Email requests for support continue to flow in from eastern Congo. There is Jason, the young man who is secretary for the community development organization we partner with in Butembo called CSCODI. Jason had to drop out of University last year because he couldn’t pay his bills. All CSCODI positions in Congo are volunteer and these committed people work tirelessly to help their fellow Congolese. Healing Streams is helping Jason return to school by paying his school debt and next term’s school fees. Esther is another dedicated worker who runs the clothing depot that supports the work of CSCODI and she also works with rape survivors and the literacy program. Many middle aged women in the literacy program struggle with more than literacy, they need glasses to be able to see the letters they are trying to read. Dorcas desperately needs money to feed the 30 orphan children who have no one else to look after them. A Baptist radio station needs a new antenna to further its reach into the bush and CSCODI needs money to build a central office building on the land it has purchased. We could despair over all this desperate poverty and need but instead I invite you to dig deep and SMILE!
Research has proven the old biblical adage “tis better to give than receive”. Giving increases the excretion of the chemical oxytocin in the brain. Oxytocin is the feel good chemical that mother’s feel when they look at their babies or that people experience when they think of sex. So when you feel overwhelmed by the needs of the world we share remember, “Tis better to give than receive”. You can support projects like these through Healing Stream’s Congo Fund. Hear more about giving and its effect on the brain on the CBC Radio program, The Current.
On January 6th, 2009 Healing Streams will host a Hope & Healing Congo night for the public. Circle of Hope members, supporters and the interested public are invited to join us at 7:o0 p.m. for refreshments. Program will begin at 7:30. Location: Glencairn MB Church, Kitchener, ON. For more information email dawn(at)healingstreams(dot)org.
Filed under: DRC 2008 | Tags: Dr Mukwege, Panzi Hospital, SAFER, Stephen Lewis Foundation, V-day
What an honor it was to meet Dr Mukwege today and to attend a SAFER and Stephen Lewis Foundation fundraiser for the Panzi Hospital yesterday. Dr Mukwege is the world’s foremost fistula and gynecological reconstruction surgeon and thankfully he lives and works in Congo where the need is the greatest. And, lucky me, he’s also the father of my neighbor in Kitchener! Today as I sat in her living room, Dr Mukwege talked about the intentional destruction of women’s reproductive organs by the rapists – women are shot in the vagina, they are burned with plastic which when heated is inserted in their vagina’s and it keeps burning their organs from the inside out. These are the women Dr Mukwege works with every day – his staff do about 10 reconstructive surgeries a day – and there are many more who need it. How does he do it?
We talked together about self-care and he said to me, “Dawn, tell me how you do self-care in your work as a therapist? Everyone tells me I need to take care of myself but how can I? Everywhere I go women need to talk to me; at church, in the market, at the hospital. How can I say no? I must talk to them.” And since Dr Mukwege is a person of strong Christian faith, I remind him of the example of Jesus, who left the crowds to go to the mountain to pray and be re-energized in solitude. “I’m so grateful” I said, “That this example is recorded in the scriptures because it gives permission to all of us to rest and to be human – to walk away from the crowds when we need to.” Dr Mukwege told me about steps he has taken to protect himself. There was a time when he heard each woman’s story prior to surgery, but now he has other staff to do that. He found he was so overwhelmed with emotion over hearing all these stories that he couldn’t do his job as a surgeon – and that is his calling – that is the one thing he can do best in this world. And so they have set up a system where several people screen and support surgery patients prior to him operating on them…which leads to a new issue…now the only female psychologist on the team, the one who is given the most severely traumatized patients, is showing signs of burnout. We talk about options to support her. I am glad to hear Dr Mukwege is working with a team from Women’s College Hospital in Toronto to expand the team of counsellors who will work in the health districts in the area. I’m so glad to see SAFER and the Stephen Lewis Foundation and V-Day take the lead in offering support to this desperate need. It is also important to recognize though that this hospital was founded and operates under the umbrella of the Pentecostal Church…it is a mission hospital! It is a testimony to the fact that there have been some very positive results from the mission movement and for this I am grateful.
Submitted by Dawn Penner
Ross and I arrived home from Congo on Wed, November 26th to snow and a warm welcome from our son Matthew. While trying to adjust to a new time zone, I’m also doing the work of getting oriented back to life in Canada and figuring out how to integrate my Congo experience. At the moment, ungrounded seems to be the best descriptor. I guess it’s kind of like the effects of jet lag on the body – your plane has landed but your sleep cycle is still enroute. In the case of experience integration, I feel like I’m still midair even though my body has returned to Canada. Yesterday I drove to work for the first time and I was amazed to realized half way there that I was driving without conscious awareness of where I was as opposed to the careful observation I was constantly engaged in while in Congo. Here are a few of my early take-aways:
- There are kids the same age as my sons going to college, getting jobs, talking about which university to attend for their masters program: China or Canada.
- There are kids the same age as my sons whose parents have been massacred, who are afraid for their lives, who thank God they are alive, who question if God cares.
- There are women who are raped a second time because they work in rape shelters and advocate for rape victims. I met one. I had nothing to say – of course we were surrounded by 100 cheering children at the time. Talk about integration difficulties.
- I also conducted a debrief session with Nursing students in a displaced persons camp. We sat under a tree in a closed circle. I was told a closed circle signals to the 100 or so child-observers surrounding us that they could watch but not participate. So they stood silently observing this strange spectacle of 3 Muzungu (white) people intensely listening and occasionally talking through a translator with 3 Congolese nursing students. Privacy and confidentiality in counselling take on a new meaning!
- I experienced the disequilibrium of suspecting all men in army gear of being possible rapists. While this is a common and somewhat sensible self-protective mechanism in Congo, I don’t like to recognize it in myself. I remember when I worked with high risk offenders in Corrections – the point when my compassion switched to cynicism was the point I knew I needed to quit – I was no longer helping but had become part of the system.
- Am I willing to risk my life by continuing to return to Congo and speak out about rape and gender-based violence? Is there a role for me with minimal risk of doing more harm than good? It is painful to go to Congo to support my Congolese brothers and sisters and see the ongoing impact of years of harsh colonialism followed by culturally harmful mission work. I want to serve not impose – is that even possible?
- How can I possibly prepare for my 6 week internship in Ghana beginning Jan 10 while still integrating the Congo experience?
Early innings here on the integration bit – will keep you posted.
Submitted by Dawn Penner
Set in the beautiful Nyankunde Mountains, the town of Nyankunde is one of the most beautifully pastoral settings Dawn and I have had the opportunity to visit. The beauty is marred by rubble of buildings that were destroyed when rebels came through in 2002. Up until that time the town was healthy and thriving. Among the thriving institutions was the CME (Centre Medical Evangelique) which had a staff of close to 400 and several hundred beds.
When the rebels came through the hospital was invaded, several people were killed, buildings were destroyed and everything was looted. Since 2002 the hospital has slowly been rebuilding.
In September of this year, the hospital reopened its nurse’s training. Less than 3 weeks later (just over 1 month ago), the rebels came through again. While they did not kill or rape this time, they did take much of the hospital’s equipment. Many of the staff and students were traumatized. We spent an hour with the staff and two hours with some students – hardly time to scratch the surface.
Nyankunde is exemplary of the paradox of the Congo. There is so much that is spectacularly beautiful here. There is also so much that is despairingly dark. Which dynamic will prevail?
The staff is returning to Nyankunde. Some aid organizations will be coming in January to help rebuild. I believe in beauty, and hope,…and Congo.
Filed under: 1
From our two times in Eastern Congo, one of the most beautiful sites I have observed here is the church singing its pray. Both times we have observed it here in Beni so I couldn’t say how much of Congo prays like this, but I would vote for the Congolese to lead our prayer times in heaven.
The prayer begins with someone who leads. He or she will sing an African melody that is worshipful, loving, melancholy and thankful all at the same time. When this soloist has sung a few lines, the church will respond by singing back the words sung, or singing a response. As the church responds what was a lone cry out to God becomes a harmonic rejoiner that embraces everyone. This will go on for several minutes and I cannot keep my eyes closed. For as they pray, the Congolese have there eyes closed and on their faces you see profound love, heartbreaking anguish, and impassioned pleas. As the song goes on several fall to their knees. No one is watching (except us westerners) so this act is not one of show. It is a humble plea.
After the responsitory singing has gone on for a while, the church continues to sing the main theme of the prayer while several offer their own prayers in their own words. They do this all at once and so it is a loud chorus of prayers. The longer we pray, the louder it becomes. This continues for 3-6 minutes and then one person who has been asked, will finish with a long prayer of his/her own.
The building where we had the Beni Seminar is a large church (350?) with concrete floor, hard plaster walls, hardwood benches (do they have soft wood here?), and a galvanized metal roof that rises 18 ft. Needless the say the sounds are amplified.
One day as we were praying in the Congolese way, it began to rain. As we prayed it rained harder. You can imagine the sound on a huge metal roof. When we came to the part where one person had been asked to finish the prayer, it was an elderly (70?) man who prayed. While the group was humming and singing he began. As the rain became louder, he became louder. Then the rain would become louder yet, and he too prayed louder. Finally, when he was shouting at the top of his voice, the sound of the rain completely drowned out his prayer. It was a spine tingling moment in which it felt to me like God was saying, “I hear you people of Congo, and I am sending my rains for your healing”.
We will never forget that moment.
Filed under: DRC 2008
A brief sample of photos has been posted at Michael’s Facebook account.
http://www.facebook.com/inbox/?ref=mb#/album.php?aid=43708&id=568543738
Filed under: 1
Yesterday I (Ross) experienced what it means for a westerner to visit Africa. I woke up in the middle of the night with a rumbling in the lower half of my body. I spent the night between bedroom and bathroom and making alternative use of the water pail.
Our hosts insisted I get a visit from the doctor. They wanted to check for Malaria. They were very gracious in coming to my room (they still make house calls here!). As it turns out it was most likely something I ate. The Cipro (don’t go to Africa without it!) I’m taking has made me much better.
Today is the last day of the seminar in Beni. When I asked Dawn how she was feeling about how things have gone she has a few responses. She is very glad for hearing the stories of how these people have taken the teaching they received and used it and taught others. They have taken a small meal of bread and fish and fed many others with is.
Secondly, the stories, the interaction, the questions are an indication of how eager these people are to learn and how relevant teaching on hope and healing. I doubt there is a person in this room who is unfamiliar with trauma in a way that we in North America can hardly imagine. Perhaps, some day, this will no longer be true for Congo and Africa. For now, it is a privilege to bring our few loaves and fish with the hope that somehow they will be multiplied.
Finally, Dawn is looking forward to a bit of a lighter schedule next week. She has been teaching all day, every day, in the African heat. That she hasn’t been sick is a miracle. Thanks for your prayers everyone!
When Dawn said her schedule would be lighter next week I looked at her with a smirk and said, “You think so do you? She smiled and shrugged.
Formerly the Beni Car wash
The first time we visited Beni in 2006 there was a car wash just down the street from where we were meeting. Yesterday I witnessed the government closure of that car wash. Several young men are now unemployed and out looking for work. Why would the Beni government do such a thing?
To answer this question you would need to see the car wash. Essentially it’s a little gully that has some water flowing down through it. The reason the gully has some water flowing in it is because of the town water pipe, which has long been sitting above ground due to years of erosion (by rainfall). This pipe had a lead in it that created an impromptu fountain. The water fountain was redirected by a rock that had been strategically placed on the pipe. About a dozen young men used this water to hand wash vehicles.
City officials fixed the pipe. Then they buried it, protecting it against further leaks. Good for them. Bad for the entrepreneurs who were making the best of the situation.
Congo’s infrastructure is almost non-existent. It took two (plus?) years for the city to repair this water pipe. It will hardly make a dent in the work that needs to be done here. How do I know?
The next morning when I walked by the former car wash, one of the poles that holds the town electrical wires had fallen over into the gully. Thank God the car washers were no longer working there!
(In the picture you may be able to see a line in the dirt where the pipe is now buried (in the center traveling a up and to the rights. If you look a the post to the left of the picture, you may be able to see that there is freshly dug dirt at the base of the pole. They fixed it the next day! (Go figure.)
Filed under: 1
Today I went for a brief walk while Dawn was teaching. As I came to a crossroad, I met up with a group of eight women. Some of them had children on their backs. Others were pregnant. They all looked thin and quite poor. One woman began talking to me in Swahili.
I indicated I didn’t understand. This didn’t deter the woman. She spoke with animation and acted out a story. From what I could understand, she was pointing to one of the women who was pregnant and indicated a soldier had raped her. Would I please give her money?
After I received this request, said no, and gone into the church where the seminar is, I sat down. I am shaken. If this story was true – and we’ve been hearing so many like it – I want with all my heart to help. If the story was not true…even then these women were clearly not doing well.
Over lunch we talked with our Congolese hosts about the soldiers here in Congo. I asked if the average Congolese believed that all Congo soldiers were bad. The answer was yes. I asked if soldiers were ever paid. No, they aren’t paid. Are they fed? No, not nearly enough. It struck me then that every soldier I have seen was very thin.
As we were driving back from lunch, our hosts pointed to a building on the corner where we turned. They indicated that this was where some soldier’s families lived. The place was very run down. The children were exceptionally dirty and didn’t look healthy.
I asked our hosts if soldiers are ostracized, are their families as well? They said yes and that these families live in extreme poverty because their husbands are away most of the time, and working at a job that doesn’t pay. Our hosts told us that when Congolese see how poor these families are, they do not think it is right that the government does not pay the soldiers.
When we were done our seminar for today and were driving back to our room, we again passed the place where these families live. I was surprised when I saw the same group of eight women from earlier that day sitting there. They were soldier’s wives. I thought about the story I’d been told by them – that a soldier had raped one of them. I realized that because families or husbands often disown their raped daughters/wives, this woman might have chosen to live with the man who raped her. The only other choice she may have had is death.
I am overwhelmed. God help the families of these soldiers.
