today i sat at home, on a verandah, overlooking Lake Kivu, listening to the waves smash against the lava rocks, watching boys wash their clothes, laugh, and be boys. As I sat, I read pages and pages of information from Focus Group Discussions conducted by our assessment team within communities throughout the North Kivu region. I was struck by the contrast of the immense beauty of life around me, and the disgusting nature of human brutality of which i was reading.
I read stories from children who have witnessed regularly things that I hope never to see – I think I would have to check into a mental institution if I were them. Yet, they seem to be able to go on and have dreams of a better life. I read continual stories of frequent and brutal looting, physical and sexual violence by militia groups. Stories of teenagers seeing 2 or 3 month old babies being crushed in a mortar normally used to grind flour, or babies being thrown against trees… stories of women being raped after their husbands hands have been tied and beaten and forced to watch. Stories of girls living with the fear that if they are found by the militia that they will be raped. The tears roll down…
We as humans can be so cruel, so brutal to each other. One wonders within this why on earth God does not step in … One has to wonder too, how we as an international community allow this to go on… but then again, how do we actually put a stop to it.
No answers, no cliches, just raw reality that is brutal. May we all be thankful for what we have and use it to engage to make life full for others
definitely stories that evoke disgust and deep sadness; no answer here either…is life seen as so worthless? a hard reality to live with………..how do these people go on after they have been so brutally raped/and or seen this horrible stuff?
having read thru the Bible last year I was reminded of some of the gruesome stories in the old testament …..
I will hold you and the people of the Congo up to the Lord, who is the Lord of “shalom”……….. hard to figure out in the face of that brutality