Thursday, December 15, 2011

Is your phone rape free?

My eyes are red and swollen from crying and my heart is bleeding out. Somewhere in the world, since 1996, more people have been killed than during the Jewish Holocaust and there is a woman or a child being raped every minute. This tragedy has largely, blatantly and purposefully been ignored and attempts to unveil it have been hushed. However grass root movements are slowly springing out all over the West to denounce the privileged public financial and logistic support that perpetrators of these horrendous crimes have been getting from our dear Uncle Sam (and other Western nations) in the name of natural resources.

 Please watch this very sad and shocking short video...


It's funny how they had to have a western, white, upper middle-class family as the victims in this video, because otherwise, people would not care to watch or to get educated about this conflict that touches all of us: the use of rape as a weapon of war. If you have a mother, sister, a daughter, then you should care...

Watch this next video if you want to get the full picture (it's in English with french subtitles)
Warning: Even more sad than the previous one, but very very educational.

For the update: last week the current dictator originally installed and sponsored by the West (mainly the US) has just cheated his way to the presidential seat when for once the people of Congo had the opportunity to take their future into their own hands. The diaspora was not allowed to vote, people, including children were coerced into obtaining several differing voter cards per person and polling station agents were forced (as in beaten, threatened and kidnapped) into stuffing the boxes with hundred of thousands of already filled ballots.

You cannot watch this, and not want to do anything. You cannot watch this and keep silent. And if your mouth has a hard time voicing this (I know how awkward it can be sometimes), your fingers can speak, talk and even shout.

You can do several easy things:
1) You can share either videos on your Facebook page or your blog (see the end of the post for the urls of the videos) or you can share this post on your blog. What the conflict needs is to be exposed by regular citizens like you and me. So if you have a bigger following than I do, please mention and link my post on your blog in a way that draws attention. The more people know about it, the more we are likely to raise voices that will try to speak for our voiceless brothers and sisters
2) You can sign the petition at http://www.unwatchable.cc
3)You can make a quick virtual trip at Friends of the Congo at http://www.friendsofthecongo.org/ and read a little bit about this issue. Friends of the Congo is a US-based grass root movement composed of regular people who devote some of their time to raising awareness about this conflict. 
4) If you are on Facebook, send a friend request to "Kambale Musavuli". He a young Congolese who grew up in the US and abandoned his academic career to focus on speaking out on this conflict. He has very interesting links, videos, Facebook statutes about Africa and particularly Congo and neo-colonialism/neo-imperialism.
5) Above all you can pray for the Congo. These issues are real. Pray for peace, pray for healing from psychological, physical and emotional trauma. Pray for freedom from greed. Pray for hearts to be touched and souls to be renewed. But please do not pray only, as your Father in Heaven uses real human beings to bless and touch lives. Action #5 needs to paired with another one.

Your most powerful action would be:
share these videos AND to read up little bit on the issue just so you have a basic understanding of the situation and how it affects you and the rest of the world, and how it affects Africa. You have all the resources at your fingertips to help in your own little way, which will actually go a long way.
On my end, I have decided to blog once a week on that particular issue in addition to all of the above options.
Would you give me feedback on which of number 1 to 5 you can do (will do, have done)?

In this world of evil and suffering, stay blessed and covered by His wings in the name of Jesus.

PS *** First video: Is your phone rape free? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fIePzz_CEuQ
            Second video: Crisis in the Congo: Uncovering the Truth http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=rM7bexchwG8#!***

4 comments:

yaa said...

sooooo crazy!!def. praying

Alida Sharp said...

mercy...praying.

MrsNdem said...

@Shereen and Alida, yes it is very sad. Thanks for praying!

Natural Nigerian said...

My word! I live in Africa and I had never understood the conflict in the DRC this way.

[You know, just typing that made me realize that we even downgrade it from War (which is what it is) to conflict because that is how it is described in the Media.]

We all need to be concerned about this. This story can be told about any African country...it is just a matter of time and space.

Congo is in my thoughts.