African Womens' Voices Project-Goma, Congo

I have been interested, sad and angered about the plight of women in the Democratic Republic of Congo for several years now. During their long drawn out 'war' between rebel groups, the soldiers have used rape as a powerful weapon of war to keep women living in fear of repeated violence. There has been some attention brought to this issue by world media and books on the subject. One organization called Women for Women International has done a lot of work to sensitize the world to this important issue. There is a book by a woman named Lisa Shannon, an American woman who became insprired to do charitable 'runs' to raise money to sponsor individual women through Women for Womens project in DRC. Lisa's book of her journey is called 'A Thousand Sisters' and it describes Congo as the worst place in the world to be a woman...and after our recent journey to lay the initial ground work for our African Womens' Voices Project, we agree that it just might be the worst place. You will hear more about our project as it evolves over the next few years.

We travelled with Alyssa Ferguson, our current project coordinator at the Pamoja Tunaweza Women's Centre and with Ms. Deborah Melman-Clement, a writer based in kingston, Ontario who also volunteered on our last caravan as a logistics volunteer. We flew to Kigali, Rwanda and made our way by bus to Gisenyi. We made our way across the border to Goma, DRC....with a few small bumps along the way.
Entering Goma from Rwanda was like night and day. On the Rwandan side in Gisenyi, on the shores of Lake Kivu, it was like being in resort town like Lake Como, Italy. Many atrocities happened in Gisenyi during and after the Rwandan Genocide, but they have miraculously moved on and rebuilt, whereas, Goma (and most of Congo)are still trapped in a post conflict situation and craving for better governance from Kinshasa and help from the international community. There is a huge UN presence in Goma because that is where millions of rwandan refugees escaped to during the genocide. Unfortunately, the world poured aid into Goma's camps to 'save' the refugees....this happened because the indifference of the international community resulted in little or no intervention DURING the genocide to stop the killing of Tutsis (1 million were killed in 90 days)...when the world recognized their mistake they threw millions of dollars into the refugees situation, but, most of those who escaped to Goma were genocidaires who had been the perpetrators of the genocide and had orchestrated the murder of their fellow Rwandans. Goma has dismantled some of the camps and the Rwandans have been repatriated to Rwanda to stand trial if they were suspected of committing crimes against humanity. Goma is a different world with a large (still erupting) volcanoe towering above the dusty city. There was at times a look and feel of desperation in the faces of the people because the poverty is extreme, but in general we felt safe.

Our goal in Goma was to visit a hospital called 'Heal Africa'. It is like an oasis in a desert. You can google 'Heal Africa' and read more about the history of this hospital. They provide care for many medical problems but are especially good at dealing with injuries of the war and the issue of vaginal fistulas. These develop when a woman has a difficult labour and the baby's head is stuck in the birth canal. The injury to the vagina and surrounding structures leads to severe problems with leaking of urine and sometimes feces. These women suffer terribly as outcasts in their community. The fistulas can also develop when women are violently raped, and during the last decade there have been many women who have developed these in DRC. The hospital has a residential program where these women can stay during the long process of their surgical repairs. They help them to rebuild their spirit and bodies.

I have included some pictures of our group (which included 'Jean' our guide and translator, Goma at night and of Heal Africa.