Let's Hear it for Dr. Mukwege

DR Congo doctor is 'top African'

Denis Mukwege hopes his award will highlight Congolese women's plight

A doctor from the Democratic Republic of Congo who treats women raped by combatants in the war-torn country has been named "African of the Year".

Dr. Denis Mukwege - An Unsung Hero

On November 28th, Kim, Rhonda and myself went to Toronto to attend a symposium that was presented by SAFER and the Stephen Lewis Foundation. The symposium, Ending Sexual Violence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, was an evening spent with Stephen Lewis, Eve Ensler (The Vagina Monologues) and a true hero in every sense of the word, Dr. Denis Mukwege, founder and Director of the Panzi Hospital in Bukavu, DRC. It was a sold out evening and without a real sponsor, the ticket sales paid for us to have the privilege to hear from these distinguished speakers. Dr. Mukwege was interviewed on the 60 Minutes segment that brought the plight of the women in the Congo to our attention hence the rug.

Dr. Mukwege specializes in obstetric and gynecological consequences of sexual violence. You could have heard a pin drop when Dr. Mukwege was speaking albeit through the aid of an interpreter. He is a strong presence with a soft, gentle, reassuring voice that has tried to help some 15,000 women and girls since 1999. He said the youngest was three and the oldest 82.....how does he do it day after day after day!!!!??? Dr Mukwege has a team helping him screen all the victims that come to him for help since as he said, "if I heard all the stories I would not be able to do my job as a surgeon". They have one psychologist on staff and there is a definite need for more. Dr. Mukwege does this even though his life, along with his family, has been threatened - now this is what true heros are made of.

The Panzi Hospital is always looking for funds. SAFER (Social Aid for the Elimination of Rape), a Canadian Organization, has been instrumental in sending some $40,000 worth of crucial medical supplies to the Panzi Hospital.

Eve Ensler spoke very eloquently about her involvement with the Panzi Hospital and her time spent at the Panzi Hospital. In affiliation with the Stephen Lewis Foundation, her organization V-Day is in the process of adding a facility that will house women for a period of approximately six months so that they can be rehabilitated, educated and comforted so that they can become self sufficient members of their communities. All very impressive involvement. We did manage to speak to Eve Ensler to pitch our idea about the rug and she was very encouraged by what we were doing!!!

Eleanor Buttrey was kind enough to buy our tickets for the function and some unsuspecting couple gave us a free parking ticket, divine intervention. Thanks to Eleanor, to those good samaritans in the parking lot and also to the gentlemen who gave up his table at Second Cup so that we could have a table for three of us and the rug!!

It was a quiet 3-1/2 hour ride home after hearing all that we did, but more adamant about what has to be done to help these victims of such atrocities. They need our help.

Mimi Kashira

One of the women of our rug hooking guild introduced an angel to us. Mimi Kashira lived in the Congo, became a widow at the tender age of 22 with two boys to feed, nurture and love in a part of the world that is just stricken with so many obstacles that it has to be an enormous task to parent under those conditions. Mimi has now devoted much of her spare time trying to help out women in the Congo. At the onset of talking to us Mimi explains that she is very privileged compared to other women of the Congo. When her husband became a victim of the Rwandan genocide, her family took Mimi and her two boys under their wing and encouraged Mimi to finish her education which she did. Mimi became a lawyer, fled her homeland and after a separation of almost two years she was able to get her two sons over here so that they too could have a better life. Mimi told us firsthand how women in the Congo are treated and it just validated our desire to help even more. Mimi has a smile that lights up a room - after we showed her the rug and what our intentions were when we finished the rug and were able to sell it, all Mimi could say was "thank you"!! You knew that that "thank you" came from a deep rooted place in her soul. I don't think anyone wasn't touched by her presence and the story that she had to tell.

Mimi has set up the MiMi Kashira Foundation which is assisting women in the Congo to have a better chance at life. We are so lucky to have what we have and they need us to help them get just a very small piece of the pie.

Thank you to Joy for introducing Mimi to us and thank you to Mimi for not just walking away from a terrible situation. She truly is an angel.

Bill Gray

Along the way during our process of hooking the rug, we had a couple of people come to speak with us inspiring and encouraging the project and for what it represents. Nancy introduced us to Bill Gray someone that she has had the privilege to call her "friend" In 1968 Bill Gray volunteered for an organization called Operation Crossroads Africa. As an impressionable 21 year old university student, Bill spent the summers building wells and latrines in Liberia. The experience left a lasting impression on Bill and now volunteering has become a lifelong passion for Bill, as well as being a husband, father, business man and now a Rotarian. Bill took time out of his busy schedule and presented us with a slide show explaining his years of helping out in different parts of the world and how it has helped him to grow to the person he is today. If the thought ever comes in to your mind "can I do that?", the answer is always, "of course I can". It was just what we needed to validate that we were on the right track. Sheila hooked a wonderful thank you card for Bill, the image being "Luck", the little girl born to Lucienne after her many months in capitivity. We had a beautiful potluck luncheon afterward so our hearts and our tummies were full after that inspiring day spent with Bill Gray.

Brainstorming

Last week Nancy had all of us to her home for a brainstorming session after a bit of a hiatus during the Christmas rush and holiday period. As I have mentioned prior to this post, we are all novices at the next phase of our project which is marketing the sale of the rug so that we can get the money to send to the women in the Congo. Rhonda did a wonderful presentation to keep us all motivated and different ideas were discussed and we all committed to doing our share. One thing that did surface was that we are going to have a day of hooking brooches for sale at functions or wherever to add to our funds.....again Rhonda has invited us to her studio and we are all going to learn something new so it is a win/win situation. The day was also the day of Barack Obama's inauguration so we had the other eye on the TV watching as the day unfolded. Nancy put on a wonderful spread for us so it was truly an inspirational day. Thank you to Nancy and Rhonda.......

Lavender Wool

We had the most wonderful article in the Rug Hooking Magazine January/February issue (February being Black History month) and as a result of this we have had a few emails sent to us supporting our endeavours. One in particular came from Bridget Sperl, who along with her three sisters, have a small rug hooking business and they have kindly put a link called "Making A Difference" on their website. Thank you so much to www.lavenderwool.com for your support and for helping us in this way. Needless to say, we need all the help we can get. Again, Women helping Women!!!! Let us try to support them as well.

Rug Hooking Magazine

We have the most amazing spread in the Rug Hooking Magazine. Rhonda Kellett put together a great article with photos taken by Julius Brokloff...please let us know what you think. The article was put in the January/February issue, February being Black History month. We have beaten the deadline of January 13, 2009.

Happy New Year

Happy New Year to everyone. We have been very busy finishing the rug and we are so happy to say that it is finished, appraised and anxiously waiting a new home. This is a new year and we are going to pick up the momentum again since we are now into the hard part of the process. Sorry to have been away so long but I promise to do better from now on.