It's been more than three decades of unrelenting violence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo's mineral-rich east. So much so that the UN recently raised the alarm about 'grave violations' against children in the conflict-ravaged country.

Since January, paramilitary attacks have not only left many dozens dead and hundreds of thousands internally displaced. Reports are also mounting of armed groups maiming, recruiting or murdering children, suggesting that the youngest Congolese are paying the highest price of the long-running conflict. Since 1996, almost 7 million Congolese have been internally displaced—the second-highest figure in the world after Sudan—while 6 million people have been killed. About 1 million Congolese have fled the country.

However, in the face of this, an African-run project, 'I Heart Africa,' provides a sanctuary for some of those children. The group, which puts African concerns first, has built a small community called Lumumba Village.

African Stream recently hosted Pan-African activist and I Heart Africa Co-Founder Chakabars and I Heart Africa's General Manager and Congo Director Olivia Mundabi. The project's directors visited our Nairobi studio to discuss the Congo crisis and how Africans should provide African solutions to crises on the continent.