Acting

The response to my last post, "Telling," has been tremendous—clearly many of us are disturbed to our core by the horrible violence perpetrated against women and children in Congo and elsewhere.  I've been doing some online research since that post to find ways to address this horror, beyond the telling.  So far I've come up with a couple of leads, places to start at least:

• ! Enough — The project to end genocide and crimes against humanity  [Also on Facebook]
  

  Genocide and war crimes are not inevitable, and we at Enough want to create noise and action both to stop ongoing atrocities and to prevent their recurrence. Our mission is to help people from every walk of life understand the practical actions they can take to make a difference. Our strategy is to energize diverse communities – including students, religious groups, activists, business leaders, celebrities, and Diaspora networks – to ensure that their voices are heard on some of the most pressing foreign policy and moral challenges facing the world today. …

  Enough conducts intensive field research in countries plagued by genocide and crimes against humanity, develops practical policies to address these crises, and shares sensible tools to help empower citizens and groups working for change. Our initial work has focused on grave challenges in a number of African countries: Sudan, eastern Congo, northern Uganda, Somalia, Chad and Zimbabwe.
  
  In framing its policy prescriptions, Enough utilizes a “3P” approach: promoting peace, protecting civilians, and punishing perpetrators. Enough also focuses on a fourth and all-encompassing “P,” prevention, and is working to develop the policies, tools, and investments that can best be brought to bear to prevent crimes against humanity and genocide now and in the future.
  
  

• RAISE Hope for Congo — an ! Enough campaign specific to Congo  [Also on Facebook]
  

  The RAISE Hope for Congo campaign aims to build a permanent and diverse constituency of activists who will advocate for the protection and empowerment of Congolese women and girls. … The first step to building a movement is to raise awareness about the crisis in Congo. The campaign provides activists with informative tools to educate themselves and their communities about the conflict in eastern Congo and the epidemic of sexual violence against women and girls.

  
  No matter how much we know or how much we care, we will only succeed if we speak out and demand action from our leaders. The campaign offers a menu of actions that activists can take to raise their voices and call for an end to the conflict and sexual violence in eastern Congo.

  
  
• Congo Story: War, Women and Rape —  Report and share stories in support of the Congolese women, children and families (a CitizenGlobal/Voice of America production)  [Also on Facebook ]
  

  

  
  [CitizenGlobal:]  Content is powerful. We make it even more so.

  Right now, there are countless videos being shot and shared but the majority of this user-generated content is without context, relevance or value. … CitizenGlobal is a media company that harnesses the power of this vast sea of visual storytelling for individuals and companies. We connect the collective creativity of people who love to create video with a larger context, whether it's a brand or social cause.

  At this site you can watch videos on a variety of topics, including the situation in Congo, as well as contribute video clips to an existing production, or create a video production of your own.  "Congo Story" offers a wide variety of informative and inspiring videos.

You can also sign a letter/petition to Secretary of State Clinton at the RAISE Hope site, encouraging her to take the lead in developing "a credible international certification system to ensure that minerals in consumer electronics and other products are not fueling rape and violence in eastern Congo."

I have the beginnings of an idea for a group art project to celebrate the sacred beauty and strength of Congolese women and children, to help lift them from their despair of shame and let them know they are not alone or forgotten.  Something akin to the AIDS quilt, perhaps, or a large fabric mural.  I have a vision of gathering with a mob of women and men and young ones in the cavernous Fellowship Hall of our church, tables piled with fabrics and trims and what-all from our various stashes, surrounded by photos of women and children of Congo, and just Having At It for a few hours to create a massive communal statement of solidarity.  I don't know yet where it goes from there.  Somewhere beautiful.