The War Within the War

On their recent trip, Cardinal O’Brien and Paul Chitnis, SCIAF’s Chief Executive, discovered that the legacy of the Rwandan genocide still exists in the neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo. In the second part of this series, Paul discusses how conflict has shattered this resource-rich country.

The drive from Rwanda to the Congo was beautiful. Fields of banana and eucalyptus trees, tea bushes and sunflowers fell away at either side as the road wound higher and higher through the mountains. Soon the scattered villages were replaced with dense forest and instead of people shouting and waving greetings, little monkeys played quietly at the side of the road. The only people visible were soldiers manning solitary checkpoints.

After a two-hour drive, we arrived at the border and crossed into the Democratic Republic of Congo. Almost immediately we were struck by a material difference with Rwanda as the tarmac road came to an abrupt halt and we found ourselves on a dusty, pot-holed track. It was then a short drive into Bukavu which sits on the banks of Lake Kivu and where SCIAF supports a number of projects.

Despite the fighting in the Congo, Bukavu does not have any obvious signs of conflict. At the bustling market, people sell everything including tomatoes and second-hand clothes. Everyone is extremely friendly and welcoming, shouting greetings in French (the official language) or English. Yet the poverty is immediately apparent. Cardinal O’Brien said:

“It assaulted my every sense: the sight of starving children in dirty rags, the smell of fetid air in the cramped homes, the incessant plea of people begging and the almost tangible pain of women bearing gravity-defying loads up steep hills on their poorly nourished backs for 35 pence.”

The symptoms of poverty are rife: TB, malnutrition and prostitution. Average life expectancy in the DRC is just 40 years. In the last twenty years poverty has actually increased. The UN estimates that 73% of people are under-nourished, the highest proportion of any country in the world. One in five children under-five die before their fifth birthday, a figure that has not improved in a decade.

Against this backdrop of poverty also sits the violent legacy of conflict. The genocide in Rwanda took a heavy toll on the Congo. Rebels fled across the border and sheltered in the forests. Forces supported by Uganda also mounted resistance to the Congolese government. The prolonged fighting has helped to create an atmosphere of lawlessness leaving Congolese villages targeted by all sides and subjected to looting, kidnapping, killings, extortion and other abuses.

A report by Human Rights Watch states: ‘Within the larger war in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo the warring parties carry out another war: that of sexual violence against women and girls.’ SCIAF supports a project for women and girls who have been raped or sexually abused. With quiet dignity, many of them shared their stories with us: women who had been raped repeatedly in front of their husbands and children; girls who were kidnapped and then raped on a daily basis; a pregnant women raped by twenty men who lost her pregnancy and was left infertile.

Faced with such testimonies it is easy to feel helpless but the SCIAF –supported project offers physical, psychological and material support. It provides counselling, medical care and testing for sexually transmitted diseases including HIV. Community education programmes aim to reduce the stigma attached to being raped. Income generation schemes help women to rebuild their lives by enabling them to earn some money to support themselves and their families. The staff from the project also meet with political leaders and military personnel to campaign against rape and sexual abuse.

In a country where so many women have endured so much the stigma of being a rape victim adds another unnecessary burden. We were privileged to share a meal with women who bravely told us their stories. Their courage and dignity were inspiring. As we talked it became apparent that the SCIAF-funded project is making a massive difference to their daily lives.

Cardinal O’Brien said:
“I firmly believe that our visit helped people in this beautiful but troubled country to feel they are not forgotten in their daily struggle to survive.”

Published in the Scottish Catholic Observer, February 2004