Congo in Crisis and What Happens Next?

I sit down in front of the computer this morning and reread my blog from yesterday - anger once again washes over me - after anger a feeling of helplessness - what can I do - thousands of miles away from the problem - an incident that occurred years ago but is still having ramifications as the women and children who were infected, if they are still alive that is, struggle today to deal with both the world around them and the effects of the virus.

I google the Congo and see that a new hospital is open ing later this month. Dikembe Mutombo, a NBA superstar who grew up in the Congo but currently lives in the United States, donated $15 million toward building the hospital near Congo's capital of Kinshasa. The NBA center hopes to continue his work by recruiting 100,000 donors to help cover the facility's operating expenses. For the full story from USA Today on Houston Rockets center history of charity work in the Congo click here.

There is an article on an area in remote parts of Katanga province in the Democratic Republic of Congo called the "triangle of death". The killings and suffering are so widespread here that residents have given the area this chilling title. Hundreds of people have been brutally killed and more than 150,000 have fled their homes. Local residents of the area described to the Human Rights Watch how they were trapped between the abuses of a local defense group called the Mai Mai on the one side and those of the Congolese army on the other.

There is an election going on in the Congo right now and half the votes have been counted so far. Much violence has led up to this historic election and much change is promised should either side emerge victorious. I wish I knew enough about the contenders to give my opinion but I must admit I do not. I do know that it is the country's first free election in over 40 years. I know that many of the large human rights organizations have high hopes that this election will signal the beginning of the end for much of the violence and many of the horrors that innocents have experienced leading up to this event.

As I continued to read my googled pages, I came across an article that gave me some hope in regards to future of the women and children who were raped by Ugandan rebels in 1998 and 1999. An organization called Medair has been working hard to help the many victims of sexual violence in the Congo by providing both medical and psychosocial support. Their work is mostly focused on the Ituri area in the Democratic Republic of the Congo but accessible to anyone in the Congo who needs them.

From what I read about Medair, I see that they are a non-governmental organization (NGO) independent of any political, economic, social or religious authority. In the spirit of neutrality it would seem that its international headquarters are based in Switzerland. Its mission is exclusively humanitarian and it accomplishes its work in a spirit of dedication and solidarity, inspired by traditional Christian values.
Medair's objectives are to respond to suffering victims in war and disaster situations (especially those which have been forgotten or neglected) through various kinds of emergency and rehabilitative projects. Medair employs 50 people in Switzerland, United Kingdom, Germany, France and Holland. In the field, 120 full-time expatriates help populations in difficulty, with the support of 1600 local employees.