Amazing progress on identifying physiological markers for PTSD noted in article below. Evidence reveals positive impact of psychology in treatment.
The Associated Press: Scanning invisible damage of PTSD, brain blasts.
As we round a corner our chatter comes to a dead stop and suddenly the car is quiet. The tension is palpable. We are face to face with an army camp we didn’t know was there. The way appears blocked but fortunately there is a blind corner we can take and we speed past, relief expressed in nervous laughter.
Minutes later we are sitting at the picturesque Lake Kivu enjoying a fine meal at a Hotel. Gradually the stories emerge (names have been changed). When the war started everyone ran – rich and poor. We ran up the mountain. Families were separated. Samuel, 10, forgot his shoes and was still in his night clothes. The fighting started at 10:30 a.m. At 6 p.m. Papa asked, “Where is mamma?” She was no where to be found so they started back down the mountain to find her. Fortunately they found her and Samuel’s shoes hung over her shoulder. Not only that but also blankets and food. Samuel looks fondly at his mamma, “I love my mother so much. She takes such good care of us.” They were all on foot because soldiers would commandeer private vehicles and the rebels knew this and would target them. “We knew an entire family who was killed this way.” “We live by the grace of God,” says mamma.
Sonia and her family stayed home. By the time they had decided to flee, it was too dangerous. “At night, we could see the gunfire. We were surrounded by red flashes. “When I remember, I have nightmares,” says another.
The villages were dangerous as well. “We should have stayed home. There was no security. There was nowhere to run so we may as well have died at home.”
Mamma has the last word, “You can listen to the stories, but you never want to see a war. You never want to see a war. We are all traumatized.”
My notebook is well-used and my mind is full of the things I experienced in Bukavu. This is my fourth trip to Africa and it is interesting the progression of impressions. Bukavu was a networking trip. I met with many local and international NGO’s. Two sayings epitomize the work of two of the NGO’s
The coordinator of COPARE told me, “peace without food is like a knife without bread.” COPARE is a network of member organizations all of whom work for peace. It was founded by my host’s husband, Henry Ntonde Namwira together with MCC. Henry has passed on the organization to Laurent. MCC has said it has changed it’s funding priorities so COPARE is seeking new partners. COPARE has representatives in every region of South Kivu who monitor and report occurrences of violence. They then collect this data and analyze it. Together with other organizations they gather annually to try to understand why the violence continues. It is very important work for the stability of South Kivu.
I already mentioned Maurice with the Heirs of Justice who also works for peace and justice in the province. He has many international NGOs as partners. Their focus is on education of the population, civil servants, and government on the topic of Human Rights. The run a group called Peace Hearts where women who have been victims of violence form support groups that teach them how to claim their rights and bring change.
Angeline, my wonderful host and friend, showed me the project she and several other women operate. They identify children in poverty and provide kindergarten and food for three months. Breakfast is maize with sugar and lunch is rice with beans. They currently feed 90 children a day and have 37 in the kindergarten. A photo on their office wall shows a malnourished child that is like the worst example of malnourishment I have seen. A second photo taken two months later reveals a very different healthy-looking child. The problem is that when the children return to their homes after the 3 months, they return to poverty so the women have started a micro-finance program to try to increase the enterprise of the families. It is very heartwarming seeing these women care for the poor in their community.
Never one to miss an opportunity for drama, I note that the airport I landed at this morning in Kigali had a plane crash two days ago. Our landing was flawless however. I am in Kigali for two nights en route to Addis Ababa, Frankfurt and Toronto. While here I will visit Wellspring Academy, a school founded by my friend Richard Taylor. I am also enjoying 24H electricity, running water, and high speed internet! I’ll be home on the 18th!
Fascinating conversation with Maurice, Secretaire Executif, Heritiers de la Justice. His organization provides human rights training to students through a program begun by MCC. They have reached 124,122 school and more than 424,572 children with this school based curriculum. They have a program through KAIROS to provide training to civil employess on the law and human rights. Three times a year they hold a Question day where citizen can ask politicians questions such as “Why do we pay taxes?” “If we pay taxes, why are our roads not paved?”. These sessions are used to hold government officials accountable. Off to the market!
A wonderfully descriptive post just vanished with a power outage. So I will summarize. The road to Panzi was treacherous. We traveled 7 km in 50 minutes, not bad considering the state of the road – deep craters filled with water, slick mud, crowds of pedestrians, and vehicles with no appreciation of the concept of “lanes”. My driver, Angeline, is a pro but even she is a wreck by the time we reach Panzi.
Upon arrival, the stress immediately decreased as we were welcomed by wide open covered walkways, beautiful rose and mixed plant gardens, friendly staff and well lit and spacious wards. The hospital was founded by the Swedish Pentecostal church many years ago and today is run by Dr Mukwege, last year declared “Man of the Year” but African press. I was honored to spend an hour discussing Dr Mukwege’s vision for trauma response on a pscyo-social level. It is an excellent vision from the man who could make it happen. Out of time now but will write more about the hospital later.
Death count on the house slide up to 6.
A family my host Angeline was planning to take me to visit tomorrow experienced a tragedy tonight when a torrential rain storm caused their house to slide off the hill it was built on. Five family members including two children who were participants in Angeline’s meal program are confirmed dead. Helpers are going through the rubble to see if there are others dead. David, my translator explains how this type of calamity increases the stress of living in Congo. There is so much poverty, so much unneccesary death, that life is very stressful. Everyone has trauma says Angeline, not just because of the war but because of the difficult circumstances of life.
I’m not sure why each time I go to Africa I think, “This time I’ve got the technology figured out.” It’s hard to find the time, the cyber cafe, make sure I have Francs, have an escort and so on to actually post a blog entry. I thought I would be posting on the blog from my phone and indeed this did work in Europe but once I hit DRC everything stopped.
After a restless sleep I woke up and promptly vomited. I never did have morning sickness with my pregnancies and I am not interested in starting now! Frequent trips to the throne filled out the rest of the morning. I was not very pleased because today was a full day of 4 hours of presentation and a 1 1/2 hour meeting. I had to pass on the first speaking assignment at the University but was well enough to teach on Compassion Fatigue in the afternoon. I thought it quite ironic that several pastors slept through the presentation – I guess they took my message of self care seriously! The rest of the group responded warmly. Then I met with 9 women who are leaders in CFMC (Mennonite Brethren Church in Congo) and had a nice conversation with them about ministry. I was interested in having an informal discussion so I suggested we play a game we used to play as a family, the Question Game (a desparate and fairly effective way to get two non-communicative boys to converse.) One person starts by asking anyone in the group a question. That person can answer or pass. After responding, it is there turn to ask someone else a question. In this way I was able to learn both from the type of questions they asked and the answers they provided. Questions included, “Which fruit of the Spirit is God working on in your life?” “What about your life causes you to come to the cross in prayer?” “How does God protect you physically and spiritually?” After a bland supper of rice and spagetti, both without sauce, I’m ready for bed. Sweet dreams!
Well I didn’t miss a flight, or lose my luggage (yet) but I think I just paid $22 US for mosquito repellant. There should be signs posted in the airport that shopping while jet lagged can be dangerous to your financial health. . . But the shops would probably prefer to keep that quiet. As I wander through the shops of Hermes scarves and Gucci bags (Yes, I’m still in London), I’m reminded of a verse I read recently: Contentment (or was it happiness?) does not consist of the accumulation of many things. One hour till I’m off to Addis Ababa on Ethiopia Air.
Interesting tidbit for the 2008 Congo team: Rules have changed. I was told by the Ethiopian Air ticket agent that if I didn’t have a visa for DRC I wouldn’t be allowed to board.
What better way to experience Heathrow and the first layover on my journey than with a cuppa of English Breakfast Tea. Considering that I passed on dinner and slept through breakfast en route, I’m rather famished. Free range chicken mixed with Italian dressing on a bagette sounds like just the thing. Then I’ll find a comfy bench to pass the 8 hr layover. Don’t you just love airport tourism?
