On the Ground Home Facebookr Twitter
/ontheground/banner.jpg 800x???
 

Women and children that live in one of the HEAL Arica safe houses.

Women and children that live in one of the HEAL Arica safe houses.

Bullet Holes in a building in Kigali, Rwanda

Bullet holes in a building in Kigali, Rwanda

The JWW team with Nir Lahav, Alain Munyaburanga and the staff of the Agahozo-Shalom Youth Village

The JWW team with the staff of the Agahozo-Shalom Youth Village

A young mother in the Safe Motherhood Project

A young mother in the Safe Motherhood Project


Found In Translation

Nov 19, 2009 Posted by admin

In the capacity of translator, I happened to be invited by the Jewish World Watch team on mission trip to Congo from 2nd to 12th November 2009. Though I am living in Rwanda now, I am an Eastern Congolese by birth, member of the Banyamulenge (ethnic Tutsi) community established in South Kivu with Bukavu as the Chief city.

Posted by Rev Isaiah M Seyeze, from Rwanda


our-%e2%80%9ccollective%e2%80%9d

Our “Collective”

Nov 16, 2009 Posted by Mike

Greetings JWW blog readers.  My name is Mike Ramsdell.  I have had the privilege of capturing this “Congo journey” in still and moving images.  I am pleased that Janice has asked me write a guest blog for two reasons.  The first is so I may shamelessly plug my most recent film – THE ANATOMY OF HATE: A DIALOGUE TO HOPE. (You can learn all about it at www.anatomyofhate.com)  The second, and admittedly more important reason, is to speak about the one thing my travel partners have not spoken of – themselves.


what-i-love-andor-will-miss-about-congo

What I Love and/or Will Miss About Congo

Nov 13, 2009 Posted by Naama Haviv

How strange to be out of Congo. As Isaiah, our incredible translator, and I walked across the border he showed me the river that marks the boundary between the two countries here: on one side, chaos – a young man shaking down every old lady carrying insanely heavy loads up the mountain side, everyone crowding the immigration window at once – on the other, relative order, neatly organized single-file lines, gas stations, power lines. How strange to be on that other side again.


humanity-gives-us-no-choice

Humanity Gives Us No Choice

Nov 12, 2009 Posted by Janice Kamenir-Reznik

Ten days ago we arrived in Kigali with trepidation and expectation.  It seems like a day or two ago in some ways; yet in other ways it seems like a lifetime ago.

Today we drove across the entire country of Rwanda—from Bukavu at the Congo-Rwanda border to Kigali.  It took almost 8 hours.  The countryside is completely gorgeous.  But I was struck by how different Rwanda looked to me today than it did when we stopped here en route to Congo. 


teach-the-children

Teach the Children

Nov 11, 2009 Posted by Diana Buckhantz

Suddenly we are surrounded by a sea of children.  As we stand there they begin to form a circle around us and move in closer and closer.

 Janice and I came outside after seeing an impressive women’s sewing collective.  We are in a remote village called Kamisimbi, two hours outside of Bukavu in the hills.  We have been brought here by Gila Garaway, an Israeli/American who heads an incredible organization called Moriah Africa, to see the women’s empowerment program she helped start. 


congo-curse-of-riches

Congo Curse of Riches

Nov 9, 2009 Posted by Diana Buckhantz

I don’t sleep here, even with sleeping pills.  I wake up after a few hours, images of the day racing through my head, trying to make sense of all I have witnessed and heard.  This morning I got up at 4 am.  I just couldn’t stand it anymore.  I preferred to get up and busy myself with packing to leave for Bukavu.  It wasn’t long before Janice and Naama were up also, trying to get pictures of the sunrise—some beauty amidst all this sadness. 


ready-when-you-are

Ready When You Are

Nov 9, 2009 Posted by Janice Kamenir-Reznik

We are taken by convoy on an impossible 3 hour drive, high up in the mountains where the Congolese Tutsis control the terrain.  The “roads” are indescribable.  Half the time our vehicle is gliding through the mud and the other half it feels as if it is almost on its side.  Torrential rains fall, the wheels of our Land Rover spin in the mud at one moment and get caught in a crevasse of the boulders that purport to be part of the roadway. 


the-people-of-congo-are-its-greatest-resource

The People of Congo Are Its Greatest Resource

Nov 9, 2009 Posted by Naama Haviv

Yesterday I felt completely engulfed by sadness. I wrote a blog entry that I will not post with you now, crushed by what I had seen and heard during a long day visiting clinics with International Medical Corps.

I had hoped that when I came here, I would be able to focus on the stories of survivors, the stories of strength and resolve. But I realize that I have fallen prey to reducing the people of Congo to their victimhood. I have given in to the faces of the starving children, the raped and burned women. I think anyone would have.


maybe-the-world-has-not-closed-its-eyes

Maybe the World Has Not Closed Its Eyes

Nov 9, 2009 Posted by Diana Buckhantz

I thought it couldn’t get worse.  Yesterday listening to Renee and Sabine tell the stories of their rapes I felt my heart begin to splinter.  But today my heart was shattered.  Today we visited one of the last remaining IDP (Internally Displaced Persons) camps where 3500 refugees live – men, women and children who are either too afraid or too ill to return to their villages. 


women-of-valor

Women of Valor

Nov 9, 2009 Posted by John Fishel

I have been thinking during the last four days about the definition of a woman of valor, something we talk about in our Jewish tradition. Our time in the Congo has demonstrated to me, once again, the anomalies of life on the African continent. This is my sixth visit to Africa but only my first to the Congo. 


 
 
 
     
Home  |  About JWW  |  Educate  |  Advocate  |  Donate  |  News  |  Events  |  Press  |  Contact Us

Copyright © 2009 Jewish World Watch. All Rights Reserved.   |   Site by: