wfn.org | WCC FEATURE: DR Congo: Violence affects not only eastern parts

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World Council of Churches - Feature

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>For immediate release - 18/08/2009 09:06:51

VIOLENCE AFFECTS NOT ONLY EASTERN PARTS OF THE DEMOCRATIC
REPUBLIC OF CONGO

Any solution to the crisis in the Democratic Republic of Congo
(DRC) must engage the whole nation – not just the eastern region
where violence is centred, a small ecumenical team visiting the
Bas Congo and Kasai Oriental provinces has learned.

Karin Döhne, head of the Africa desk of the German Church
Development Service (EED), and Dr Nigussu Legesse, WCC programme
executive for Africa, visited the two provinces in July. They
heard of the powerful sense of isolation and abandonment
experienced by the people of the region, and learned of how the
effects of the conflict in the east are felt in other parts of
the country as well.

Legesse and Döhne were travelling as part of a larger Living
Letters (
http://www.overcomingviolence.org/en/iepc/living-letters-visits.html
)delegation, headed by WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Samuel
Kobia, which broke into five groups to visit different parts of
the country 8-11 July, before coming together in the capital
Kinshasa, 12-14 July. "Living Letters" are small international
ecumenical teams travelling to locations around the world where
Christians strive to overcome violence.

In the Bas Congo province, violence is increasingly a feature of
daily life, fuelled by tension over an array of factors including
high unemployment, weak economic conditions and changing
population dynamics as refugees and displaced people move to the
comparatively prosperous province. In the past refugees arrived
from neighbouring Angola, nowadays the displaced come from the
eastern part of the DRC.

>Resented refugees

"Refugees are resented, even when they are Congolese," said
Legesse. "The church has to work hard at changing people's minds
and overcoming feelings of distrust, even hatred, of newcomers."

In the province of Kasai Oriental diamond mining has left a
complex legacy. During the second war in the DRC, which started
in 1998, the dominant diamond company MIBA – jointly owned by the
Congolese government and a Belgian investment company – poured
both mining revenue and equipment into the government's war
efforts. Now, with its capital and infrastructure depleted, MIBA
has closed its production site near the provincial capital
Mbuji-Mayi.

"Diamond mining was a major source of income for the local
people," said Legesse. "It's a critical situation at the moment –
there's no other real source of work." After years of urban
growth, Mbuji-Mayi is now struggling as health centres close,
school buildings fall into disrepair and many people struggle to
afford basic necessities.

In the midst of this poverty and suffering, the Living Letters
team observed diamond traders operating in the streets of Mbuji
Mayi, dealing in diamonds worth tens of thousands of US dollars,
produced from informal mining activities. "The soil of the
province produces fortunes, but for the ordinary people or for
public basic services not much is left said Döhne.

Sexual violence against women, especially young women, is on the
rise in the DRC, the team was told – and HIV infections are
consequently on the rise as well. In mining areas, very young
girls offer themselves in return for money, food or shelter. It
is not uncommon for men to have several partners and families,
and most women have little economic security. Against this
backdrop, churches have the challenging task of trying to promote
responsible marital relations and parenting.

>Churches respond to the crisis

In the context of this strife and hardship, the churches are
providing a powerful witness. Churches are the biggest providers
of health and education services in the DRC. In Bas Congo, more
than 150,000 students study in church institutions. In Kasai
Oriental, the Catholic Church runs over 3000 schools, and the
Church of Christ in Congo (ECC) over 1400. 

The Living Letters team visited the Institut Médical
Evangélique, which runs a 400-bed hospital and trains doctors
and nurses, and the Centre Evangélique pour la Coopérationin
Kimpese, which is in charge of hundreds of schools and a
university.

Schools perform an important role beyond academic education:
"They are seen as an important field where children can learn and
practice peaceful co-existence," said Döhne. "They counterbalance
the voices and actions of those who spread conflict and
tension."

Under the umbrella of the ECC, a union of 62 Protestant
denominations, the churches live out a practical ecumenism.
"Member churches maintain their own identities, but for social
services and projects they pool their resources and energies,"
said Legesse.

The CentreRégional d'Appui et de Formation pour le
Développement, an activity of the ECC, mobilizes rural villages
for community development and tackles the issues of deforestation
and ecological damage.

In Kasai Oriental, where anti-personnel mines pose a severe
danger and also hamper agricultural production, the ECC is
working alongside an organization called Mines Advisory Group to
raise awareness of the problem.

Even the seemingly everyday work of maintaining pastoral care in
congregations is significant, said Döhne. For example, in spite
of being impoverished, people in Mbuji-Mayi still invest in new
church buildings. "It is of the utmost importance to give people
hope and encouragement," said Döhne.

>But the people feel keenly their isolation.

"Again and again we heard the message from church leaders in
this region that they feel ignored by the international
community," said Legesse. "Because the war and violence has been
most intense in the eastern part of the Congo, there is a
tendency to place less emphasis on the suffering of the people in
other parts of the country."

Members of the delegation called for a show of solidarity from
the churches of the world.

"The churches in the DRC want to continue to use their different
avenues of influence in the country," said Döhne. "In doing so,
they should be encouraged and supported by the worldwide
ecumenical family."

>[922 words]

More stories and photos from the Living Letters visit to the
DRC:
http://www.overcomingviolence.org/en/iepc/living-letters-visits/democratic-republic-of-congo.html

>WCC member churches in the DRC:
>http://www.oikoumene.org/?id=4558

Opinions expressed in WCC Features do not necessarily reflect
WCC policy. This material may be reprinted freely, providing
credit is given to the author. 

Additional information:Juan Michel,+41 22 791 6153 +41 79 507
6363 media@wcc-coe.org

The World Council of Churches promotes Christian unity in faith,
witness and service for a just and peaceful world. An ecumenical
fellowship of churches founded in 1948, today the WCC brings
together 349 Protestant, Orthodox, Anglican and other churches
representing more than 560 million Christians in over 110
countries, and works cooperatively with the Roman Catholic
Church. The WCC general secretary is Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia, from
the Methodist Church in Kenya. Headquarters: Geneva, Switzerland.