Milima ya Congo

Every time I look out the window (especially around sunset) my breath is taken away by the beautiful scenery. The clear waters of Lake Tanganyika sparkle in the sun and the milima (mountains) of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) offer a majestic purple dominance forty miles away. Birds are chirping, children are laughing and often times I hear people singing. What beauty and happiness (remarkably, despite extreme poverty). From this side of Lake Tanganyika one can easily assume the same serenity is experienced on the adjacent shores.
However, the purple mountains in the Congo are not as peaceful as they may appear. Just forty miles away, arguably the most horrific brutalities in the world are taking place and is said to be the deadliest conflict since WWII. The country has been war torn for decades. The civil unrest started when DRC gained their independence in the 1960's. To make a long history lesson short, there was not a smooth transition of power, and the country has been in chaos ever since. It also doesn't help that the country is teeming in gold, copper, diamonds, and tin; valuable resources that contribute to the bloodshed.
Lowell and Claudia Wertz experienced the horrific violence first hand. They lived in Zaire (now DRC) for 11 years when in September of 1991 they were evacuated from their home. After hours of lying on the floor with their two young children to avoid ricocheted machine gun bullets- and a disturbing “good-bye” phone call from Lowell’s cousin who lived near by (rebels where in their yard and they thought it was over)- a local soldier came and told them they had to leave before nightfall if they wanted to survive. With only a few trunks of personal belongings, they were escorted to Lowell's plane where he flew his own and his cousin’s family to safety.
Today, most of the violence is occurring in the northeastern corner of the country; in part due to the spill of Rwandan rebels over the border. The most disturbing part of the violence that is taking place is that it is largely directed at women and children, in the form of rape and other sexual violence. Women of all ages (reports of women as old as 80 and as young as three) are being raped, brutally mutilated, and humiliated in front of their family members. These rapes often times leave the victims dead, so injured that they will soon die, or committing suicide out of shame, fear & humiliation.

Think of your sister. Your mother. Your wife. Your daughter. Your grandmother…

The sick part is that these rapes aren't just soldiers taking out sexual frustrations, but are legitimate orders given to the soldiers as part of their war tactics… So much so that the United Nations formally declared rape a “weapon of war” in 2008. They stated that in DRC it is more dangerous to be a woman than a soldier and estimated that three quarters of Congolese woman have been raped in areas like the war torn northeast. Why does this tactic work? By wiping out women, they are effectively wiping out a new generation of soldiers. Also, by terrorizing the women and children, it ensures that communities accept the power and authority of that particular armed group. Additionally, as with many societies, a very high importance is placed on a women’s virginity. Because of this, a simple way to cause shame & punish a family is to violate the daughter. As a book I read puts it, “mass rape is as effective as slaughtering people, yet doesn’t leave corpses that lead to human rights prosecutions…and rape tends to undermine the victims groups’ tribal structures, because leaders lose authority when they cannot protect their women. It is risky to engage in firefight, but there is no risk at all in raping a helpless woman (or child). It’s a cost effective way to terrorize civilian populations, showing strength while exposing weakness. Often leaving the woman with a “mark” of rape is effective in shaming her and her family, leaving them ostracized from even their own community.“
And they take it further then just rape. Afterward, they mutilate the women by shoving machetes or sticks, or firing guns into them. Obviously this leads to serious internal damage, like fistulas, that either leave the woman dead, or in need of serious medical help. (A fistula is a hole in the tissue, which in many of these rape victims, breaks into their bladder or rectum, causing them to constantly leek urine and feces.)
There seems to be no hope for these people. The US is "turning a blind eye" on the situation, the UN peacekeepers are completely ineffective, and the DRC government is corrupted, disorganized and causes half the problems themselves.
As a woman, it was very hard for me to write this blog. I try to think of what I would do in that situation, but honestly can’t even imagine the fears and emotion associated with such a devastating fate. I even had a hard time describing their situation and “diluted” some of the wording- finding it too brutal and graphic to discuss, even with my own family and friends. Another reason why I struggled is because to write about it means to recognize it and at that point there is no turning away from it, “pretending” like it doesn’t exist. And with something so horrible, I can’t just know about it and not do anything…But what can I do?
For starters- this. I wanted to tell you about their situation because it needs to be talked about for people to know what we are allowing to happen in the 21st century. And hopefully knowledge will lead to action, and action will lead to change. How can we take action? Love these women, think about them, tell others about them, pray for them, fight for them.
One small way that the local missionaries (including Joy) are helping is by supporting a refugee camp were the Congolese flee to just outside of Kigoma. We will be visiting there in January to talk to, encourage, and pray with the people there. I’m not really sure what to say to women who have gone through so much, but at least now I can say that people in America love you, and are thinking about you, and are praying for you- and they are fighting for a way to end this.






** Many of these facts came from the book Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide. By Nicholas D. Kristof & Sheryl WuDunn and an article in The New York Times.