She founded the Rose Mapendo Foundation with the mission to empower the women of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, and Burundi to rise above their circumstances and unite to bring peace to their region.
During this time, the police visited Mapendo on multiple occasions to question her about the location of her husband and their money.
While at the camp, Rose gave birth to twins on the floor with other prisoners, including seven of her children, present.
[1][2] With no medical attention, Rose tied the umbilical cords using the thread binding her hair and cut them with a piece of wood.
This strategy seemed to work, as the wife of a commander visited one day to bring a piece of clothing and some bread.
the commander had them transferred to another prison situated in Kinshasa (capital of the DRC), as he could not be responsible for the death of his namesake.
After ten days, they were transferred to a Red Cross-run protection center in Cameroon by the US government's emergency program to resettle Tutsi refugees from the Congo.
[citation needed] While in the United States, Mapendo saved money to send to the widows of refugees.
[1] Mapendo starred in the 2010 documentary Pushing the Elephant, which tells the story of the separation between her and Nangabire during the Congolese genocide and their reunion in Arizona.