Congo

Congo in in war and yet many Americans have not heard much about it. Until a few days ago I have only know that it was not safe for women to travel to the DRC yet after that I knew nothing. I never knew that rape was a weapon of war which tears apart families and communities. I never knew that Tutsis and Hutus are still fighting, from Rwanda, into the DRC. And I never knew that it was considered the deadliest war. Yet I do now. It is hard to hear all the facts. As an American we feel safe in our suburban neighborhoods  and we never depend on aid to protect us. In America when rape happens people are convicted and the women are not to blame. However in the DRC, women can be left and divorced because they were raped and the people who commit these acts are very rarely caught. 1 in 3 men in the DRC have performed some form of rape. It is an awful and terrible act that I can't imagine. Now here I am trying to write about it. Write about the terror and torches that the women must go through to live in the DRC. Yet again Americans never hear about it. We are never taught about it in school and it is not listed in textbooks, but it should be. It should be taught and people all around should be listening not turning a blind eye because we are guilty that we did nothing during the Rwandan Genocide. So here it is before our eyes in the DRC, it is a chance for us to redeem ourselves from our non-actions in Rwanda but yet again we sit and do nothing. We hope that someone else will and still nobody will. And so women continue to be raped, men continue to rape, and all around Congolese are being killed while we Americans watch a happy program on television.