Butembo, Democratic Republic of the Congo. 350,000 people live in the town at an altitude of around 1,400 metres in the immediate vicinity of Virunga National Park. The landscape is dominated by extensive rainforests, volcanoes, savannahs and the last 700 or so mountain gorillas that inhabit the park in scattered populations.
The One World Foundation Rhein-Berg supports the „Association des Handicapéset les Aveugles de Butembo“ (AHAB), a project that enables disabled and blind people to do three things at once: learning Braille for the blind, lessons in civics, financial management and marketing, and entry into a profession. Four workshops train blind people to become bakers and tailors, soap boilers and basket weavers, among others. The AHAB staff work on a voluntary basis and the lessons are free of charge for the visually impaired.
With the support from Bergisch Gladbach, the visually impaired people do not want to be a burden on society in Butembo, but rather use their newly learnt skills to pursue a job with which they can support themselves and their families.

Copyright Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired (AHAB), Butembo, Democratic Republic of Congo