FEBRUARY 2007
| IN THIS ISSUE This and That from Ben |
MISSIONS |
| UMCOR UPDATE Paul Dirdak, Deputy General Secretary Larry Hollon, General Secretary UM Communications |
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Women's Pleas from Democratic Republic of Congo
"Women have borne the brunt of the cruel devastation of this war and still live with huge scars." The Interahamwe (Hutu militia) raped Mawazo in full view of her family then shot her in the uterus; then she lost her mind. She has been lucky to receive some psycho-social support through the Lutheran Church in Bukavu.
Other women have not been as lucky. Upendo has no husband, no education and no shelter. Since her rape by the rebel groups, her husband chased her away, saying he had no use for her. Eighty percent of the women in Eastern Congo are also illiterate and cannot access the funds trickling in to help the area get development.
In Bukavu, an urban town, one finds educated women, some of whom competed in the recently held general elections. These women have vowed to rebuild their society. They are filling an important gap by helping the victims of sexual crimes access help and assisting in bringing known perpetrators of the sexual violence to justice. They live under constant death threats because of their work.
The Church in the Eastern Congo plays a pivotal role in bringing people together as well as rebuilding families and offering hope through their teachings. In a country where the basic political unit had been torn apart through so much gender-based violence, it is a story of hope that the church has embraced so many outcasts. Even the government during these elections recognized the role of the church and involved many Christian leaders to be polling agents.
Like all good things, however, abuse is beginning to creep into church and rural women complain that some men in their churches have all the leadership positions and control the way funds flow into their rural based projects.
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In the meantime, churches are brimming to the full. Atop each hill is a church where women step out in elegance and continue to give birth to more children. These are signs that this dignified society will go on as women sing with gladness, as they find therapy, hoping that in God’s name the international community shall hear their voices and respond.
The women plead for peace, for a chance to be allowed to choose the fabric and cut it to their taste and furnish their bodies and their homes with hope and song.
Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) seek to enlist the whole church in organized, nonviolent alternatives to war. They place teams of trained peacemakers in regions of lethal conflict. Originally a violence-reduction initiative of the historic peace churches (Mennonite, Church of the Brethren and Quaker) CPT now enjoys support and membership from a wide range of Christian denominations.
To express concerns, criticisms or affirmations to CPT’s Chicago office, send messages to peacemakers@cpt.org. To receive news or discussion of CPT issues by e-mail, fill out the form at www.cpt.org/subscribe.php.
(Judy Amunga of Nairobi, Kenya, participated in a recent CPT delegation to Eastern Congo. She is the author of the above article, originally published in SEQUOIA, Vol. 27, No. 1)