Lake Forest College News

Vahedi Parsa and her husband have lived in the city of Goma, located in North Kivu, in northeastern Congo, for five years. Fierce fighting took place in Kivu during the First Congo War (1994-1997) and Second Congo War (1998-2003), international conflicts that resulted from the genocide in neighboring Rwanda. Fighting between the government forces of Congo and rebel militias followed, and although violence continues, UN peacekeepers have brought relative calm to the region.

Vahedi Parsa is currently the field coordinator in the Congo for the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative (HHI), a relief organization created by Harvard University in 1999, and she is about to depart for one month to Bukavu, in South Kivo, Congo, where she will carry out HHI fieldwork. She is also involved with another aid group, the Connaissance-Erfan Foundation, which assists and trains teachers interested in starting community schools.  

Relief organizations have been instrumental in providing healthcare, education, and a host of other vital services to the people of the region, and Vahedi Parsa and her husband are proud of their many accomplishments as humanitarians.

Yet, they sense their time in Congo is coming to an end. “We don’t have much freedom of movement,” says Vahedi Parsa about everyday life in Kivu. “But, we are happy and have made many friends here. We are taking on life’s challenges as they come and are confident that other doors and windows will soon open for us.”