Day 2 in the DRC

I’ve just settled into my hotel room tonight.
The program portion of the trip officially ends tomorrow with a visit to the new IMA World Health office in Goma, DRC.

After a quick morning visit, I travel back over the border into Rwanda via SUV and catch a plane back to Tanzania for my attempt to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro.

As I sit here, I can’t help but reflect on my past couple days in the DRC.

It’s been such a mix of emotions. Nothing is simple and there seems to be an underlying element of danger like I haven’t seen before.

Of course, this is the first time I’ve traveled to this part of the world. For others who make this type of journey frequently I may be stating the obvious.

But for those of you who wonder what it’s like, let me tell you about a couple stops we made in the past while traveling through the South Kivu province.

We visited at a memorial where 20 Congolese women were buried alive during one of the recent civil wars. They were buried alive out of retaliation for a successful attack by the local militia.

I stopped at a Congolese prison where I saw a well-worn book produced by the USHINDI

program, outlining the rights of women and detailing the definition of rape. It had notes written on the cover and was obviously in use.

However, I later found out that the same guards gave a colleague of mine several reasons why it’s ok to rape women during a recent interview.

While visiting the Kibunda medical center in a rural part of the DRC I met a man named Kichanda Elis who was holding his baby daughter, Baraka. He was as proud as he could be to show her off for a photo. (It’s posted above) It was obvious to me how much he cared for her, we held a fairly long meeting outside the center and he held her the whole time. He was taking care of her that day.

The trip was filled with contradiction. But as I met the staff and volunteers who work in the USHINDI program I came to realize the challenge they are facing, one that will take time to overcome. They are attempting to sensitize a culture to the rights of women - they are attempting culture change.

The numbers are beginning to show some change. In some areas, the number of reported attacks are on the incline. Is this because more women are being attacked? No, there are more women who feel they can report the attack.

In many domestic cases, when a woman is attacked her family will attempt to have her marry the attacker or work out a financial settlement. It generally isn’t something that is announced to the community.

Women are beginning to speak out. Through the program they are learning to read, learning new skills to help them economically and they are supporting one another through community groups.

The empowerment of women in the Eastern provinces of the DRC is starting to spread and it’s happening through the medical centers operating under the USHINDI program.

It’s happening because of the dedicated staff and volunteers of IMA and our implementing partners.

IMA helps set the stage, but they are the ones on the ground every day counseling women, answering questions in the community and doing the little things to push this movement forward.

The horror stories are out there, but it’s their image – one of hope- that I will keep with me as I leave the country tomorrow.