Peer support, shared stories, and collective advocacy for Ebola-affected families
Families in eastern Congo cannot retrieve bodies of Ebola victims from treatment centers due to contagion protocols, clashing with cultural burial traditions and sparking violent attacks on hospitals.
RootsResist connects young men and families who lost loved ones to Ebola in anonymous peer groups. Members share experiences in local languages, access culturally relevant grief resources, document cases for advocacy, and join petitions for policy change around body retrieval protocols. The platform turns isolated grief into collective power while providing immediate emotional support.
Young men and families of Ebola victims in conflict-affected regions of eastern Democratic Republic of Congo
Anonymous AI matching based on health zone, ethnic group, and loss circumstances combined with blockchain-backed anonymous petition system that protects identities in a conflict environment.
empowering
Create profile without revealing real identity using only phone and health zone
Match users with others who had similar experiences for 1:1 support
Audio chat rooms in Lingala, Swahili and French moderated by trained locals
Audio stories, traditional grief practices, and practical guides in local languages
Create and sign anonymous petitions for better body retrieval policies
Securely document hospital events for potential human rights reporting
AI flags users who may need urgent human support
Connect users with verified NGOs offering burial or education support
Permanent anonymous archive of experiences for future generations
| Column | Type | Nullable |
|---|---|---|
| id | uuid | No |
| phone_hash | text | No |
| anonymous_handle | text | No |
| health_zone | text | Yes |
| experience_tags | text | Yes |
| created_at | timestamp | No |
Relationships:
| Column | Type | Nullable |
|---|---|---|
| id | uuid | No |
| user1_id | uuid | No |
| user2_id | uuid | No |
| match_score | int | No |
| active | bool | No |
| Column | Type | Nullable |
|---|---|---|
| id | uuid | No |
| creator_id | uuid | No |
| title | text | No |
| description | text | No |
| signature_count | int | No |
| status | text | No |
| created_at | timestamp | No |
Relationships:
| Column | Type | Nullable |
|---|---|---|
| id | uuid | No |
| title | text | No |
| audio_url | text | Yes |
| tags | text | Yes |
| language | text | No |
/api/matchesFind suitable peer matches for user
/api/petitionsCreate new anonymous advocacy petition
/api/roomsList available voice support rooms
/api/resourcesSearch culturally relevant grief resources
/api/incidentsSecurely document hospital incident
Cannot create petitions or match 1:1
None
For elders and young male leaders
| Month | Users | Conversion | MRR | ARR |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month 1 | 680 | 8% | $1,904 | $22,848 |
| Month 6 | 5,200 | 12% | $21,840 | $262,080 |
Connect anonymously with others who understand. Turn grief into advocacy for change in how Ebola victims are treated.
Work with existing youth groups and church networks in Mangina and Beni who have been vocal about burial rights. Offer free Voice tier to first 200 young men who join through trusted community referrers. Partner with one local human rights organization to validate the petition system with real advocacy targets.
Large listener network
Completely generic, no cultural context or advocacy tools
Deeply localized to Congolese experience with advocacy infrastructure
Network effects of growing trusted peer community plus proprietary dataset of eastern DRC grief patterns and successful advocacy outcomes
Mental health conversation opening across Africa combined with increasing frustration with repeated Ebola protocols and availability of affordable smartphones in rural DRC.
Users fear surveillance in conflict zone
Zero-knowledge architecture, no real names ever stored, clear privacy guarantee
Moderating sensitive conversations
Train local Congolese moderators and use AI sentiment flagging
Success: 70%+ express strong interest in both peer support and advocacy tools
Success: Average 3.2 sessions per user per week and at least 8 petitions created
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