Muadi's Trip Letter 2

Part II

Let me continue sharing the Mbuji-Mayi trip by describing the delegation. It has been apparent to me during the last nine years of doing international development work that the level of donor support in Francophone Africa is negligible when compared to Anglophone Africa. Our political and security contexts have a lot to do with it, along with the English language limitations of civil society in countries that are former French or Belgian colonies. Therefore, I always champion initiatives to respond to the human needs in Francophone Africa, and was therefore eager to join this delegation when invited. The reality in Central Africa is even more dire, and those who know me know that advocacy for Central and Francophone Africa is a core issue for me. I traveled alone to Uvira and to Kinshasa in 2007 to meet women’s rights groups that had been funded by my company under my supervision. Open Society Institute Southern Africa (OSISA), a foundation, led this September 2008 DRC delegation. I work for a foundation, Global Fund for Women (GFW), that was invited along with the African Women’s Development Fund and 3 women’s rights networks from Zimbabwe, Guinea and Swaziland on a joint mission to DRC Sept. 21-Oct. 2 to learn about challenges facing the women’s rights movement as well as key efforts that have been put in place to date in two regions of the country -- Kinshasa and Kasai Orientale – to improve the status of women and girls. The trip included meetings with multiple actors such as NGOs, government officials, women in Parliament, UN agencies, and health and educational institutions. We spent six days in each city. Mbuji Mayi was selected as the 2nd site due to the presence of prominent mining activities, the history of military occupation during DRC’s war, and the current crisis of sex trafficking that is prevalent around the mines. OSISA has funded a handful of projects in Mbuji-Mayi, GFW has funded three, and together, we aimed to educate the rest of the delegation on the history and politics of the region and to strategize on how to collaborate on an initiative to support the women’s movement in DRC. We started our days at 8 am and often returned 10 or 12 hours later.

The second part of my mission was to visit the Tshibombo community where the Leja Bulela project is situated. I was lucky that our agenda had room for additions, and when I suggested visiting Tshibombo, one of the OSISA staff responded very enthusiastically – he is Congolese. Later I found out he experienced fleeing from Katanga and living in makeshift tents in Tshibombo. What a coincidence. Together, we educated the rest of the delegation on this aspect of Kasai history. Coincidentally, OSISA has built a school which is 10 minutes by jeep from the LB clinic. We visited the OSISA project on the same day that we visited the LB clinic and also the small orphanage school run by the nuns that LB has been working with. Everything has come full circle as I was able to see with my own eyes what the elders have been telling us at all the LB meetings. With the experience of 6 (?) LB meetings behind me (as well as numerous lessons from my father), I was able to digest what I was seeing. Did I say that the same Congolese OSISA colleague met young Ilunga Kalala several years ago when he went to South Africa and asked OSISA for NGOs where he could intern in Kasai? Ilunga told OSISA about his father’s death due to a road accident. When I heard that, I saw the world get smaller and smaller and that’s when I told them that the LB health center is named after Kalala.

As you know there have been numerous demonstrations throughout DRC against MONUC and their apparent inaction in the face of mass atrocities committed against Congolese people. There was a large demonstration the day before we arrived in Mbuji-Mayi and also during the time we were there. State and UN police were always visible in the town center, although it was not a frightening context. We learned that the rate of sexual violence in Kasai Orientale is the third highest after North and South Kivu. We had the chance to meet with the UN in Kinshasa and it was a sobering visit – one wonders when will we see bold action to protect Congolese people, especially women? At the same time, the visible military presence demonstrates that priorities do not lie in social and human development.

In Mbuji-Mayi, we met a group of about 30 women’s rights NGOs to present the missions of each of our institutions and to give advice on how these networks could best position themselves to secure financial support for human rights activities. The groups address a range of concerns, including civic education, formal education, economic empowerment, ending discriminatory inheritance practices and sexual violence, provision of safe drinking water, and legal assistance. They are small groups run primarily by volunteers. As donors we spoke candidly about the pitfalls of NGO competition, lack of transparency, and the need for integrated approaches that seek systemic social change. The conservative and rigid aspects of Kasai’s culture emerged repeatedly as barriers to the advancement of women’s rights. This is an area we must address directly. Culture is dynamic. Keeping 51 percent of the population away from progress means that the whole society does not reach its potential.

The context for human rights work in Kasai is daunting. Weak state structures, lack of a road and communication infrastructure, lack of public services, lack of justice, lack of a reliable revenue source for social investments, lack of employment opportunities – all these realities weigh to make social change an uphill task. During our visit the Provincial Assembly was just getting used to its role, negotiating budgets with the central government, improving ministerial facilities and just making do in many cases. It was humbling to see where Kasai is relative to the other parts of Africa I have visited.

If Americans want to know communities where they can make a difference in Africa, let’s suggest Mbuji-Mayi. Let’s insist on their participation despite the language difference and despite the difficult infrastructure. Let’s invite them to build on the foundation that we Congolese in the Diaspora have laid during the first 15 years of Leja Bulela. We have $55,000 to show already in funds raised for the health center! The delegation as well as people in Mbuji-Mayi are applauding us for our initiative and the results to date. All the projects completed in Kenya and Uganda with participation from American volunteers started from modest means and from an idea, and there’s no reason why we can’t do the same. In fact it is imperative that we be active. We can’t just talk – talkers will not be helpful to LB’s mission and should not distract us. I was able to visit the church, school and health clinic that Abbe Gaston Muyombo built way on the outskirts of Mbuji-Mayi with contributions from Americans and they are beautiful. Yet, they took time and persistence and a desire to serve no matter what.

I still have more to share. Specifics about visiting the mines, talking to doctors that treat rape victims, visiting the universities and vocational training programs, etc. After seeing things up close, it's impossible to return an unchanged person. We have a duty to do more for Kasai. By the way, have you mailed your membership fee to the LB Treasurer?

Thanks for staying with me. Next time we’ll travel as a group.

Muadi
(Pls share my writings with your children and nieces and nephews under 45 yo who have never been to Kasai. It's in English on purpose). We have to take up the mantle.