Teen-agers collecting
firewood in Sud Kivu Province, DRC
Today women and girls are being sexually attacked
by teachers, neighbors, police, and members of their own family. Domestic abuse
is rampant, and unemployed men target young girls going to collect firewood and
working in the fields. There is no fear of punishment, so no woman or girl is
safe in DRC.
Charitable organizations provide medical care
for a fraction of the women: doctors at Panzi Hospital believe for every
woman they treat, thirty go without medical care. Psychological care is almost
non-existent in Congo.
“Widows” -- women shunned by their husbands and community in DR Congo
Can you imagine being staked to the ground and brutally gang-raped while your husband, children, and community watch?
Raped so viciously you need surgery to repair the wounds. Then shunned by
your husband and sent from the community--the only world you’ve ever
known--without means of support and small children in tow?
War victims work hard to rebuild their lives in DR Congo
I know these women personally. They
filled my vocational center in Bukavu: Justine, who was forced to watch her
husband be buried alive, then raped repeatedly and left for dead; Terese, who
spent 22 months in hospital, her feet in stirrups hoping to repair the damage
that never healed; and Angelique, who listened to the screams of her sister
being burned alive while she was raped. This is hard stuff to hear,
unimaginable to bear.
In 2010, Gunilla Hamne and I taught 25 rape
survivors like the women described above to be trauma healers using TTT, the
Trauma Tapping Technique. They underwent three months training and an exam; all
passed and became Certified Trauma Healers
The women loved the tapping technique: They eagerly practiced it on each other, then took it home to their children and out into the community to help others who were suffering. One woman said it felt "like fresh air moving through my body;" others said it made their mind clearer and easier to make decisions. Hortense, a woman who had lost 4 of her 5 children, changed from being hostile and argumentative to being kind and willing to help others in the center.
Overall, the tapping seemed to lift the despair these women felt and allowed them to be hopeful about the future. Being trauma healers also gave them a meaningful place in the community; once again they were valuable contributors to everyone's well being instead of unwelcome victims.
TTT Certified Trauma Healers, DR Congo
The psychological wounds these women carry are far worse than the physical torture they endured. The loss is beyond our comprehension, yet the Congolese women I've known have huge recuperative powers. Given healing skills and a supportive environment, they are able to regenerate their aliveness, and they are willing to pass that healthy enthusiasm on to others: Making that happen on a larger scale is my vision for the Congo Trauma Healing Project.
Please help us help these women recover emotionally from the terrible wounds they suffer. One rape victim's dream is to live a life free of the trauma of her rape and to be able to feed and clothe my children. Working together, we can make that happen.
Show these women that others are sympathetic to their suffering. You have no idea how much it means to them to know that others care what happens to them and their children.
Show these women that others are sympathetic to their suffering. You have no idea how much it means to them to know that others care what happens to them and their children.
With love and appreciation,
Victoria Bentley, PsyD
Executive Director - Empower Congo Women
