
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  Speaker 1: and workshops, gathered funds for her local communities, and speaking
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  Speaker 1: all over the world and to not only bring awareness
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  Speaker 1: of our work, but to inspire those around her to
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  Speaker 1: continue to fight as well. And when she was asked
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  Speaker 1: what advice she would give to other women, she said,
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  Speaker 1: quote lead women are born leaders. We impart to the
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  Speaker 1: world the greatest of all values and typically not through
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  Speaker 1: words but actions. We lead out of our hearts. We
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  Speaker 1: are listeners and therefore lead out of inspiration with compassion.
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  Speaker 1: We are for others more than for ourselves, and we
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  Speaker 1: lead in selflessness and a leader she is um and
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  Speaker 1: of course we have to end with her recognitions for
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  Speaker 1: her fierce leadership, including being named Architect of Peace and
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  Speaker 1: Civil Society Activists by Vision Barza, Africa's Most Influential Woman
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  Speaker 1: by South African based Celebrating Excellent in Organizations, one of
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  Speaker 1: the quote one hundred most Inspiring Women by as Salt magazine,
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  Speaker 1: and she was spotlighted as an activist by Nobel Women's
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  Speaker 1: initiative Ineen and in eighteen she received the Meredith McRae
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  Speaker 1: Empowerment Award from the International Women's Forum of Southern California.
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  Speaker 1: So quite a list, quite a list, and she is
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  Speaker 1: doing so much and continues to do so much through
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  Speaker 1: her organization which does include Hero Women Rise dot or
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  Speaker 1: you should go check that out. I believe that's actually
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  Speaker 1: based in the US to help for the organizations in
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  Speaker 1: the Congo. But essentially they do a lot of online
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  Speaker 1: initiatives for women, doing business classes for women as well,
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  Speaker 1: even throughout the pandemic, being a really big resource for
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  Speaker 1: the community there. Yes, yes, definitely go check that out
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  Speaker 1: and definitely, as always send us suggestions for this segment
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  Speaker 1: whatever the name will be ongoing. We always appreciate suggestions.
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  Speaker 1: I Never Told You. Thanks as always to our super producer, Christina,
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  Speaker 1: you are a leader for us and in a hero
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