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!