Charles Sturt University (CSU) staff have given a helping hand to an academic’s work for women and children in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Dr Elaine Dietsch, a lecturer at the CSU School of Midwifery and Nursing in Wagga Wagga, visits the troubled African country each year to use her nursing and midwifery skills to aid the women and children plagued by militias, rebels and malnutrition. Educational designers in the University’s Centre for Enhancing Learning and Teaching in Wagga Wagga were recently awarded $150 in the Wagga Mutual Credit Union Safety Awareness Program. The 12-member team has donated its prize money plus another $20 to support Dr Dietsch’s work in the DRC. “The money will hopefully make a difference to the women of the village Luganda in DRC,” said CSU educational designer Ms Milena Dunn. “These women carry huge loads of up to 50 kilograms of firewood from the village, 18 kilometres to the town of Bukavu. They are paid 30 cents a load and are at constant risk from militia groups and rebels,” said Dr Dietsch. “The donation will be used to establish projects for a small community of women to ensure an alternative means of sustainable employment.”