I returned home less than 40 hours ago.  Images of Congo are still fresh in my mind: the children slaving in the Bunia goldmine, the rape victim who told us how her captors held her down in the field by driving a stake through her foot. I am driving to Wildwood school to report on our trip and our work.  I am still jetlagged; still, in many ways, dazed from the dramatic contrast between my life and theirs.  The images in my mind dance back and forth between the various people we met and the stories they told us.

There was the young 18 year old youngster in Bukavu, an orphan, who told us of the months he served as a child soldier; he recounted stories of his “kills” as if he were an old man talking about someone else’s life.  He told us about his being rescued and about how he is now being trained to support himself.  He told us how he dreams of finding a wife and starting a family. There was the beautiful young 22 year old girl next to him who told us of the years she was held captive as a sex slave.  She told us of her ultimate, daring escape from the clutches of the militia and of her days hiding in the forest “like a wild woman.”  She then told us of the local Congolese organization that took her in, 7 months pregnant, fed her, cared for her, loved her, and sent her to school.  She is now studying to be a lawyer; her goal is to represent women who are former sex slaves to pursue their rights and remedies.

I drove up to Wildwood, not really knowing what I was going to say and uncertain whose story I would tell.  Should I tell them about the depth of the suffering?  Will they be able to hear the message at 8 in the morning?  Would it be too much for them to bear?

The hour with the students passed; they listened in utter silence as I told the stories of the places we had been and of the people we met.  The students stayed after the bell rang and asked intelligent, sensitive questions; questions asked by people who really care…people who will make a difference.  They took the Conflict Mineral petitions and resolved to get them signed; they took the forms to register to participate in the Walk Against Genocide.

As I left Wildwood, I no longer felt dazed, and even my jetlag had subsided.  I felt re-grounded here at home, and I felt rededicated, yet again, to the mission of Jewish World Watch and the critical vitality and significance of the work we do.  This journey has connected the lives, suffering and aspirations of the people of Eastern Congo to our Jewish community.  The empathy which we seek to awaken in our community “here” to what we saw “over there” is our primary objective and our reason for existence; empathy is the first, and essential, step to helping to bring change to these regions where killers of humanity seek to destroy all that is good and all that is peaceful.  We know what those killers look like, as we have seen them time an again throughout history.

We say each Passover, “In every generation it is upon us to feel as if we, ourselves, were slaves in Egypt…”  From our slavery in Egypt, to our expulsion from Spain, to the ovens of Auschwitz, to our struggle for freedom from Soviet Russia; these are all ways in which we have been reminded of the face of those who seek destruction and of the need to continuously pursue freedom and justice.  Our Passover reminder extends, of course, not only to our freedom, but that of all of humanity.  The divine vision is not a world where Jews are free, but is a vision where all of humanity is free and living in peaceful harmony.  This is the vision that propels Jewish World Watch; and Passover is an especially apt time to focus on that vision and take special steps in pursuit of that dream.

Dr. Mukwege is the great Congolese surgeon who performs or oversees all rape-repair and fistula surgeries in the South Kivu province; we had the privilege of meeting with Dr. Mukwege on both of our trips to Bukavu.  Last week, speaking of his work with the rape victims, Dr. Mukwege said, “If we have saved one life here, we feel is as if we have saved the entire world.”  The words shocked Tzivia and me, as it was a verbatim quote from the Talmud, which Dr. Mukwege has never read and of which he is probably completely unfamiliar.  Dr. Mukwege is right, and the rabbis who wrote the Talmud articulated for us what they hoped would become intuitive to those who pursue the lessons of our Torah.

I wish you a wonderful Passover, full of conversations of our past and our present struggles to help shape a world which is closer to the image envisioned by its Creator.

It is ironic that one week ago I was standing at a gold mine in the very dangerous, remote Orientale Province in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Ironic because today I am chaperoning my daughter’s 4th grade trip to Sacramento, our state capital, to learn about the history of our state, including the history of the California gold rush. Of course, a highlight of the trip is visiting inactive gold mines in the region. As I stood with my daughter and her friends deep in the tunnels of the Goldbug mine today, the docent turned out the lights to show how just how dark it is inside of a mine. My daughter said, “Mom it’s so dark I can’t tell if my eyes are opened or closed.” From the mouths of babes. . .

I realized I felt the very same way last week, as I stood blinking in the bright sunlight looking down on a river bed that at once recalled scenes of biblical slavery as well as scenes from current documentaries on the cruel mining practices in many mineral mines of Africa today.

I think what made my heart and mind ache the most at this grotesque scene of modern slavery were the children. When we first approached the mine we heard hundreds of workers erupt into a chant. I was confused. Were they chanting some type of Congolese welcome song, like the women had sung to us days earlier at the refugee camp near Goma or the hospital meeting room in Bukavu? That seemed strange to me; it was unlikely that there would be visitors touring this very remote goldmine. Then, as the chant continued, I noticed dozens of very small children at the bottom of the pit running into the caves and alcoves in the mountainside. As the scurrying of children stopped, so did the chant. I then realized that the chant was a signal to the child slaves to hide from public view.

Even as we tour the historic mines of Placerville I can’t get the Congolese child slave miners out of my mind. Children like my 10 year old daughter and her friends forced to work, most likely under constant threat, for little or no pay, with no future. While the history of our country and its gold mines clearly includes a shameful element of xenophobia, slavery and persecution, to witness such abuse today is shocking to the core.

Yet the suffering, indignities and oppression I observed in Congo must all, one day, give way to a new society. In fact, we saw some hopeful indicators that such a new society is beginning to take form in the hearts and minds of a growing number of Congolese people who risk their lives to see this new society take shape. We met some of the Congolese heroes working to rebuild Congo: the women who are willing to tell their horrible and highly personal stories of the rape and destruction of their bodies or who are willing to risk their own physical safety, and that of their children, to help file legal complaints against rapists; men who go into the bush to persuade the militiamen and others to cease their brutal attacks on the women; the men and women who together are building organizations which will create the foundation of a new, civil society in which the rule of law will prevail; women who circulate through villages to encourage and train other women to run for local political office; children who overcome their murderous traumatic years as child soldiers or as sex slaves and who find the resolve to start new lives which reject or compartmentalize the nightmares of their pasts. These are the people whom Jewish World Watch will nurture, bolster, and support, both on its own and in partnership with the Eastern Congo Initiative.

We have already begun our work. Jewish World Watch, in partnership with IsraAid, several Israeli hospitals and Moriah Africa, has established Eastern Congo’s first burn treatment center. JWW underwrote the training of Congolese doctors who have travelled to Israel to receive training and who have learned from Israeli doctors who have come to Eastern Congo. Patients have already begun treatment and many more are coming from near and far as word spreads about the previously unthinkable possibility of relief for victims whose body parts have been fused for months or even years from catastrophic burns.

I have never really given much thought to the importance of there being a “light at the end of the tunnel.” Today, as I stood in the Placerville Goldbug Mine, I understood the literal meaning of the phrase and the importance of finding a light to guide my way out of the mine tunnels. But more importantly, I thought of the figurative meaning, for the children and the people of the Democratic Republic of Congo – for the enslaved miners and the sex slaves, for the heroes who are creating new institutions for education, healthcare and justice – our job is to keep the candles burning as they make their way to rebuilding their society. At this time when we retell the story of our ancestors’ liberation from slavery to freedom and rejoice in our own freedom, we are resolved to continue to shine a light on injustices suffered by others and use our hard-earned freedom to secure theirs.

Today we took a very long and difficult ride to visit a gold mine. Mining is prevalent in Eastern Congo and remains a key factor in the tragic exploitation and violence which defines this region.

To be honest, we had not really given that much thought to what we would find when we arrived at the mine. When we got there, we were stunned – possibly because of the proximity to Passover the scene in front of us immediately called to mind our experience as slaves in Egypt. We found a huge pit in the ground with water at its base. The mine was swarming with teens and youngsters. Some were no older than 6 or 7: digging, sifting, pouring and climbing.

The children get paid, if at all, only if they find gold and then only at the discretion of the mine owner – basically your local warlord. We spoke with the owner of the mine. He actually told us that he was proud of the fact that he employs the villagers. He told us that he “supports” the villagers by giving them jobs at the mine. (FYI, the poverty in the village adjacent to the mine was mindboggling.) When asked whether he was aware of any child labor laws prohibiting his employment of youngsters, he first denied hiring youngsters and then paradoxically said that by employing youngsters he was helping their mothers, the widows. He told us each laborer gets three small tins (picture a very small bucket) of sand from the mine for a day’s work; if there is no gold in the sand, there is no pay for the work. We were left with the distinct impression that quitting this job would not be an option.

As we continue our journey in this complicated and very sad place, we just can’t seem to get Passover off of our minds. Our ancient forebears sacrificed and struggled to pursue their human dignity and seek freedom from the yoke of slavery. Thousands of years later, our more recent forebears—Europe’s Jews—were sacrificed at the hands of those who defiled humanity; a full generation of survivors once again sacrificed and suffered to regain their dignity and freedom. For both sets of these ancestors and for those in between, freedom and justice could never be presumed, but required struggle, loss and pain.

Our exodus from Egypt may have been the birth of the Jewish people, but our pursuit of freedom and justice is a continuous process which shapes us as a people and constitutes our core purpose for existence. So it is for the people of Congo, and, for that matter, for the people of Darfur. They have suffered and they have and will continue to struggle to be free of their Pharaohs — Pharaohs who are dressed as warlords and militiamen. Pharaohs who rape and destroy women and who steal and exploit children. Were that there was some organization in the time of our Egypt or our Auschwitz which could have effectively helped our people—so many destroyed lives—so much unrealized potential.

As we join ECI, JWW will not stand by and repeat the wrongs that were done to us. We recommit ourselves and rededicate our hearts, minds, and souls, to supporting the struggle of those in Darfur and Congo who seek their personal and communal liberation. Our humanity requires these actions and our Passover compels our engagement. We encourage you to bring our stories and our thoughts for these modern day slaves to your Passover Seder – join us in this important work!

We didn’t think we’d be back here so soon. It has only been 15 weeks since we last left eastern Congo in November 2009. This time, we’ve come back with a broader coalition of funders, spearheaded by Ben Affleck, to launch our collaborative Eastern Congo Initiative (ECI).   Jewish World Watch was invited to join Affleck’s ECI as a founding member.   ECI aims to help the victims of violence and support the Congolese people in rebuilding their civil society—a society that values the safety and security of all of its members—including women and children.

Almost six million people have died in Congo – from violence and massacres, from constant displacement, from disease, from hunger. Sexual violence against women and girls is epidemic; grotesque exploitation of children is common. When we were here in November, we wrote extensively about the rape – the total destruction – of the women of Congo.  We invite you to return to those blogs, they are as relevant today as they were in November. Since we wrote those words, hundreds of additional women and girls have been brutally violated.  Indeed, it is impossible to visit Eastern Congo and not be confronted in the most profound and disturbing way with the unspeakable acts committed against Congo’s women and girls.

Many of the projects that we visited with ECI work to heal women’s bodies and spirits in the wake of sexual violence. But more importantly, the Congolese leaders creating and implementing these projects have committed to a more systemic healing by empowering and training Congolese women. Strengthening women helps to restore and reconstruct the whole of Congolese society and highlights Congo’s most important resource – its incredible people.

There is a culture of impunity here in Congo, a total lack of accountability for rapists, the overwhelming majority of whom are men in uniform.  The judicial system is extremely weak, where it has a foothold at all. There are few prisons. If and when a rapist is prosecuted, and even if he is convicted, he is unlikely to serve time.  Widespread corruption and a fear of retribution have created an environment in which very few women will actually report rape.   It’s a harsh paradox: until large numbers of complaints are filed and voices are raised about the culture of impunity, there will be no movement towards creating a more accountable justice system.  It takes an exceptionally brave Congolese woman to take on this conundrum by filing a rape complaint.

Even more courageous are the women who dedicate themselves each and every day to the painstaking work with rape victims: encouraging them to file complaints against their rapists, holding their hands every step of the way as they pursue their “rights.”(Thanks to the bravery and advocacy demonstrated in the last year or two, the rights of women do now actually exist in the Congolese laws and constitution.)

On this trip, we met Justine, an exceptional Congolese woman who runs an impressive women’s consortium in Goma.  Among other services, the center provides legal advocacy for rape victims.  Some months ago, Justine assisted two women in filing a complaint against their rapists at the International Criminal Court.  Within days of the filing, armed and uniformed men came to Christine’s home.  Justine was not there, but her two sons and two daughters were home.  The men attacked her children, severely beat her sons and one of her daughters – her other daughter was stabbed in her rectum.  Justine’s trauma and that of her family, however, did not deter her; indeed, it increased her resolve.  She moved her children to safe(r) spaces and resumed her work, which now (horribly) included filing battery claims for her own children.

Without courageous women like Justine, without the women’s center which she directs and the women who are willing to show such bravery and sacrifice in pursuing justice where there may currently be none, there would be no hope for a future in which the rule of law matters in Congo. These women will eventually prevail in changing Congo…it is already happening in small, but very important increments.

We visited a women’s center in Bunia, where the incidence of rape is particularly high and the ravages of war are particularly gruesome.   While we were there we witnessed a meeting of most of the twelve female candidates for the local Provincial Council.  Currently there is only one woman on the Council; we were told that never before have anywhere near 12 women run for seats on a local Council.  It was like witnessing the embryonic stages of the League of Women Voters—Eastern Congo Chapter!  Supporting these brave female pioneers, shining a light on them and on the local election is one of many ways that JWW will participate in the process of empowering the women of Eastern Congo. As we continue to digest these experiences and share them with you, we cannot help but think about the thread of courage, faith, sacrifice and resolve that binds freedom fighters throughout time and space; from Moses to Rosa Parks, from Gandhi to Hannah Senesh, from Cesar Chavez to the tens of thousands of Soviet Jewish refuseniks, from Justine in Goma to the women candidates in Bunia and the women willing, almost futilely for now, to pursue their rapists in Bukavu. In all of these cases, potential severe adverse personal consequences were disregarded in favor of a bigger more transcendent purpose.  In each of these cases, each person chose to face, and some actually encountered, loss of liberty, life or limb in pursuing their struggle. And, because of each of their courageous acts, the world is a different place.

Our mission in Congo is to support and nurture such courage; paramount in our work is our role as advocates.  We must take all steps to shine the brightest possible light on Eastern Congo so that the horrible violence and abuses, as well as the impunity, are shown to the world.  With your help and energy we will be part of a new Congo—where the rule of law protects the people from abuse, and where the presence of Godliness comes out of the shadows and into full glory.

Posted by Rev Isaiah M Seyeze, from Rwanda

Dear Janice, Naama, John and Diana,

I am literally wordless when trying to consider the blessing that came to me from working with you all during the last 10 days! I guess you will ponder the meaning of my few expressions. You’ve challenged me and brought a lot to my work, to my ministry as well as to my life.  Here are my thoughts about what we experienced together…

OBSERVATION, OPINION AND OPPORTUNITIES

This Jewish World Watch mission to Congo is comparable to the Nehemiah’s tour around the devastated and ruined Jerusalem and its protection wall. Though he was well off, comfortable and qualified for his well paying job in the King’s palace, the citadel of Susa, Nehemiah did by no means considered the purpose of his life to simply stay in that comfort. He, instead, risked to “pray with his feet” (quoting from the Rabbi I learned about from you) and he traveled to Jerusalem to assess the situation by himself. It is what Nehemiah saw that gave him the burden and vision of a new, restored and peaceful Jerusalem. I strongly believe the same for Congo.   

What I Observed

The trip was a journey of seeing painful facts but it occasionally gave us possibility of listening to living heroes. While, in the Rwandan genocide memorials you can see dry bones, in homes and hospitals of the eastern Congo you will see bleeding bodies and rotting bones! I will always remember the young man we found agonizing in his sickbed of Heal Africa Goma Hospital, a victim of war, whose “intestines were decaying as a consequence of typhoid” he explained, and had been waiting to find a ‘Good Samaritan’ who would donate a measurement of necessary food that could help his body to be ready for surgery. He had already waited too long! Furthermore, it will hardly go off my mind, the self-accounted story of this young woman whose entire body was fresh white fire scar. “I was raped in the presence of my two children by Interahamwe who also set fire on my house and my head and clothes caught fire when trying to save my children. I spent several weeks in a coma and don’t even know where the only survivor of my two children is!”  It is bitterly heart-breaking! None of us could contain his/her tears. Not even myself, while I was translating her story.

These two patients of Heal Africa Hospital are just examples of hundreds of young men and adults who have been disabled and lamentably impoverished by the eastern Congo pandemic of civil restlessness, and hundreds of thousands of women and girls whose genital organs have been irreparably destroyed by FDLR demonized troops still established in the region. The same victimizers, Interahamwe, are known to be the main causers of HIV infection through rapes in the whole region. We’ve been introduced to   hundreds of infants born of HIV infected mothers. A large number of those babies had already died because no one had taken the initiative to save those innocent lives- not everyone could get to Heal Africa.

Additionally, we irresistibly were shocked after an effective and profound description of the long ago dead judicial system of Congo by Heal Africa Judicial Clinic Project implementers. The situation is in such a state that not only the Congolese judicial authorities have failed to protect the interests of its citizens, but its corrupt police are also working on the side of sexual abusers and other vandals because of bribery and corrupt scandals. “To some extent, the system is nonexistent” said the presenter. On the other coast of Lake Kivu, similar stories of  the displacement of millions of families, of those incapable of initiating and sustaining agricultural programs, of hundreds of young children chronically malnourished, of tens of hundreds of  fistula-surgeries operated on women victims of abuses, of cases of rejected wives or/and mothers because they were raped. “These and many other atrocities are much for me to bear while trying to assist our patients” said Dr Mukwege.  The communities, through the few voices we were able to listen to, they are crying out for help.

In My Opinion

I guess, after the genocide that fell on Rwandans in 1994, eastern Congo stands as a good sample if someone needs to learn about atrocities. But I don’t mean that atrocities are there to teach us lessons- they are surely undesirable. They should rather awake and compel us all toward quick and human actions for the victims. “I can hardly imagine that 6,000 FDLR forces are the only ones displacing 15 million families, killing close to 6,000,000 people and raping 500,000 women for the last decade and more; there must be other support behind them” sustained Dr Mukwege. And I believe that there is some support of the evil. But the good will not prevail until the humanism which is in all of us has compelled us all to join hands to fight against the evil. Or we are, by omission, part of the negative forces-because there is no no man’s land in between!

Joint action can be initiated from top down or bottom up at a time or both ways at the same time. To radically uproot the culture of impunity and “the law of lawlessness” that have found their home in DR Congo, the international community and especially developed and influential countries can pressure Congo from the outside. It is perhaps the beginning of the solution toward the end of FDLR since their leaders are being arrested. I just heard it from BBC Great Lakes broadcasting this evening. By means of ways of economical and political embargos if nations care, they could make national leaders and their stakeholders more aware of the necessity of a responsible government, good governance and the rule of law.

It is clear that the DR Congo government has done very little towards the social welfare of the people at least in the East because there is no evidence of their efforts in poverty alleviation and the improvement of infrastructures of health. Insignificant resources have been directed to peace keeping and security enhancement with no impact as far as I know! On the contrary, disunity and open conflicts have characterized both the army and the civilians alike for a decade now.  And this state of the matter has made the economy and health worse than ever before.

Opportunities for Partnership

Like Nehemiah who was driven to a vision of restoration, people of faith, Jewish and Christian communities alike, have no excuse to remain inoperative and idle. For, there certainly are people who are trying to put solutions in motion. There are non-profit making and nongovernmental organizations sacrificing and investing in people’s life in DR Congo. There are even local Institutions such as Churches and hospitals where hope is one of the “currencies” that can be traded upon there. Hundreds of thousands of people run to humanitarian organizations for help. But the most interesting thing is that the majority of truly relieved people and truly sustainable programs that show true impact in the lives of people are being implemented by faith-based institutions.

Some examples of successful local institutions are: Communautés des Eglises Pentécotistes en Afrique Centrale (CEPAC) located at Kadutu, the SAYUNI Parish. We have heard stories of restored families, transformed cultural mindset and resurrecting economy of business. We have witnessed microcredit schemes as the most successful approaches stir up social welfare from ashes. Women for Women, Moriah Africa and Heal Africa some of international NGOS  are doing so well in that area of Eastern DR Congo. Women leaders in Bukavu have proven to be instrumental in fighting illiteracy, trauma counseling, capacity building, microfinance, psychosocial recovery, cultural change for good (for women rights recognition) and many more social transformation indicators.  GASAP, another Local NGO we visited is creating a sure path to unity and reconciliation among local communities from the grass root.

All in all, there is hope for a brighter future for Eastern Congolese if those laboring to birth it travail together. Long live visionary national and international leaders serving in the eastern Congo.  Long live  the readers of this piece and the vision that you will be impregnated with by walking around Eastern Congo though visiting this web site.

Rev.  Isaiah M Seyeze
Tel: +250 788 59 6395
e-mail: indukize@yahoo.fr

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.

At the risk of repetition, it is important that I define the scope of meaning when I refer to “my travel partners”.

 13 days ago, having never met John or Diana, and having had very little interaction with Naama and Janice, we boarded an Airbus – destination:  the center of Africa.  From that day to this, we have flown the span of the Continental United States, the North Atlantic Ocean, Western Europe, the Mediterranean Sea and the northern half of Africa … twice.  We’ve driven the entire circumference of Rwanda as well as significant snaking journeys into the belly of the North and South Kivu Provinces of Congo-Kinshasa. We’ve boated the entirety of Lake Kivu, one of the largest fresh water sources in Africa, the long way.  And we’ve walked endless mountainsides, village roads, agricultural fields and the border of Rwanda and Congo-Kinshasa … twice. 

For most of the trip, we 3 men on the trip shared a room – Isaiah, the Tutsi minister born in Congo who served as our interpreter,  John the head of the Los Angeles Jewish Federation, and myself, a Lebanese-American filmmaker.

Our days would begin with our faithful scheduler, Naama, kicking our bedroom door at 6 am and politely telling us to get the hell out of bed.  We would.  The three of us stumbling from under our mosquito netting, like the perfect preface to an off- color joke – an African, an Arab and a Jew stumble around in their underwear….

At breakfast much coffee was consumed.  Perhaps because it was phenomenal coffee, perhaps it was because of an addiction to caffeine, or perhaps because it was the only thing on the table.  Whatever the reason, it worked – conversations and Blackberries began to hum at a frantic pace.

From there we would pile into an array of vehicles:  a small van, a few station wagons, or at times an NGO caravan.  The roads in Congo are reminiscent of a river-bed, long ago dried – replaced by lava flow and red clay cut through the world’s largest post-apocalyptic homeless shelter, where the only things which have survived are Chinese motorcycles and goats. Sometimes our vehicles had windows which opened, sometimes not.  (And although I readily admit I contributed to the odor to an embarrassing degree, there is something quite indescribable about the smell of a taxi that has been packed full of humans and baked in the equatorial-sun for the last 30 years.)  The trips on average were an hour and a half in length.  During these trips conversations ranged from the definitions of Genocide and the feasibility of the previous days visits, to family anecdotes and useless trivia.  All amidst a blur of power bars, text messages, and road block shakedowns.

We would arrive at our destination - a village, a hospital, a refugee camp.  At times uplifted by the faces and stories, at other times the horror cut to the bone.

From there we would pile into the vehicles and do it again, and then again.

Around 6 pm, we would start back home in our square-wheeled vehicles for dinner.  This was followed by hours of email attempts, photo uploads, and driving conversations about the day’s experiences. Then back to the rooms for a bucket shower and a few hours of sleep before the sound of Naama’s voice started the joke all over again.

At the end of such travels there are two possible outcomes – either you never speak with your travel mates again, or you are bonded to them in a way words and images fail to express– no matter how capable the auteur.  A simple silent expression, a wordless moment, confirms that these strangers have now become woven into your experiential fabric in an inextricable way.  Or more appropriate to the work we have seen –we have now become a “Collective.”  A team united – working together for a communal benefit. 

And what a collective it is….

Diana – the world traveler, whose kind smile and motherly voice was as comforting to those of Africa as it was to those of us from the US. Her tireless notations, questions and insights were an act of inspired will, as I’m sure she didn’t sleep a full night for the entire trip.

John – a man who wouldn’t complain under torture.  His profound command of pragmatism and compassion is a balance not many can walk and even fewer can so capably articulate. In short, he is an incredibly wise man.  To have John as an ally is to have an advantage.

Naama – a warrior who one day, I am quite sure, will back Genocide into a corner and kick the living hell out of it, making it beg for mercy and promise to never, ever show it’s face on this spinning rock again. I thank God for Naama.

And Mama Janice – a woman who was never short on prayers, hugs, snacks or tears.  She is a force of nature with only two speeds – on and off.  Her compassion, her intelligence, and her will have no linguistic or cultural boundaries.    Her ability to motivate and focus, while never hesitating to meet the emotional and empathetic demands of the situation, is nothing short of amazing.  In just a few days Mama Janice changed many lives in Congo.  And I have no doubt that before she is done, she will change many, many more.  Mama Janice – the Starfish are more grateful than you will ever know.

If this sounds as though I am boasting about Jewish World Watch – please know that I am.   And not just about the four representatives with whom I had the pleasure of traveling.  I am boasting about the thousands of you who have contributed and supported this incredible organization with time, money and action.  I am boasting about the profound Rabbi Schulweis whose vision and wisdom catalyzed this small but fervent group of people in work that is, by anyone’s measuring stick – Godly.   And I am boasting about the men and women at Jewish World Watch who are working tirelessly and passionately to bring the words “NEVER AGAIN” out of the esoteric emptiness of intention– into the Samsara of reality, where “will and action” must cut the path for prayer.

I traveled through Africa with five individuals looking for hope.  And although many wonderful people with incredible stories proved hope in Congo is alive and well, I have left Africa with this collective as my most profound hope. The six of us, proof that it is not about the God we pray to, but the Peace we work for. I am certain that if enough of us heed the words of Leviticus – then we can leave our children a world we have so long aspired for and will “NEVER AGAIN” have to offer an explanation to our God or ourselves – as to why millions of our human collective were murdered in horror as we stood idly by.

“DO NOT STAND IDLY BY!”

God Bless and Shabbat Shalom, 

Mike Ramsdell
www.anatomyofhate.com

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.

Rwanda certainly isn’t LA, but it definitely isn’t Congo either. And though I spent the first few days of our trip wallowing (I think understandably) in despair, overwhelmed by the pain that I saw everywhere, I must admit that in the end it is hard to leave. Congo is a remarkable place, and working with its incredible people I know that the Jewish World Watch community will be able to make a profound impact.

For a change of pace, here are the things I love and/or will miss about Congo:

1. That “mama” is the term of respect for women and that “papa” is the term of respect for men. To me this means that family is the center of society here, that a woman’s capacity to build life and create a home is recognized and honored.
2. The unbelievable and arresting beauty of Congo’s landscape. I don’t  think any of our pictures (even though Mike has an incredible eye) can do it justice. Between the vast blue of Lake Kivu, the towering volcanoes, the rich, fertile soil and the mountainsides patchworked with gorgeous pastureland and criss-crossed farms, this is absolutely the most beautiful country I have ever seen, ever. Sorry Turkey, Brazil and Ireland – you have been bumped.
3. The very real and very profound capacity of the Congolese people to take charge of their own communities. We have had three incredibly uplifting days in a row, visiting community-based projects that show how the Congolese, despite obstacles thrown up in every direction, step up for themselves – building their communities with no help or hand out from their government. Incredible and beautiful women in sewing collectives, widows and single mothers receiving microloans and running small businesses, a community that has built itself three schools – parents chipping in whatever they could, even just a little bit of wood, to keep programs running. These people are amazing.
   
4. Congolese faith. It will never cease to amaze me that the men, women and children of Congo can undergo such horrors and virtual abandonment – and often outright betrayal – by the government that should be protecting them, but still raise their arms to God and praise. Our experience at the Heal Africa chapel last Sunday was incredible, six separate choirs raising their voices in blessing and healing in the midst of such unbelievable pain. Not one word begging God for relief – just praise and acceptance that they must work and carry on to see God’s blessings. I don’t think I could do that.  On our last car ride in Goma, careening down to the port to catch the boat to Bukavu on Goma’s treacherously potholed and lava-covered roads, I asked our friend Ziko if the Congolese made their tires out of some special indestructible material. When he said no, they were just regular tires, I was shocked. After five full days of driving down these churned-up streets we should have blown our tires at least twice a day, every day. Ziko told me “You know, we are all children of God, under His grace.” I told him that possibly God should be focusing on higher priority issues than Congolese tires (like perhaps the roads? Or the nonexistent government infrastructure that can’t get them fixed?), but I see his point.
5. Dr. Mukwege and Panzi hospital – perhaps the most well-known center taking in survivors of sexual violence (an average of 10 rape survivors every day) in Congo. Dr. Mukwege is a pioneer of fistula repair surgery, a dedicated force working to, quite literally, put the women of Congo back together again. I expected Panzi to be a place of sadness, the women there having experienced atrocities that I don’t ever want to think about, let alone suffer. Instead, Panzi is a place of healing, a place where dignity is restored and women are made whole – it is astounding.
6. Our translator, Isaiah. Though he lives in Rwanda, he is originally Congolese and has been with us from the second we landed in Kigali, so I’m claiming him for Congo. He is amazing, a truly incredible thinker and a profoundly sensitive soul. Plus, he has six kids of his own, has taken in eight others and his wife still seems to love him, so that should tell you something.
7. Activists: Congolese, European, American, you name them – there is a community of strong, committed people dedicated to ending the atrocities in Congo and leading the way towards recovery. They try to absorb the pain of everyone they see around them while staying strong enough to get to work. Those that live in Congo struggle day in and day out to make a small difference in the lives of those around them and struggle even harder to reach even further. If you are reading this, you are part of this community – expect a call from Jewish World Watch very soon.
8. This is not so much about Congo itself, but about our trip: I have loved, and will truly miss, traveling with everyone on our team. We have come together as a group supporting each other when it was hard, shrugging our shoulders together when it was ridiculous, and bursting into laughter together when there was just nothing else to say or do. With  Janice, John, Diana and Mike on Congo’s side, honestly, I think we’re incredibly strong.
9. Also not about Congo specifically, but still: I love my job. I don’t know how else to say it – I love my job. I work in a place that supports everyone, not just me and the rest of our amazing staff, but the entire community to work towards a better and more peaceful world. How many people can say that? Thank you Rabbi Schulweis and Janice for building an amazing organization, and Tzivia for giving me the opportunity to do this work. I am aware of how lucky I am.
10. Last, but definitely not least: Goats. They’re everywhere – tied up in fields, grazing on the mountainside and, best of all, being led down the road by a rope like little dogs. If my wonderful husband lets me, and doesn’t think our dogs would be terrorized, I think we should get one.

All of this is to say that Congo is a beautiful, curious, fascinating place. The Congolese people are strong and do not deserve (as if anyone would) to be preyed upon – and certainly not in the brutal and intensely destructive way that this conflict has progressed in the last twelve years. With the right mobilization and enough noise, we have every opportunity to help Congo and the Congolese move towards a more just, free and peaceful society that can begin the important work of recovery.

Let’s go.

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.  Once you have seen girls and women brutalized by repeated gang rapes, or children with swollen bellies and infected watering eyes, men full of shame for having failed to protect their wives and daughters,  widows carrying hundreds of pounds of charcoal or produce in massive bundles on their backs, strapped around their foreheads, bent over as they climb up and down the mountainous terrain to sell just enough to put a totally inadequate amount of food into the mouths of her children – once you have seen those things everything looks different.

The other day we were at the famous Panzi hospital in Bukavu; Panzi is the hospital which treats the massive majority of the most brutally raped rape victims in Eastern Congo.  Panzi receives an average of 300 rape victims each month. We had the honor of meeting with Dr. Mukwege, the surgeon who runs the hospital and who, with love, sensitivity and enormous skill, does everything that is humanly possible to put the women’s bodies back together.  Dr. Mukwege told us, with tears in his eyes, about the destruction and devastation he sees every day.  It is almost impossible for me to write about what he sees…what we saw…it is unfathomable…it is unspeakable.

But, we have no options.  We must fathom the unfathomable and speak the unspeakable.  If the women of the Congo must endure the brutality, and if Dr. Mukwege must confront these ravaged women each and every day and reassemble bodies which have been so hatefully and brutally destroyed, then how can we not speak?  How could any person with even a small modicum of humanity not be outraged and stirred to action to learn that men threw acid into a woman’s body, destroying that very part of a woman that was intended to bring forth life?  How could anyone with a conscience not be impelled to act when he hears about a woman whose insides were decimated by sticks and prods?

We don’t want to speak these things.  We don’t want to hear these things.  It’s too terrible and too sad and too distracting to our lives.  But, how can we pretend we do not know when we know?

What John, Diana, Naama and I experienced over the last ten days has been life changing.  None of us will ever forget the women we met.  We will remember the faces of the children and we will remember the incredible humanity we found as well.  We return to Los Angeles in 24 hours.  We do not return depressed by these images.  We do not return in despair.  We do not return with lost faith in humanity.  No, we return to you.  We return to the warm embrace of our families and loved ones.  And, we return to our incredible community of people of conscience who know that we must mobilize into action.  We know this because lives depend upon our actions, and our humanity gives us no choice.

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.  We step outside just as one hundred children, it seems, ages 2 to 16, come pouring out of their classrooms for recess.  They surround us. We are trying to communicate with them.  Some of the children speak French so Janice and I make feeble attempts with our school French.  We are all laughing. By their expressions I am sure we are the source of many jokes.  But what we don’t understand doesn’t bother us.  So we all just laugh.  It feels so good –a welcome relief from the many days of sadness and despair. 

 This was a very hopeful, positive day.  With the help of Gila, Pastor Grace  has implemented several programs in the village to improve the lives of the mostly women and children. There are several programs that teach them skills that will enable them to live better, less arduous lives.  A sewing cooperative teaches girls and women to make beautiful bags and clothes which they then sell at market.  It also teaches them how to run their small businesses.  Most importantly, this program will spare them the backbreaking plight of the thousands of women we saw each day, who were carrying enormous heavy piles of charcoal on their heads as they trudged up and down the hills for miles trying to eke out a meager living.  Another class teaches the young men to make hand carved furniture (we were all tempted to ship a piece home, but it’s not really possible).  There was also an agricultural coop.

 For me, however, one of the most optimistic aspects of the village was the school.  There is 70 per cent illiteracy in Bukavu alone, and I have worried since I arrived here how Congo can one day heal and reconstruct itself if its children are not educated. 

 Since I arrived in Congo I have seen thousands of children, at all hours of the day, playing in the streets when one would expect them to be in school.  Kamisimbi School was an example of what can be done with determination and resourcefulness.  The Pastor proudly took us to each grade level where the students politely stood as we walked in and warmly greeted us.  In one class the geography teacher was out sick – but when we walked in, the class was sitting and quietly studying its assignment– not what you would expect to see in LA!  It struck me that these students knew how lucky they were and truly valued the opportunity to go to school.  I loved what I saw. 

 But I need to add that under this hopefulness remains a biting poverty and desperation.  For example, the roof of the school, which is made of corrugated metal sheets, had blown off twice in five months due to heavy winds.  The village was having difficulty obtaining the $100 needed to repair the roof.  (I proudly report that we exercised discretion and donated the new roof on JWW’s behalf!). In addition, even though this is probably the best of the rural villages, due to the attention of Gila and Pastor Grace, the people are still hungry, a fact which we evidenced first hand:  at the end of our visit, the villagers gave us each a gift of an ear of corn from the communal garden.  But while Janice and I were looking at the sewing cooperative, a young woman signaled to us that she was hungry and wanted our corn.  It was heartbreaking…here was a vegetable cooperative and the villagers were still hungry.  Janice and I sneaked our corn back to the hungry villagers – hiding it so that they wouldn’t get in trouble.

 With all of the challenges, it is nevertheless evident that programs like the ones developed in Kamisimbi with Moriah Africa will help to assure a better  future for the people of Congo.

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. 

 As I write this we are on a boat on gorgeous Lake Kivu going between Goma and Bukavu.  It is a very comfortable boat showing a Steven Segal movie—just what we all needed, more violence.  But this is stupid, mindless “entertainment”.  The scenery outside is exquisite.  It feels like we could be in some beautiful vacation spot.  It is a moment to decompress. 

 Instead, I talk to Giorgio, Director of Operations for International Medical Corps (IMC) in Eastern Congo.  We discuss the complexity of the political situation here.  I am trying to make sense of it all. 

 If the humanitarian situation feels desperate, the political one seems completely impossible to untangle.  There are various armed groups that continue to rape and pillage the country.  There is the CNDP, former soldiers of the ousted rebel general Nkunda, now members of the Congolese army.  Then there is the FDLR, comprised of Rwandan Hutu rebels who escaped into the Congo after the Rwandan genocide.  There are also the Maimai, who are local militias created supposedly to protect their communities, but instead have morphed into terrorist groups.  And then there is the FARDC, ostensibly government loyalists, but made up a various poorly integrated former rebel groups.

 The situation is so complex and goes back so many years.  Added to this there are the constantly shifting loyalties and allegiances of the different bordering African countries—Uganda, Burundi, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Angola, Rwanda, and Namibia.  These allegiances change depending upon perceived self interest. 

 The final layer onto which all of this must be laid concerns the minerals which make Congo one of the most natural-resource-rich countries in the world.  All of this destabilization leaves different mineral mines in various hands—none of which benefits the people.  That is the tragedy here.  I am told that 70% of all the mineral resources in the world are here.  It is also one of the most beautiful countries in the world.  And none of this benefits the people.  Many tell us that the situation here is getting worse.  A village was burned recently in North Kivu and last week IMC had to evacuate all their staff from Baraka due to fighting in the area. (Although I was told that they are going back today.)

 I ask everyone the question of what needs to be done to move towards peace.  No one gives me an answer.  I come away with the feeling that until someone much smarter than I am can figure out a solution, or the various parties decide that enough is enough and the bloodshed and violence must end, all we can do is try to provide as much help and assistance to the innocent victims of this immoral war as possible. 

 While we are here we hope to identify programs that not only provide immediate assistance, but ones that help to change the culture of impunity that exists here.  Perhaps then the true beauty of Congo will be allowed to flourish.