MINOVA: A place of beauty and treasures

Hello to all of you around the world who are following us on our journey... Here we go with another update.

Read our experience in Minova:

A beautiful landscape on the way to Minova

Driving to Minova took us about 6 hours. 

This journey truly made me aware of the unspeakable beauty of this place I call home. Driving along lake Kivu, through beautiful valleys and mountains full of palm trees, coffee plantations, tropical fruit trees... truly we could see how fertile this land is. If someone didn't know about what was happening out there deep in the bush, you would feel like being in a land somewhere close to paradise.
My brother Dejoie and I were in the humanitarian car of an organization AFEDEM, "Appui aux Femmes Démunies et Enfants Marginalisés",  together with four of its staff - a lawyer, a magistrate, the coordinator of the workshop and the head of the office at AFEDEM in Minova.

Getting to know the place  

We arrived on a wednesday afternoon. Before checking in at the place we stayed, we had a meeting at the MONUSCO office, who is in charge of the security within the region around Minova and furthermore was the sponsor of the event. Together we set the frame of the workshop and prepared the venue where the workshop would take place the next day. 

In the evening, my brother and I took a walk through city and we could both feel the heaviness upon this town which was reflected in the people's faces we saw on the street. On the road we randomly started talking to a citizen and who was willing to share his experiences of what life in Minova is like. Ever since the M23 invaded the town in December 2012 and committed a mass rape with more than 250 women, the people are constantly aware of the fact that the same thing could happen at any given time again. He didn't hide the tough reality of the place we were in and we started getting a glimpse of what we were about to encounter the next day

Unexpected surprise 

The next morning started off with a negative surprise for me.

 Broken Sony Z1 camera 

As we were getting ready for the day preparing to take some footage during the workshop, I opened my camera bag to double check my tools and found my big camera broken into pieces. It truly was a shock and so devastating for me, that I couldn't leave for the camp with the other workers, but had to stay back to get myself together and calm down for a bit. Until now we all have no idea of how it could have possibly happened, but as I was sitting in my room wondering and pondering of what to do about the camera, another thought came to my mind: I was reminded that I was there not just there to collect the stories with the eye of a lens but more importantly I came to listen to the cries of those affected, share with them the love they deserve and hope they need in order for their lives can be restored. My focus is on the people who are far more important in the eyes of God than my camera. It is legitimate to make a good film, but I am not supposed loose my focus on what really matters. This is when I could finally stand up with refreshed joy and head to the place where the workshop took place.

Educating and creating awareness 

the workshop at the catholic parish in Minova

As I arrived, the participants had already arrived and the traditional chief and chief of police of were welcoming the people. The first interactive session was led by the lawyer of AFEDEM who asked questions like: 

What is rape? Who can be raped and who can commit rape? How can one prevent him/herself of getting raped? 

The answers given by the women of Minova were collected and together we worked out a common understanding of how sexual abuse is to be perceived and treated. 

The second session was held by a representative of MONUSCO who explained the mandat of MONUSCO in the protection and reinforcement of the rights of women in the DR Congo. Together we elaborated on what are the rights of women, their position and value in society and where they can seek help from if their rights are violated. While the focus of the workshop was mainly supposed to be on the rights of women, throughout the discussion several men shared their testimony of how they got raped by different armed groups. Again this made everyone aware that the problem is much more complex and from then on the focus was equally on men and women affected by sexualized violence.

 working on solution to fight sexual violence

The last session was dedicated to give the participants a platform to ask individual questions that had not been answered throughout the course of the workshop. Also the group was divided into four sections were they were asked to give recommendation of how they think the UN and other international NGOs could intervene better on their behalf.

The workshop was closed by the commander of the MONUSCO, who again explained the role of MONUSCO and how they can be approached to seek help from.

  Refugee camp 

kids at the refugee camp outside Minova

In the evening we visited a smaller refugee camp outside of Minova, where we just talked to the people and spend time with them. Surprisingly the people were very open with us and shared their desperation and stories. When the children saw us coming they ran towards us shouting with joy to receive visitors. These people have lost almost everything, lost their homes, some of them lost their family members, they have no sufficient food and clothes, no access to education or a clean environment, yet they have not given up the hope to one day find themselves back where they belong.

Precious treasure 

The next day early morning before leaving Minova, we went to the market to buy food to take home with us to Bukavu. As Minova is one of the most fertile areas in the whole region, the market is full of women who are busy selling their goods. In my mind I was thinking: Africa, Congo, wake up. Don't you see the important role women are playing in our society? African, Congolese women are the cornerstones of our society. Day in day out they are giving their everything, doing hard work to sustain their families and children back home. Women have suffered enough, for how long do we want to ruin our own society?

This were the impression me and my brother took home to Bukavu.

Side road market 

Soon our stay in the Congo is coming to an end and we are really busy following up cases and get our research done. As we have successfully established a network and contacts with different people and organizations, we are now ready to start doing our first round of interviews. Unfortunately we are a bit handicapped since we have no sufficient tools to capture footage for the documentary, as our big camera is broken. If you feel called to support us towards a new camera, please do contact us as soon as possible.

Much Love from Congo

Congo losing a generation to war, says bishops’ conference president - June 19th, 2013 By Catholic News Service

WASHINGTON – Congo is losing a generation to war over diamonds and other minerals in the country’s eastern regions, said the president of the nation’s bishops’ conference.

 “We are losing a generation. That’s true,” Bishop Nicolas Djomo Lola of Tshumbe, Congo, told Catholic News Service June 4. “A lot of children have not gone to school because of that. It’s terrible.” 

However, while peace is being sought for eastern Congo, Bishop Djomo said he prefers a nontraditional approach.

 “We don’t think that negotiating directly with the rebels right now is something which is useful,” he said. “We are asking to negotiate also with the neighboring countries. Some of them are backing the rebels. It’s very important. The rebels are instrumented (supplied) by some countries.

” The bishop did not name those countries, but Rwanda and Uganda have denied international charges that they supported the rebels in eastern Congo. In the past, Angola, Namibia and Zimbabwe have backed the government.

 Bishop Djomo was in Washington as part of a tour of Western nations, during which he hoped to generate support for a peaceful resolution to the conflict, which began in 1996. 

He told Catholic News Service the effects of the war are readily visible.

 “We have 2 million displaced people. Two million people fled the villages without any possibility to cultivate (land). And the international community is not able to feed all of them. People in camps don’t have (enough) food,” he said.

 “At the same time, the education system doesn’t work,” Bishop Djomo added. “Imagine the children in this area. They are not able to go to school. That’s terrible for us. For the last 15 years, women are raped and they are not able to be in security.” 

Issues of human rights and poverty are connected to the war.

 “The Catholic Church is questioning the government so that human rights will be respected, and we spoke to the government ... asking to making to make things more transparent,” Bishop Djomo said. “We have even met with the (Congolese) president over that. So we know that without respecting human rights, it’s very difficult to end the war, the instability.”

 He added: “We need our military to be more respectful of human rights and the justice against the corruption. That is a very, very important issue for the church and we are working hard.”

 Poverty, according to Bishop Djomo, is “a huge challenge. Fighting the armed groups, it’s absolutely necessary to work for development – to support development in that area, because poverty is dangerous. And it’s engendering the violence.”  

 From June 21, 2013 issue of Catholic San Francisco. - See more at: http://www.catholic-sf.org/ns.php?newsid=2&id=61536#sthash.GAwBnx2n.dpuf

The Trouble With Congo Is Deep and Widespread by Obadiah ndiaba ( huffingtonpost)

Conventional wisdom about the Democratic Republic of Congo make us believe that the trouble with Congo lie in the east of the country alone. That is wrong and dangerous. Like a wrong diagnosis of a disease, it leads to wrong prescription and medicine. In many ways, the newly touted United Nations (UN) intervention brigade is based on this kind of wrong diagnosis and bad prescription. The UN, with its unmatched clout in Congo, should focus in curbing the predatory Congolese state, rather than promote it, and provide help in developing better institutions for the country to stand on its own feet - instead of going to war with Congolese people, most of whom have legitimate demands and rights to be enraged with the current situation.

In Eastern Congo, the media narrative has focused on the M23, merely the tip of an iceberg, considering the number of rebel groups that continue to cause untold human suffering to the people of Congo. A recent Oxfam report depicts a map of major rebel groups in Eastern Congo that the BBC dubbed "D.R Congo's Kaleidoscope." Tragically, media watchers seldom hear news coverage of these armed groups causing havoc to civilians. The lone exception is the rape narrative, and makes no mistake; rape is a common weapon of war in Congo.

Conservative estimates say there are over thirty active armed groups in the East, such as The Patriotic Front for Change (FPC), Raïa Mutomboki (Which literally means: People Get Angry!), Ecumenical Force for the Liberation of Congo (FOLC), Allied Democratic Forces, more than a dozen of Maï-Maï armed militias, another half a dozen of regional armed groups such as the Rwandan FDLR, the Burundian FNL and the Ugandan LRA of Joseph Kony, and countless others. Maï-Maï groups might soon face a shortage of names (Maï-Maï Asani, Maï-Maï Mayele, Maï-Maï Zabuloni, Maï-Maï Kifuafua, etc.).

Armed groups and militias in Congo are like a cluster of businesses in a special tax-free economic zone. That should not surprise anyone since the government is nonexistent, except its untidy army constantly accused of rape, harassment and rampant corruption within its ranks. The other exception of government presence seems to be in the shoddy mining deals by government officials, costing the country billions of dollars according to the latest Kofi Anan's Africa Progress Panel.

A white paper produced by the Enough Project explains how the Congo wars of 1996 and 2003 opened the door for armed groups to take advantage of the absence of a functioning security system in the east. There is no army or police, so armed renegade commanders are mushrooming in the country in the name of providing protection to people and turf control.

The Oxfam report puts Congo's ragtag army and rebel groups in the same scandalous category, since both are "mercilessly exploiting local communities to help fund their war."

Security and humanitarian issues are not exclusive to the East of the country; they are now widespread in a number of other provinces as a result of complete lawlessness in the country and lack of government presence.

In the resource-rich province of Katanga, the mining hub of copper, cobalt and home to the biggest mining operations in the country, a separatist movement called Kata Katanga (Meaning 'Cut Katanga' in Swahili) battled government soldiers near the city of Lubumbashi over the past weekend and left scores of people dead. Last March, the same group had mounted an attack in the city before surrendering to the UN peace-keeping mission in an apparent suicide of a group of people with no hope for a future. At least 35 people were reported to have died and the government declared a curfew in the city and its surrounding areas for a number of days. Local officials and some provincial parliamentarians are blaming the attacks on 'misery' and the 'absence of state authority.'

An inquiry of the National Assembly produced a report in which it warned the government that Katanga is a 'sleeping volcano' whose eruption will cause damage. Well, it is already causing untold damage to civilians, 23,000 of whom fled their homes and 16 burnt alive over the past weekend alone .

The United Nations (UN) has declared a humanitarian crisis in Katanga province, noting, "Katanga is turning into a province that requires the same amount of attention as the Kivus." The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) estimates that there have been over 316,000 displaced people since January 2012 in the southeastern part of Katanga province alone. The insecurity in Katanga seems to be worsening, fueled by disenfranchised youths who accuse the government of cronyism and rampant corruption in managing resources. They want to take matters in their own hand. Maï-Maï 'Tigers,' another armed group in Katanga province, has been attacking army posts and causing havoc to local populations.

In the Province Orientale, recurrence of clashes between the army and militias continues, albeit, off the radar of media coverage. The territory of Ituri is now literally under the control of armed bandits, not even structured armed groups.

Pole Institute, an intercultural center for peace in the Great Region of Africa, recentlyconcluded that the problems of insecurity in Congo are a consequence of "bad governance" and the "absence of the state." Unless Congo acts as a functioning country with institutions, such as a serious army, to provide security to its own people, Congo is proving that, in fact, it does not exist as a coherent state. The United Nations presence in Congo shouldn't shield such a government, rather it should work to address the deep governance issues facing the country -- it is only the way to end the conflict if Congo is to survive as a functioning and coherent state.

DR Congo doctor hits out at 'horrifying' spate of child rape

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hcbw6lD_ZGoKtMjd6z_LHNPdzIRA?docId=CNG.d16019e8b0214aceaabf05b24a156bc5.481

For Abuse in DRC, South Africa Charges 93 Troops, UN Says Nothing, ZeroTruthfulness By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, June 12 -- With the UN in the midst of deploying a controversial "intervention brigade" in the Eastern Congo, South African Defense Minister Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula has announced that 94 of its troops in the Congo have been charged with improprieties and that four have been "discharged" for sexual exploitation or abuse.

While any discipline is better than none, Inner City Press on June 12 asked Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's deputy spokesman Eduardo Del Buey, "If someone is found guilty of sexual exploitation or abuse while on a UN peacekeeping mission, is it enough to discharge them from the army, or is some type of punishment expected, and how does this impact their service in the Intervention Brigade?"

Del Buey replied, "Well, Matthew, I will suggest you ask the Department of Peacekeeping Operations. We’ve received the reports and DPKO is looking into this right now. So, I suggest you ask DPKO a bit later on this afternoon."

DPKO chief Herve Ladsous has already repeatedly refused to answer Press questions about sexual abuse in the Congo, including 135 rapes in Minova by his partners in the Congolese Army. See compilation video here, and most recent (May 29) here. Forget the claimed "zero tolerance" -- it appears to be, "zero truthfulness."

  Since May 29, DPKO has not provided the requested update on actions taken on the 135 Minova rapes. DPKO's spokesman was bopping around the UN cafeteria mid-afternoon on June 12; still, no answer has been provided, on Minova or the new South African MONUSCO announcement, which Del Buey said DPKO is "looking into right now." Looking into what? Watch this site.

Finally another update

Dear friends,

first of all we want to apologize to all of you for not being faithful in writing updates on how we are doing and how work is proceeding. Thanks to all of you who have been writing us, supporting us, encouraging us and who have faithfully kept contact with us throughout the last month! We won't keep silent again and will do our part to keep up the good communication.

So what did we do the past month? What kept us busy? What did we learn? Let's start the review from the beginning...

24th of April until 6th of May: visiting organizations

Blessed to have our good friends Melanie and Irina from Germany with us for about two weeks, we did not only enjoy each others company to its fullest, but also visited a lot of different organizations together. We gained a deep insight into the precious work of people who contribute to the development of this country through their principled commitment to to human rights and social justice, their grounded idealism and indefatigable spirit.

It was truly eye-opening to hear and see different perspectives of people who have been affected by the conflict and involved in what is happening in many different ways. Yes, there is still a lot to be done and Congo and its population are far from reaching their full potential and establishing peace, but there are glimpses of hope where ever people start investing in the wellbeing another person. Efforts that contribute to a person's spiritual, emotional and physical wellbeing will never go in vain but will bear fruits in due season.

Many encounters we had with different people were just the beginning and we will follow up with their stories and gather more information the remaining time that we are here in the Congo.

7th of May until 11th of May: Travelling Bukavu → Goma → Kigali

Early in the morning on the 7th of May, together with our friends, we took a boat to Goma, where we wanted to take some days off to debrief as a team, reflect upon our experiences, what we learned and what actions we can take in order to proceed with the project. 

The trip happened to be far more of an adventure as we expected. Before we could reach Goma we saw three fisherman almost drowning in the open sea. The evening before their boat capsized and for more than 15 hours the three young men were in the water trying to survive. As two passengers jumped off the boat to rescue the three, one of them refused to be rescued and there was nothing we could have done - we had to continue with our journey and let him go knowing he would die.

This event was stuck in our minds for the next week... What do we do in life, if we offer people help but out of unclear reasons people refuse to be helped? Everybody has the right to live, do we have to grant people the right to die as well? 

It became clear to us that in this world life and death, success and failure, right and wrong sometimes surpasses our understanding and we, as Christians, have to give it all back to our God and creator in whose endless wisdom and grace we commit our lives and everything we do once again.

On the 10th of May we travelled from Goma to Kigali, Rwanda, where we said good bye to Melanie and Irina and welcomed Benjamin, our good friend from Holland, who stayed with us until the 25th of May.

11th of May until 24th of May: back to Bukavu, second trip to Goma, following up...

Together with Benjamin we started the 7hour journey from Kigali back to Bukavu - and for us it felt like going home. Congo indeed has become a place for us to call our home! And we continued exploring the territory, visiting villages and remote places, following up with connecting to organizations.

Benjaming and Pappy made a trip to Mwenga, a city about 150km west of Bukavu, where they visited a memorial where women were buried alive in massacre two years ago. On that trip Benjamin became the reason of a whole school being stopped and all students running out of the building because of the Mzungu (Swahili word for 'white person'). Yes, in the midst of all craziness here in Congo we experience funny moments nevertheless.

Due to Benjamins work, Pappy and him, made another trip to Goma where they had a meeting at the Norwegian Refugee Council. The morning they had left, we received the news that the M23 Rebels had started fighting in the outskirts of Goma and made it til 5km outside the city. Once on the boat there was no turning back. Praise God that Pappy and Benji could finish the work in Goma just as planned and could take the overnight boat back to Bukavu the next day. 

Now we know the reason for what happened. The week Pappy and Benjamin went to Goma, was the week where UN general secretary Ban Ki Moon visited Goma. Most likely the M23 wanted to demonstrate their power before negotiations would take place in Goma. We also heard rumours of the M23 before receiving support through the sending of soldiers by neighboring countries the days before. 

Again back in Bukavu we processed the events together with Papa Bulambo, who is working mainly on the reconciliation between Rwanda and Congo. He gave us again a profound and deep understanding of the root causes and origin of the conflict. On the one hand we hear and learn about the background, on the other hand we experience the outcome and stress in our daily lives while we are here. 

Since Benjamin left on the 24th of May, we got back to work as usual.

Today, Pappy and Dejoie are in Minova visiting a UN refugee camp. Minova is a town between Bukavu and Goma and the place where the most recent mass massacre took place. Pappy has received the invitation to join a workshop given by the UN to the refugees living in that camp. The aim is to sensebilize the people about sexual abouse: What is seen as rape or sexual abuse? Why is it against human rights? What can be done against it?

We thank God for all the opportunities he has given us until now. The network we could built up since we are here is a blessing to us and for the documentary. We believe we can make an impact here in the Congo! It is just the beginning...

More updates are for sure soon to follow!