At MiaDonna, we exist to give back. Our jewelry is created to provide an alternative to the outdated earth-mined jewelry industry that inflicts damage upon the communities and the environment wherever they source their raw materials from. At least 10% of our net profits from our operations at MiaDonna directly fund healing and betterment projects through our non-profit foundation, The Greener Diamond. These projects support educational, mentorship, agricultural, and urgent relief programs in diamond mining communities.
In 2022 your purchase is funding:
- Urgent Relief Programs. The Greener Diamond’s main focus is making mining communities sustainable outside of mining. However, we understand the need for emergency assistance, and we are always there to support and relieve some of the everyday pressures of living in a mining community or fleeing from a diamond and gold funded war.
We continue to assist individuals by paying for things like hospital bills, school fees and supplies, transportation, housing, food, medication, eyewear, clothing, beds and mosquito nets. In March and April of 2022 we worked with Fundacja Ocalenie in Poland to give much needed financial assistance that provided lodging and meals for Ukrainian refugees in Poland. Learn more here.
- Sustainable Programs. This year's larger mission is to get children out of mines and into schools. Our DRC Primary Education Initiative is a youth education project in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Overview:
A significant percentage of the population in South Kivu Province depend on income from unregulated gold mining which often involves children. Amnesty International estimates that over 40,000 children work in “inhumane conditions in artisanal mining” in the area. School attendance is low, while child labor and abuse remain high.
Objectives:
- Expand the education of children currently working in gold mines and increase school attendance.
- Provide psychosocial support and financial incentives to families.
Number Impacted:
- Over 1,000 children from 6 to 12 years old (including 501 girls).
- Their parents and immediate family.
- Community members by providing additional teaching jobs.
Deliverables:
Repair the existing Katogota School in Uvira Territory, and build a new school named the Kashozi Primary School in Kaziba, Walungu Territory.
Why is the DRC Primary Education Initiative so important?
The DRC is currently the largest producer of gold, and only 6% of gold mines are regulated. These gold mining areas are hot-beds for sexual violence and explotation. An astonishing 48 rapes occur every hour in the DRC.
To break the cycle of sexual violence and poverty, this project removes children from dangerous, unregulated mines and connects them to formal schooling. There, they will receive a free education and daily meals, and their parents (as well as former sex workers from the mining communities) receive access to job skills training in other fields, such as animal husbandry and agriculture to replace lost wages from the children not working in the mines.
We are renovating an existing primary school in the Uvira Territory whose classrooms are in an advanced state of disrepair. Construction will include foundation repairs and maintenance, reinforcing columns, backfill and pavement, a new roof, new window and doors, and painting. New equipment such as tables, chairs, desks and blackboards will be provided.
There will also be a new school constructed from the ground up in Kaziba, Walungu Territory, South Kivu Province.
Thank you for being one of our #MiaDonnaHeroes
The Greener Diamond projects are fully funded by conscious consumers choosing to make a difference in the world through shopping at MiaDonna. Everyone has the ability and responsibility to ensure that their purchases are making a positive impact upon humanity and the world we live in.
