A Continent Displaced By Civil Wars

The news is dismal. You watch CNN, right?

There have been special live break-in reports to the already bad news coverage to cover even more bad news. Now it's the DR of the Congo.

Pushed out by rebel forces led by Laurent Nkunda, thousands of Congolese locals are fleeing to Kisoro District in Southwest Ugandan and Nakivale, along the DRC border to already over-crowded "camps"...no, not the kind we send our kids to over summer vacation. The kind with no food, no water, no shelter, no shade, no jobs, no crops, no medical care, no school.

As of last night when we went to bed, the number of people that have left their villages and homes looking for safety and protection from the rebel forces have hit over 1,000,000.

After seeing the aftermath of these civil wars up close and personal, I can only sit, numb, as I watch more unfold...and not too many miles away from where I sit in relative comfort and peace.

It seems so impossible at times. What's the biggest need? What do you do first? Do you feed the people? Give them clean water? A safe place to call home? Health care? A job? First Aid? A bath? Some answers? A government that works?

How do we give them a future?

The first and biggest thing that stand between us and a future for the people of Uganda, or Sudan, or the DR of the Congo, is the belief that such a future IS possible. If we stop believing it is possible, we'll have nothing to aim for. And if we fail to aim, we are guaranteed not to get there.

A better future for the people here IS possible because it's NOT IMpossible!

Granted, this recent crisis unfolding in the DR of the Congo needs troops on the ground regaining peace in a place that I'm not sure even remembers what peace looks like. But past that, there is hope for a future, and it has nothing to do with putting band aids on the gaping wounds of the people.

Beyond this, the problems that exist in the villages and districts need discussion with the people of the villages and districts. Not the kind of discussion where a bunch of aid workers and governments express their opinions.

But an engaged discussion where we're forced to ask ourselves, "How can we engage these folks in creating a future for themselves?" Who knows better what they need than those in need?

When we focus on creating the future of these areas, and we consider engaging the people in the discussions in a very real way, we begin to recognize the importance of listening, empathizing and collaborating well together. We're not here to do the things we think are important, but in hearing the needs of the people, and working with them with integrity and respect.

I think perhaps God is trying to teach this lesson to Mike and me in a very interesting way. We have been stuck together 24/7...lots of times without any other personal contact from anyone else...or power, or Internet, or television, or news, or music. You get the picture.

The wire of our funds to purchase a vehicle (the only real way to get around here) has been floating around somewhere in CyberUgandaBankHell for three weeks. This has added to our frustration, lack of getting things done, and general crabbiness.

We have, during this time, spent many hours talking about things we want to do here. Sometimes one of us has to say, "I'm not sure I agree with that. Help me understand it. Is that making our resources work in a way that creates a future for the people?"

This practice surely will make us better able to create decisions together with the people whose futures we're trying to better. It is making us learn to "play well together" and hear one another, even if our ideas might be different.

We want to help build programs with the core being ownership by the people whose futures depend on them, using their own human and physical resources.

And that's at least part of the answer. Bringing the people into the decisions of what they need. Getting them involved by sharing what they have...allowing them to feel ownership of the problems, and the solutions.

And when our wire finally shows up and we're able to get a vehicle and hit the road, we'll be doing so with a renewed vision to hear the needs of the people, and acting on them. We're thinking maybe we should begin with the banking industry. But even Mike and I don't, on our very best day, have the energy or stamina to take this on!

Note* Not that I was kidding about the bath...it's one thing I'd kind of want...but reports here say that the UN made its first delivery of aid since AUGUST...and it was soap. Soap to the people who are literally starving to death.