OUR GOAL $150,000
Our 2025 financial goal is $150,000.
The amount needed to keep our current projects afloat has nearly doubled since 2021. This is largely due to the pandemic, the 2021 Mount Nyiragongo eruption, and inflation.
Money raised goes towards our projects that support vulnerable women and children in Goma.
Our Projects
Tchukudu Kids Home
The Tchukudu Kids Home is an orphanage for 30 of the youngest and most vulnerable children in the Goma community we serve. In addition, under the Tchukudu Kids umbrella, we provide a range of care for over 560 children in the community.
Jonathan Holiday School
The Art of Courage funds the Jonathan Holiday School so it can provide free education to more than 560 children each year. With the help of our sponsors, we cover the cost of staff salaries, operational expenses, uniforms, school supplies and more!
FROM ONE COMMUNITY TO ANOTHER
12 YEARS OF ACHIEVEMENTS!
Art for Change
Harnessing the humanizing power of art to be a catalyst for change.
Created in 2018, The Art of Courage is a platform for storytelling through art to create awareness, educate, advocate, and raise funds to change lives.
It began with the Wall of Courage. Seeing the potential that this art installation was capable of inspiring drove a group of individuals lead by John Sheridan to step up by asking Heather if she needed help taking this project to the next level. Heather had come to the realization she had brought this project as far as she could with out the help of a team of experienced mentors. This is when the board of directors were formed to help provide the structure and guidance to propel the idea of art being used as a catalyst to create change on a higher profile, reaching and helping more people.
THE BEGINNING
Heather and Kizungu Meet
Founder Heather Haynes meets Kizungu Hubert while sitting on the patio at Ubumwe Hotel in Gisenyi, Rwanda. Working side by side, they strike up a conversation, and Heather learns Kizungu is caring for 16 orphaned children in Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Heather feels called to help and a partnership begins. Fundraising begins for the Tchukudu Kids Home.
DOORS OPEN
Tchukudu Kids Home is Complete!
One year to the day Heather met Kizungu, the Tchukudu Kids Home is complete. In that one year, the number of children who needed care grew from 16 to 81!
ART FOR CHANGE
Wall of Courage
The 81 original children of the Tchukudu Kids Home become the inspiration for a body of work called the Wall of Courage by Heather Haynes. The installation takes three years to complete.
The Wall of Courage is an eighty panel installation honouring the resilience of the human spirit. Through a series of touring exhibitions, Wall of Courage has been the impetus to raise awareness and funds in the fight to eradicate poverty through education and healthcare, in communities in and around Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo.
EQUITY IN EDUCATION
Jonathan Holiday School is Built
The Jonathan Holiday School was built in the memory of Jonathan Holiday by his parents Michael and Carole Holiday, family and friends in partnership with CanAssist Africa Relief Trust and The Art of Courage (previously known as Worlds Collide Africa.)
There are currently 540+ students enrolled at The Jonathan Holiday School in grades 1 through 10.
MENSTRUAL HEALTH
Period Packs Are Distributed
Women from the Tchukudu Women's Centre learn to make reusable pads from Days for Girls. One hundred Period Packs are distributed to the Tchukudu girls and girls in the community.
Today!
540+ Children Are Cared For
In 2024, we will support more than 540 children with a range of care.
The youngest and/or most vulnerable children are at the Tchukudu Kids Home receiving full-time care. The remaining children live with Welcome Families (foster families), a single parent, or an extended family member.
Our support can include food, shelter, medical care, education and more.
All 540+ children receive a free education at the Jonathan Holiday School.
Our Mission
The Art of Courage is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to raising awareness and resources to empower the most vulnerable children in Goma, DRC. We focus on creating sustainable change by funding education, meeting basic needs, and fostering safe, supportive environments
Canadian Not-For-Profit Corporation : Business Number 736861991RC0001