What is Kivéclair
Kivéclair is an educational and economical development project based on Bitcoin. It operates in Goma, in the Kivu region of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
With the recent success of Bitcoin Beach in El Salvador, we have decided to offer our help to disadvantaged locals and use Bitcoin and the Lightning Network to promote financial inclusion for all.
In October 2021, we launched a Lightning Torch on Twitter,
and received other donations in support of victims of the Nyiragongo
volcano eruption. We collected nearly 3 million sats (satoshis), which
enabled us to help a dozen people. (See reports on Twitter).
The success of this experience led us to want to build a more formal
and methodical approach to help, the Kivéclair project was born.
We are now soliciting bitcoiners once again, in order to help finance our own Bitcoin Beach in Goma. We have designed the project in stages in order to be able to properly assess local needs and keep this campaign running continuously.
- Stage 0 : Help a larger audience thanks to Bitcoin. Target is to aid 50 people.
- Stage 1 : Financing of a dedicated Kivéclair space in Goma, to offer permanent and professional support, for one year.
- The following stages will be decided upon progressively, as opportunities and needs arise and are identified on the ground.
Progress and achievements of the Kivéclair initiative will be published monthly through the chainglob media.
Goma & its Population
Goma is a city of 2 million inhabitants that is located in the North-Kivu region of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Situated close to the border, the region has been unstable since 1994 and the inflow of refugees from neighbouring Rwandae, who were escaping war and genocide. Since then, the entire region is under constant instability caused by armed groups.
Goma was also hit by natural disasters, with the eruption in 2002 of the Nyiragongo volcano that partially destroyed the city. More recently, in May 2021, another lava flow destroyed houses and led to the displacement of numerous inhabitants that had to find refuge in camps. The first beneficiaries of our help were some of these victims.
However, Goma is a dynamic city with a young population that dreams of a brighter future. Numerous NGOs and International aid are active locally in order to aid the local population (UN information on the North-Kivu region). We believe strongly that Bitcoin will play an important role in offering a better future to the Congolese. Bitcoin offers hope, by offering a financial tool that can reduce corruption by avoiding intermediaries. It can also offer financial inclusion to a population that is largely unbanked. (News article on payments in RDC).
Goma's geographic position, close to Rwanda and Uganda, also seems to be an ideal base for greater Bitcoin adoption in the African Great Lakes' region.
The Team Behind Kivéclair
The initiative is spearheaded by the pan-african media Chainglob and its four members : Gloire, Stewart, Fenelon, et Evariste.
They are Bitcoin activists well known to the french-speaking bitcoiners worldwide. Their volunteer work is well recognised and the Kivéclair initiative will enable them to work full time on education on the ground and on the web.
They are receiving support and logistical aid for the Kivéclair initiative from:
Stage 0 : 25,000 USD
Aid more people with Bitcoin
This preliminary stage is dedicated to continue offering support to the disadvantaged in Goma. The goal is to be able to come to the aid of 50 families and to educate them and teach them how to use Bitcoin.
Each beneficiary will be equipped with a cell phone on which a Bitcoin Lightning wallet will be installed. Then the beneficiary will receive the equivalent of $25 in sats, twice a month, for six months. The donations will be conducted as part of regular meetings where food, drinks and educational content will be shared with the recipients. The communities that will be supported are those that were victims from the latest volcano incidents as well as marginalised populations such as the pygmies.
Stage 1 : + 55,000 USD
Financing of a dedicated Kivéclair space in Goma for 1 year, to offer permanent and professional support.
This is the main stage of the project as it will enable the creation of a dedicated space for educating and coordinating the Bitcoin community in Goma. The Chainglob team will be able to work full time on promoting Bitcoin in Goma and in Africa.
Funds raised at this stage will go towards renting a physical space in Goma. This space will consist of offices for the Chainglob team and a space to host regular free Bitcoin meetups, and trainings. A specific focus will be given to developing a network of business that will accept Bitcoin as a payment option in Goma.
Following Stages
Once the physical Kivéclair space is financed, we will offer new objectives to reinforce the Kivéclair initiative. These objectives will be decided upon taking into objective what will be deemed the most pertinent and urgent for the local population:
Among the ideas we already have:
- Finance help for another 50 families among marginalised communities.
- Organise public Bitcoin events where dinners are paid in Bitcoin, workshops, invite international members of the Bitcoin community (as Fodé Diop for example).
- Finance infrastructure for a BTC/CDF exchange (ATM, brokerage)
- Build public infrastructure paid in Bitcoin and benefiting locals (public toilets, wells, schools)
- Establish campaigns specifically destined to promote merchant adoption of Bitcoin.
We do not lack ambition and hope you will join us in this adventure.
Follow The Initiative
You can follow us on the information site Chainglob. We will publish our stories and news reports there. If you wish do make sure you won't miss anything, please consider subscribing to our newsletter: send an email to kiveclair@chainglob.com
Our LN node if you want to add channels : 03b89dcbd546f3f7f96fef59183156f572dd2d3579746740fcf89b13072eaca723@do3q5dna3btri4pthac5dc4vuefnzkhdkzd5kdgzvgphcb3ffpr7fxqd.onion:9735
You can also follow the Kivéclair initiative on Twitter :
En français, @kiveclair
In English, @Kiveclair_En
Sponsors
If you are a Bitcoin company or individual donor that contributes $1,000 or more and wish to be listed as a donor please contact us. Send an email to kiveclair@chainglob.com indicating the invoice or transaction ID as well as a logo/avatar in .png format (200x200 px).
If you would like to sponsor a specific development as part of the Kivéclair project please contact us by email at: kiveclair@chainglob.com.
