A letter from Inge Sthreshley in Congo
August 18, 2011
Dear Friends,
One of the projects we have the privilege to be a part of as PC(USA) missionaries is the USHINDI project in eastern Congo. The USHINDI project is a consortium of local organizations in the East that are working together to assist survivors of sexual and gender-based violence and educate communities on the rights of women. The following story is a wonderful testimony to this work.
TESTIMONY FROM A WOMAN IN NZEGA VILLAGE, MUTWANGA ZONE IN EASTERN CONGO USHINDI PROJECT
The Ushindi Project helps women in need.
I am a married woman and I have five children. I have suffered from domestic violence for many years. My husband is a drunkard, and this makes my life and that of my children very difficult, and I have to work very hard for us to survive. I make a living from farming, and when I harvest, it is my husband who manages the income from the field. He spends everything on alcohol. Sometimes he gets into big debts with the tavern keeper. He even comes and sells the things in the house to pay these debts—jerry cans, saucepans, bowls, cups, chairs…
One day when I came home from the field, I found he had sold our only pair of sheets. I was so desperate that I decided to go and talk to the USHINDI counselor in our health centre. I was ready to divorce this man, because I felt so dishonored and humiliated in our community.
The counselor comforted me, and told me about the court official in our area, who had followed the USHINDI project training and who could tell me what the law says. I asked her to introduce me to him. I explained to him what my life was like, and he called my husband. He explained to him about the rights of women and asked him to give back all the household goods; otherwise the law would act against him. He was arrested and held for four days at the police station. Then four days later my husband went and bought back everything he had sold.
Since then our life at home has totally changed. I thought he would be very angry with me and throw me out of the house, but on the contrary, this has led to reconciliation between us, thanks to the good work of the psychosocial counselor.
Now we go to the field together, we sell our production together, and our way of living has totally changed. I am respected and esteemed as a wife. I am very grateful to those who brought this new information into our area. I am a happy woman.
This past year the USHINDI project has helped 3,358 victims of sexual violence, and 39 percent of these victims were children under 18 years of age. All of these victims received psychosocial support through USHINDI. Approximately half received legal support and 1,014 cases were taken to court. However, due to Congo’s very weak legal system, the perpetrators often get out of jail very quickly. Women who are victims of sexual violence are often ostracized by their families and communities and need a means to support themselves. This year the USHINDI project provided training in a skill or trade, like sewing or soap making, etc., to 5,261 women. To avoid stigmatization, the socio-economic activities are open to all women.
The problem in the East of sexual and gender-based violence against women is not due just to the ongoing militia conflicts in the East but has its roots in pre-existing, “chronic,” unequal gender relations. So in addition to increasing access and the quality of services for women directly affected by gender-based violence, the USHINDI project has a large focus on empowering women and engaging communities in long-term attitude change by educating women and community groups, including men, about how to avoid sexual violence, how to protect women in communities, and the legal rights of women. They have been able to get this message out to approximately 440,677 people. The project is working in an area of 1.2 million people. So in the first year of the program they have reached about 35 percent of the population.
When I read those last lines of this woman’s testimony, “I am very grateful to those who brought this new information into our area,” I thought of the verse in Isaiah 52:7: "How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, 'Your God reigns!' ”
I was reminded that the “Good News” comes to us in many forms and often via many pairs of feet. The USHINDI Consortium is made up of Heal Africa, Panzi Foundation, PPSSP (Programme for the Promotion of Primary Health Care in Rural Areas), The American Bar Association, Save the Children, Children’s Voice, and Care. The Consortium activities are funded by USAID. IMA World Health is the lead organization. As a PC(USA) missionary and an IMA World Health representative for Congo, Larry gives oversight to this project and is involved every day in moving it forward, traveling frequently to Goma. There are those of you who have written letters to Congress asking for action and funding on this issue, and there are those of you who support World Mission and give to our support, which enables us to work here in Congo. The USHINDI project is an example of how your many efforts to help Congo culminate in concrete actions that help alleviate and prevent the suffering of women in Congo.
We don’t have enough room in a newsletter to share more stories, but there are several posted on our website that show the scope of interventions and assistance that the USHINDI project is giving to women in eastern Congo. I hope you will read these women’s stories. Please continue to pray for peace in the Congo and that this project will reach many women and communities. Thank you for your support and for supporting World Mission of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).
Inge & Larry Sthreshley
The 2011 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 61
The 2012 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 102
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Read additional stories from the Ushindi Project
