Thank You, Friends

A note from Yves’ brother.

Fearless reporting, a behind-the-curtains look at how journalism is made — and an unabashed point of view. Welcome to Chills.

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One of Yves’ drawings about the protection of the environment.

I told you all last week about the death — the potential murder — of my dear artist/journalist/activist friend in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Yves Kulondwa. You all donated money toward his family to help with funeral costs and to support Yves’ art school for kids in eastern Congo. It’s the only such school for many, many miles around, and he started it because he never had such a thing as a kid and wanted to make sure the next generation had a place to explore.

Self-taught, Yves was a marvel.

His younger brother Marc wants to say thank you to everyone who donated. Here’s his message:

Dearest Lauren,

Thank you for making this possible for us and for your friend Yves. We also say a big thank you to all those who contributed their money for us. We are infinitely grateful to all of you for this grandiose gesture. May God bless you for your love for us, to help us in this difficult time we are going through. Thank you very much.

Family Kayene🙏🏻🙏🏻

If you’d still like to help the family, you can send donations on Venmo to @Lauren-Wolfe-10. I will collect the money and send it all at once to avoid constant transfer fees. Thank you.

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Chills is self-funded, without ads. If you want to be a part of this effort, of revealing how difficult reporting is made — of sending me to places like Ukraine to report for you — I hope you will consider subscribing for $50/year or $7/month.