Ruined

Joe took me to a play on my birthday. The play is called "Ruined" and it deals with the situation in East Congo -rapes, war, and survival. It was beautiful, humorous, musical, and poignant. I couldn't stop crying when one of the characters recounted her experience of being abducted by rebels, held in the forest for 5 months, and rejected by her husband and entire community once she was released. Her whole story -from her abduction to the horrible rape experiences and rejection by her husband- is the story of many women in Easter DRC. I read quite a few of those in my first days at Panzi, when I was trying to know the hospital and the women better -I didn't speak Swahili and didn't want to have the women recount their stories to a stranger, so I read their intake paperwork instead. The actors are excellent and their attitude -from their accent to their gestures- really rang true. We just loved it.

I didn't know this coming in, but the theater was actually running a donation campaign for the Panzi Hospital. We didn't donate in the theater but I will send them a package soon. That experience in the DRC was so miserable that I slammed the door shut when I left and never re-opened it. Now is time for me to re-open the door and do something to support this hospital and its staff who work tirelessly to heal and re-integrate women in their communities.

Ruined is not playing anymore (if it is, I encourage you to see it pronto), but if you want to know more about the situation in East DRC, here are a few links you can go to:

www.panzihospitalbukavu.org

www.healafrica.org (the other Kivu hospital, located in Goma)

www.womenforwomen.org (to sponsor a woman in the DRC)

www.easterncongo.org (Affleck's NGO -quite promising)