April 12, 2009
March 30, 2009
Stones of the Golden Women
The Stones of the Golden Women: A-Bombs, a Tsunami and a Hackberry Tree Define Art at P.E.N.
By Georgianne Nienaber
original content at
OEN 
On August 6, 1945 at 8:15 am the United States dropped the first
atomic bomb on Hiroshima. One kilometer from ground zero, a hackberry
tree in the gardens of the Hiroshima Army Hospital was seared by
radiation from the blast and half of the tree vaporized. The tree was a
favorite of patients at the hospital, who would sit under its
sheltering branches as they recovered from the wounds of war and life.
The Hackberry miraculously survived the vaporous hell and stood as a
silent witness to the horror of Hiroshima until 1984, when it suffered
a direct hit from a typhoon, produced a few leaves the following
spring, and finally died in 1988.
It is February 2008. My
friend, Susan, and I are attending the final wrap party for a
conference on Culture and Natural Disaster in Tokyo. “Screamed,
Survived, Start Anew,” is the theme of the Japan P.E.N. club’s
sponsored event, which has attracted writers and musicians from around
the world. They have just spent five days presenting their work and
discussing human responses to the fury of nature. Every participant at
the conference has produced a body of work that speaks to the essence
of humanity in the face of the unspeakable.
The memory is
indelible. My hand is on my friend’s shoulder while I struggle to keep
my knees from shaking as the remnants of the Hiroshima hackberry tree
become an instrument, and the haunting notes of Amazing Grace fill the
banquet room. It is a private concert, composed of an audience of two.
We are both literally leaning into the tones— a sound that seems to
suspend reality into a moment when all time and suffering and
redemption are distilled into the purest strains of music one can
imagine.
Famed Japanese musician Kurotaro Kurosaka had
graciously responded to my request to please play the kokarina (flute)
he carved from the hackberry that survived the A-Bomb. The sound is
clear, beautiful, indescribable, but filled with power. It shreds the
heart and cuts to the soul and to hear it is to never, ever, forget it.
I am like a greedy lover and ask him to play it again—and he
immediately obliges. Bowing, smiling, he puts the wood of the ancient
hackberry to his lips again, his unruly shock of hair falling across
eyes that are closed, absorbed in the beauty, the moment. Eyes filled
with tears, because the release from the beauty, the power— was
required.
Listen here.
The
soul of Kurotaro consumed every room he entered, and certainly the
concert hall, known as “Space Zero,” where the bulk of the P.E.N.
presentations unfolded like beautiful, complicated origami. Kurotaro is
an unassuming man, and his face will never grace the cover of a
celebrity magazine, but that concept is born in American definitions of
“culture” and “art” which are bastardizations of truth and beauty.
The
International P.E.N. conference has reaffirmed an unexpressed feeling
that Americans have been consumed by monotonous “art” that fills the
galleries of uncounted seaside tourist traps, music stores, and
honky-tonk strips that pollute the vast American coastline and interior
lake country resorts. Art in the United States has been reduced to a
concept of “Americana” that is self-serving at best and a monetary
rip-off at worst. Throw some paint on a canvas, write sloppy music,
find an agent or a well-heeled sponsor who thinks they can make a buck,
and you are well on your way to American “celebrity” and “artistry.”
Kurotaro’s
hackberry tree kokarina supported a literary presentation, “Stones of
the Golden Women” at the P.E.N. forum and defined the essence of truth
and beauty—the expression of which is the duty of the writer and
artist. Fraud, shape shifting, celebrity narcissism, the quest for
money, and deception—all have no place in art.
Novelist Khwaiyun
Lukjan of Thailand narrated his description of the tsunami of December
26, 2004, when the Adaman Sea devoured the landscape of Thailand in
Phang Nga Province on the island of Phuket. The tsunami surged numerous
times as set after set of waves ebbed and flowed a distance of over two
kilometers inland. Not a building, not a tree survived.
“When
people meet with major catastrophe, we throw away the self-image that
has been created to protect ourselves in our regular lives and lay bare
the self essence residing in the deepest recesses of our hearts,”
Lukjan narrated.
“There was only one thing on my mind at the
time. To live. No matter what happened I had to overcome it without
fail. To survive was the only thing I was thinking about.”
He
described himself as “a small ant—drifting in a giant sea,” and from
this perspective the story of the “Stones of the Golden Women” was born.
The
title of the work describes a devastated Moken Village, Hin Nang Thong,
and the quest of a man (Lin) to find the body of his wife and mother of
his child, so that he may put her spirit to rest.
The Moken are
known as the “people of the sea, or sea gypsies.” Their ancestors
arrived in Thailand thousands of years ago from southeastern China,
entering the ocean from Indochina. The Moken numbered only 3,000 in the
American-dominated tourist areas of Thailand before the tsunami, and
their history and culture was literally overrun and ignored. They were
truly “an invisible people,” in the words of Lukjan.
The Stones
of the Golden Women is a place name that describes a wide stretch of
coastline where rocks and stones littered the beach and shellfish were
once bountiful in the shallow coastal waters—shallow waters that by
their very nature gave lift and power to the tsunami. Shellfish are an
important food for the Moken, and Moken women inhabited the beach for
this reason. No one standing there survived the 2004 tsunami.
Lin’s
wife, Sonporn, whose name means “wishes come true,” left their home on
the morning of December 26, 2004 to gather shellfish at the place of
the Stones of the Golden Women and never returned. Lin was reduced to
bitterness and alcoholism and his relationship with Sonporn’s father
was destroyed—“violent waves still battering their respective hearts.”
Finally, Lin tells the narrator that his wife appeared to him in a dream.
“I went to Khao Lak and got lost, and now I can’t find my way home,” she said.
Lin
says, “She was looking for me to help her. I want to look for my wife.
I want to find her body. I want to bring home her bones.”
During
the recitation of this story, the pure tones of the A-bomb hackberry
tree filled the auditorium at Space Zero. So did the heart and soul of
the musician and flute-carver Kurotaro as the narrator continued.
The
narrator described how the pain of loss seared Lin’s heart as surely as
radiation seared the hackberry tree. Lin lost his emotions as well as
his will to live. Lin became like the shellfish clinging to the shores
and stones at Stones of the Golden Women. The shellfish were dislodged
and upturned during the tsunami and left to die and burn under the
South Seas sun—irradiated and demolished.
I came to believe that we are all Moka. The word means “human beings.”
How
many of us have stood ancient and strong in spirit through incredible
challenges, only to be felled by an unexpected typhoon of physical or
emotional assaults or betrayal? The challenge comes when we pick
ourselves up and whittle away to find the core of our existence, shape
it, reform our lives and go on to make beautiful music that originates
in our core--the soul. Sometimes we can accomplish this on our own,
sometimes it takes an angel or two to salvage what is left of us after
we experience our personal disasters, and sometimes love is all we need
and love is forever elusive.
The expression of that struggle and
triumph is the true stuff of art. And true art is also elusive. Beware
the individual who calls himself/herself an “artist.” At the P.E.N.
conference, all contributors were known simply as “participants.”
There
were six Americans at the P.E.N. conference in Tokyo. “Music” and “art”
conferences are a billion dollar business in America and attract
hundreds of thousands of participants. What have we Americans
contributed that is of any real value, when we are defined in the rest
of the world by celebrity culture? It is an audacity, irony, and
affront to the human spirit that some “art” in the United States is
known as “Americana;” especially when one considers that the American
A-bomb almost destroyed the essence of the hackberry tree that now
fills auditoriums with the strains of Amazing Grace.
Scream. Survive. Start Anew.
Amazing.
Recent Africa Investigations
Reports From South Africa Focus on Crime While Ignoring History
By Georgianne Nienaber for OEN NEWS
In the rural areas of Africa the people's lives and histories revolve
around their communities and connections with people, the land and
tradition. To people living in Africa, white and black alike, the land
is not exotic, wild or foreign, it is "home." And home does not always
provide safety and comfort.
read more
Sloppy Forensics Cloud Verdict in Murder of Journalist Serge Maheshe
The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) supported the
acquittal of two friends of Radio Okapi journalist Serge Maheshe who
were accused of taking part in his murder. However, IFJ said in a press
release that there were "irregularities" in the trial which precluded
discovery of who, exactly, was responsible for Maheshe's murder
read more |
Recent Congo Publications
1. It is with great dismay that the CNDP was informed
from the DRC’s official media about a press release signed by the Inspector
General of the Congolese National Police, General John NUMBI. This communiqué
was largely relayed by national and international media and was announcing, on
behalf of the coalition of the DRC’s armed forces (FARDC) and the Rwandan
Defense Forces (RDF), the arrest, on the Rwandan territory, of Major-General
Laurent Nkunda MIHIGO, the CNDP’s Chairman and Chief Commander of its armed
wing, the ANC.
2. The CNDP's political leadership would like to take
this opportunity to express to the national and international community, its outrage
and sadness for what appears to be an unjustified arrest from the highest
Rwandan military authorities. In fact, Major-General Laurent Nkunda MIHIGO
responded spontaneously to their invitation in order to talk about the
implementation of the IHUSI/Goma statement on the stalking of the FDLR. Thus,
he went to Gisenyi/Rwanda through a regular itinerary in the Congolese
territory, secured by both the FARDC and the ANC/CNDP; the axis
JOMBA-RUTSHURU-KIBUMBA-KABUHANGA.
3. At this stage, the CNDP's political leadership has no
information and clarification on the purpose of a such procedure a the very
time when a peace process under the supervision of the United Nations, African
Union and the International Conference of the Great Lakes Countries was
underway in Nairobi between the CNDP and the Congolese Government for the
peaceful resolution of the crisis in Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.
4. The CNDP’s political leadership reminds the national
and international community that the disarmament of the FDLR/ex-FAR/
Interahamwe who created insecurity both in the DRC and Rwanda is a shared goal.
Therefore, the Movement has willingly agreed to take part in the operations
designed and conducted by the Congolese and Rwandan coalition. Its
participation was expressly authorized by the ANC/CNDP’s Chief Commander,
Major-General Laurent Nkunda MIHIGO.
5. The CNDP’s political leadership calls on Rwandan
authorities who facilitated the collaboration between the FARDC and the ANC/CNDP
in this agreement on joint operations against the FDLR / ex-FAR / Interahamwe,
to show more responsibility in ensuring neutrality and impartiality as it has
to be in every international mediation. It would be incomprehensible that one
of the parties to the agreement against the genocide actors be concurrently the
target, as it seems actually to be the case.
6. The Movement’s political leadership wants particularly
to ensure that solidarity and cohesion of its members, both in civilian bodies
as well as military units remains unwavering and that their loyalty to
Major-General Laurent Nkunda MIHIGO, Chairman of the Movement and Chief
Commander of the ANC, remains total.
For the Political Leadership
Serge KAMBASU NGEVE G.M
Executive Secretary
VIDEO INTERVIEW WITH LAURENT NKUNDA (2 of 6)
VIDEO INTERVIEW WITH LAURENT NKUNDA (1 of 6)
Laurent Nkunda: The Other Side of the Story
I was completely surprised upon meeting National Congress for the Defense of the People (CNDP) General Laurent Nkunda that his first words to me were to describe me as a “nature writer” who was in Congo to protect the gorillas. The General had obviously done his homework on me, but had no clue as to my personal and moral evolution regarding humanitarian issues in DRC since 2007.
Western media has fabricated an image of Nkunda as an eccentric warlord and murderer who is to be despised and feared. Nkunda is a military leader and military men kill. Nkunda admits that war has its consequences. Every army in the history of humankind has been responsible for atrocities, and citizens of the United States need look no further than Abu Ghraib. Who is ultimately to be blamed?
An underground resistance movement arranged the interview with Nkunda. This movement is not populated with wild-eyed freedom fighters, but rather by serious professionals and government officials who believe that Nkunda offers the possibility of hope and change for a country riddled with corruption.
Aussie journalist Helen Thomas, an American medical doctor and a former member of the RPF army, joined me in entering rebel controlled territory. The most difficult and stressful part of our entry was a Ugandan border check where an inebriated Ugandan official demanded $50 each to guarantee our “safety.” After much arguing and discussion, a call came from “Chairman” Nkunda that we were his guests and should be allowed to pass the short distance to the Congolese border, where we were met by well-trained and disciplined officers of the CNDP army. This was obviously no rag- tag group of freedom fighters. CNDP “Captain Sahara” met us with a polite “bon jour” and assisted our crossing into Nkunda’s 21,000 square kilometers of territory.
Entering the rebel stronghold was far less intimidating than entering the United States Coast Guard monitoring station at Carrollton Avenue in New Orleans, Louisiana.
At no time while under Nkunda’s rule did we feel frightened or threatened. On the contrary, I can say that I am absolutely terrified of the regular Congolese army (FARDC), which controls Goma and points north and west. This is not an investigative report, but suffice it to say that we received many instances of personal testimony describing harassment and shootings by the FARDC. A human rights worker told how the windows of his aid vehicle were shot out by a uniformed FARDC solder riding a motorcycle on the pulverized tarmac that passes as a “road” through the spine of Virunga Park. The same aid worker said he felt safe while crossing into CNDP held territory.
Refugees related stories of being chased from their homes by “soldiers,” but could seldom identify which army. In one instance in FARDC territory north of Goma a woman said she was “chased by Mai Mai,” and in one other instance a woman said she was “told” that it was the CNDP that attacked her village, but that she “never saw them.”
Congolese president Joseph Kabila rules through intimidation and fear. His army (FARDC) is undisciplined and guilty of many more atrocities than the allegations leveled against Nkunda. Kabila is clearly exploiting the wealth of Congo as much or more than Mobutu did, yet Western interests, including the United States support him. Dan Rather recently did an excellent report “All Mine,” which is available for $.99 on iTunes.
Human Rights Watch has also condemned the suppression of free speech in DRC under Kabila. (reference)
We have heard again and again that Kabila owns homes all over the world, including a mansion in Malibu, California. Instead of persecuting Nkunda, perhaps the New York Times might want to do an investigative report on this.
In CNDP held territory, villagers were in extreme poverty by Western standards, but had gardens, pigs in the yard, flowers growing, and they happily waved and shouted as we drove along the road cut by Nkunda’s army. Villagers were engaging and offered none of the blank, sullen stares or frightened responses one gets in FARDC controlled sectors.
As far as Nkunda is concerned, human rights groups will have fits of apoplexy as I report that he was completely appropriate in demeanor. I cannot judge the man, but the medical doctor who was with us remarked that Nkunda exhibited no grandiose, narcissistic or paranoid traits. He is certainly charismatic and one must always be on guard when in the presence of charisma, but my impression of Nkunda is that he is a man who has dedicated his life toward the liberation of Congo from foreign interests, graft and corruption.
Nkunda was surprised when I told him about the distorted photos that accompany articles about him in the Western media. Weird angles, harsh shadows and imaginative prose by writers intent upon furthering writing careers, rather than journalism, have dominated the New York Times and other western print media.
Nkunda was courteous, engaging and welcoming. As the dirt floor flooded during the course of our interview, Nkunda became concerned for our gear and equipment. This was hardly the reaction one would expect from an imperious warlord. Was it a snow job? I doubt it. He seems serious about reaching out to Western interests. And I am not ashamed to say that I enjoyed our informal conversations after the interview. Why? Because I found a human connection that involved serious concern for the people of Congo.
I shared dinner with the man as an intense Virunga thunderstorm raged outside of the open-sided rondeval with a shredded tarp from UNICEF providing the only buffer from the wind. We talked politics, family life, and shared a pleasant conversation..
Eating dinner with the general (photo by G. Nienaber)
I am ashamed to know that some American journalists who provide reports that shape world opinion have been too frightened to enter Congo to see with their own eyes and hear with their own ears.
It was horrible to learn from sources in Rwanda that a noted US reporter was terrified to meet with Nkunda. Instead, he paid for information, instead of accepting an invitation for an interview as we did.
Journalists should be witnesses. We should tell the story. We can use our gift of turning thoughts into words to describe the conditions we encounter in the world. Let the politicians and think tanks determine policy. If we are able to present a clear picture, perhaps the politicians will be forced to act in the name of humanity.
What should I say when a member of the resistance comes to me and asks with tears in his eyes, “Why won’t journalists tell the truth?” I heard the phrase “we are crying,” many times from Congolese.
We were invited back to visit at any time. And Nkunda had a request. Would I try to bring a Congolese American to visit with him?
Then, there was the final question. Would the new Obama government listen to what we reported with an open mind for the Congolese? I replied that I was very small but that I would shout in a loud voice on behalf of the Congolese people. I also told him that I did not know how I would do this.
Nkunda told me, and I will never forget this, “Don’t worry about what you will do. You are “doing” now. By coming here, by speaking on behalf of the Congolese people when you write about the conditions in Goma and in the camps, by speaking openly about this, you are doing. You are doing.”
*********
TIMELINE:
January 3, 2009: Australian Journalist Helen Thomas and I meet with General Laurent Nkunda in occupied territory. We spend over six hours with him. Nothing seems unusual in terms of stress or concern on the part of his troops. Peace talks are scheduled to begin in four days in Nairobi. The CNDP Commissioner of Foreign Affairs, Rene Abandi, joins us for discussion. Abandi is scheduled to be at the peace talks.
January 5, 2009: While in Goma, rumors begin to surface that Nkunda has been removed from power of the CNDP. Sources from within the CNDP tell us this is not true. We wait.
Western mainstream media picks up a consistent drumbeat castigating Nkunda. The stories originate in Dakar, and Kinshasa. No one is reporting this from our location.
January 12, 2009: Posting from Dakar, Senegal, the New York Times said, "Disagreements over tactics and power have split the once seemingly invincible Congolese (CNDP)."
Nkunda vehemently denied the NYT article in a phone interview with us.
One thing is clear. The Congolese Regular Army (FARDC), under President Joseph Kabila, attacked the CNDP in August 2008, and quickly lost ground despite superior numbers. The attack shattered a tentative peace agreement. The NYT account supports BBC reports that Nkunda is fighting off an attempt to topple him by CNDP faction leader Jean Bosco Ntaganda.
"This is absolutely not true," Nkunda said from his location in north Kivu Province in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
Nkunda said that Ntaganda was "unable to move more than one kilometer from his home," and was surrounded by CNDP forces. Nkunda estimated that Ntaganda had "as few as 36 soldiers" with him.
January 19: Rwanda announces a “joint operation” with DRCongo that has been agreed upon since December 2008 in which troops will attempt to disarm remnants of the Interahamwe in eastern Congo. Leaders of the FDLR are responsible for the genocide of 1994. Nkunda has said all along he is protecting his people from attacks by the FDLR.
Thomas and I are no longer in country and must rely upon emails and phone conversations with sources on ground in Congo.
One source close to the CNDP described a meeting which took place in Gisenyi, Rwanda in which the CNDP, Ntaganda, Congolese General Numbi and “others Rwandese and Congolese staff were invited.”
“In that meeting the chief of Staff of Rwanda told our high commander that there was a plan and they must be part of it and for that they must accept Ntaganda as their chief of staff. It was an order and it wasn't negotiable. And they said that General Nkunda must be removed as the chairman of CNDP and that they won't deal with him.
“Of course our high commander refused at first to sign the document which was already prepared, but the Chairman (Nkunda) told them to sign and they did so.
“The chairman is in danger because he has an army which is loyal to him and as long as he is around the plan can't be carried out as they want.”
Apparently there was a deal between DRC and Rwanda that no one in the Western media has reported.
Sources say Rwanda assured Kabila that Rwanda was capable of destroying Nkunda. They tried to accomplish this by installing Ntaganda as head of the CNDP, but the plan fell apart when the CNDP army remained loyal to Nkunda.
Sources say Ntaganda was given $250,000 and promise of amnesty from his indictment by The Hague for war crimes.
Rwanda sends 3000 soldiers into DRC.
Another source, not connected to the CNDP, described the situation.
“In all honesty, I just don't know what is happening at the moment, and I suspect it wasn't exactly planned.
“Like so many things over here, it's basically quite messy.
“I think Nkunda has taken a slight hit, because he was not able to quell Bosco's (Ntaganda’s) insubordination, but as far as I can tell, he is still very much in the driving seat of CNDP, but he's obviously going to have to make some compromises if the Rwandan and Congolese governments are behind Bosco's initiative.
“It was reported that MONUC have been blocked out of Rutshuru, but that's not actually true. For now everything is very calm, but we're bracing ourselves. A major coalition assault on the FDLR may well be in the pipeline, but I can't believe they'll actually succeed in bringing them in.
“We're quite worried about the consequences, in terms of insecurity, but at a very superficial level, I can't help hoping that something good may come of the fact that CNDP, FARDC and RPF are together, if it means the fighting will stop and the IDPs can return to their homes without getting attacked.”
January 23, 2009: From source close to Nkunda:
“I know you've heard the news that the Chairman has been arrested, that is not the truth but he came by himself to Gisenyi last night to meet the Chief of staff of Rwanda. He is at Gisenyi in a hotel but anything can happen. Although the option of arresting him will be a huge mistake because there will be a terrible fight between CNDP and RDF and FARC. “
Inside a Congolese IDP Camp
Huff Post Writers Go to Congo and Tell the Story from the Ground up
The
following interview was obtained with General Nkunda at his compound
three days before the BBC reports of his ouster. To date, Western media
reports have been very unfavorable to Nkunda and the CNDP, including
accusations of mass rapes and killings.
February 08, 2009
The Song of the Midwives
|
The Congolese people say their abundant mineral resources have been a blessed curse, which have bought nothing but war, violence and corruption to their country. Peace agreements for eastern Congo signed in 2007 and 2008 have been broken. All parties have committed acts of violence and abuse against civilians. This is the story of the people affected by the conflict and what they are doing to try to improve their lives.
The current conflict in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo has displaced more than one million people. Fighting between armed forces cause thousands to flee their villages and seek safety in refugee camps. The story of the Congo is complex but the effects of the on-going struggle are felt by thousands who live daily with the instability.
Producer, Helen Thomas journeys to the Mugunga II refugee camp, a few kilometres west of Goma, the main city centre in the east of the Congo. She's come to the camp with members of a local non-government organisation that helps women in the Congo.
The landscape of Goma has been scarred by the eruption of the Nyiragongo volcano seven years ago. Here at the refugee camp, cemented-lava spreads across the entire site. The refugees' huts are made of sticks and plastic and are built on a foundation of sharp stones covered only with blankets.
The fighting in the eastern Congo is affecting everyone. But girls and women are the most vulnerable here. Human rights groups say they've never found as many victims of rape in conflict situations as they've found in the Congo.
Armed forces are legally bound to stop rape and punish soldiers for such crimes but no one is held accountable here. All the armed groups, including the Congolese army itself, are accused of committing massacres, torture and rape of women and children.
The current conflict in the Congo is occurring in North and South Kivu, along the country's eastern border. It has its roots in the war of 1998 to 2003 - the largest war in modern Africa. This deadly conflict saw almost four million people lose their lives, most died from disease and starvation caused by the war. Even though the war officially ended in 2003, fighting continues and it's believed 45,000 people are dying every month.
The eastern part of the country borders Rwanda, Uganda and Burundi and this is where most of the Congo's resources can be found: copper, diamonds, gold, manganese, uranium, zinc and the world's biggest reserves of cobalt and coltan, a rare metal used in mobile phones and laptops.
Hundreds of millions of dollars leave the country from the mining of these minerals and Australian companies are among those who benefit. The irony is that despite the abundance of natural wealth found here, the Congo remains one of the poorest and least developed countries in the world.
A man who claims to be
fighting for the rights of Congolese people and for the future
development of the Congo, is General Laurent Nkunda. Until recently,
Nkunda was leader of the multi-ethnic rebel army group, Conseil
National pour la Défense du Peuple.
Helen Thomas and an
American journalist colleague were the last reporters to interview
Nkunda before he was apparently lured into Rwanda and arrested for war
crimes allegedly committed in 2004. The Congolese Government has been
trying for many years to capture Nkunda and break the strong-hold of
the CNDP in the east. Like everything in Congolese politics, there are
many versions of the story of Nkunda's so-called arrest.
Back in Goma, Helen and her colleagues are taken to a local medical centre. Health care in the Congo is severely under-funded. This medical centre receives no funding from the government and relies on patient fees to stay open. But given that most of its patients can't afford to pay for healthcare, it's severely lacking in the medical equipment needed to offer a proper healthcare service. Patients are transferred to the government hospital for emergencies but the doctor says it also is poorly funded.
The medical centre works in conjunction with their translator Omer's organisation, the Action for the Promotion of the Midwives. The doctors and midwives work together to encourage rural women to come to the medical centre to give birth. Not only are they battling the affects of war but maternal and infant mortality rates that are among the highest in the world. AIDS decimates the country.
Omer's organisation has trained 102 midwives since it began in 2001. The midwives work in the refugee camps around Goma and travel to remote villages, often walking ten, twenty, sometimes thirty kilometres, to reach the women. They work with the constant threat of rape.
What everyone in this story hopes for is simply peace.
Story Researcher and Producer
Helen Thomas
January 29, 2009
January 26, 2009
January 24, 2009
January 21, 2009
January 20, 2009
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April 2009
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Thoughts
- They dressed the wounds of my poor people as though they're nothing...saying "peace," but there's no peace. --Sinead O'Connor (Theology)
- "If you are humble, nothing can touch you, neither praise nor disgrace, because you know what you are." --Mother Theresa
- I swore never to be silent whenever and wherever human beings endure suffering and humiliation. We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.
-Elie Wiesel
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