Screen shot from the Women in War Zones documentary

Valentine’s Day has come and gone, and according to the U.S. Census Bureau, over 180 million Valentines were sent on or around February 14th. And that’s not including the millions of cards children exchanged with their classmates in school.

Cards aren’t typically seen in a country like the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Not on Valentine’s Day, nor any other day of the year.

Instead, there are broken hearts.

The Democratic Republic of the Congo has earned the nickname “the Rape Capital of the World” from the United Nations, on account of the hundreds of thousands of women who have been sexually assaulted there for over a decade. A study published in the American Journal of Public Health in June 2011 claimed that based on available data, 48 women are raped every hour in the DRC, or 1,152 women per day.

That’s 419,328 survivors per year. And that doesn’t count the unreported cases, for which there are probably many.

These women do not receive a Valentine’s Day card. They not get roses delivered to their front door, nor do they get to savor the sweet taste of chocolate candy from a heart-shaped box. They wake up to uncertainty, and go to sleep with it, too. When they are raped, they receive the stigmatization that comes with it, and are shunned by their husbands. The very husbands for whom they brave the uncertainties of the outside world for, to fetch water or find food, easily cast their loved ones away in the face of prejudice.

There are no cards for a woman who has survived a horrific assault on her body and mind. There are no teddy bears or balloons proclaiming “Get Well Soon.” Sometimes she reports her ordeal to the police, sometimes she can’t. Sometimes her attacker is brought to justice. Sometimes he, or they, are not.

A woman who lives beyond her attack is a survivor; the word “victim” only adds to the degradation her rapists inflicted upon her in the first place. As a survivor, she can help the many women who came before and the many yet to come.

The presence of a survivor implies the presence of observers. Observers exist to take in information, and based on their reaction to that information, may turn into activists, advocates, or simply choose to remain passive.

On a holiday like Valentine’s Day, where we invest millions of dollars as Americans into cards, flowers, and candy, it would behoove us to cease being observers and start using this day of affection as a reason to share our love and compassion with the women and girls of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.  After the cards to loved ones have been posted, send a card to your Congressman or Senator insisting that the conflict has not been resolved, and the American government must raise its objection to the systematic rape of women and girls in DRC. Organize events in your church, synagogue, or mosque that raise money and awareness. High school and college students can publicize their outrage in campus groups, public debates, school news programs, radio shows, or annual benefits that raise proceeds. Last but not least, there are organizations like this one.

Women in War Zones was founded to use media and the arts to give faces to the survivors of the conflict. The organization has also made the process of getting involved simple yet effective. The Five Steps allow observers to become activists and advocates immediately. One could even tailor the Five Steps into a Valentine’s Day tradition. Give five cards, boxes of candy, or roses to your five favorite people. With those cards, candy, or roses, include a note that highlights your passion for helping women and girls in DRC, and express your hope that the receiver of your message will share it with five of their friends.

It’s simple.

It’s effective.

It’s an act of love.

Marta Rusek

Every Monday, the WamuWomen Committee meets to talk about various issues within the community. The committee is comprised of ten women who participate in the programs offered at Wamu. These ten women serve as representatives for all the women and girls who come to The Wamu Center. The topics discussed at meetings can range from current events in the community, sharing the needs and concerns of the women, to training sessions on various subjects, those being practical or academic. Currently, we are working with the women on doing a series of discussions on rights, Monday’s topic being, human rights.
The conversation began with a simple, or maybe not to simple, question: What are human rights? The room fell silent. My eyes traced over each woman sitting in the circle of chairs. Each  pair of eyes darted down toward the floor and out the window, hands twiddled with the papers and pens that sat in their lap. We sat awaiting a reply. In the silence a pair of giggles slipped out from two of the women. “There is no right or wrong answer”, the translator repeated in Swahili. “Can you repeat the question?”, Mama Zawadi asked. After repeating the question and pulling some teeth, the group slowly began sharing their thoughts. If
there’s something, Congolese women are not used to, is people asking for their opinion, especially when it comes to topics like human rights.

Over the following two hours, the group erupted into discussion as we moved down a list of designated human rights. Here we are, talking to a group of women about their rights as human beings. It became obvious no one had ever told them, things like, you have a right to life, equality, and a fair trial. A question is posed to the group, “Human rights are free and equal, what does it mean to be equal?”

Mama Zawadi’s eyes get big and and she leans forward, pointing toward Dominique and I. She’s laughing out loud as she speaks. I don’t need to know Swahili to understand what she is saying. Murhula translates anyway, “She says Westerners are not equal to Congolese.” Why do I feel like he has phrased this delicately? “Yes, Mama Zawadi, superficially we are different, but we are all humans with skin, bones, and air in our lungs. According to that standard we all have human rights regardless of race, religion, color, origin or sex. She agrees that this is true.
As we move down the list, the women begin to react more. We come to the right to life. A woman speaks out, “What we have here in Congo, cannot be called life. While we are breathing, our neighbors are being killed.” She goes on, “We want to call government, but we do not have government. The government knows the rebels who murder our families and burn our homes. The government does not do anything to the rebels for what they do. No one is held responsible. No one is punished for what they do to us.”

“So, you are saying, life is more than just basic survival?”

“We have pain every day and no one pays attention. No one stops it. We have never seen liberty.”

“If people do not respect your rights, does that mean you do not have them?”

“Yes, we do, but the government does not play its role to respect those rights.

Mama Bushnyuha is probably in her late twenties. She does not excel in English classes, most likely due to a lack of confidence, but she is always smiling to herself. I rarely hear her speak out, but she begins talking quickly and authoritatively. She is pointing her finger towards the ground. For several minutes this goes until I see tears forming in her eyes and her voice cracks just slightly. She stops speaking, folding her arms, falling back into a slump in her chair.

Mama Bushnyuha, tells a story. She describes a family that is visited by rebel soldiers, although she didn’t specify, I can tell she is talking about her family. The rebels charge into their home and order the father to have sex with the daughters, when he refuses they order the sons to have sex with the daughters, when they refuse, still they order the sons to have sex with the mothers. Finally, the rebels open fire. She explains, “We do not receive that respect here. They do not respect our rights. The UN does not protect us.”

Each woman in this group knows a story like this.

We move on to Slavery. The women explain slavery is when a soldier obliges you to do things you do not want to. The question is posed: How do you make sure people respect your right to freedom?

“We are put in slavery by our husbands”, Mama Zawadi says half smiling.

“How do you make sure your husband respects your freedom?”, Dominique responds.

“I can tell my husband I want to go to The Wamu Center, but he can still say no.”

“How do you maintain your freedom in your own home?”, Dominique repeats.

The women all start chattering. “A family should be birthed from love, but after the children are born, the husband leaves you to take care of them, then he comes home and demands food.” The women are partly joking, but the conversation turns serious quickly. “If we don’t do what he says, then he will beat us and kick us out of the house with the children. If you have children it is better to remain enslaved. We have to. I may know what is right. I may know my husband shouldn’t beat me, but when I tell him this, he will kick me out of the house and then I will have nothing.”

Another woman, Natalie, our librarian, chimes in, “It is not a person who enslaves us. It is our culture that maintains our slavery.” I’m shocked by her response. “Our culture does not allow you to choose, but men know, when women are educated we will protest their will.”
Natalie continues, “When a mother isa slave, the children will also be slaves, because their mother never had the opportunity to teach the children about their rights. As mothers, we must understand our rights, so we can teach our children to understand their rights.” Natalie’s understanding of the relationship between her culture, education, the cycle of poverty and oppression makes my jaw drop. Clearly, this girl is brilliant.
In the beginning of our discussion, the women all stared unknowingly around the room when asked, “What are human rights?”, but as they spoke, what they expressed suggested the deep understanding they had of just the opposite. Their experiences and reactions say they know exactly what human rights are, more so than most people who learn about them in a classroom. These women have never had the priveledge of a government or community reassuring them, yes, what is happening to you is wrong and your instincts are correct. Your and anger and hurt is justified.

However, it is through a dialougue on their rights, they can confirm their beliefs. Through a discussion, they realize, I knew more than I thought I did. Despite, a society that tears at their will to survive, these activities do just the opposite.

I know the problems in the DRC are much larger than any of the individuals that are sitting in this room. They are much more complex than what our discussion has even begun to scrape over. I also realize I cannot offer solutions to fix all of the problems here, but luckily, I can offer a place to come and think. A place to feel some kind of comfort through the support of a community. Maybe it is these discussions that are the beginning of a bigger solution, not one that will happen today, tomorrow, or the next day, but one that will empower and educate a population on what the treatment deserve as human beings.

Marie J. Targonski-O’Brien

Even as the trials of Lubanga, Katanga and Ngudjolo draw to a close before the ICC, there is a very pertinent issue glaring one in the eye- what about justice for the victims of the major conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo? The frugal attempts at creating a system of domestic justice to cater to the victims of one of the worst wars since World War II have fallen through on several occasions. The people of DR Congo still live a life peppered with uncertainty and encumbered with the painful burden of the aftermath.

In August, this year, there was a meeting amongst the members of the Congolese Senate with a singular item on the agenda- the lengthy list of legislative proposals that hope to deal with the gap in the country’s reform process, and with the continuing impunity for the genocide encompassing an astounding five million victims.[1] Two hours after, the parliamentary committee concluded the inadequacy of the proposal put forward by the government to the effect that a Special Court would be established towards prosecuting international crimes, and recommended a revision of the same. An unwritten agreement on the issue, though, screamed its presence hoarse between the lines: that the Senate would not, and could not do the needful for the issue before the elections were complete. In black and white, this meant just one thing. In all its five years as the authority in charge of the government, nothing has been done to deal with the needs of the Congolese citizens. The country is ambitious, though. It has stepped into the shoes of Democracy, but without the laces of justice- justice to its own people, to every one of them who were victims of war crimes, and to every one of them who bears the scars of the aftermath of what could possibly be genocide.

This last move has been the cherry on top of a messy pudding of failed and desultory proposals from the government’s end, aimed at putting an end to impunity for international crimes. The International Criminal Court made its entry into the state in 2004, setting the ball rolling by trying a few higher ups in the hegemony of perpetrators. This was strictly a prosecutorial move, not beyond setting a punitive sanction on the top-notch offenders. It was clear even before it began its sessions that it was not a justice-delivering authority, but rather one that worked with the established legal order prohibiting international war crimes, and accordingly prosecuting these crimes when they are committed. The immediate responsibility to ensure and safeguard the core value of justice falls on the domestic criminal justice system, entirely according to the rules of complementarity as dictated by the Rome Statute of 1998 that brought the International Criminal Court into existence.[2] Almost a decade has passed since DR Congo acceded to the Rome Statute, but the complementarity element still remains unfulfilled. The domestic judicial hierarchy has let the people of DR Congo down, as even today, only a few trials take place to bring criminals to book for their perpetration of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Seeing as how the country tried to reignite the fire of democracy- that it had its own pitfalls in the journey is a separate issue altogether- there was some room for hope that there would be some improvements in the situation. But the bull was not taken by the horns as it should have been. The stage was set perfectly for the infusion of international justice. In October 2010, the United Nations had come out with a Mapping Report that documented the most serious violations of human rights and international humanitarian law committed within the territory of DR Congo between March 1993 and June 2003. The report almost nearly kicked up a fight when it brazenly exposed Rwanda’s move to lobby before the UN, seeking the removal of the term genocide in the report. The report classified the crimes in DR Congo as latently qualifying as genocide if proven before a competent court. Despite the caveat that made proof before a competent court as a prerequisite for the recognition of the war crimes as being tantamount to genocide, it offered considerable momentum in the struggle against impunity in the war-ravaged country. Almost immediately after that, the domestic front was bustling with a renewed vigour to bring into reality the long overdue reforms. The Rome Statute’s implementation legislation came into place almost just as quickly, as part of the Parliament’s agenda. Strangely, though, legislative debates in this direction were conspicuous by their absence. The draft law seems to have the right perspective, though, aiming to make considerable amendments to the definitions of “international crimes” under the ambit of the Congolese criminal law, and to reform the justice system by bringing in civilian courts with powers to try international crimes instead of military tribunals. Other procedural improvements were also suggested, hoping to bring in the expected international standards under the fold of applicable law in DR Congo.

The implementing law was under heavy debate in November last year, which suggested a considerable measure of distrust of the international community, and a general level of misunderstandings as regards the role of the Rome Statute. The final product that was deemed admissible wound up coming through after several amendments. For the most part, it was symbolic, with frugal importance on the practical front. This move is just the tip of the iceberg, an iceberg that’s large enough to encompass a lot more in the legislative and executive process, and of course, the judicial process in the coming days. Over time, there have been more changes included in the script of the draft legislation, as shortcomings have begun to be identified and worked upon gradually.

There are a lot of things that need to be addressed- the participation of international staff in the courts, the rights of the accused to be guaranteed in accordance with international standards and a strongly drafted legislative scheme propping up a witness participation and protection program. Juvenile prosecution and creation of separate juvenile courts, segregation of crimes by grade for the purposes of trial and punishments and the establishment of jurisdiction in the hands of the civil courts are also amongst major issues that need to be addressed. Of these, the most significant is the jurisdictional prowess of courts, for they must be empowered to handle cases all the way from 1990 up until now.

Considering how DR Congo wants to continue on the path of democracy, it is particularly strange that the country’s leaders are refusing to take the initiative to create specialized courts for the sake of bringing criminals to book for the commission of international crimes. It is terribly strange that a country doesn’t want to bring justice to its people. Of course, there is more to this than just nonchalance- a heady mix of resentment, misunderstanding and deep distrust. It is hoped, though, that the new government (although headed by the same person as last time) could see prudence in bringing in a system of domestic judicial establishments to handle the crimes committed in the country. Implementing reforms relies mostly on the country itself, and its ability to make a choice between remaining couched in a situation where history repeats itself and evolving beyond its past mistakes.

Kirthi Jayakumar

They say that the war in DR Congo has been the worst war ever, since the Second World War.

And they’re totally right.

Sexual violence is unfortunately a prominent feature of the conflict in DR Congo, dating back to its beginning in 1998. During the more than 10 years of conflict in Africa’s third largest country, women have suffered immeasurable horrors: gang rapes, torture, sexual slavery, sexual abuse and harassment. These practices were adopted by armed groups as their preferred weapon.  Rape is horribly cheap, easy and extremely effective.  Armed groups rape to terrorize and control women and communities and to humiliate families. It is calculated, brutal and absolutely bereft of humanity.

Women, after suffering at the hands of such brutes are never the same again. They need every straw of hope they can find, to clutch on to, to revive their lives, to move forwards.

Make a difference this Christmas. Donate to WiWZ and help us help these women. All you need to do, is to lend a helping hand.

Kirthi Jayakumar

The Democratic Republic of Congo seems to be at the jaws of another civil war, even as it attempted to sincerely live up to its name with the infusion of democratic elections for the post of the country’s President. DR Congo is Africa’s second largest country and has gone through the turbulent turmoil of a protracted civil war, and till date, its women bear horrible stigma for being rape victims, and the country remains torn in a state of disarray. When democratic elections were announced, there seemed some semblance of hope for the country’s potential political turnaround. However, after a one-day long election was stretched to fit into three days, and after the defeated candidate’s antagonism to the election results, this hope is slowly diminishing to a minute, glowing ember of a flame that has been. Etienne Tshisikedi, who represented the Union for Democracy and Social Progress, was defeated in the election, and is not willing to come to terms with the loss. Victory was in the hands of the incumbent, Joseph Kabila, who represented the People’s Party for Reconstruction and Democracy, with 49% of the votes in his favour. In all of DR Congo’s history, this election is the only second democratic process. However, the electoral process was far from easy- there were infrastructural issues, transport was frugal, bad weather kept the UN aircrafts from carrying ballot papers to the more remote regions. Post polling, counting was delayed owing to staff shortages. Bags stuffed to the gills with ballot papers ripped apart in transit. There have been plenty of observers who expressed their doubts vis-a-vis the credibility of the polling process in DR Congo. A resounding 30 million voters also elected a 500-seat parliament, comprising over 18,000 candidates standing in a multi-member plurality electoral system. Politics in DR Congo is far from stable or peaceful. Though Tshisikedi called for peace, the obstinacy over the outcome is clearly suggestive of a possible civil war. The war that started in 1998 lasted until 2003, and the after-effects have remained till date. Over five million people died. Ethnic tensions were severely exacerbated when other countries and international corporations manipulated warring groups for access to the conflict minerals. DR Congo in some parts is still under the control of militias. 18 people were killed in the recent election, with poll-related clashes. Over thousands of people fled across the river Congo to the Republic of the Congo. Kabila is willing to use the army for party purposes, while tear-gas was used to disperse the supporters of the opposition. When these elections were held recently, the world around was different. Back in 2006, donor states had pumped in funds to the tune of $460 million and approved the dispatch of the largest-ever U.N. peacekeeping force. However, this time around, only rhetoric has been offered. The UN mandate allows intervention only if DR Congo requests it. It’s not surprising, therefore, that the international community will remain inert if another civil war breaks out.

Kirthi Jayakumar

Four months ago, I chanced upon a tweet from Women in War Zones that in the days to come, would change my perception of life.

“Hey guys! We’re recruiting design and creative interns! About to launch an exciting new season!” It read.

I was intrigued. Here’s this organization dealing with two things I’m most passionate about. Women’s Rights, and in War Zones. I decided to jump in, and enthusiastically sent out an email. In about an hour’s time within my email, I heard back. Welcome, they said. We have these many opportunities, so do apply for the one you’d most like to work on.

So I wrote back, with the customary copy of the resume, two writing samples, (because I wanted to write for Women in War Zones), and then waited with bated breath and crossed fingers. Then I had the interview via Skype. And then, the rest is history.

I started off with blog posts about women in war zones globally, and then began writing up on women in Congo, and their plight. And with each post I wrote on the plight of women in, I shed tears as I spoke of the tales of some women; I fought verbally when I asked people to join up; I criticized in the hope of goading into action; I prayed fervently for a tiny light at the end of the tunnel; I joined thousands of women in Congo as they hoped for change. I grew as a better person, even if I say so myself. Four months later, I have learned to be a better person. I have learned not to take the little simple things in my life for granted. Agreed, I come from a country that figures in the first five of the list of the worst countries in the world to be a woman. But I’m one of the few in the luckier segments of society, and I want to reach out to someone who needs to come on to this side of the line.

Why Congo? Many people would ask me. You’re Indian, no? Why don’t you do something for the Indians around you? I have just one thing in answer. Why NOT Congo? I put the human in me first to reach out to the human there in distress. I put the woman in me first to reach out to the woman there, in trouble. I put the heart in me first to reach out to the heart out there, beating in hope for a better future. Many such humans, women exist and hearts beat world over. No doubts, No denials. But the why not outweighs the whys. Why NOT DRCongo when the whole world has ignored its plight? Why NOT DRCongo when it should have been, all the time? A state where women have been raped, sexually assaulted and left bereft of a life. The women are left with a million pieces scattered all over, and all they can do is to find them, one by one and pick them back up. But for most women, this was, and is terribly difficult. Where can they find the resilience to evolve from the ashes? Stigma leaves them pockmarked. Families spurn them for no fault of theirs. Who can they go to?

What Women in War Zones is, is nothing short of a god send. Combining the prowess, talents and acumen of people all over the world to reach out to women in Congo, here’s an organization that doesn’t just deem the women their “beneficiaries”. Here’s an organization that lets these women talk, and tell the world their tale. Here’s an organization that doesn’t just stop with helping these women for now, but empowers them for a future that is going to be, without doubt, BRIGHT. Here’s this organization that finds peace amongst the ashes, and helps these women rise and bloom like phoenixes. I’m grateful, really, for having been able to work with WiWZ, in whatever little capacity I could.

As my fall internship draws to a close, I’d like to thank the following people.

• Dominique Vidale-Plaza: For every moment of inspiration I have derived from you and for all the faith you have in me.
• Marie Targonskie O’Brien: For the lovely person that you are, for all the guidance you’ve given me, and for all the faith you have in me.
• Scott Blanding: For the brilliant human being that you are, for all the kindness you’ve shown me, for the faith you’ve had in me, and for that extra half an hour that I have
• Tyshi Maith: For every fun moment we’ve spent together, for travel plans that we are still supposed to be making
• Akindele Rockson, Alex Upton, Wenjin, Valentina, Caroline: For being an awesome set of people I enjoyed working with!

Kirthi Jayakumar

In my last post, I’d written about the “Responsibility to Protect” DRCongo and its people, particularly, its women. This post is an expository version of the same idea, in pursuit of putting DRCongo in the cusp of world attention and empathy, amidst other contemporary events.

Around this time, last year, the world slowly awoke to the prospect of Self-Determination in the Middle East. The skin of Dictatorships was throbbing as the veins of protest under simmered with the drive to overthrow despotism and replace the defective governmental system with Democracy. The world watched as the first domino collapsed, with Tunisia’s Jasmine Revolution. The second domino shook precariously and finally fell, as Egypt sent Hosni Mubarak out of his post. The third domino took much longer to rock- as a dictator’s iron fist clamped down on his people, eventually ending with his bloody end. Even as I write, so many more dominoes are shaking.

In another part of Africa, a hunger crisis sparked by geographical vagaries and fuelled through relentless efforts of a faulty governmental policy has left Somalia broken. The world is focussed, sending aid, supplies and food in all the proportions it can afford. South Sudan entered its much sought after status as a “state”, and is handling its own brand of crisis, with world attention that empathizes with the cause. But even as Africa takes beating after beating in its Stomach- the Democratic Republic of Congo- no one seems to hear its cries.

Statistics show that the present conflict in DRCongo is the world’s deadliest, since World War II. And the Second World War was horrific- concentration camps, plunder, pillage, Hiroshima and Nagasaki and Pearl Harbour. Imagine a situation worse than that? Hurts? Seems impossible? Seems too much of an exaggeration? HARDLY.

The very situation that the world is ignoring is the ground reality for the common person in DR Congo. Out of every 100 children born in DR Congo, at least 8 won’t reach their first birthday. The life expectancy of a person in DR Congo is a meagre 46 years. And this simply hits one hard truth home- that the average Congolese would die far earlier than any of his counterparts across the world.

Sexual violence is outlawed in the international community- Be it through resolutions, humanitarian law, women centric laws or human rights law in general.

A humanitarian crisis that has left the country bereft of any semblance of a normal life has been ignored by the world at large. Rebels have raped so many women, that putting an estimate to it would be impossible. Women were violated so many times, with so many objects like knives and bayonets. The perverse violence manifested itself doubly when the military came on the scene to fight the rebels. But they were no protection. The hand that rocked the cradle pinched the child. The troops raped the women, too. And this trend isn’t over.

Nothing in the statistics is an exaggeration. The condition of these women is truly as it is explained. These women have had their lives spliced in half, their dreams shattered into a trillion pieces. The spine of the Congolese society has been cracked. The fabric of society has been shred into shards.

The world has all the resources it needs to deal with the situation in DR Congo. Diplomacy, Finance, Economic Sanctions- you name it, we have it. But we’ve been the WORST criminals in this journey with our crime of complicity, through our terribly loud silence.

Kirthi Jayakumar

Violent attacks and heightened fear of the Lord’s Resistance Army have left people in the eastern provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo feeling isolated and vulnerable. The LRA is an anti-government guerrilla group formed in Uganda more than 20 years ago, and now active in DRC, as well as South Sudan and Central African Republic. Its leader, Joseph Kony, is one of the world’s most wanted war criminals.

Have a look at this video:

Congo villagers gripped by LRA terror

Sourced from The Guardian

The Responsibility to Protect, endorsed in 2005 during the UN World Summit, essentially calls on the international community to use all “appropriate diplomatic, humanitarian and other peaceful means … to help protect populations from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity.” This responsibility to protect is proactive and continuous.

When a whole country is faced with turmoil, where women are raped, children are unsafe and men are forced to choose between harming and being killed, isn’t there a Responsibility to Protect?

Strangely, the world has been stunningly silent in questioning the non-invocation of the doctrine to handle the situation in DRCongo. Over 6 million DRCongolese civilians have died, and statistics reveal that as many as half of the death toll comprise children. It has been a whole 15 years since this horrific scheme of events began. Over 400,000 women have been raped. As mentioned by the American Journal of Public Health, on an average, 48 women are raped per hour in DRCongo, and the toll of women who were victims of sexual violence in 2007, toll up to about 4,000,000. Women are afraid to speak up, to speak out and to be heard. Elections are held from time to time, but women are afraid to participate for fear of being subjected to horrors for their campaigns of denouncing the horrific sexual violence that is being perpetrated by and large in the region.

DRCongo is in shambles. Women wear scars of sexual violence- the worst weapon of war. The people of DRCongo still find themselves picking the pieces of their broken lives. The story of the lives of these people would shock anyone’s conscience. The absence of justice and attention is nothing short of shocking. The world was completely deaf to the pleas of the people in DRCongo. Unarmed ordinary people were dying. Women were raped. The country’s backbone was shattered. But the world was quiet. Deathly quiet.

Is this because the world is too apathetic to the situation? Or is this because the world has decided to remain indifferent?

Here’s what a day in my life looks like: I get up at 5:00 am, attend to a bunch of morning ablutions. I then workout for an hour, some mix of cardio, weights, kickboxing, step aerobics, yoga or pilates. This is followed by a shower and a quick prayer, and then I watch a half hour of the Simpsons or The Office, wolf down my breakfast and sit before my laptop and pound on the keys for a great part of the day, taking a break at 12:00 noon for a steaming mug of tea, and another at 1:30 for a delicious lunch. Then I get back to work, sometimes involving meetings via Skype and note-taking from lectures online, which I take a break from for dinner, and then wind up the day with a book to read.

And I complain I haven’t time for myself.

Here’s what a day in the life of a girl in DRCongo looks like: She wakes up early in the morning, prays, cooks for her family if there is still some food left, cleans her house and goes out to work. She goes out to bring water and firewood, she takes care of her farm, cooks an evening meal- which, for most families is perhaps the only meal in the entire day. She spends her day taking care of her family. For some girls in DRCongo, even this is not possible if they are victims of rape- their families drive them out for fear of the stigma, and since she “serves them no purpose anymore”.

But she doesn’t complain at all.

The thin red line that sets my counterpart in DRCongo apart from me holds a world inside it. I have my blessings, but I refuse to count it. Her blessings have been snatched away rudely, but she looks forward to some from the God she worships. I have the good fortune of being blessed with an education, with an opportunity to work, with a family that cares, but I still whine for things I don’t have. Education, work and a family was rudely snatched from her. In that thin red line, she taught me valuable lessons. The lesson of resilience, the lesson of hope, the lesson of being grateful for what I have and the lesson of being giving.

When I started out in the process of scouting out internships, in all frankness, it was a resume-building exercise in pursuit of bigger opportunities in the future. But that’s when I found Women in War Zones, and as clichéd as this may sound- my life changed, or at least, the way I looked at life changed. Today, I make sure to reach out to every means I can reach out to help the women in DRCongo- be it through writing or through GoodSearch or through getting people to support WiWZ. But for me, that’s still not enough. It is a very personal thing, but I want to seek out those nameless and faceless women in DRCongo who taught me so much, I want to show them my gratitude, and do everything in my capacity that I could possibly sum up, to help them get back on track with the lives they want to live.

Kirthi Jayakumar