{"id":4589,"date":"2022-06-22T09:43:07","date_gmt":"2022-06-22T07:43:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.focuscongo.com\/?page_id=4589"},"modified":"2022-09-04T20:49:35","modified_gmt":"2022-09-04T18:49:35","slug":"geschichte","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.focuscongo.com\/en\/ueber-uns\/geschichte\/","title":{"rendered":"Our history"},"content":{"rendered":"
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How it all began...<\/h1>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Chiherano. A small village in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo, not far from the second largest rainforest in the world. Our founder<\/strong> Pappy Orion<\/strong> lived a peaceful life with his family until the war destroyed everything...<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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\r\n 1996 - 1998<\/span>\r\n First and Second Congo Wars<\/span>\r\n <\/div>\r\n
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\r\n Recruitment of child soldiers<\/span>\r\n
\"pappy-orion-childhood-pciture\"<\/div>\r\n

As a child, Pappy experiences war in a cruel way. Violence, chaos and devastation dominate the country. Rebel groups recruit child soldiers for their fights.<\/p><\/div>\r\n <\/div>\r\n <\/div>\r\n <\/article>

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\r\n 1998 - 2000<\/span>\r\n On the run<\/span>\r\n <\/div>\r\n
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\r\n 6000 kilometers on foot to South Africa<\/span>\r\n
\"pappy-orion-escape\"<\/div>\r\n

Pappy's parents see no choice: they decide to send their 12-year-old son away. Secretly, early in the morning and alone on a journey into the unknown.<\/p><\/div>\r\n <\/div>\r\n <\/div>\r\n <\/article>

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\r\n 2000 - 2002<\/span>\r\n South Africa<\/span>\r\n <\/div>\r\n
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\r\n Street child in Cape Town<\/span>\r\n
\"pappy-orion-streetkid\"<\/div>\r\n

Pappy's escape ends as a street child and refugee in Cape Town, where he experiences hunger, violence and crime. Drugs land him in prison until an unexpected encounter completely changes his life. When he calls the street home, he finds his home with God and his calling.<\/p><\/div>\r\n <\/div>\r\n <\/div>\r\n <\/article>

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\r\n 2009<\/span>\r\n First reunion with the family<\/span>\r\n <\/div>\r\n
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\r\n "Hold on to love"<\/span>\r\n
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In order to look for his family, he sets off on a journey of reconciliation back to his country for the first time. The cruel reality on the ground catches up with him. Instead of feeling hatred and resentment towards the perpetrators of the war, Pappy's sister, who had every reason to quarrel, teaches him the opposite: "Hold on to love."<\/p><\/div>\r\n <\/div>\r\n <\/div>\r\n <\/article>

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\r\n 2013<\/span>\r\n The vision is born<\/span>\r\n <\/div>\r\n
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\r\n A bright future for Congo<\/span>\r\n
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Pappy travels to his homeland with his wife Svenja. Together they cannot put an end to the violence, but they can do everything to ensure that the bright future represented by the star in the Congolese national flag becomes a reality for the next generation.<\/p><\/div>\r\n <\/div>\r\n <\/div>\r\n <\/article>

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\r\n 2015 + 2016<\/span>\r\n <\/span>\r\n <\/div>\r\n
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\r\n Foundation of Focus Congo <\/span>\r\n
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In 2015, Focus Congo asbl was founded as a non-profit aid organization in the Democratic Republic of Congo. In 2016 the association Focus Congo e. V. founded in Germany.\u00a0<\/p><\/div>\r\n <\/div>\r\n <\/div>\r\n <\/article>

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\r\n 2019<\/span>\r\n Award<\/span>\r\n <\/div>\r\n
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\r\n Prix d'Excellence and D'Encouragement<\/span>\r\n
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Founder Pappy Orion is honored by the Innovation Business Technology College - IBTC Film School in Bukavu (South Kivu Province, Eastern Congo) for his work with young people in the field of film and media<\/p><\/div>\r\n <\/div>\r\n <\/div>\r\n <\/article>

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\r\n 2021<\/span>\r\n Honorary Award<\/span>\r\n <\/div>\r\n
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For the work of Focus Congo and its contribution to peace in Eastern Congo, founder Pappy Orion receives the honorary award from the Initiative Regionale Pour Le Developpement Grands Lacs pour la Paix.<\/p><\/div>\r\n <\/div>\r\n <\/div>\r\n <\/article><\/div><\/div>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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The biography of our founder <\/h2>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Buy now<\/a><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Comments on the book<\/h2>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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"This book describes a story of God's preservation, faith and true determination. Pappy went a very long way for two years to avoid becoming a child soldier. May it bless you as you read it."<\/div>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
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Loren Cunningham<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
Founder of \u201cYouth with a Mission\u201d<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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"As a journalist, I covered the war. Pappy lived it. He certainly bears the scars of that experience, but also an inner strength that was born of it. You hear that strength in his voice, see it in his eyes and in his beaming smiles. God lives in Pappy. His story is a miracle."<\/div>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
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Byron Pitts<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
Correspondent at ABC News<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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How it all began\u2026 Chiherano. A small village in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo, not far from the second largest rainforest in the world. Our founder Pappy Orion lived a peaceful life with his family until the war destroyed everything... 1996 - 1998 First and Second Congo Wars Recruitment of child soldiers Pappy experienced the war in a cruel way as a child. Force,\u2026Continue reading Our history<\/span> \u2192<\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2358,"parent":4689,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"page-templates\/grid-template.php","meta":{"footnotes":""},"folder":[61],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.focuscongo.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4589"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.focuscongo.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.focuscongo.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.focuscongo.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.focuscongo.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4589"}],"version-history":[{"count":43,"href":"https:\/\/www.focuscongo.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4589\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6393,"href":"https:\/\/www.focuscongo.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4589\/revisions\/6393"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.focuscongo.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4689"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.focuscongo.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2358"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.focuscongo.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4589"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"folder","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.focuscongo.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/folder?post=4589"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}