Encouraged by the La Poudrière Community in Brussels, Belgium, which had hosted a young person from Zaire for a few months, Avoben was created in Kinshasa (formerly Zaire) at the start of the 1990s. The attempt to create a community and set up small scale activities, which were key to the group, quickly unravelled, leading the group to the edge of extinction.
In 1992, an Emmaus France mission was sent to the Kivu region on request of Abbé Pierre. Abbé Pierre had been alerted about the political and ethnic violence in the region by two Zairian priests, who asked him to speak out about the situation. The mission drew up a report on the massacres being committed in the country. Emmaus International then created the Grands Lacs (Great Lakes) Committee to denounce these crimes, to raise awareness amongst both the general public and political decision makers and to coordinate the action of Emmaus in this part of Africa.
The movement tried to revive Avoben but was unable to do so. However, another organisation, CAJED, Concerted Action for Disadvantaged Young People and Children (Concert d’actions pour jeunes et enfants défavorisés in French), then joined Emmaus. Based in Goma and created in October 1992 by Faustin Gahima, its goal is to support underprivileged young people and children, notably working for the social reintegration of former child soldiers.
