Are You Ready for the Congo Challenge?

Imagine: Your life being measured by days, not years.

Imagine: The luxuries you once knew like clean water to bathe in, food to eat, and security are taken away.

Imagine: Every where you go, you witness poverty, hunger, and death.

Imagine: You are attacked just because you are a female.

For hundreds of thousands of women and girls in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, this isn't imagination. This is real life. Since 1996, a deadly civil war has taken place against the government troops and rebels, which has lead to the deaths of over 5 million people from lack of food, diseases, and safety. This makes it the most deadly war since World War II. Although a peace agreement has been signed (elections were held in 2006) and the U.N. has sent the largest amount of peacekeepers, violence, disease, and, hunger are calming thousands of lives each month. There is another weapon that is used against civilians, mainly the women and girls: rape. This cruel and often deadly weapon, not only destroys lives but communities and even the country itself. The cases of rape by both government and rebel troops (and even U.N. peacekeepers) are in the hundreds of thousands. For most of us it's heartbreaking to learn about the daily tragedy befalling on the women of the DRC, and want to find a way to help. But the issue is so unbelievably horrifying and complicated (the DRC has experienced deadly conflicts for over a century) you might start to doubt if you can actually have an impact on the lives of the Congolese? Think about this: If any like-minded person starts by signing an online petition, attending a rally, writes letters to their leaders in the Congress and Senate and thousands of people are doing the something, then those actions become a strong voice against the crisis and THEN our elected Congressmen and Senators have to respond to our call. Like any movement, teamwork is one of the most vital tools available to make the cause gain more awareness. Here are a few tips that can help you out:

* Learn about the issue at hand. Books, magazines, newspapers, online websites are some of the best ways to get info.

* Tell your friends. Most likely they will become part of the cause.

* Plan a way to raise awareness and money by either hosting a movie night, car wash, or bake sale. Be creative!

* Write letters to your local newspaper on why the issue is important to you. While you’re at it, write to your Congressional leaders asking them to take action.

This upcoming March, Raise Hope for Congo is starting a new campaign called ''Are You Ready for the Congo Challenge?'' Go to http://www.raisehopeforcongo.org to sign up and receive a list of things you can do to raise awareness, raising your voice, and raising the public profile. If we all take little actions like this, then just imagine how much of a difference we all can make to put an end to the misery for the millions of lives hanging by a thread in the DRC.

Alison Des Forges, Human Rights advocate, dies on a plane crash

This is a very sad day for both Rwanda and the world over. This past Thursday, Alison Des Forges, one of the world's leading experts on the Rwandan genocide was killed in a plane crash near Buffalo, New York among 50 other passengers. Ms. Des Forges had spent more than twenty years studying the history and culture of Central Africa and was a Senior Advisor for Human Rights Watch, which monitors human rights abuses worldwide. She was one of the few people to sound the alarm on Rwanda during the genocide in 1994 and pleaded with the State Department to block the radio signals, which was used by the Hutu extremist to urge listeners to kill the Tutsis. But her pleas fell on deaf ears. After the genocide, she returned to Rwanda and investigated what had happened which resulted in her book ''Leave None to Tell the Story'' outline the events during the genocide and how and why it happened. She wrote:

"This genocide resulted from the deliberate choice of a modern elite to foster hatred and fear to keep itself in power."

She was a key expert witness in several tribunals in Africa, Europe, and, Canada and has helped convit many top officials responsible in one of the bloodest mass killing in recent times. Ms. Des Forges devoted her life fighting for justice for those whom were silenced. But of course despite the tragedy, our work for a better and just world continues.