Changemakers for Congo
“The greatest use of a life is to spend it for something that will outlast it.”
~ William James
HandUp Congo’s advisors are unpaid volunteers who regularly travel to Congo to maintain relationships and help develop projects further. Above, the HandUp Congo team works side by side with their Congolese partners in Lotumbe’s nutrition garden.
Anne hobgood Zolnor
(Mama Bolumbu), Founder
Anne Zolnor brings more than 30 years of experience in clinical, managerial and consulting experience in healthcare to development projects in the Congo, where she grew up. She is the eldest of HandUp Congo’s founding sisters, whose grandparents first came to Congo in 1912. She enjoys linking her professional and organisational skills to HandUp Congo’s projects, and taps into her international network to increase awareness of Congo’s needs. Anne has a Master of Business Administration from Jacksonville University, and a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Texas Christian University.
Betsy Brill
(Mama Bombambula), founder
Betsy Brill is a former journalist and business editor who has spent more than a year travelling, studying, and writing about microfinance approaches in Egypt, India, Bangladesh, and Indonesia. “The world is filled with problems,” Betsy says, “but solutions fascinate me. Sharing those solutions – taught by women in other developing countries – is the most rewarding thing I’ve done in my life.” Betsy, who was the catalyst for the Microcredit project, lives in San Francisco and spends part of the year in a small village in France.
Lucy Hobgood-brown
(Mama Otaenga), founder
Lucy Hobgood-Brown’s career has included working as a journalist and university teacher, and she now fosters capacity-building projects in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where she and Anne grew up. An Australian-American dual citizen, Lucy lives in Sydney and has Masters degrees in International Communication and International Social Development. In 2015 Lucy received Rotary International’s Global Woman of Action Award at the United Nations.
Désiré SAFARI Kanyena
Désiré SAFARI Kanyena is based in Goma, capital of North Kivu Province and works closely with HandUp Congo. His areas of focus include assisting people displaced by conflict and are based on reflecting with communities on how to alleviate poverty and hunger, balance gender, and safeguard environment. He advises Congo’s Health Department in the area of community health.
Dr Grace Maano
(Mama Huguete Bombele)
Grace is a GP Specialist Fellow of the Australian College of Rural Remote Medicine (ACRRM) with an advanced diploma in Obstetrics and Gynaecology. She obtained her Medical Degree in the Philippines in 1999 and migrated to Australia in 2005. Since then, she has held various roles, including cruise ship and refugee camp doctor. After obtaining her ACRRM fellowship as a Rural Generalist and GP Obstetrician in 2021, she started providing women's health services on the NSW Mid North Coast and then in rural Queensland.
She has travelled with the HandUp Congo volunteer teams several times, providing obstetric emergency and family planning training. It is her fervent hope to help reduce the staggeringly high maternal and newborn mortality rate in Africa, which is 100 times higher than Australia’s. She is a member (and past president) of the Rotary Club of Taree in District 9660.
Roma Mehta (Mama Ifuwa)
Roma Mehta and Lucy Hobgood-Brown first connected in Taipei many years ago. Their partnership has continued on many fronts. When HandUp Congo was initiated, Roma came on board to design the logo and other supporting collateral. Roma is a keen supporter of HUC’s mission of facilitating sustainable development in marginalised communities. Connecting to and working with people toward empowering women and children is a passion she has shared with her father, who established and then, for 35 years, supervised a free school for street children in Kolkata, India. Roma is co-owner of a design and print firm in Taipei (Sir Speedy). She is involved with Red Room, a community-led organisation supporting the arts.
Cynthia Nadai (Mama Mboyo)
Cynthia Nadai is an American who came to Australia over 20 years ago. Wherever she has lived, she has helped to support the community she lives in. In Boston, Cynthia was a management consultant teaching people how to participate effectively in government decisions. She also ran her neighbourhood annual street fair bringing together hundreds of arts and crafts and food vendors. In Sydney, Cynthia worked for the St James Ethics Centre (now The Ethics Centre) as Director of Operations and continues to work there as a volunteer ethics counsellor. She has served as Chair of Good2Give, a not for profit promoting workplace giving in Australia. In 2005 Cynthia was also a founding member of the Balmain / Rozelle Community Bank, a Bendigo bank. Bendigo Community Banks contribute 80% of their net profits back to the community.
Robyn Hutchinson (Mama Bokajeanne)
Robyn Hutchinson has spent her life linking education with community development in Australia and Asia. Over this time she has worked as a primary school teacher and principal in schools, and volunteer facilitator and mentor in community development. Her particular passion is grassroots sustainable community development with a focus on inquiry-based, experiential learning and applying restorative processes as the foundation. Currently she continues to volunteer with the Institute of Cultural Affairs (Australia, Asia-Pacific, International), the Reconciliation movement in Australia, and supporting HandUp Congo.
Vera Sistenich (Mama Ntela)
Vera Sistenich is a board-certified, emergency medicine specialist in Australia, where her areas of interest are Aboriginal health, medical education and the development of physician training in the field of international emergency medicine. Outside Australia, she has clinical experience in China, Nepal, Peru, South Africa, Vietnam and the UK. She has also worked with asylum seekers both at the Christmas Island Immigration Detention Centre in the Australian Indian Ocean territories, and on Manus Island in Papua New Guinea. In 2013-2014, she was Health Policy Advisor to the International Committee of the Red Cross in Geneva, Switzerland. She is HandUp Congo’s team leader for the Emergency Medicine Education Project.
Dr Michael Nest
Keeping track of events in DR Congo is difficult, especially if you are not living there. Even though my 'day job' has nearly always been elsewhere, I’ve been lucky to stay engaged with Congo for over 30 years as a tourist, graduate student, policy researcher, guest lecturer, a consultant on development projects, writer, member of NGOs (working in DRC and the diaspora), and as a friend of Congolese. These different perspectives give me a sense of the nation’s complexity and dynamism, which is a lesson for anyone trying to understand the country—engage broadly!
For the past 20 years, my work has focused on governance, accountability and transparency issues, particularly for the mining industry. I have crossed back and forth between the public, private and non-profit sectors. Significant projects include working to strengthen governance over the production and trade of minerals that help fuel conflict in Central Africa and advising the International Court of Justice on the illegal exploitation of natural resources in its landmark D.R. Congo v. Uganda court case. I’ve also written three books about DR Congo, including Coltan which remains on the university curriculum.
What appeals to me most about DRC is the people themselves: their creativity and ingenuity under adverse conditions, and the clarity with which they view and explain their lives.
Kiran Hutchinson (Mama Bofendji)
Kiran Hutchinson is a community development advisor.
"I haven’t had the opportunity to travel to Congo yet, but I get great satisfaction helping from afar. Whether it’s brainstorming on fundraising strategies or helping with event management, I’ve found being a volunteer for HandUp Congo to be rewarding. After participating in trip debriefs, reading reports and organising photos for presentations, I feel I’m part of the wonderful Ubuntu spirit shared by everyone that works with and supports HandUp Congo around the world. I also enjoy working on HUC projects in Australia that involve Congolese refugees and participating in events that recognise their wonderful contributions."
Barbara DeGraff (Mama Manya)
Barbara is an online marketing strategist who enjoys using her skills to help not-for-profit organisations where monies raised go directly to those in need. HandUp Congo excels at this. Barbara built and manages the website and produces our regular, online newsletters.
It is the tradition of the Disciples of Christ Community in Congo (CDCC) to give Congolese names to visitors. HandUp Congo’s volunteers have been blessed to receive names of honoured elders who have passed on, but who leave a rich legacy of memories and contributions to their communities. We thank CDCC for acknowledging our volunteers’ contributions through the bestowal of Congolese names.