Congo

There's an article in this month's British Marie Claire about women survivors of rape in the Congo. It was one of those articles that I had to read in bits and pieces because the stories are so graphic. A photo they included stays in my mind--a woman whose skin is so mutilated with burns that she can't use her arms to do work anymore.

As I compare that article, in a fashion magazine of all places, to news stories of consumer spending and the economy, it strikes me that we are not really sane. If we were, the entire media and all government efforts worldwide would be put towards this problem of preventing further brutal rape. And then toward other pressing global and domestic issues, like violence and hunger. In a truly healthy society, I think we'd hit these problems with everything we've got--all the love in our hearts and all of our taxes. We'd move from the most devastating problems to the least, until mass genocides and rapes were unheard of. Nonprofits are doing work the government should, and sensitive editors in fashion magazines are putting forth stories that should be on the evening news.

There is a nonprofit I found that is dedicated to helping women in countries of war rebuild their lives, and one of those countries is the Congo. Women for Women International has received many accolades--CNN, Oprah, 60 Minutes, so it is trustworthy. They offer a woman-to-woman sponsorship program through which you can build a relationship with one of the women from these countries. I think you need to be female to be a sponsor, but men can make one (or several)-time donations. And for a really beautiful audio look at what is going on, here is Alice Walker's take.