Help Heal Survivors of Sexual Violence in the Congo!

“Help Heal Survivors of Sexual Violence in the Congo!” failed to tip before the deadline, August 26, 2008

While studying for a Master’s Degree in English from Appalachian State University in from 1994-1997, I was first exposed to the violence against women in Sub-Saharan Africa via Alice Walker’s award-winning novel, Possessing the Secret of Joy, which portrays a woman who undergoes female genital cutting. Born and raised in rural Georgia, and having witnessed myself the multiple forms of violence against women and girls within my own culture, I was drawn to the plight of African women.

In 2004, I returned to graduate school at George Washington University, where I completed a dual degree Masters’ program (Master’s in Public Health and MA in International Development) to prepare myself for a life in the field in Africa working on gender-based violence programming for conflict-affected areas such as the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In 2005, I spent the summer in Guinea working on women’s health issues, and in 2006, worked part-time with the Reproductive Health Response in Conflict Consortium. For my final Capstone project at George Washington University, I went with two fellow students to Kibondo, Western Tanzania, to perform an assessment for the UNHCR of the multi-sectoral gender-based violence program in the refugee camps there. Last summer, I interned in Southern Sudan as a civil society capacity building assistant for local organizations, many of whom worked on women’s issues. Currently, I reside in Washington, DC, where I teach refugees at the Montgomery County Refugee Center and volunteer with the DC Rape Crisis Center and Hospice.

Deeply frustrated by how easy it is to find a career contributing to conflict, and yet so incredibly challenging to launch a career in the humanitarian realm, I have decided to take matters into my own hands. Although one would assume that three Master’s Degrees from well-respected institutions and a long list of internships and projects in conflict-affected areas of Africa would be enough to qualify one for a position in the Congo, this, apparently, is not the case. I need to acquire additional hands on experience in conflict-affected areas and gender-based violence.

Recently I received an offer to volunteer in Bukavu, Eastern Congo, working with Panzi Hospital’s Program for Survivors of Sexual Assault, recently featured on the HBO documentary, The Greatest Silence: Rape in the Congo. All across Africa, women suffer the most acutely from conflict—from brutal and repeated rape to homelessness, trafficking, social isolation, and poverty. This, in turn, affects the community and society-at-large.

Women survivors of war in Eastern Congo, who have suffered from brutal sexual violence by ALL armed groups, have had a particularly harrowing plight; unfortunately, their struggles have been largely ignored by the international community.

This is why I need your help—to launch a lifetime career serving women in Africa, starting with the Congo, affected by conflict. I’ve simply come too far to give up now, and I am not about to stop. I am asking for donations to help cover my expenses in Bukavu for while volunteering at Panzi Hospital. Any donations that you can offer would be greatly appreciated by myself and in turn the resilient survivors whom I will be serving during my time in the Congo.

I am asking for just 150 persons to donate $100.00, which would be enough to cover my airfare, pre-departure expenses, and living expenses in Bukavu for one year—if you can donate more, wonderful, and if you can only donate a few dollars, that would be tremendously appreciated.

Thank you for taking the time to read about my life’s calling and for supporting this incredibly important work.