The Children of Panzi and Elsewhere (CPE) is a non-profit organization which aim is to help children who are victims of trauma in armed conflicts – more specifically, children who have been raped or born of rape. The non-profit was created in September 2015, to respond to a new and urgent need for psychotherapeutic care for very young children who are victims of severe violence in villages in South Kivu.
At the request of Dr. Denis Mukwege and given the extreme urgency of the situation in the DRC, a first project was launched in collaboration with the Panzi Hospital, founded by Dr. Mukwege himself. CPE then embarked on a pilot project, which aims to design and put into practice a methodology adapted to very young child victims, as well as care and evaluation tools. The therapeutic protocol takes place over a period of three years and takes into account different target groups. The children are aged 0 to 12 years.
The methodology developed by CPE can now be transposed to other communities and places in the world where young children suffer from severe trauma. Through a holistic approach, EPA aims to help these children grow up within their community and become actors of peace. Because the children of today are the adults of tomorrow.