Diana Buckhantz, JWW Board Member, is traveling with four other JWW delegates in Congo’s eastern provinces. They will work with survivors of the country’s decades-long conflict, which has claimed nearly six millions lives. They will meet with JWW’s partners on the ground, with whom JWW works to create innovative programs and projects that change lives and transform communities.
A woman in the LAV Carpentry Workshop
There are days that fill you with hope — with a hope that the world will one day wake up and become accountable for all the violence and hate. A day in which inspiration reigns and true heroes show themselves.
Today was one such day for me in Congo. We spent a very long day today with two of our partner organizations, each of which is working to provide a new life for former child soldiers and young women who were abused by the armed groups.
We first visited “>BVES (Bureau Pour le Volontariat au Service de L'Enfance et de la Sante). BVES is another amazing program, created by Dr. Murhabazi Namegabe, to save and rehabilitate boys who were abducted by the armed groups and forced to become child soldiers and girls who had also been captured and forced to become sex slaves. In one of his two facilities, Dr. Namegabe houses these young women, many of whom were impregnated by their rapists and are now raising these children and orphans whose parents were killed or who were somehow separated from them – children found wandering alone or in pairs after the devastation had abated.
The facility is bare bones and cramped. The girls sleep in bunks with the babies, and there is no place for the children to play except a dusty cement area. On our trip in June 2013, Dr. Namegabe told us that his dream was to buy land outside the city where the children could be safe and play like children should — a home with grass and a garden and fresh fruit and vegetables. With Jewish World Watch’s support, Dr. Namegabe has just purchased this land and is beginning construction.
It is so moving to me that we are able to help this true hero of the children of Congo manifest his dream. In providing a better place for these kids, perhaps we are taking a small step towards helping to improve the future for these children and as a result, the future of Congo. I am so grateful to be involved with an organization that has found such remarkable partners. It is impossible not to be hopeful on a day like today.
