Democratic Republic of Congo has today become synonymous with war and corruption; the scene of incomprehensible and needless bloodshed. Most of the pictures and headlines published in international newspapers only convey the misery and despair. If war is the preserve of men, women are reduced to being passive victims.

Mama Congo aims to challenge this stereotype by celebrating the courage, tenacity and resilience of Congolese women, through intimate portraits and first-hand testimony.

Theirs is an epic and, at times, troubling tale, but it is above all one of encouragement and hope. Women across all walks of life are represented, from fisherwomen in the mangrove forests deep in the heart of the Congo Basin, in the west, to the survivors of sexual violence turned-activists in the country’s notorious Kivu province in the east.

Behind the scenes, far from the world’s prying eyes, the women are always hard at work, whether to feed their children, or to improve the world in which they live.

If Congo is the heart of Africa, it is its women who make it beat.