A video that should go viral

PBS recently aired this video about HEAL Africa in Goma Congo.

Watch 'The Worst Place on Earth to Be a Woman' on PBS. See more from PBS NewsHour.

Heal Africa operates what is widely considered the best hospital in Goma, and is one of the pioneers in the region in offering fistula surgeries to raped women.

But HEAL Africa is about more than that. It is about holistic programs and community empowerment. It is about finding solutions within the community.

Lyn Lusi, the co-founder of Heal Africa, died a few days ago and this is a great loss for the people of Goma. She's featured in this video, and you can see how humble she is.

One of my concerns about "awareness-raising" programs such as KONY 2012, is that they often over-emphasize their own effect in a region. In contrast, listen to the way Lyn talks. The organization she founded has had a profound impact in Eastern Congo and yet she says...

" I have no illusions that we're dealing with major issues that are pulling Congo apart.

There is so much evil and so much cruelty, so much selfishness, and it is like darkness. But if we can bring in some light, the darkness will not overcome the light, and that's where faith is, if you believe that.

I don't think HEAL Africa is going to empty the ocean, but we can take out a bucketful here and a bucketful there."

To me, these are the honest words of someone who has worked in the region for a long time, and who was aware of the complicated problems facing the region and who steered clear of easy solutions.

I admit the whole bucket thing is probably not as motivating as the highly amped up rhetoric behind a video like Kony 2012. But that is precisely my concern with such videos.

If we hear too often the simplified promises that we can wipe out the "world's worst criminal" right now with three easy steps, will we cease to hear the words of someone who calls us to empty the ocean by the bucketful?

As we've seen with the Arab Spring, yes Facebook can help mobilize change. And this is exciting. But the work never ends there, it stretches on for years to come.

Such work is rarely glamorous, and the solutions are never clear-cut. And unlike the Kony 2012 video which proclaims an expiration date of 2012, the call to this kind of work never expires. It will take our lifetimes.

Lyn Lusi worked in the middle of complex situation until her last breath, trying to carry a bucketful of water, and help others believe they can do the same. For that, along with countless people in Eastern Congo, I am deeply thankful.

The New Workshop!

Check Out Our New Home!

It is a humble little workshop, but one we are very proud of!

The SHONA women saved their money and bought this land.
(Only the part up front! That is a school yard back there!)

And together, with your donations, they have built this workshop.



It has cement floors, wood walls, and a tin roof.

We prioritized buying good windows and a decent door, both for security reasons and to let in the light, since the workshop does not yet have electricity.





You'll notice the entrance to the workshop has a cement ramp, making it easy for the women to walk, and the outhouse is also easily accessible.


Whenever the women try and rent space, they face serious challenges finding space that is easy for them to walk without falling. So it is a special blessing to build their own place, because even with very limited funds, they can make the small alterations which make a big difference to them.

We are deeply proud of this workshop. The fact that the women were able to save their money on their own and buy this land is visible proof of their independence, wisdom and determination to create change in their own lives. They are amazing women and they are quietly re-imagining what is possible for young women in Eastern Congo, not to mention disabled women.

We are also deeply proud of this workshop because it represents what we can build together. We could not have built this workshop without the donations of our friends. In the midst of a difficult economy, you have chosen to support a very small group of women half way around the world.

Thank you for your support!
It fills us with hope!

Joy comes in the morning

This is Argentine's mother. She looks young doesn't she? But she has lived through no shortage of obstacles. She has 7 children, Argentine is her oldest and the three-year old standing next to her is the youngest. In other words, there are five more, between Argentine and Pascaline. Argentine's mother has raised those children more or less single-handedly, in a rural village that has seen too much fighting and not nearly enough peace.

Remember that before Argentine came to Goma she could not walk. Her legs were curled up underneath her, the result of childhood polio.

This is the mother who carried Argentine on her back for all those years, with all those younger children to care for as well.

How beautiful to see them here together again. And Argentine standing so proudly beside her mother. I am sure there were many times when both Argentine and her mother wondered what the future could possibly hold. Who knew it would hold so much joy?

SHONA on the big screen

Ok, maybe just on You Tube.

But this is our debut on You Tube and we need your support.

The more you visit, and tell others to visit, the higher we will show up in searches.

Vote with your feet. Come visit us on You Tube