Screening of The Greatest Silence: Rape in the Congo is this Sunday, Sep 19th

[When] events are natural disasters or “acts of God,” those who bear witness sympathize readily with the victim. But when the traumatic events are of human design, those who bear witness are caught in the conflict between victim and perpetrator. It is morally impossible to remain neutral in this conflict. The bystander is forced to take sides.

It is very tempting to take the side of the perpetrator. All the perpetrator asks is that the bystander do nothing. He appeals to the universal desire to see, hear, and speak no evil. The victim, on the contrary, asks the bystander to share the burden of pain. The victim demands action, engagement, and remembering.

– Judith Herman

Hi everyone,

Dr. Denis Mukwege of Panzi Hospital. Click to find out more about the screening this Sunday, Sep 19th.

Last February, Nicholas Kristof of the NY Times travelled to Congo and interviewed Dr. Denis Mukwege of the Panzi Hospital (watch the video). Congo’s gang rape epidemic has done unspeakable damage to women’s bodies in the region. Dr. Mukwege has been one of the few tireless miracle-workers performing endless surgeries to repair what violence has ripped apart. Last year, after traveling to Congo and speaking with the women at Panzi Hospital, Lee Ann De Reus, a woman I had the pleasure of meeting through GI-Net’s Carl Wilkens Fellowship, launched the Panzi Foundation in order to raise funds to directly support the life-saving work being done through Dr. Mukwege and others at Panzi.

This Sunday we invite you to join us as we screen the film, The Greatest Silence: Rape in the Congo. It is incredibly well-done and thereby equally important and disturbing to watch.

A free-will offering will be collected at the screening and split equally between The Panzi Foundation and Orange County for Darfur. Thank you in advance for any size contribution you are able to make.

All details are below. If you’re planning to attend, please RSVP on the website. Thank you.

Warmly,

Barbara English
Orange County for Darfur, a project of Living Ubuntu
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