Well, my latest flick (not my latest, but at least the latest viewable video... the rest are stuck here, until I can figure out how to get them to the states) made it onto the web, and I thought you all should see it (only if you feel like it). The flick is called "dannyboy" and it made it's way up into one of my favorite little short diddy's. So I'm going to give you the link to view it. After clicking on the link, just click on "dannyboy" and the video will play (don't worry, it won't cost you anything, it plays for free). Danny was our favorite little orphan here in Burundi, and now he is at least temporarily, adopted. Go ahead and leave a comment to let me know if you can see it. My internet connection has been pretty bad lately so nothing is working right especially links, so I want to know if the link is working. Okay, here's the link to the "Dannyboy" video:
http://www.sermonspice.com/listings/producer/276/concept-81/
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
All dried up
Dry season is here, and there's nothing you can do about it. A constant haze has settled all around the city hugely limmiting visibility. Also, vegitation is drying up, so it's just not looking near as lush anymore. Forget about seeing Congo, it's simply not possible through the thick haze. It's also more windy, which is good and bad. Bad for filming, but good for feeling a little bit cooler. I'd have to say, I definately prefere rainy season... and, if you're thinking of visiting Africa, I recommend rainy season, if you want to see the beautiful lushness.
Summer teams are in full swing, and there is lots happening. We did our last food distribution, and that is a bit sad... but we are moving on some HIV aids projects, and Church Mobilization (mobilizing local churches to better serve the community and the communities needs)will be taking off in the not too distant future. Also, a Mars Hill team is here, and they are actively pursuing building capacity for Microfinance, and HIV Aids programs, and training pastors for effective counseling of people who have suffered great trauma and are suffering with aids. This is in addition to already building conflict resolution training into the Microfinance programs. In addition to this, our largest goat distribution happened a month ago, and we should be seeing some results by now. Dolla is also building more houses for returning refugees and IDP's (internally displaced people). I will be putting films together in the future to communicate in greater detail everything I'm ranting about.
Summer teams are in full swing, and there is lots happening. We did our last food distribution, and that is a bit sad... but we are moving on some HIV aids projects, and Church Mobilization (mobilizing local churches to better serve the community and the communities needs)will be taking off in the not too distant future. Also, a Mars Hill team is here, and they are actively pursuing building capacity for Microfinance, and HIV Aids programs, and training pastors for effective counseling of people who have suffered great trauma and are suffering with aids. This is in addition to already building conflict resolution training into the Microfinance programs. In addition to this, our largest goat distribution happened a month ago, and we should be seeing some results by now. Dolla is also building more houses for returning refugees and IDP's (internally displaced people). I will be putting films together in the future to communicate in greater detail everything I'm ranting about.
Friday, June 22, 2007
On this rock I will build Burundi
"When I am in church, I pray and devote myself exclusively to God. And when I am in politics, I do the opposite"Pierre Nkurunziza
President: Pierre Nkurunziza
Pierre Nkurunziza, a Hutu former rebel leader, became the first president to be chosen in democratic elections since the start of Burundi's civil war. His father was Catholic, as well as an elected member of the National Assembly in 1965 while his mother was an Anglican nurse. When Pierre was 7 years old when his father was assassinated in the 1972 ethnic massacre.
After he finished primary school in 1979, he joined Gitega Secondary School where he left in 1987 to enter the University of Burundi. He had applied to enter the Faculty of Economic Sciences or the High Military Institute but, instead, he was admitted to the Faculty of Physical Education and Sports. Students were at the time admitted to different faculties depending on their ethnic and regional origins. Some faculties were more highly prized than others. Hutus were not admitted into the military institute.
Four years later, Nkurunziza left the university holding a Bachelor of Arts degree in physical education and sports. He started his sports teaching career at the Vugizo and Muramvya secondary schools before returning to the University of Burundi as an assistant lecturer. At the same time, he lectured at the military institute and coached a football team. Before joining the rebels, he was a teacher, not known for his political activities.
"I was pushed into rebellion by the inter-ethnic massacres that were taking place at the university in 1995." At that time, ethnic clashes at the university targeted Hutu students, prompting him to flee the country. Nkurunziza remembers that he escaped assassination by his own students. "It was no longer possible to live in Bujumbura," he said. He joined the Hutu rebellion in 1995 and rose through the ranks to become head of the FDD in 2001. He sustained a serious mortar injury during the conflict.
After he finished primary school in 1979, he joined Gitega Secondary School where he left in 1987 to enter the University of Burundi. He had applied to enter the Faculty of Economic Sciences or the High Military Institute but, instead, he was admitted to the Faculty of Physical Education and Sports. Students were at the time admitted to different faculties depending on their ethnic and regional origins. Some faculties were more highly prized than others. Hutus were not admitted into the military institute.
Four years later, Nkurunziza left the university holding a Bachelor of Arts degree in physical education and sports. He started his sports teaching career at the Vugizo and Muramvya secondary schools before returning to the University of Burundi as an assistant lecturer. At the same time, he lectured at the military institute and coached a football team. Before joining the rebels, he was a teacher, not known for his political activities.
"I was pushed into rebellion by the inter-ethnic massacres that were taking place at the university in 1995." At that time, ethnic clashes at the university targeted Hutu students, prompting him to flee the country. Nkurunziza remembers that he escaped assassination by his own students. "It was no longer possible to live in Bujumbura," he said. He joined the Hutu rebellion in 1995 and rose through the ranks to become head of the FDD in 2001. He sustained a serious mortar injury during the conflict.
'Pre-destined'
He narrowly escaped death in combat in 2001 in the central province of Gitega. Injured in battle and with the army in hot pursuit, he says he saw those who had gone to kill him were eaten by crocodiles near the Maragarazi river, in central Burundi. He says the experience is proof that he was pre-destined to lead the FDD.
Now a born-again Protestant, he is described by those close to him as "religious, cool and a gentleman devoid of religious fundamentalism". He says he is against tribalism and fought for peace, justice and security for all. "When I am in church, I pray and devote myself exclusively to God. And when I am in politics, I do the opposite while at the same time acknowledging that God is everywhere," he once said.
Although Mr. Nkurunziza preaches peace and unity, his rebel group staged several ambushes along major roads killing many travelers, mostly Tutsis. In 1998, he was sentenced to death by a Burundian court but he received an amnesty under the peace accords.
The FDD now boasts many Tutsi officials, which some say is proof of Mr. Nkurunziza's national outlook. However, others point out that under the new constitution, parties were obliged to have members from both major communities. The constitution also shares out government posts on an ethnic basis. Thus, the pro-Hutu FDD was obliged to seek Tutsi members who in turn could fill the posts reserved for them under the peace deal.
Family tragedy
Mr Nkurunziza is married with two sons, aged nine and 11. He had a sister and six brothers, two of whom died during the 1993 killings which followed President Ndadaye's killing. Three others died in the bush. Now only he and his sister remain. He was reunited with his family in December 2003 after the signing of the peace agreement with the government.
After 10 years of war, Burundians hope they can now rebuild their lives
Mr. Nkurunziza relinquished the FDD leadership post after being chosen as a presidential candidate for the forthcoming elections. His government will also face the hard task of engaging the only active rebel group, the National Liberation Forces, in talks and then reaching a peace agreement.
After so many years of conflict, he will also have to reassure the minority Tutsis, through actions as well as words, that their future is secure in a democratic government led by the majority Hutus.
He was the sole candidate in the August 2005 vote in the National Assembly and the Senate after his Force for the Defence of Democracy (FDD) won parliamentary elections in June. The FDD was until recently the largest rebel group fighting the Burundi government.
After 10 years of conflict between ethnic Hutu rebels and the Tutsi-dominated army, the FDD joined the peace process in November 2003 paving the way for its entry into government. The vote was one of the final steps in a peace process intended to end years of fighting between Hutu rebels and the Tutsi-controlled army.
Mr. Nkurunziza, 41, arrived in Bujumbura in November 2004, to take up his post of minister for good governance. He belongs to the younger generation of Hutu leaders, whose political and military careers started after the killing of Hutu President Melchior Ndadaye by disgruntled soldiers in 1993.
Mr. Nkurunziza, who pledged to strive for unity, faces the pressing challenges of reassuring the Tutsi minority and of reviving the economy. At the end of 2005 he unveiled a $2billion rejuvenation plan, most of it to be funded by foreign donors, targeted at the agricultural sector.
As the nation's leader, he faces the challenges of elevating the standard of living of millions of Burundians, which have plummeted during the 12 years of civil war, compounded by endemic official corruption.
Monday, June 18, 2007
A brief history of Burundi
The earliest inhabitants of the area were the pygmoid Twa. They were largely replaced and absorbed by Bantu tribes during Bantu migrations.
Burundi existed as an independent kingdom from the sixteenth century. In 1903, it became a German colony and passed to Belgium in World War I. It was part of the Belgian League of Nations mandate of Ruanda-Urundi in 1923, later a United Nations Trust Territory under Belgian administrative authority following World War II. The origins of Burundi monarchy are veiled in myth. According to some legends, Ntare Rushatsi, founder of the original dynasty, came to Burundi from Rwanda in seventeenth century; other, more reliable sources, suggest that Ntare came from Buha, in the south-east, and laid the foundation for his kingdom in the Nkoma region.
Until the downfall of the monarchy in 1966, kingship remained one of last links that bound Burundi with its past.
From independence in 1962, until the elections of 1993, Burundi was controlled by a series of military dictators, all from the Tutsi minority. These years saw extensive ethnic violence including major incidents in 1964 and the late 1980s, and the Burundian genocide in 1972. In 1993 (I was a sophmore in highschool), Burundi held its first democratic elections, which were won by the Hutu-dominated Front for Democracy in Burundi (FRODEBU). FRODEBU leader Melchior Ndadaye became Burundi's first Hutu President, but a few months later he was assassinated by a group of Tutsi army officers. The killing plunged Burundi into a vicious civil war.
In retaliation for Ndadaye's killing, Hutu extremists massacred thousands of Tutsi civilians. The Tutsi-dominated army responded by massacring similar amounts of Hutus. Years of instability followed until 1996, when former president Pierre Buyoya took power in a coup. In August 2000 (I was graduating college), a peace-deal agreed by all but two of Burundi's political groups laid out a timetable for the restoration of democracy. After several more years of violence, a cease-fire was signed in 2003 (I began grad school) between Buyoya's government and the largest Hutu rebel group, CNDD-FDD. Later that year, FRODEBU leader Domitien Ndayizeye replaced Buyoya as President. Yet the most extreme Hutu group, Palipehutu-FNL (commonly known as "FNL"), continued to refuse negotiations. In August 2004 (I was celebrating my first anniversary with Trina), the group massacred 152 Congolese Tutsi refugees at the Gatumba refugee camp in western Burundi. In response to the attack, the Burundian government issued arrest warrants for the FNL leaders Agathon Rwasa and Pasteur Habimana, and declared the group a terrorist organisation.
In May 2005 (I was planning my first visit to Burundi), a cease-fire was finally agreed between the FNL and the Burundian government, but fighting continued. Renewed negotiations are now under way, amid fears that the FNL will demand a blanket amnesty in exchange for laying down their arms. A series of elections, held in mid-2005 were won by the former Hutu rebel National Council for the Defense of Democracy-Forces for the Defense of Democracy (CNDD-FDD). On September 7, 2006 (I was prepping to live in Burundi), a second ceasefire agreement was signed.
Currently, The president, Pierre Nkurunziza met in Tanzania for peace talks (yesterday) with the last faction of the FNL. Their moving forward, and releasing some FNL political prisoners. The president plays rugby outside our headquarters in town, just across the street. Three weeks ago, Trina was driving to french class, and didn't pull over when Pierre drove by with is motorcade... and we got reprimanded by a moto cop... and I'm shooting a documentary about a boy who was a child soldier, and is now a pastor, who is building a house on the lake. We'll see what happens. It's been a week of challenging shooting, but today, the police didn't pull me over! I was so happy. This place is wild. There's too much to say.
Burundi existed as an independent kingdom from the sixteenth century. In 1903, it became a German colony and passed to Belgium in World War I. It was part of the Belgian League of Nations mandate of Ruanda-Urundi in 1923, later a United Nations Trust Territory under Belgian administrative authority following World War II. The origins of Burundi monarchy are veiled in myth. According to some legends, Ntare Rushatsi, founder of the original dynasty, came to Burundi from Rwanda in seventeenth century; other, more reliable sources, suggest that Ntare came from Buha, in the south-east, and laid the foundation for his kingdom in the Nkoma region.
Until the downfall of the monarchy in 1966, kingship remained one of last links that bound Burundi with its past.
From independence in 1962, until the elections of 1993, Burundi was controlled by a series of military dictators, all from the Tutsi minority. These years saw extensive ethnic violence including major incidents in 1964 and the late 1980s, and the Burundian genocide in 1972. In 1993 (I was a sophmore in highschool), Burundi held its first democratic elections, which were won by the Hutu-dominated Front for Democracy in Burundi (FRODEBU). FRODEBU leader Melchior Ndadaye became Burundi's first Hutu President, but a few months later he was assassinated by a group of Tutsi army officers. The killing plunged Burundi into a vicious civil war.
In retaliation for Ndadaye's killing, Hutu extremists massacred thousands of Tutsi civilians. The Tutsi-dominated army responded by massacring similar amounts of Hutus. Years of instability followed until 1996, when former president Pierre Buyoya took power in a coup. In August 2000 (I was graduating college), a peace-deal agreed by all but two of Burundi's political groups laid out a timetable for the restoration of democracy. After several more years of violence, a cease-fire was signed in 2003 (I began grad school) between Buyoya's government and the largest Hutu rebel group, CNDD-FDD. Later that year, FRODEBU leader Domitien Ndayizeye replaced Buyoya as President. Yet the most extreme Hutu group, Palipehutu-FNL (commonly known as "FNL"), continued to refuse negotiations. In August 2004 (I was celebrating my first anniversary with Trina), the group massacred 152 Congolese Tutsi refugees at the Gatumba refugee camp in western Burundi. In response to the attack, the Burundian government issued arrest warrants for the FNL leaders Agathon Rwasa and Pasteur Habimana, and declared the group a terrorist organisation.
In May 2005 (I was planning my first visit to Burundi), a cease-fire was finally agreed between the FNL and the Burundian government, but fighting continued. Renewed negotiations are now under way, amid fears that the FNL will demand a blanket amnesty in exchange for laying down their arms. A series of elections, held in mid-2005 were won by the former Hutu rebel National Council for the Defense of Democracy-Forces for the Defense of Democracy (CNDD-FDD). On September 7, 2006 (I was prepping to live in Burundi), a second ceasefire agreement was signed.
Currently, The president, Pierre Nkurunziza met in Tanzania for peace talks (yesterday) with the last faction of the FNL. Their moving forward, and releasing some FNL political prisoners. The president plays rugby outside our headquarters in town, just across the street. Three weeks ago, Trina was driving to french class, and didn't pull over when Pierre drove by with is motorcade... and we got reprimanded by a moto cop... and I'm shooting a documentary about a boy who was a child soldier, and is now a pastor, who is building a house on the lake. We'll see what happens. It's been a week of challenging shooting, but today, the police didn't pull me over! I was so happy. This place is wild. There's too much to say.
Thursday, June 07, 2007
Do you have friends?
Some of you know that I'm writing "a fools proverbs" which is a compilation of proverbs written by yours truly about things I've observed, and experienced in life (here's an excerpt from page two: "it's easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into Heaven. But it's even harder for a rich camel to enter into Heaven).
I've been known to say: "friends are my currency." Not only is this from page three of "a fools proverbs," it's also true to me in a way that the camel proverb will never be... well the second part of the camel proverb anyway, I'm actually afraid of the first part which can be found in Matt 19. The fact is: friends are more valuable to me than money. Some people rely on money to get by in life. I rely on friends, and I in turn am a friend that can be relied on. When a good friend and mentor "Dave the translator" was conversing with me in french, we got to talking about the fact that I didn't have much money. He asked me "Avez-vous des amis?" to which I responded: "Oui, j'ai beaucoup d'amis" (except I forgot to use a the proper definite article proceeding the noun at the time). He then switched to English and said: "then you are truly rich." We were on the same page, I already agreed with his statement years ago. Sometimes, I must admit. I want more money. I want more financial freedom. But deep down I know: friends are my currency, and I am truly rich.
About four years ago, much to the disgust of my non-christian currency (and some of my christian money), I went on a short term mission trip to Greece. I really had a great experience, and I learned a lot. We went to Greece to serve refugees, and one of these refugees became a currency, he was from Tehran, the capital of Iran. His name was Amyr ("prince" in Arabic). We spent lots of time together, he was a refugee and we talked a lot about freedom, and what freedom is, and the pros and cons of freedom. We talked about Christianity and Islam, and we played the guitar, and we played basketball, and then we talked about Iran and America. We didn't have enough time to talk about the weather. I took him to "Hard Rock Cafe" and "starbucks" (sort of an American tour) and he took me to a beach, and it was good. I promised to keep in touch with Amyr, and I did. In less than 6 months after I flew back to the states he made it to England. I promised him that I would visit him in England before I left, so I did. I booked tickets out and introduced him to Trina. Trina liked Amyr and his family as much as I did. Amyr got married a year later, and I flew out to his wedding because I said I would. It was a beautiful wedding.
Amyr works about 60-80 hours a week, he's still a refugee, and he's not treated well. Amyr goes to school in addition to work, and he also pays for his wife, Sogol to go to school. Before I came to Africa, I visited Amyr. He rented a car for Trina and I when we arrived in England, and he wouldn't let us pay for a thing. I was barely able to cover a few things and it was a fight with Amyr every time to pull out my credit card before him, but after all, our friendship isn't about the money, our friendship is more than money. Amyr and Sogol we're the last of our friends that we saw before we arrived in Afrique. The friend that I met 4 years ago in Athens, little did I know, would be the same friend that saw me off to my new adventure in Africa. Just a few weeks ago Amyr emailed me I'll put my email to Amyr first, then his response:
seth chase wrote:
ExternalClass
P{padding:0px;}
amyr,
I'm getting old... 30, I never thought about being this old. I'll have to come visit you again before I die of old age. I hope your "new years" was great. Send my love to sogol, we miss you both. love, seth
From: amýr salehi rad Sent: Thu 5/31/07 6:03 AM
To: seth chase
hey there,
long time since your last mail, i hope everything is going well 4 u both and you are working hard as always towards ur bright future, keep us updated about everything, by the way me and sogol have some money that we've left aside for charity and we were wondered if there is anything there that money can buy for kids, althogh it's not a big lump , but still we thought that this way at least it reach their hands directly! let me know what you think about that!
our love and prayers my old man,
amir & sogol
I've been known to say: "friends are my currency." Not only is this from page three of "a fools proverbs," it's also true to me in a way that the camel proverb will never be... well the second part of the camel proverb anyway, I'm actually afraid of the first part which can be found in Matt 19. The fact is: friends are more valuable to me than money. Some people rely on money to get by in life. I rely on friends, and I in turn am a friend that can be relied on. When a good friend and mentor "Dave the translator" was conversing with me in french, we got to talking about the fact that I didn't have much money. He asked me "Avez-vous des amis?" to which I responded: "Oui, j'ai beaucoup d'amis" (except I forgot to use a the proper definite article proceeding the noun at the time). He then switched to English and said: "then you are truly rich." We were on the same page, I already agreed with his statement years ago. Sometimes, I must admit. I want more money. I want more financial freedom. But deep down I know: friends are my currency, and I am truly rich.
About four years ago, much to the disgust of my non-christian currency (and some of my christian money), I went on a short term mission trip to Greece. I really had a great experience, and I learned a lot. We went to Greece to serve refugees, and one of these refugees became a currency, he was from Tehran, the capital of Iran. His name was Amyr ("prince" in Arabic). We spent lots of time together, he was a refugee and we talked a lot about freedom, and what freedom is, and the pros and cons of freedom. We talked about Christianity and Islam, and we played the guitar, and we played basketball, and then we talked about Iran and America. We didn't have enough time to talk about the weather. I took him to "Hard Rock Cafe" and "starbucks" (sort of an American tour) and he took me to a beach, and it was good. I promised to keep in touch with Amyr, and I did. In less than 6 months after I flew back to the states he made it to England. I promised him that I would visit him in England before I left, so I did. I booked tickets out and introduced him to Trina. Trina liked Amyr and his family as much as I did. Amyr got married a year later, and I flew out to his wedding because I said I would. It was a beautiful wedding.
Amyr works about 60-80 hours a week, he's still a refugee, and he's not treated well. Amyr goes to school in addition to work, and he also pays for his wife, Sogol to go to school. Before I came to Africa, I visited Amyr. He rented a car for Trina and I when we arrived in England, and he wouldn't let us pay for a thing. I was barely able to cover a few things and it was a fight with Amyr every time to pull out my credit card before him, but after all, our friendship isn't about the money, our friendship is more than money. Amyr and Sogol we're the last of our friends that we saw before we arrived in Afrique. The friend that I met 4 years ago in Athens, little did I know, would be the same friend that saw me off to my new adventure in Africa. Just a few weeks ago Amyr emailed me I'll put my email to Amyr first, then his response:
seth chase wrote:
ExternalClass
P{padding:0px;}
amyr,
I'm getting old... 30, I never thought about being this old. I'll have to come visit you again before I die of old age. I hope your "new years" was great. Send my love to sogol, we miss you both. love, seth
From: amýr salehi rad Sent: Thu 5/31/07 6:03 AM
To: seth chase
hey there,
long time since your last mail, i hope everything is going well 4 u both and you are working hard as always towards ur bright future, keep us updated about everything, by the way me and sogol have some money that we've left aside for charity and we were wondered if there is anything there that money can buy for kids, althogh it's not a big lump , but still we thought that this way at least it reach their hands directly! let me know what you think about that!
our love and prayers my old man,
amir & sogol
It's crazy, money... friends... grace. I could never pay Amyr back for all that he has been to me. Even if I could put a price on it, he wouldn't accept it. I will always be indebted to Amyr, though he would never see it that way. It's so Mark12:41-44, that it's almost too much for me at times.
Her
e's to friends and money! 
Saturday, June 02, 2007
Sex crime levels in Congo and Burundi are appalling
This is a tough article, but it is informative. Sex in the church is quite a problem in every culture, but in this culture it's rooted pretty broad and deep; though this article doesn't address "sex in the church" it does provide a framework or culture that the church is in the middle of, and as we all know, culture is a huge part of church. So, don't read this if you feel it's too much:
United Nations - The level of gender-based sexual violence has reached appalling levels in eastern Congo and Burundi and stronger efforts are needed to ostracise perpetrators of such crimes, the UN human rights chief said on Thursday.
Louise Arbour, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, said corrupt justice systems and national governments that take part in the corruption are to blame for the high number of sexual violence crimes in the region.
Many women who have been victims of sexual violence told Arbour that they go back to their communities and they are teased, often by the very people who harmed them and who continue to live in the community untroubled, she said.
"I think it's important to understand that gender-based violence in that context is not just an affront to dignity or a kind of form of indecency, it is a form of torture and absolute brutal physical and mental assault on the victims," she told a UN press briefing following her two-week trip to the Congo, Burundi and Sudan's conflict-wracked Darfur region.
These sex crimes and the injuries they inflict are often extreme, Arbour told reporters after a closed briefing to the UN Security Council on her trip.
A common one is fistula, a hole in the birth canal "caused by brutal forms of rape, gang rape, insertion of objects" and also when poor women have no assistance at childbirth," she said.
Chronic medical problems
Women with fistula experience chronic incontinence and often give birth to a stillborn baby. Untreated, fistula can also lead to chronic medical problems, including ulcerations, kidney disease, and nerve damage in the legs.
Arbour said she met many women who have lived with this condition untreated for more than 40 years.
"Doctors are looking at very complicated fistula surgery to repair rips between bladder systems, intestinal systems and reproductive organs," Arbour said.
She also saw pregnant 12-year-olds who had been raped and had to get Caesarean sections.
In Kisangani, a town Arbour visited deep in Congo's interior, 60% of the sexual violence victims brought to the hospitals were between the ages of 11 and 17, she said.
The exact number of rapes in Congo is not known. Hospital officials report treating huge numbers of women who have been victims of sex crimes, particularly in eastern Congo where militia fighters and Congolese soldiers target civilians.
"The level of sexual violence and its intensity is surprising and appalling," Arbour said about the places she visited in eastern Congo and Burundi.
United Nations - The level of gender-based sexual violence has reached appalling levels in eastern Congo and Burundi and stronger efforts are needed to ostracise perpetrators of such crimes, the UN human rights chief said on Thursday.
Louise Arbour, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, said corrupt justice systems and national governments that take part in the corruption are to blame for the high number of sexual violence crimes in the region.
Many women who have been victims of sexual violence told Arbour that they go back to their communities and they are teased, often by the very people who harmed them and who continue to live in the community untroubled, she said.
"I think it's important to understand that gender-based violence in that context is not just an affront to dignity or a kind of form of indecency, it is a form of torture and absolute brutal physical and mental assault on the victims," she told a UN press briefing following her two-week trip to the Congo, Burundi and Sudan's conflict-wracked Darfur region.
These sex crimes and the injuries they inflict are often extreme, Arbour told reporters after a closed briefing to the UN Security Council on her trip.
A common one is fistula, a hole in the birth canal "caused by brutal forms of rape, gang rape, insertion of objects" and also when poor women have no assistance at childbirth," she said.
Chronic medical problems
Women with fistula experience chronic incontinence and often give birth to a stillborn baby. Untreated, fistula can also lead to chronic medical problems, including ulcerations, kidney disease, and nerve damage in the legs.
Arbour said she met many women who have lived with this condition untreated for more than 40 years.
"Doctors are looking at very complicated fistula surgery to repair rips between bladder systems, intestinal systems and reproductive organs," Arbour said.
She also saw pregnant 12-year-olds who had been raped and had to get Caesarean sections.
In Kisangani, a town Arbour visited deep in Congo's interior, 60% of the sexual violence victims brought to the hospitals were between the ages of 11 and 17, she said.
The exact number of rapes in Congo is not known. Hospital officials report treating huge numbers of women who have been victims of sex crimes, particularly in eastern Congo where militia fighters and Congolese soldiers target civilians.
"The level of sexual violence and its intensity is surprising and appalling," Arbour said about the places she visited in eastern Congo and Burundi.
A better storyteller
Donald Miller is far more popular than I realized. I've been a fan of Donald Miller's writing for a while. I like his biblical worldview, and I like his preaching, and I like his style. It caught me off guard that he wrote Blue Like Jazz into a screenplay, and I don't know when the movie will be out, but I'm curious to see what happens when it debuts. I was even more suprised to realize he's writing/creating a TV show that takes place in Powells book store. I think it could be quite interesting. So this is a little ditty about Don Miller, another author I admire, at least as much as Jack Handy. If your are highschool age to post college, you gotta get your hands on some Don Miller, thank me later... and start with Blue Like Jazz. If you are a parent of teen/college age kids, get those kids some Don Miller... without further ado:
Donald Miller is in a room of 500 or 600 people, all waiting for him to speak. But as he steps behind the podium and begins, his voice seems more suited to a small group of five or six.
"Okay," he starts, "what are some of your favorite movies?"
A murmur of response—"Come on!" Miller encourages—and then people start shouting out titles. The Matrix! A Beautiful Mind! The Straight Story! Finding Nemo! The audience oohs and aahs at each other's choices. Little Women! Napoleon Dynamite! It's a Wonderful Life! The shouting goes on for a while; they forget this is a workshop.
"Okay, great," Miller says, bringing attention front and center. "Now, call out your favorite parts of the Nicene Creed."
Awkward giggles throughout the room—they know they've been had. Then one man pipes up: "It's a wonderful life!"
Miller laughs along with, maybe louder than, everyone in the room. He's enjoying that his point was made for him: We know our movies better than we know our creeds. And now self-help banalities—Your life can be wonderful—compete for our attention with the classic truths of the Christian story.
In the next half hour, Miller delivers a variation on a theme ascendant in evangelical Christianity: Truth is rooted in story, not in rational systems. The Christian mission is not well served when we speak in terms of spiritual laws or rational formulas. Propositional truths, when extracted from a narrative context, lack meaning. "The chief role of a Christian," he says, "is to tell a better story."
In keeping with the movie theme, Miller quotes at length from Robert McKee, the Hollywood screenwriting guru whose book Story (1997) is at once a detailed guide to the principles of narrative and a primer on the principles of meaning. Miller says that the criteria McKee instructs writers to use in editing their stories—Is there conflict here? Does my protagonist have a purpose?—are the same criteria we can use to edit our understanding of our lives and the Christian faith.
The Donald Miller speaking at this conference workshop—casual, yes, but also focused, deliberate—is perhaps not the Donald Miller people expected to see. Best known for Blue Like Jazz: Nonreligious Thoughts on Christian Spirituality, a youthful, angsty collection of personal essays that has sold more than 800,000 copies since its publication in 2003, Miller has refined his craft and his range of interests. At 35, he is a maturing youth—freshly shaven with short hair, plain blue jeans, and a beige sweater over a white button-down shirt. He has no pretense of hipster chic, or much pretense of any kind. When bumping into old conference circuit acquaintances or making new ones, he likes to talk of music and film but also college basketball and Hey, how is your wife feeling these days?
Miller, often described as "irreverent" or "bohemian," is a frequent speaker at mainstream evangelical events just like this one: a mid-winter conference at the Hines Convention Center in Boston's Back Bay, a gathering of evangelical church and parachurch workers in New England, with the usual buzz of platform speakers and ministry workshops. Miller is comfortable here, which, apart from his book sales within the Christian industry, doesn't seem quite right, given his countercultural evangelical image. Other recent gigs for Miller include the Women of Faith national conference and a Mothers of Preschoolers (MOPS) convention. He is likely the only speaker at such events who has launched an online literary journal, the Burnside Writers Collective, and whose book site includes links to politically liberal organizations such as MoveOn.org and Greenpeace.
But he manages to fit in just fine. He is not an evangelical interloper. He is an evangelical insider. "They love him," explains Jim Chaffee, Miller's booking agent. "He's progressive but not pissed."
He is also neither irreverent nor bohemian—at least, not much. But for mainstream evangelicals today, Miller is a bridge to an irreverent, bohemian world. His work is framed with bohemia—a road trip, a pint of beer, an occasional curse word—but filled with explicit longing for Jesus. He never takes on basic Christian tenets or evangelical priorities such as biblical authority and spreading the gospel, but he asks just enough questions, with just enough gravity, to attract readers who have similar reservations about their faith culture. He's a sotto voce critic of evangelicalism, telling anxious audiences that it's okay to question the faith, yet keep it.
At the conference in Boston, attendees hear from a lineup of evangelical celebrity teachers: George Barna, Henry Cloud, Bill Hybels, Jack Hayford, Joni Eareckson Tada, Sheila Walsh, and more. Topics range from "Your Role in Jesus' 'Dream Church'" to "How to Lead a Person to Christ: The Simple Basics."
Miller's talks—a morning keynote address to about 4,000 people, plus the afternoon workshop—are short on how-to's and long on critique. During the keynote session, he takes the crowd through a history of paradigms for church ministry. He objects to overconfidence among evangelicals. "If your mind is not constantly being changed," he says, "you're not following Christ." Miller believes sharing the gospel should be like setting someone up on a blind date, not like explaining propositions. He takes aim at the corporatization of evangelicalism, detectable through such evangelicalisms as, "Be profitable for the kingdom of God." He lampoons teaching series with titles like "Three Keys to a Biblical Marriage."
"It seems to me there are a million keys to marriage," Miller teases, "and they change depending on what kind of mood she's in." The joke kills. All his jokes kill. Miller is embraced every bit as enthusiastically as his celebrity speaker elders. Or more so. "Yours is the only talk so far where people stood around and talked afterward," one woman tells him. "So refreshing. So real."
At the book-signing table after his keynote address, Miller is handed copy after copy of each of his four titles: Blue Like Jazz, Searching for God Knows What (2004), Through Painted Deserts (2005; a reissue of his first book, Prayer and the Art of Volkswagen Maintenance), and To Own a Dragon (2006). But mostly, he is handed copy after copy of Blue Like Jazz and offered testimonials about the book's effect:
"I've been a Christian for over 20 years, and I've never been so excited about a book."
"Your book was the only thing that got my daughter through college."
"I love Blue Like Jazz because it's, like, a Christian book, but it doesn't make you feel bad about yourself."
A 40-something woman approaches Miller with two plastic grocery bags filled with copies of his books. "I've already bought Blue Like Jazz 13 times," she gushes. "But I gotta have all these to give to people. I'm a Jesus girl, but I also like to go out and do tequila shots with my friends. This is a book I can give to those friends."
At the end of the day, Miller and I walk through the February chill to a pub and grill in Boston's South End. He tells me that comments like the ones at the signing table are par for the course when he speaks at events like these. He feels he must be meeting some great need that exists for evangelicals today. "You feel confident because you know that this is actually a refreshing message for people," he says. "They don't feel accused. They don't feel hurt or offended by what you're saying. There's a sense of, 'Hey, we have lost meaning, haven't we?' "
He compares his experience to Paul speaking to the Athenians on Mars Hill. Paul understood Greek culture, he was winsome, and he could make an appeal for truth in a way that Greeks would receive. I point out that in that scenario, Don Miller is Paul, and evangelicals are the Greeks.
Miller nods. "I actually believe that I'm setting people free from something that is frustrating them."
Donald Miller is in a room of 500 or 600 people, all waiting for him to speak. But as he steps behind the podium and begins, his voice seems more suited to a small group of five or six.
"Okay," he starts, "what are some of your favorite movies?"
A murmur of response—"Come on!" Miller encourages—and then people start shouting out titles. The Matrix! A Beautiful Mind! The Straight Story! Finding Nemo! The audience oohs and aahs at each other's choices. Little Women! Napoleon Dynamite! It's a Wonderful Life! The shouting goes on for a while; they forget this is a workshop.
"Okay, great," Miller says, bringing attention front and center. "Now, call out your favorite parts of the Nicene Creed."
Awkward giggles throughout the room—they know they've been had. Then one man pipes up: "It's a wonderful life!"
Miller laughs along with, maybe louder than, everyone in the room. He's enjoying that his point was made for him: We know our movies better than we know our creeds. And now self-help banalities—Your life can be wonderful—compete for our attention with the classic truths of the Christian story.
In the next half hour, Miller delivers a variation on a theme ascendant in evangelical Christianity: Truth is rooted in story, not in rational systems. The Christian mission is not well served when we speak in terms of spiritual laws or rational formulas. Propositional truths, when extracted from a narrative context, lack meaning. "The chief role of a Christian," he says, "is to tell a better story."
In keeping with the movie theme, Miller quotes at length from Robert McKee, the Hollywood screenwriting guru whose book Story (1997) is at once a detailed guide to the principles of narrative and a primer on the principles of meaning. Miller says that the criteria McKee instructs writers to use in editing their stories—Is there conflict here? Does my protagonist have a purpose?—are the same criteria we can use to edit our understanding of our lives and the Christian faith.
The Donald Miller speaking at this conference workshop—casual, yes, but also focused, deliberate—is perhaps not the Donald Miller people expected to see. Best known for Blue Like Jazz: Nonreligious Thoughts on Christian Spirituality, a youthful, angsty collection of personal essays that has sold more than 800,000 copies since its publication in 2003, Miller has refined his craft and his range of interests. At 35, he is a maturing youth—freshly shaven with short hair, plain blue jeans, and a beige sweater over a white button-down shirt. He has no pretense of hipster chic, or much pretense of any kind. When bumping into old conference circuit acquaintances or making new ones, he likes to talk of music and film but also college basketball and Hey, how is your wife feeling these days?
Miller, often described as "irreverent" or "bohemian," is a frequent speaker at mainstream evangelical events just like this one: a mid-winter conference at the Hines Convention Center in Boston's Back Bay, a gathering of evangelical church and parachurch workers in New England, with the usual buzz of platform speakers and ministry workshops. Miller is comfortable here, which, apart from his book sales within the Christian industry, doesn't seem quite right, given his countercultural evangelical image. Other recent gigs for Miller include the Women of Faith national conference and a Mothers of Preschoolers (MOPS) convention. He is likely the only speaker at such events who has launched an online literary journal, the Burnside Writers Collective, and whose book site includes links to politically liberal organizations such as MoveOn.org and Greenpeace.
But he manages to fit in just fine. He is not an evangelical interloper. He is an evangelical insider. "They love him," explains Jim Chaffee, Miller's booking agent. "He's progressive but not pissed."
He is also neither irreverent nor bohemian—at least, not much. But for mainstream evangelicals today, Miller is a bridge to an irreverent, bohemian world. His work is framed with bohemia—a road trip, a pint of beer, an occasional curse word—but filled with explicit longing for Jesus. He never takes on basic Christian tenets or evangelical priorities such as biblical authority and spreading the gospel, but he asks just enough questions, with just enough gravity, to attract readers who have similar reservations about their faith culture. He's a sotto voce critic of evangelicalism, telling anxious audiences that it's okay to question the faith, yet keep it.
At the conference in Boston, attendees hear from a lineup of evangelical celebrity teachers: George Barna, Henry Cloud, Bill Hybels, Jack Hayford, Joni Eareckson Tada, Sheila Walsh, and more. Topics range from "Your Role in Jesus' 'Dream Church'" to "How to Lead a Person to Christ: The Simple Basics."
Miller's talks—a morning keynote address to about 4,000 people, plus the afternoon workshop—are short on how-to's and long on critique. During the keynote session, he takes the crowd through a history of paradigms for church ministry. He objects to overconfidence among evangelicals. "If your mind is not constantly being changed," he says, "you're not following Christ." Miller believes sharing the gospel should be like setting someone up on a blind date, not like explaining propositions. He takes aim at the corporatization of evangelicalism, detectable through such evangelicalisms as, "Be profitable for the kingdom of God." He lampoons teaching series with titles like "Three Keys to a Biblical Marriage."
"It seems to me there are a million keys to marriage," Miller teases, "and they change depending on what kind of mood she's in." The joke kills. All his jokes kill. Miller is embraced every bit as enthusiastically as his celebrity speaker elders. Or more so. "Yours is the only talk so far where people stood around and talked afterward," one woman tells him. "So refreshing. So real."
At the book-signing table after his keynote address, Miller is handed copy after copy of each of his four titles: Blue Like Jazz, Searching for God Knows What (2004), Through Painted Deserts (2005; a reissue of his first book, Prayer and the Art of Volkswagen Maintenance), and To Own a Dragon (2006). But mostly, he is handed copy after copy of Blue Like Jazz and offered testimonials about the book's effect:
"I've been a Christian for over 20 years, and I've never been so excited about a book."
"Your book was the only thing that got my daughter through college."
"I love Blue Like Jazz because it's, like, a Christian book, but it doesn't make you feel bad about yourself."
A 40-something woman approaches Miller with two plastic grocery bags filled with copies of his books. "I've already bought Blue Like Jazz 13 times," she gushes. "But I gotta have all these to give to people. I'm a Jesus girl, but I also like to go out and do tequila shots with my friends. This is a book I can give to those friends."
At the end of the day, Miller and I walk through the February chill to a pub and grill in Boston's South End. He tells me that comments like the ones at the signing table are par for the course when he speaks at events like these. He feels he must be meeting some great need that exists for evangelicals today. "You feel confident because you know that this is actually a refreshing message for people," he says. "They don't feel accused. They don't feel hurt or offended by what you're saying. There's a sense of, 'Hey, we have lost meaning, haven't we?' "
He compares his experience to Paul speaking to the Athenians on Mars Hill. Paul understood Greek culture, he was winsome, and he could make an appeal for truth in a way that Greeks would receive. I point out that in that scenario, Don Miller is Paul, and evangelicals are the Greeks.
Miller nods. "I actually believe that I'm setting people free from something that is frustrating them."
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