I will be upfront: I’m partial to Ben Affleck. He was committed to Congo before it became a mainstream issue. In fact, his high-profile trips there played a pivotal role in Congo reaching a tipping point in the American media. That, and our joint appearance talking Congo on Oprah, along with Nick Kristof, Sheryl WuDunn, and Secretary Clinton, lead to a record fundraising surge of 6 million dollars in a matter of weeks, doubling the size of Women for Women International’s Congo program. So yeah, I am biased.

But that is not why I love Eastern Congo Initiative’s first policy report.  Rumor has it Ben was a genius policy wonk in a former life. Today, we have the proof. ECI’s “white paper” proves when it comes to finding long term solutions to end the violence in Congo, they mean business. Urgent business.

I’ve been working on Congo full time for nearly 6 years, yet I learned so much reading this report. The report provides a rigorous review of US policy engagement with DRC, while providing a bold roadmap essential for the next phase of the movement, aimed at stabilizing Congo. The report calls on the US government to “radically refocus” our present efforts in Congo, which the report terms, “the status-quo of piecemeal efforts”. “The US cannot stand idly by or maintain its commitment to a minimalist mandate in the Congo.”

A Thousand Sisters core platform focuses on a coordinated, comprehensive security sector reform plan, conflict minerals regulations, and disarmament, starting with the FDLR. In Representative Wu’s recent Dear Colleague letter, we also called for a Great Lakes Special Envoy. This report calls for all of that…and more. That is a “radical refocusing” in and of itself.  ECI is dead right when they say the focus of US policy thus far has been piecemeal. I would argue by extension, the movement has also focused on breaking down the conflict into specific key levers and elements, which is key, but has wasted enormous energy in activist squabbling over whether point A or point B is “the real issue” or silver bullet. For anyone who maintains intellectual integrity, you’ve got to admit a real solution must be holistic, and include all of it.

As a movement, we’ve been operating on the assumption of scarcity. Our strategies assume US government focus, attention and political will is finite at best, non-existent at worst, forcing us to chose between priorities for stabilizing Congo. What if we’re wrong? ECI’s paper challenges our assumption. We have rare universal, bi-partisan support. Why on earth would we ask for anything less than a comprehensive strategy? Don’t the people of Congo deserve it all?

The stakes could not be higher.  The report fastidiously outlines the tremendous progress made on many fronts since the technical end to the conflict in 2003, particularly initiatives lead by the Congolese government that could provide a worthy framework for reform. It is encouraging to see real progress. Yet I am haunted by the reality of “relative security” on the ground in Congo.  No, people haven’t been murdered in batches of 700 for a while now.  But the rates of rape have gone up 2004-2008, according to a recently released Oxfam report. The International Rescue Committee’s mortality studies show an increase in conflict related deaths: 38,000 per month in 2004, up to 45,000 per month in 2007.  Let’s be clear: Moms, grandmas, small business owners just like us, gang raped in droves, like the sisters I met in Baraka. Half had been gang raped in their first six months home, following their return to newly “secure” Baraka. Babies dying while their families spend the night in the forest, hiding from militias, like my sister Xaverine’s five-year-old daughter, Nsemeru, who’s name meant, “I love you”. Whole communities murdered next door to mining sites, like the 29 beheaded like cattle next to a gold mine in Kaniola in 2009. This is the reality of “post conflict” Congo, which continues to scream for our attention as the worst of international crises.

Lucky for us, ECI has outlined a clear, comprehensive plan, one that treats Congo like the emergency it is. They offer timelines that reflect the urgency of the situation. Not in a couple of years. How about end of this month? Or next month, at the very, very latest. That just makes my grassroots heart sing.

The report identifies one of the core problems with ongoing assistance to Congo, not as lack of international interest, funding, or even modest success with some programs, but utter lack of cohesion and coordination between programs and donor governments.  We need a cohesive, comprehensive, coordinated plan. The US government can lead the charge in rallying international support for the Congolese government’s full leadership and engagement in building structures and frameworks for lasting stability.

Look, we give the DRC a lot of money. Specifically, the US gave the DRC 2 billion dollars from 2007-2010. We need to leverage that and “support” (read: insist) Congo’s government fully engage. We need to support Congo’s government in establishing transparency, deployment of administrative and judicial reforms to root out political interference, stop corruption, and restore law, order and justice at the provincial level.  We need to spearhead a coordinated international effort to support Security Sector Reform, using structures initiated by Congo’s government that have already shown modest successes: STAREC/ I-SSS framework.

The Congolese government must professionalize the Congolese Army, while dismantling armed groups. Soldiers need to be paid.  Congo needs a functioning justice system. We need to provide serious funding and technical assistance for disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration programs & conflict minerals monitoring systems.

The report calls for a Special Advisor to be appointed immediately. A Thousand Sisters is calling for a Special Envoy. Again, why not ask for what Congo really needs?

Upcoming elections give us a hard-and-fast deadline, and along with other factors make this a rare, critical window of opportunity.

In other words, how about a comprehensive, coordinated long term strategy to stabilize Congo? How about now?

I will warn you, this report is written for policy wonks, not the grassroots. But don’t be scared off by the two page acronym guide. (My book had that too, remember?) Or lines like, “The multi-sectoral approach adopted by the United States should be articulated through an integrated strategy that ensures the chronological and geographical alignment of security, diplomatic, state-building and development interventions…” I don’t know what that means, either. I still got a ton out of the report.

I have a sneaking feeling the contents of this report will be under serious consideration for legislation in 2011. That alone makes it a must read.

ECI’s White Paper. Read it. Love it. Live it. Pass it on.

Link here: http://bit.ly/eP9z2b

Mama Cecelia, pictured here with her beautiful grandchildren Bi and Siro. Yes, that means they’re twins! (And yes, Mama Cecelia rocks a Man-United cap.) We spent the month together last February.

Bi was so scared of me when we met! She’s not used to white people, so she covered her eyes and whimpered when she stuck out her hand to shake mine, at the heavy coaching of Mama Cecelia. But she warmed with time, enough to accept my love offerings of stickers. They aren’t orphans.  But like so many living in LRA infested NE Congo, their parents are hiding as refugees in South Sudan. Bi and Siro live with Mama Cecelia and Papa Alexander now, waiting for things to stabilize so they can be re-united with their parents.

Mama Cecelia is from South Sudan. She and Papa Alexander have already lost 4 of their children, and 4 grandchildren to LRA violence.  They are subjects in my next book. (Papa Alexander is Mama Koko’s brother in law.)

Little Bi and Siro came face to face with the LRA during the Sept. 2008 attacks outside of Dungu. They were pushed into a hut, but just before the LRA burned them alive, one of the soldiers reached in, grabbed Siro’s arm, and hurled him into the bushes instead.  The others were killed. They both lived.  Today, they’re doing okay.  Both heart-melting cute, shy, sweet 5 year olds. But they miss their Mom and Dad, currently refugees in South Sudan.

Here’s the issue with South Sudan that’s been on my mind since reading the John Prendergast/ George Clooney op-ed in USA Today many months ago: The area has not only already been pounded by civil war, but now serves as a refuge for countless Congolese escaping epic violence at the hands of the LRA, who’ve moved in from Northern Uganda.  The area has the potential to erupt in a no-where-to-run, full-blown regional bloodbath.  Where are refugees from South Sudan supposed to go? Northeastern Congo, like last time?  News flash: it’s not safe to walk one mile out of town centers in the region. People are going hungry, unable to farm their lush, productive land for fear of bumping into the LRA.

So here we have it. As we’ve built this movement, we’ve often operated in a fractured manor, as different groups work on Northern Uganda/ LRA, Darfur, or Congo. Those lines no longer exist. The threat in Southern Sudan is on track for a catastrophic regional disaster.

Sounds horrific in the abstract.  But I hope you’ll take a minute to look at these photos of my friends, and realize what that means to peoples lives, people who have already lost everything- their homes, their livelihoods, the people they love dearly.

So hey, join us in helping out Bi, Siro, their Mom and Dad, Mama Cecelia, and Papa Alexander. They’d treat you like family, for sure.  Call President Obama today, instructions on what to say on this hotline. It’s take 3 minutes. Or even better, join me in committing to a once a day time slot you’ll call.  I’m doing 7am PST, every day until the referendum. 1.800.GENOCIDE.

We applaud your visit to Congo last year. As American women, business owners, mothers, fathers, grandmothers, runners, and others deeply concerned with Congo, we are proud of your interest and commitment to Eastern Congo.

However, if the IRC mortality study statistics have held, more than 500,000 Congolese people have died since your visit. Tens of thousands of women, children, and even infants have been raped, including the recent incident of close to 200 women and infants, within 10 miles of a UN compound. This is our shame.

The USA has taken precious little action. That needs to change today. You are the leader to make it happen.

1. You promised Congo 17 million dollars. Why is it still sitting in a US Government account, buried in red tape? Unacceptable. Please do what you must to get this critically needed aid to Congolese women today.
2. The culture of impunity in Congo must end. Congo needs a justice system. The Congolese army must be professionalized, so soldiers “protect and serve” rather than “steal and rape”.   We urge you to coordinate with donor governments and the Congolese government to spearhead a comprehensive national security sector reform plan for Congo.

Congolese women and children need your immediate action. We look forward to celebrating your bold, immediate leadership on this critical issue.

Sincerely,

A Thousand Sisters

{Please add YOUR name and personal note to Secretary Clinton here. I’ll pass it on!}

Lisa Shannon, Founder, Run for Congo Women, Author A Thousand Sisters, Sister to Generose & Thousands of other Congolese women.

Heading out this morning to find the baby Lisa, named after me. Two Lisa’s!

When I sat down to write my book about the journey into Congo, I started with a list- everything I did not want to include in the book.  The list was long- the secrets that could cost lives, the painful breakdown of my relationship with “Ted” over Congo work, the awkward collaboration with my sometimes-crazy mother, the romantic escape to Zanzibar with (gasp!) a man I met on the terrace at the Orchid Safari Club, but mostly my embarrassing ego and grandiosity and epic (but inevitable) missteps along the way. You were on the list.

In early drafts, I tried to skim over the unspoken tension of our supposedly “joint” trip in an effort to be fair and tasteful, but editors called me out. In fact, 90% of that do-not-include list ended up in the book. Nothing trumps an honest, emotionally transparent story – except life-threatening safety issues.  (It’s Congo. What can I say?)

After getting notes from yet another editor saying I needed to flesh you out and tell the whole story, I sat at my desk on Vashon Island, overlooking the Puget Sound and Olympic Mountains range beyond, squirming, thinking “I don’t want to write this.”

Then I re-read some of your post Congo notes and blogs, and caught the not-so-subtle jabs. Obviously, the tension was pronounced and mutual. 

I spilled it. The walk under the Capitol Building in DC, when you called my work “just pity.”  The weirdly indirect manor you let me know- on our first day in Congo- it would not be a joint trip at all. (Basically doubling the cost of my trip!) The mazungu girl-fight on the ride home from Baraka. How you left me scrambling to explain to your own sponsored sister why you would travel all the way from America to Congo, but could not make the time to meet her.

Yep, it pissed me off. And I wrote it all. The book is now off to the printers.

I still feel like a jerk. Worse. A hypocrite.

Because if there was one thing I learned from you, and especially your long silence following the trip, it was that nothing is more damaging to a movement than criticizing fellow activists who are giving it their best effort. However imperfect, perhaps buoyed with ego and grandiosity, maybe saying and doing the wrong things, our job is to show up. To say something.  To take a step. The rest we can figure out as we go.

I don’t expect you to like the way you are represented in the book, or even understand. If I were you, I wouldn’t, and for that I am so sorry.  But I do want you to know this: whatever judgment or frustration I express in the book, absolutely none of it trumps my profound respect for the fact that you showed up for Congo. You have played a critical early role in building a lasting movement, the reverberations of this journey, our honesty about our mutual shortcomings and missteps, we can’t ever know. But I know this for sure: By showing up, you have changed the future of Congo and by extension the face of humanity. 

Well done, lady.  Well done.

With deepest gratitude,

Lisa

            Francisca, a Congolese ex-pat and fellow Portland Run for Congo Women organizer, comes from Dungu, a small town in the far northeastern corner of Congo, nestled on the borders of Sudan and Uganda.  The notorious Ugandan militia the Lord’s Resistance Army has spread into Congo and south Sudan over the past couple of years. On Christmas Day 2008, four of Francisca’s Aunties and Uncles attended Christmas Mass.  The LRA showed up, and killed them along with all 400 people attending the holiday service.

            This year, the LRA have sent written threats announcing their plan to “celebrate” again.

            Why would anyone living under daily threat of attack choose to attend a holiday service?  One of my most striking first impressions of the Congolese was their fervent Christian faith. For instance, when I visited the village of Kaniola, pounded by twice weekly massacres by the Interahamwe (the militia responsible for the Rwandan genocide- still killing people), I was dumbfounded to find most villagers dressed to the nines- belts, loafers, suit jackets, dresses with lace trim.  Then I realized it was Sunday morning. They were heading to church. On another occasion, I asked a sister I sponsor through Women for Women, about the first thing she said to her children when she woke up in the hospital following an off-the-charts massacre that claimed the lives of her husband and nine year old son.  She replied, “I told them to Thank God. I lived.”

            How is it that in Congo, people who face some of the worst violence known to humanity, could maintain such strong faith, when our faith feels like it is stretched to its limit by a cheating boyfriend or a drop in the Dow Jones Industrial Average?  I’m not religious, so I’ won’t posture like an authority.  Instead, the observations of renowned psychiatrist and Jewish Holocaust survivor Viktor Frank may shed some light.  “The religious interest of the prisoners…was the most sincere imaginable.  The depth and vigor of religious belief often surprised and moved the new arrival…The last inner freedom cannot be lost.  It can be said that they were worthy of their suffering; the way they bore their suffering was a genuine human achievement. It was this spiritual freedom- which cannot be taken away- that makes life meaningful and purposeful.”

            In the face of overwhelming international news, as we are tempted to shut down and tune out, perhaps we can draw some inspiration from this kind of faith. We may not be able to waive a magic wand and make mass atrocity go away, but do we not we each possess that last of human freedoms to choose our reaction to it? In this way, is activism not an act of faith?

            This Christmas, Congo will be back in the national spotlight.  Oprah will be re-airing the show on Half the Sky and Congo, on which I appeared in the fall (your regular local time and station).  So this holiday, as you wait out the post meal bloat, go for another round of pie, or snuggle up with a loved one (the Congolese would not fault you any of it- in the face of everything, they still know how to party!)- or if you’re hunkered down avoiding all things tinsel and lights- consider watching Oprah and sharing Congo with your family and friends. Trust this simple act of faith will have reverberations beyond anything you can know, and will touch in you that last human freedoms. A beautiful way to celebrate!

            Happy holidays!

Several months ago, I had the great pleasure of meeting with the brilliant Adam Hochschild, author of King Leopold’s Ghost and Bury the Chains, and expert on building social movements.  He explained that every successful social movement has no more than 3 or 4 key “asks”/ levers to address the issue. Think “Ban Apartheid” or “Abolish Slavery”.

I have some solid ideas, but no easy answers. So I ask you- I’d love your thoughts: What are the top 3 actionable “asks” or levers the grassroots should push for to solve the crisis in Congo?

Anyone? Anyone?

I’ll post my thoughts after others have a chance to share!

Ding, ding, ding, ding! It’s the hundred million dollar question.

The DR Congo is among the most mineral rich countries on the planet, with stores of more than 1,100 minerals, including diamonds, gold, copper, tin, cobalt, tungsten, and 15-20% of the world’s tantalum, otherwise known as coltan, an essential semi-conductor in electronics like cell phones, laptops, video games, and digital cameras. You likely have a chunk of Congo in your pocket.

The United Nations has accused all nations involved in the conflict as using the war as a cover for looting. How does it work?  Militias control territories that contain mines. The militias mine and export themselves, or “tax” locals who do the work for them. Everyone seems to be in on the action: Corrupt government officials who line their pockets through shady contracts; foreign militias; foreign governments who back militias; the Congolese government army; the Mai Mai and other home-grown militias; and of course, the Interahamwe, who control the majority of mines in South Kivu. In a few cases, even UN soldiers. The New York Times ran a report by Lydia Polgreen in December 2008, outlining such an operation, run by a renegade Congolese army brigade, who control a remote, mineral rich area, “master of every hilltop as far as the eye can see.” Unchallenged, they employ locals at ultra-low wages to mine, block all paths, and lug loads of ore via remote forest trails- as far as 30 miles- to the nearest road, where the goods are trucked to a stretch of road that serves as a landing strip for Soviet-era cargo planes, who fly them to Goma or out of Congo.  How much does a guy make carving out his own slice of this pie? One official estimates $300,000 to $600,000 in “taxes” alone.  This operation is estimated to be worth as much as $80 million a year.

The goods are illegally exported to countries like Rwanda or Uganda, who in turn ship them to processing plants, primarily in Asia. Eventually, large corporations buy them and distribute these conflict riches around the world in the form of our favorite consumer goods: diamond engagement rings, Sony Playstations waiting under the Christmas tree, that sleek, new MacBook Air, or our ever-precious Crack-berries.

According to The Enough Project, in 2008 alone, armed groups will have made $185 million from illegal trade of Congo’s minerals. Rwanda, Uganda, and Burundi, as well as Congolese government officials, have made hundreds of millions of dollars off of the Congo plunder. For instance, in the first half of 2008, Rwanda’s primary tin mine will produce about five tons per month.  Yet, in the same period Rwanda will report 2,679 tons in tin exports.  According to UN reports, when Rwanda seized control of eastern Congo in the late 1990’s, they smuggled hundreds of millions of dollars worth of coltan, cassiterite, and diamonds to Rwanda.  The New York Times quotes one Rwandan government official, “I used to see generals at the airport coming back from Congo with suitcases full of cash.”

But rebel groups can only control the minerals if they control the territory. And they can only control the territory if they control the people. And there is one age-old way to control the people: terror.  As one Harvard researcher puts it, there seems to be a “competition among armed groups to be the most brutal.”

We can stop the atrocities in Congo if we stop the gravy train fueling the conflict. Log onto the Enough Project website and send a message to 21 of the top electronics companies letting them know you support Conflict free electronics. It takes about a minute. Then reach out to your friends and ask them to do the same.

http://www2.americanprogress.org/t/1659/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=6265

After countless hours in South Kivu interviewing hundreds of women on “the trouble they got from war”, I have to say, the play was dead accurate.  Consistent. This is remarkable, considering the playwright conducted her research in refugee camps in Uganda, many hundreds of miles north of South Kivu where I spent my time. But the stories were the same, the horror painfully common, despite the vast geographical expanse.  Nothing in the play was new or shocking.  For women to be “ruined” in identical fashion over such a wide ranging area, at the hands of different militias (which the playwright kept vague, I presume intentionally) means despite Congo’s chaos, the terror is clearly systematic.

The acting was near perfect, the story compelling, but my reaction was a surprise even to me.  I’ve been absorbing these stories for years, and for the most part I’ve been fine.  But the show was unexpectedly painful.  I sensed it as the play ended on a poignant, hopeful note, and everyone gathered their things and exited the theater.  The actors stood outside greeting guests.  For a second, I thought of saying hello and congratulating them.  Then I realized I couldn’t, no more than I could indulge my friends in a post-performance rehash of the show.  It was too real.  So real it stirred something in me that has been brewing over the last few weeks. I made a beeline for the elevator. I knew if I opened my mouth, it would not be able to hold back tears.  And crying in public is just not done in DC.  So I just shut up, or changed the subject, avoided eye contact, and got out of there.

Bonus: Eye of the Tiger. Survivor.  Okay, it’s silly. That’s why it didn’t make the list.  But it is the best overall workout song ever, and you know it.  Put it in the mix, just for fun.  You’ll get many miles out of this golden oldie.

10. Masters Of War. Pearl Jam recording of this Bob Dylan classic. No one says it quite like Bob.  This one goes out to all the mining executives, all the guys making serious cash off the conflict.  Apropos, for sure, but it’s further down the list because it’s angry- a great motivator and will help you log some serious mileage, but ultimately anger will only carry you so far. (By the way, no, I don’t hope they die.  I usually scroll to the next song when I hit the final verse.)

Come you masters of war…./You fasten all the triggers/ For the others to fire/ Then you set back and watch/ While the death count gets higher/ Then you hide in your mansion/ While the young people’s blood/ Flows out of their bodies/ And is buried in the mud

9. What a Feeling. Irene Cara. Nevermind the fact Flashdance was my very favorite movie when I was 8 (yes, my parents were that liberal.)  It’s the story of starting run for Congo Women!

First when there’s nothing but a slow glowing dream/ That your fear seems to hide deep inside your mind…/ Take your passion!  Make it happen!

8. Alina. Arvo Part. Sometimes on a long run, blood pumping music feels like it’s mocking your pain.  Sometimes you need some music that slows you down and helps you Zen-out. This stunning piece was written as a prayer, and always make me feel like I’m floating.

7. The Campfire Song. 10,000 Maniacs.  Let’s be real. It’s about the money.  This one is a little more compassionate than the Dylan.

A lie to say, “O my mountain has coal veins and beds to dig/ 500 men with axes and they all dig for me.”/ A lie to say, “O my mine gave a diamond as big as a fist.”/ But with every gem in his pocket, the jewels he has missed. (I always think of Congolese kids- the real treasure)/ A lie to say “O my forest has trees that block the sun/ and when I cut them down I don’t answer to anyone.”/ No, no, never will he believe that his greed is a blinding ray./ No devil or redeemer can cheat him./ He’ll take his gold where he’s lying cold./ A lonely, lonely, lonely, lonely man.

6. I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For. U2.  I think about my Congolese sisters when I hear this one.  Until there’s stability in Congo, yes, I’m still running.

I have climbed highest mountain/ I have run through the fields/ Only to be with you./ I have run/ I have crawled/ I have scaled these city walls/ These city walls/ Only to be with you/ But I still haven’t found what I’m looking for/ Yes, I’m still running.

5. Africa Unite. Bob Marley and the Wailers.  As soon as I landed in the Nairobi Airport, I got it. Bob Marley is the soundtrack of Africa.  My driver Serge had a bootlegged tape we listened to- among the favorites were Redemption Songs, One Drop, and of course War.  But this one we looped more times that I can say, driving up and down the gutted streets of Bukavu.  How good and how pleasant it would be, indeed.  Play it again, Serge!

Africa unite!  Cause your children want to go home./ How good and how pleasant it would be/ Before God and man/ To see the unification of all Africans/ As it’s been said let it be done/ I tell you who we are under the sun.

4. War on War. Wilco. I listened to this song non-stop, psyching myself up while prepping for my first trip to Congo. Walk through the flaming doors.  Feel the burn.

Walk through the flaming doors./ You have to lose./ You have to learn how to die/ If you wanna be alive./ It’s a war on war.

3. Survivor. Destiny’s Child.  Oooh.  The next time you think about hopping off the treadmill a few minutes pre-goal, flip this one on.  There will be no stopping you.

I’m a survivor, I’m not gonna give up/ I’m not gonna stop, I’m gonna work harder/ I’m a survivor, I’m gonna make it/ I will survive, Keep on survivin’

2.  Sunday Bloody Sunday. U2. It’s a battle cry.  Whew. This one will get you through many a steep incline.  It’s the best.  A close tie for number one.

I can’t believe the news today/ Oh, I can’t close my eyes and make it go away/ How long, how long must we sing this song?/ How long? How long?/ ’Cause tonight we can be as one, tonight/ Sunday, Bloody Sunday/ And it’s true we are immune when fact is fiction and TV reality/ And today the millions cry/ We eat and drink while tomorrow they die

[But you aren’t eating and drinking. You are Running for Congo Women!  You go girl! (or guy!)]

1. Change. Tracy Chapman. My number one Run for Congo Women song of all time. Still gives me chills, everytime.  Life is so short. Change.

If you knew that you would die today/ If you saw the face of God and love (cute Congolese kids faces here)/ Would you change?/ How bad, how good does it need to get? (Seriously.)/ How many losses? How much regret? (5.4 million….)/ What chain reaction? What cause and effect?/ Makes you turn around?/ Makes you change?

But when you log as many hours on the trail as I have, nothing gives you a boost like a new song. I’d LOVE your suggestions. Please post them here!