Help Bring Clean Water to Congo!
An eminently do-able fundraising effort, plus some book stuff.
Hey, hey! There’s a lot going on in the world right now, but one of the ongoing crises that could really use our attention right now is the situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo. I’ve shared some links below with background information on the situation there. If, like me, you’ve been feeling helpless and looking for a way to help the displaced people in Eastern Congo, here you go.:
I’m raising money to buy water filters to be distributed by Focus Congo, an organization that is on the ground in the refugee camps of Goma, where people have been pushed by the violent militia group M23. As you can imagine, with the arrival of hundreds of thousands of refugees, basic resources have become difficult to obtain, and fresh water has become impossible to find in the camps. People have been forced to drink and cook with contaminated water, leading to waterborne illness and death. Bathing in this water has also led to painful skin conditions.
There are so many things we can’t fix in the world, but unsafe water has a relatively straightforward solution: portable water filtrations systems!
If you’ve subscribed to my newsletter for a while (or read the Off the Grid series), you know I have a special interest in prepping for disaster. When I lived in Martinique, I went on a deep dive of water filtration systems while trying to find one to have in our emergency preparedness kit. When I first saw Joy’s (@foreverjuicebae, who volunteered in the camps) post about dirty water spreading disease, I thought that these water filters could come in handy.
After speaking to people at Sawyer filters and coordinating with Pappy Orion at Focus Congo about whether the filters would be helpful on the ground, we decided to aim for a minimum of 500 bucket water filtration systems to create safe drinking water stations at the camps.
The filter itself is small, lightweight, sturdy, and can last up to 10 years if maintained well so there is no worry about constant replacement. They’re rated to filter up to 100,000 gallons of water, and the filters remove dangerous bacteria as well as microplastics. The filtration kit can be attached to any large receptacle—buckets, barrels, trash cans—making them highly adaptable, and perfect for use in emergency situations.
You can see exactly how they work here:
Money is tight for everyone, and there are so many people in need, but if you have even five dollars to contribute, it would be a huge help!
If you’d like to learn more about the situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo:
Al-Jazeera report from Feb. 2024
‘I feel my heart breaking into a thousand pieces’: Goma fills with refugees trying to flee fighting in DRC - The Guardian, Feb. 19, 2024
Crowded camps and local aid: How DR Congo’s M23 conflict is impacting Goma
‘We are pleading for the return of peace. When we have peace, we will live well.’ - The New Humanitarian, April 4, 2024
DR Congo: Displaced students in North Kivu ready for state exam despite raging conflict - Africa News, May 7, 2024
In Nyiragongo, Goma, one of the main towns in North Kivu, Democratic Republic of Congo's (DRC)'s troubled eastern region, a school that will serve as the state examination center for displaced students has been readied.
Many of the students from Rutshuru and Kibumba had fled their towns after an upsurge in fighting in recent weeks between M23 rebels and Congo army forces. But some of these young people, traumatized by the conflict, are now preparing to take a crucial exam far from home.
‘Culture of solidarity’: Why I’m hosting Congolese relatives who fled the M23 conflict - The New Humanitarian, May 23, 2024
They arrived at my house in their dozens, desperate and tired. They had escaped bullets and bombs and had left everything behind them – clothes, kitchen utensils, goats, and sheep. They were worried that I wasn't going to be able to support them.
I am describing a scene that unfolded just three months ago, when more than 50 of my family members escaped the conflict between the M23 rebel group and our national army in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
The relatives arrived at my house in Goma, the main city in eastern DRC, and while some have since left to live with other family members, or have moved into nearby displacement camps, 16 of them have stayed, depending on us for food and shelter.
Host families like mine are playing a central role in accommodating the roughly 1.5 million people uprooted by the two-and-a-half-year conflict. I have many neighbours who have taken in relatives, and even people who are not members of their family.
Info about the sanctions:
Four Lawmakers Denounce Plan to Ease Sanctions on Mining Executive - The NYT, May 21, 2024
But the four lawmakers — two senators and two House members — disputed that, saying the Biden administration was wrong to propose allowing Mr. Gertler to profit as he sells off his holdings in Congo.
“We fear that if sanctions are removed, Mr. Gertler will profit massively off his ill-gotten assets to the detriment of the Congolese people,” said the letter, signed by Representative Joe Wilson, Republican of South Carolina, and Senator Benjamin L. Cardin, Democrat of Maryland, the co-chairmen of the United States Helsinki Commission, a federal agency that promotes human rights issues globally. “Such an event would significantly undermine efforts to combat transnational corruption and U.S. foreign policy and national security interests.”
Book stuff!
One of Us Knows has been out for just about two months! I’ll share more reviews and reader responses in the next newsletter, but if you haven’t read it yet and need a book with:
A snarly, reluctant anti-heroine protagonist who a member of a dissociative identity disorder system who awakens from years of dormancy to find herself en route to a job as caretaker of a creepy haunted castle on a cursed island in the Hudson River.
An awkward bi-sexual love triangle with said anti-heroine, her ex-boyfriend [whom she shares a body with], and the sullen, sexy lady groundskeeper of the cursed island.
A ragtag band of misfits who share the same body working as an amateur detective squad.
A dual locked-room mystery, one in the outer world and one in Bad Day System’s inner world.
More twists than a barrel of twizzlers!
Misc. cool things that happened in April/May
Being on the cover of Writers’ Digest (and getting to see the cover at Barnes & Noble Philly)!
I had a super fun mini-book tour with Kellye Garrett! My favorite pic from the tour is from our Word Jersey City event (photo credit: my dad):
Kellye’s fantastic thriller Missing White Woman is out now. I loved this book, and if you haven’t checked it out yet add it to your TBR!
Getting to hang with Loyalty Bookstores owners Christine and Hannah after our event there. Two of my favorite people, who I spent many virtual hours with during our pandemic Date Nights!!
Lunch and book browsing with Xio Axelrod!
My recommended reads for June
Butter: A Novel of Food and Murder by Asako Yuzuki
One of my favorite reads of the year thus far! This novel read (to me) as part crime fiction, part journey of self-discovery, as well as a meditation on and indictment of the the way gender roles permeate every aspect of life. I enjoyed the book’s subtle richness, and the way the complex “flavors” of the story are presented simply but expand and deepen as you read—much like the expensive butter that kickstarts journalist Rika Machida’s obsession with murderer Manako Kajii. Food blogger and infamous man-killer Kajii refuses to speak to any journalist—that is, until she responds to Rika’s request for a recipe. This begins a relationship that leapfrogs over profesionalism and lands in a nebulous space between frenemy-ship and obsession, changing Rika’s life in profound—and dangerous—ways.
Stories Are Weapons: Psychological Warfare and the American Mind by Annalee Newitz
This book. THIS BOOK. I spend a lot of my time thinking about lies, manipulation, and story, and how they’ve wreaked havoc over the last several years (and the course of American history), so this book felt someone said “Hey, let me write something that will make Alyssa highlight every other sentence and scream in political nerd joy/agony.” Tracking the birth of psychological manipulation from Freud, to the ad-men of Don Draper’s ilk, to the present day, it’s an incredibly well-researched and engaging read. It’s nonfiction, but Annalee Newitz is an award-winning sci-fi writer as well as a science communicator, so the text is smooth, engaging, and compelling. An absolute must read, and a book that will change the way you view the world.
Thank you for starting that GoFundMe. I believe that everybody has a right to clean water. But I know that doesn't make it so.
I pre-ordered your book and on my way to reading it broke my hip so I've pretty much been on my iPad. But I'm back to reading real books and I can't wait to read yours. years ago, there was a book called the medium. Is the message debunking what the ad agencies were doing. And now it's so much worse nobody looks for the source. They just except what they read on social media with no fact, Check.
The news isn't news anymore. It's just opinion.
I am so glad you were on the cover of Writer digest. You're one of my top five authors. I wish you everything good.