A personal story from David Suddens
My work over the last 10 years took me often to West and Central Africa where, in selling what are called African prints, I met many strong, entrepreneurial women, successful even when the odds were stacked against them.
None more so than in Bukavu, the Eastern Congo, and in the City of Joy, a peaceful place of recovery for women who have been raped as weapons of war. They are victims of unspeakable atrocities. But their resilience and their determination to go back to their communities not as victims but as leaders led a female colleague to ask, “are these the world’s strongest women”?
It is distressing that the Foundation’s origins began in Bukavu with conversations about rape; rape as a deliberate act of war, in daily life, as a constant of history. Whether it was in discussion with Christine Schuler Deschryver or Dr Denis Mukwege (founders of the City of Joy) or, later, Leslee Udwin (Think Equal), the deeply held view emerged that only through education can behaviour be changed. Leslee Udwin was convinced that it was not just about education per se but the type of education, specifically in the formative years. Dr Mukwege, too, believed boys had to be educated early and differently. He saw that young boys were growing up with sexual violence as the norm.
To visit the City of Joy in Bukavu is at once upsetting and uplifting. As well as the courage of the women and the love they find in sisterhood, it is clear that their entrepreneurial determination is formidable.
In a world apart, on the international campuses of leading business school, INSEAD, from where I graduated and where I teach on occasion, a different type of educational experience takes place. In Bukavu all education is undertaken in groups as the best therapy. In INSEAD group learning is also key, with students at this time of 75 nationalities learning together how cross-cultural teamwork, common language and concepts can make global business a force for good.
As the world seems to fracture INSEAD brings the leaders of the future together in a common purpose.
Having left full-time work, I decided that I wanted to do something for women, for Africa and for education, as the basis for better societies and better outcomes for whole nations.
I also wanted to do something about rape.
From this the Foundation was conceived and was incorporated in 2024.
