Jezebel 
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New York, 5:25 PM
Sat Dec 5
34 posts in the last 24 hours
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Original material is licensed under a Creative Commons License permitting non-commercial sharing with attribution.
08/07/09
08/07/09
After working for Congolese women for 4 years with Portland Oregon's Run for Congo Women, following the news very closely, having a close friend whose family lives, chronically hungry, in Congo where the LRA is active, and reading Lisa Shannon's book before it went to the publisher, I have come to the sad conclusion that it is only getting worse there. And that trend will not change until and unless more of us get involved.
In many communities in NE Congo, 90% of the women have been raped. The Congolese Army rapes because 1) it is never paid and is expected to take whatever it needs from the locals, and 2) former militia members are incorporated into its ranks with no process of rehabilitation.
Why? many of you have asked. These are boys and men who have lived like animals in the forest for years, who no longer feel human themselves and are hell bent on tearing to shreds any semblance of normal human life because they have none themselves.
There is no bottom to be reached in human depravity. Someone will always find a more extreme expression of rage and hate. Rage and hate are fathomless.
We have to do all we can to forge the opposite in Congo by extending human bonds of love and connection, dignity and hope to create a countervailing force that supports the many beautiful and good, unsung heroes of the Congo who are struggling to survive and raise their children in these horrific times there. Only then will the landscape change.
08/07/09
I am constantly amazed by what the female spirit can survive. And SO, SO angry. So many people have the power to stop this, and they do nothing. If only there were oil in Congo.
08/07/09
08/07/09
Sadly, this is humanity. They haven't lost it; they've failed to overcome it.
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08/07/09
[www.mtc-nyc.org]
08/07/09
Closing soon too! Next week maybe? Also it's in a small, intimate theater, which makes it especially powerful.
08/07/09
08/07/09
On top of that there was widespread abuse of local women in the DRC towns by off-duty soldiers, bought about in part by the discrepancies in wealth and education which allowed the men to effectively treat the women (many of whom were really girls) as prostitutes.
Also I know Megan has linked to it before but if you go to the Independent's website you can read Johann Hari's report on his time in the DRC which was a couple of years after my colleague and I wrote our stories. It is an outstanding piece of journalism and should be read by everyone.
08/07/09
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08/10/09
08/07/09
Not to mention, not only do these women get shunned for a crime that was perpretrated *on them,* but they are also at risk of AIDS in a continent where the disease is probably at pandemic levels in some areas.
08/07/09
If you can get away with it...why wouldn't they?
Maybe I'm being far too cynical.
08/07/09
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08/07/09
There's also a great play about Congolese women and rape off Broadway right now called "Ruined", I saw it a few months ago and I highly recommend it. It's closing soon, I think. The playwright, an African American woman, travelled to the DRC and interviewed dozens of rape survivors to get some background for her story. It's excellent.
08/07/09
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08/07/09
1. We can sponsor a Congolese woman who has been brutalized for a year through Women for Women International for only $27 a month, so that she can be supported in healing from her trauma, having a network of support from other women with similar experiences, rebuilding her life and in gaining economic footing for survival (through training and seed money in how to run a small business). You can write to your "sister" so that she will know that you care whether she lives or dies. It means the world to these women and often literally makes the difference between life and death for their children. Go to www.runforcongowomen.org.
2. You can contact your Senators to co-sponsor and pass S.1067, the Lord's Resistance Army Disarmament and Northern Uganda Recovery Act of 2009, as well as S.891 the Congo Conflict Minerals Act of 2009 (minerals needed for cell phones, computers, and video games drive the conflict and ever deepending chaos so those minerals can be exploited).
3. You can contact your state Representative to sponsor a companion bill to S.891 (Congo Conflict Minerals Act of 2009) in the House -- and to co-sponsor (if she/he hasn't already done so), H.R.2478 (the companion bill to S.1067 on the Lord's Resistance Army mentioned above).
4. You can educate yourself and your network and get them involved in sponsoring Congolese women.
5. Next Spring, you can read "A Thousand Sisters" by Lisa J. Shannon, when it is released by Seal Press, and if you like the book, form a bookclub and post a review on Amazon.com. Shannon's account is imminently readable and gives a living overview of the situation in Congo while she tells how her connections with the Congolese women she has sponsored and met has changed her life.
08/10/09
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