It is, as of now, T minus one day until my departure to Bujumbura, Burundi. Amidst the preparations in muggy Washington, D.C., I am waiting with bated breath. This will not be the first time I visit this beautiful Great Lakes country. One of the few memories I have of my childhood in Africa involves a family vacation, a boat, seasickness and the famed beaches of Burundi.

The purpose of this trip is more harrowing than my first. In a few days, after arriving and setting up secure housing, I will meet Marceline Kongolo-Bice. Marceline is the founder of SOS Femmes en Danger (SOS FED), the partner organization in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) with which I will work. Marceline formed SOS FED after she fled her family home amidst the violence that claimed the lives of her father and brother. On the journey through Eastern DRC, Marceline witnessed rampant violence, including that against women, and developed a strong sense of empathy for survivors of sexual violence. At the young age of 18, Marceline, touched by what she had witnessed, formed SOS FED, an organization whose mission is to support the rights of female survivors of sexual violence in the Kivu provinces. Seven years after its inception, SOSFED has helped over 1000 survivors of gender-based violence.

The issue of rampant violence against women in the Eastern DRC has received an increasing amount of attention particularly in the last year. A year ago this summer, Secretary of State, Hillary Rodham Clinton, traveled to Eastern DRC in an effort to shine a spotlight on the sexual violence epidemic that has threatened Congolese women in the last decade.  I am traveling to this tumultuous region, along the same vein, in an effort to help SOS FED raise awareness on the issue about which they have worked tirelessly since 2003. Marceline, the women of her centers, and I will work together to make a quilt commemorating the sexual violence epidemic in Eastern DRC. Our goal is to collect approximately 100 tiles for the quilt and to collect profiles chronicling the women’s lives and their experiences. After the completion of the tiles, I look forward to bringing them back to the US for assembly and displaying the completed quilt to raise awareness about this very important issue.

The summer promises many adventures and many challenges. I look forward to starting this project and working with the inspiring women at SOS FED through the difficulties and triumphs that await us.