Survivors of Violent Rape in the Congo

Democratic Republic of Congo 

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The Church of Christ of the Congo (ECC) is the Protestant ecumenical church partner in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) with headquarters in the capital city of Kinshasa that relates to Global Ministries.  The Community of the Disciples of Christ in Congo (CDCC) forms part of the ECC.  Global Ministries has had a relationship with this ecumenical church organization since its birth and has supported ministries and several projects in recent years, most notably those presented by the ECC Department of Women and the Family. 

• The war has left many orphaned who are without family and community support.  With an already debilitated infrastructure, the addition of many orphans further taxes the country already lacking in sanitation, education, food, and shelter. 

Congolese local churches have stepped up and, despite their meager resources, provide some medical care and support to rape survivors and orphans.  However, there still is a great need for long-term effective accompaniment if these survivors are to progress and find mental, spiritual, and psychological healing.  These survivors must be allowed to vent their frustrations, alleviate the trauma, and find within themselves a spirit of forgiveness.  They must also find means to rebuild their social and economic capacity. 

The Church of Christ of the Congo’s Department of Women and Family has advanced in this work and asks Global Ministries to continue accompanying them on their journey to achieve the following objectives:

• Train women and men in counseling and psycho-social support of traumatized persons.
• Reinforce the economic capacity of women who have been raped to help restore their dignity and to aid in their social re-integration. 
• Provide a revolving credit opportunity to approximately 150 women at a time in four provinces for a period of four months following the counseling process. 

One particular place of refuge is the Mama Jeanne Center.  Mama Jeanne opened a center where women can get help.  Many come to the center first before going to the hospital and then return to the center after their hospitalization.  In one room of the center many babies are kept with no one to care for them.  They were either unwanted because of their conception, or the mother or family did not have any way to provide for them.  In another room were older women.  These women are being trained to provide for themselves by learning pastry making, knitting, sewing, weaving, and the making of baskets. Global Ministries was pleased to help these survivors by purchasing a number of baskets in 2014.  Attached to the basket is a card that states ” . . . By touching this basket, you are symbolically touching the hand of a sister who has proven to not be a victim, but a resilient survivor!”

Update: August 2014

In early 2014 Global Ministries Africa Area Executive Reverend Sandra Gourdet, and Division of Overseas Ministries President/Global Ministries Co-Executive, Reverend Julia Brown Karimu, visited this work during a visit to the Democratic Republic of Congo.  They met with a group of survivors who asked them not for pity, but for advocacy – asking Julia and Sandra to take the message of their plight to the peoples of the world.  

In one town there are four hospitals to take care of those women who have been raped and tortured.  Reverends Karimu and Gourdet visited one of those hospitals.  In one ward they visited women who had undergone surgery to repair their damaged bodies after being raped.  They were told that the doctors there perform an average of 2,000 such operations a year in addition to treating other diseases.  In a second ward, young girls were being cared for until their babies are born.  In a third ward, they encountered a 70 year-old woman who had been raped and tortured, which resulted in permanent disability.   

Many women come for help from Mama Jeanne, who opened a Center where victimized women can get help.  Many come to the Center first before going to the hospital, and then return to Mama Jeanne’s Center after their hospitalization.  In one room of the Center were many babies who arrived because there was no one to care for them.  The infants were either unwanted because of the way they were conceived or there was simply no relative to care for them.  In another room were older women being trained to provide for themselves by learning pastry -making, knitting, sewing, weaving, and basket-making.   

Global Ministries was pleased to help survivors by purchasing a number of their handmade baskets.  Attached to each basket is a card that states:  By touching this basket, you are symbolically touching the hand of a sister who has proven to not be a victim, but a resilient survivor!  Global Ministries recently sent funds to the Mama Jeanne Center for teachers, roof repair, the building of restrooms, and milk for the babies.   

Funds are needed to continue assisting these amazing women, in order to keep their testimony alive through their powerful courage and initiatives.

Learn one way that funds are raised for this work here.