The conflict, and its effects on civilians, is not quite abating in Fizi Territory.

The village of Mboko is situated about halfway down on the road between Uvira and Baraka. Mboko is sandwiched between Lake Tangayika, immediately to the east, and the mountains of the Moyen Plateau, which rise up to the west. The area of the Moyen/Haut Plateau to the west of Mboko is infested with armed groups, most notably Mai Mai militias, the FDLR, and Burundian FNL rebels.

SOS FED has one center in Mboko, providing services to survivors of sexual violence. The Mboko center has seen some rough days, especially when the surrounding area was a battleground between the Congolese military and various non-state armed groups in the mid-late 2000s. The Mboko center staff had noted that starting in end of 2010, the situation around Mboko was relatively calm due to FARDC actions that pushed the zone-of-combat away from the main road. However, that is now starting to change.

On August 3rd, armed men stopped and robbed 2 vehicles in the village of Ilila, about 15 minutes north of Mboko. In the incident, 7 women were raped; these women went to the MSF hospital in Baraka. There is no official confirmation as to the affiliation of the armed perpetrators, but the word around the area is that these men belong to a Mai Mai militia based in the Moyen Plateau just above the area.

On August 15, armed men (again, presumed Mai Mai) attacked civilians working in their fields near the village of Senza, just south of Mboko. About 13 women reported being raped in the attacks. SOS FED Mboko center manager Mariamu Bashishibe tells me she and her staff are making all effort to reach the survivors and provide them with assistance. In addition, several NGOs in the area, along with local authorities, are working together to help those who have fallen victim to these attacks.

In the month of August, the SOS FED center in Mboko has received two women from a village near Ilila that were attacked and raped in their homes by presumed Mai Mai assailants.

There are many more reports of attacks in the area, with rumors of alarmingly high numbers of rapes, but I am waiting for confirmation from several sources before I report on these other incidents. Please stay tuned for more in the coming weeks.

In general, it appears as though attacks on civilians on the Uvira-Baraka road are starting to pick up, particularly close to Mboko. According to people I spoke with in Mboko, the Mai Mai have successfully infiltrated the villages and seem to raid at will. What is the possible reason for this escalation in rape, pillage, and violence? The Mboko center staff connects the escalation to the general reduction of FARDC troops in the area since the braçage process started earlier this year for units based in Mboko. Earlier this year, the Mboko-area FARDC units went into braçage for training/re-equipment/re-organization. However, their units have returned back to Mboko in fewer numbers than before. While the reduction of total troop numbers in the Kivus is a positive change, especially considering the massive amount of human rights violations committed by the FARDC, the continued presence of armed groups such as the Mai Mai, FDLR, and FNL means that civilians will continue to suffer as non-state armed elements simply move into areas left empty by the FARDC.

The confused FARDC presence, paired with an almost total lack of effective MONUSCO troop presence in Fizi Territory, is making things rather easy for armed groups that wish to prey upon the civilian population. While the rest of Congo is supposed to be moving forward in terms of peace, security, and stability, Fizi Territory remains stuck.

Child with fish in Fizi Territory

Child with fish in Fizi Territory

On March 23, I attended my first CTLVS (Commission Territoriale sur la Lutte contre la Violence Sexuelle) meeting at OCHA headquarters. Up until that day, the Uvira CTLVS had 25 member organizations; however, my presence at the CTLVS meeting added SOS FED to the roster, making the final total 26.

The CTLVS is meant to be an official entity that coordinates the efforts of local NGOs working on SGBV (Sexual and Gender-based Violence) in Uvira and Fizi Territories. There are four sub-clusters under CTLVS, each headed by a member organization that specializes in that area:

-Judicial (Arche d’Alliance)

-Medical and Health (l’Hôpital d’Uvira)

-Psychosocial Assistance (PSVS)

-Socioeconomic Assistance (ASJPED)

Currently, the CTLVS is collaborating with UNFPA on a data-mapping project, trying to get a clearer picture of incidents of sexual violence in South Kivu, so better response efforts can be coordinated. One member organization, Arche d’Alliance, is charged with collecting information on incidents of sexual violence recorded by each member organization. However, it was clear at the meeting that this information was not being given to Arche, even when someone was sent around to each member organization’s office to collect it. The CTLVS director, Mme Bernadette Ntumba, expressed her frustration at the lack of cooperation. The reason given by some of those present at the meeting was “on n’a pas des moyens” (“we don’t have the means”).

Two days prior to the main CTLVS meeting, I attended a scheduled meeting for the sub-cluster concerning psychosocial assistance, at the headquarters of PSVS. I was surprised at the low attendance; besides a PSVS staff member and a secretary for another local org called AJID, I was the only other person in attendance. When I inquired why so few were attending a scheduled coordination meeting, Ms. Aimée Birindwa, the PSVS focal point, told me that it was hard to motivate member organizations to send people to meetings. Why weren’t the other local organizations motivated enough? She told me what I have heard from countless organizations: “on n’a pas des moyens” (“we don’t have the means”). The story over and over again in South Kivu is one of missing financing, not enough money to keep things running. However, there is never a shortage of NGOs that work on building peace, assisting victims of sexual violence, educating communities on SBGV, and building economic activity. Quite a few of the directors of these NGOs have bulging waistlines, travel on enormous per diems, and are building three-story houses in Uvira. Who am I to believe?

Perhaps this warrants a closer look at the economics at work in South Kivu.

Since Mobutu’s “Zairieanisation” in the 1970s, the economy of Zaire/Congo has been in a state of rapid decay. The war starting in the 1990s shattered what remained of economic activity and security in places like South Kivu. Most people in South Kivu have been poor and oppressed since colonial times, but the war and continuing insecurity means that there is little hope at the end of the tunnel. It is a little astounding to hear older people talk about how things were “better” during the Mobutu Era.

Even today, peasants flee their fields at the sound of gunfire. Internal displacement and the disruption of agricultural activity have had severe effects on public health and food security. The education system is in shambles and the roads are non-existent. Mineral extraction and smuggling has enriched the pockets of fat politicians and generals from Kinshasa to Kampala to Kigali and back, while fighting over these mineral resources continues to breed insecurity in the regon.

So, what is one source of income that continues to trickle into South Kivu? Aid money, development money, financing for humanitarian assistance. Granted, the deep humanitarian crisis in Eastern Congo merits attention, and I believe we have an obligation to help alleviate suffering and fight for social justice in one of the most troubled regions of the planet. However, it appears that money coming to South Kivu from international donors seeking to help the Congolese has created an atmosphere rife with competition, corruption, and deception. There is amazing work done by dedicated individuals in South Kivu, but there are also those who only seek to line their own pockets, whether out of desperation or greed.

Thus, you have two stories: NGOs that do little more than serve as ATMs for their corrupt directors, and NGOs that have decent projects but can’t find the financing to sustain them. There are many shades of gray between these two extremes; some organizations are very functional and do decent human rights work, but still use some of their financing and resources in ways that are improper and somewhat unethical. Some of the local NGO elite, especially up in Bukavu, are internationally recognized for their previous work and are therefore well-financed, but when the mzungus aren’t looking, they engage in some fairly dirty tactics to make sure that other local NGOs do not cut in on their action. Some organizations have good projects and some financing, but refuse to cooperate with other organizations doing similar work.

So, NGO work has become a business in South Kivu, at least for some. The sad reality is that such corruption and disregard for ethics from some NGOs are what discourage a lot of international organizations from taking a chance on good NGOs in South Kivu. Conversely, some local NGOs want the financing from abroad, but none of the required oversight that may accompany it. Since there are many local NGOs and few sources of funding, competition and jealousy overpower most efforts at cooperation. There is a corrosive mutual distrust, which ensures confusion and inefficiency. This is not a condemnation of either all Congolese NGOs or all foreign donors. The aid game is tricky, and all of us in the humanitarian assistance/international development community are still trying to figure out a better way of doing things. The history and simple economics of a place like South Kivu have created such a situation, and it is our job to be better informed and keep up the work, not to give up.

This is not new news to me; Ned Meerdink had to deal with the machinations of the bad NGOs for years, including when I was here in 2009. In Haiti, I had plenty of exposure to the corruptions of even the most well respected NGOs and religious organizations. With my background and experience, I think I can objectively state that SOS FED is not one of the “bad NGOs”. However, it is always tough to remain on the straight-and-narrow in a place where the good guys often finish last.

This is not a diatribe against anyone in particular; in this forum, at least, I will refrain from naming names. This is also not meant to be a grand commentary on the state of international development and humanitarian assistance. For that, you can go talk to high-minded economists like Bill Easterly, Jeffrey Sachs, Paul Collier, and Dambisa Moyo. In the meantime, here at SOS FED we will start faithfully submitting our monthly data to the CTLVS.

Uvira, South Kivu, DRC

Uvira, South Kivu, DRC

Today Amisi, Marceline, and I are getting together a list of supplies we will be sending down to the centers in Mboko and Kikonde. This list includes basic necessities such as rice, beans, cooking oil, and soap. Thanks to these staples, survivors of sexual violence can take time to recover in the physical and mental safety of the centers.
Despite the fact that women provide the economic backbone of the Congo, it is horrifying to think that many are barely able to sustain themselves and their children. This is particularly tragic in the case of rape survivors. Rape carries a strong social stigma for women in Congo, and therefore the consequences in such socially centered communities are devastating. Women who are raped are often rejected by their communities, and even by their families. Some women at the centers will tell you about their husbands kicking them out of the house after they were raped. These women are falsely labeled as “prostitutes”, and because of the social stigma, they are often unable to participate economically in their community. Some of these women end up becoming prostitutes, as being already labeled as such means that it may be the only economic option available. Thus, what does a woman do to provide for herself and her children? She may end up selling her body, even after it has been ravaged against her will.

Of course, prostitution is widely available throughout this part of East Africa, especially since men don’t really have to worry about any social consequences for their sexual behavior. Abortion? Forget it, a woman can be thrown in jail for even saying she wants an abortion. Contraceptives? Only if the man agrees to it. A saying among a lot of men around here is that “you can’t taste the lollipop without removing the wrapper”. Translation: condoms are for suckers.

In this war-torn and politically unstable region, it has been an all-out war on women’s bodies, both in the form of rape and in economic terms as well. The message seems pretty clear: a woman’s body does not belong to herself, but instead to the man with the gun or the man with the fat pocketbook. The total breakdown of law and order and the nature of the war allow for this culture to germinate, as it would happen anywhere in the world under similar circumstances. Honestly, there is nothing more infuriating about working in the Congo than having to think about these realities.

This is why the SOS FED centers are so vital to building peace and equality. Women can recover without starving or selling their bodies. They can cultivate communally, harvesting produce in tranquil fields among others who have shared their experiences. They will have an income, through which they can buy soap and cooking oil themselves, and send their children to school. These women can return to their communities through interventions from the reintegration staff; they will tell their community leaders that these women should not be shunned.

Soap, rice, beans, cooking oil. We will pack it onto a big fuso (transport truck) and send it down into Fizi. When the harvest for beans and manioc occurs, we will get a fuso to bring the produce up to Uvira so the women can sell it at a higher price. The women of the Congo endure.

Congolese women in Baraka, Fizi Territory

Congolese women in Baraka, Fizi Territory

On Februry 7th, Amisi, Marceline, and myself made our first official field visit down into Fizi Territory, visiting the SOS FED center in Mboko and visiting with the managers of the SOS FED Kikonde center. We had to meet Sangho and Mimmy, the Kikonde center managers, in the town of Baraka, as the road to Kikonde was too close to some recent battles between Amani Leo troops and opposing elements of the Mai Mai.

In order to get us all down there, we hired a motorcycle and driver to carry Marceline. Our driver was named Hali, which in Swahili means “The Situation”. I explained to Amisi and Hali that there was a famous American TV star that went by the same name. When they inquired what the American “Situation” did on television (actor? musician?), I had a really difficult time explaining to them that he was not a talented individual, but just famous for being stupid. Alas, the cultural gap.

The road into Fizi can only be described as bone-crunching, but scenic. Most of the way it follows Lake Tanganyika’s shoreline, and as one goes further and further into Fizi it feels as if the jungle is swallowing you whole. All the towns kind of look the same, with the same signs (bearing the painted logos of various international NGOs) proclaiming some development project (clinic, school, etc.) that has since fallen into dilapidation. We passed by small markets where women sat by vegetables, oil, and piles of ndagala (fry-sized fish) swarming with flies. We also passed many women hiking back from their fields, shouldering heavy loads of produce or firewood. Most of the men we passed were leisurely sitting in the shade, chatting and glaring at us when we passed by.

I first visited the SOS FED center in Mboko in the summer of 2009. This time around, there is a new lupongo (fence) built around the center to shield it, and the outdoor kitchen finally has a roof. I was very glad to see Mariamu Bashishibe, the center manager, and her assistant Chamulungo. We met for an hour or so, talking about plans for 2011, and got an update on how many women had come to the center in the past month, how many therapy sessions they held, etc.

We left Mboko after a while to get to Baraka before dark. Once in Baraka, we checked into the Hotel Pili-Pili (“Chili-Pepper Hotel”), and then we hustled off to meet Sangho Laliya, the director of the Kikonde center, and her assistant Mimmy.

Sangho and Mimmy reported that the Kikonde center had already received 14 women in the month of January. Two of these women reported that they had been violated by Amani Leo troops in Fizi town during the infamous mass rape of January 1st. Through word of mouth, these women had heard that “SOS FED is there to help you”, and had trekked to Kikonde. It was encouraging to hear that SOS FED has such a reputation all over Fizi Territory, even if I find it extremely sad that in this time of unprecedented “peace”, SOS FED’s services are still in very high demand.

On our way back, we stopped at Mboko again to visit a hectare where beneficiaries were cultivated miyogo (manioc). The field was surrounded by squat palm trees, the air buzzing with the calls of exotic birds and the harsh whine of insects. It was hot and humid, and you could almost feel things germinating on your skin. As the women tilled the green-brown earth, they talked to each other in loud voices, joking and gossiping. Indeed, it was clear that the therapy aspect of SOS FED’s services extended beyond group therapy sessions at the centers. Here in the fields, I saw women working together, talking together, healing together.

We showed women photos of the completed Ahadi Quilts, assembled by quilting societies in East Lansing, Michigan and Columbia, Maryland. The women were very pleased to see the results, happy that someone abroad was taking interest in the expression of their experiences.

The manioc and bean harvest is supposed to be sometime in March. Stay tuned for more.

Kitagi miyazi, rafiki yangu.  So, I am headed back to the Congo.  After three months of documenting and reporting on the work of several civil society organizations, I left Uvira in August 2009 with a bad case of dysentery.  However, the violence and oppression in Eastern Congo has never been far from my mind.  I have tried to keep track of the human rights situation in the region, and now I am presented with the opportunity to work with SOS Femmes en Danger, a courageous local NGO based in South Kivu province that assists survivors of sexual violence.  Over the summer of 2009 Ned Meerdink and I produced a mini-documentary that showed the importance of SOS FED’s work.  Now, The Advocacy Project, SOS FED, and Zivik are embarking on an ambitious risk-reduction campaign, helping women decrease the probability of attack and enslavement.  Ned Meerdink has been laying down the groundwork for this project for months, and now I will be switching spots with him for about 12 months or so.

Here are some news articles and reports that give some background on the current situation in the Congo:

-UN peacekeepers ‘failed’ DR Congo rape victims

BBC News article on Atul Khare’s report to the UN Security Council on shortcomings of UN peacekeepers in preventing sexual violence committed by the FDLR, highlighted by the August 2010 mass rape in Luvungi.

__________________________________________________________ Read the rest of this entry »

Amisi Pele, executive secretary of CEJEDER

Amisi Pele, executive secretary of CEJEDER

Meet Amisi Pele.  Pele is the executive secretary for CEJEDER, a local development organization that works specifically with children.  CEJEDER uses music, theater, poetry, and seminars to educate kids on their rights and their responsibilities.

“You can’t teach an old dog new tricks,” says Pele, “so we are focusing on educating children so that tomorrow’s generation can make things better in the Congo.

CEJEDER has a staff of seven part-time employees, but also works with local music and theater groups to spread their message.  They have formed clubs for children in Uvira and the surrounding villages.  CEJEDER plans events with the children’s clubs, wherein is theater, music, and poetry that is designed to inform and educate children on their civil rights and responsibilities.

“These children’s clubs are the seeds we are planting to grow up to be a strong new generation that will bring peace, equality, and justice to Congo,” says Pele.

Issues that are important to Pele include preventing domestic violence and forced marriage, emphasizing the importance of education, and teaching children to stand up for themselves when their rights are being violated.

“Since adults are not always willing to intercede for children,” says Pele, “we want to kids to learn now when their rights are being violated so they will be able advocates for themselves.  Hopefully this will also carry on into adulthood.”

A difficult aspect of Pele’s work is the lack of interest in children’s rights in Congo.

“Adults that decide to work on issues that affect the youth do not themselves see the benefits, so there is a lack of motivation on the part of adults to educate children on their rights,” says Pele.

One important aspect of CEJEDER’s work is on equal rights for boys and girls. Pele believes in gender equality in education and justice, as guaranteed by the Congolese constitution.  However, in reality there is a significant gap between boys and girls in school enrollment.

“In Congo,” says Pele, “Boys are sent to school and not expected to do housework, whereas girls are expected to work at home or in the fields with their mothers.”

Gender discrimination is not limited to education.  Domestic violence and neglect is frequently directed at girls.  In addition, if a teenage girl becomes pregnant, she is often stigmatized and thrown out of the house.  However, if a boy gets a girl pregnant, he can abandon her with impunity.  Pele sees this disparity in societal norms as breaking the law.

“If there are rights for one, there must be rights for the other.  Parents need to stop gender discrimination of their children if they want to see an end to the violence and poverty that has affected us for so long,” says Pele.

Young boy in Uvira

Young boy in Uvira

Since anyone under seventeen in Eastern Congo has only known war and massacres all their life, CEJEDER’s work is very important in building civil society from the bottom up.  Children have suffered a lot from the war; male children are conscripted as child soldiers, whereas girls as young as twelve may be kidnapped and raped by soldiers or bandits.  Women and children make up a disproportionate percentage of the victims of massacres in Eastern Congo.  Many children have been left orphans by the war, and have to fend for themselves or else live with relatives that may be already burdened with their own children.  CEJEDER’s work is made all the more difficult by existing societal norms and a lack of interest in the welfare of children.  We hope that Pele and CEJEDER’s work will bear the fruit of peace and equality in the next generation.

AP Fellow Ned Meerdink and a group of Congolese children

AP Fellow Ned Meerdink and a group of Congolese children

Congolese posters in French and Swahili demanding for an end to corruption

Congolese posters in French and Swahili demanding for an end to corruption

Tous les gens sont terrorizés

(All the people are terrorized)

This is what the reggae singer is screaming through Radio France International. I am writing this as my neighbors and I settle in for the night. You are not supposed to go out at night; you should not go to the bar. If you go to the bar in town, there will be soldiers there. Soldiers usually mean trouble. Back in the days of Mobutu, the soldiers complained to their supreme leader that they were not being paid for their service. Mobutu replied that their gun was their salary, their wife, their mother, their means for feeding themselves and taking whatever they wanted from the civilian population. Although Mobutu is gone, his statement is echoed in the actions of every armed faction running around Eastern Congo. Just about everyone you meet has been affected, everyone has a relative who has died in a massacre, at the hands of bandits, or from starvation or illness directly caused by the displacement of war.

This past week, an officer from the DGM (the Congolese immigration bureau) has been storming around Uvira with a policeman, looking to arrest me because I had failed to grease his palm. As I wrote about earlier, I was already forced to pay off the ANR to get my passport back, and I had registered legally with the DGM when I crossed the border. So, now I was forced to play cat-and-mouse because some fat bureaucrat wanted his beer money from the mzungu. I decided to go to the DGM and face the music, but thankfully Arche d’Alliance sent someone from their legal team with me. I was not arrested, but I had to fill out some more forms and pay a “paperwork” fee of $40. However, there is no future guarantee of protection, and the DGM might come after me again for more money. There is zero accountability, and the government in Kinshasa is deeply corrupt, so local officials feel they have a carte blanche to make up the rules to line their pockets. However, one must remember that no matter how bad things get for me, it is still a lot worse for the ordinary Congolese citizen. This is why the work of organizations such as Arche d’Alliance is so important.

If you are trying to rebuild civil society in Eastern Congo, you are indeed a brave individual. Creating a world of law, order, and harmony in an environment filled with bloodshed and corruption is indeed a daunting task. I greatly admire these people that are trying to move the mountain, one pebble at a time.

Bukavu, on the shores of Lake Kivu

Bukavu, on the shores of Lake Kivu

Ned and I recently returned from a short trip to Bukavu, trying to secure living arrangements and such for an Advocacy Project fellow that will be working there this coming month.  Bukavu is a larger city north of Uvira that sits on Lake Kivu.  There is but one good way to get from Uvira to Bukavu: taking a minibus, or agence.  The agences have colorful, distinctive names, such as Okapi, Arc-en-Ciel (rainbow), and Colombe (dove).

If you take the safer, less scenic route from Uvira to Bukavu, you travel through Rwanda for a short distance.  The differences once you cross the border into Rwanda are startling; in Rwanda, all the roads are paved and lined with cement drainage ditches.  Most of the rural towns have shiny new electrical wires running to all the houses.  Thus is the plunder of the Congo.

By the way, a visa to Rwanda is free for American citizens, but it seems that citizens of European francophone countries have to pay $60 to even get a transit visa through Rwanda.  My interactions with Rwandan border and immigration officials were cordial once they saw the American passport.  On a larger geopolitical scale…

After driving through Rwanda for about half an hour, you arrive back at the Congolese border and into Bukavu.  Once in Bukavu, the world descends into chaos.  Since it is the dry season, it is incredibly dusty, and a lot of things just do not work (electricity, roads, water).  Nonetheless, Bukavu is blessed with a mild climate from Lake Kivu.  If you squint just right, the hillside surrounding the lake looks like it belongs in Italy, and the houses look like idyllic villas.  There are also an abundance of natural gas deposits in the DRC-side of Lake Kivu.  The DRC extracts the natural gas and sells it to Rwanda; proceeds from the sale go to pad the pockets of the people in charge.  Thus, Bukavu is yet another city where you will not see the riches of the Congo.

Recommended reading: Africa’s World War by Gérard Prunier.  In his book, Prunier neatly dissects the conflict that has engulfed Central Africa since the Rwandan genocide of 1994.  Prunier’s book is very up to date (published in 2009) and gives comprehensive background information on all the countries involved in the conflict.  I find Prunier’s book to be an excellent and well-rounded resource to catch up with this conflict that the mainstream American media has largely ignored.