BUILDING A MOVEMENT TO HELP END RAPE IN CONGO

Posted by John Prendergast on Oct 13, 2009

Enough's John Prendergast, activist and Asheville resident Cherry Odom, Andie MacDowell, Fine Arts Theatre manager Neal Reed, and Our Voice Executive Director Barbara Anderson at a screening of

I recently had the chance to go to Asheville, North Carolina, to co-present with actress Andie MacDowell a screening of the film, "The Greatest Silence," which addresses the scourge of sexual violence in the Congo. What I found in Asheville was a community of committed people who are building a mini-movement for Congolese women right there in North Carolina. Andie and others have been holding house screenings of "The Greatest Silence" in their homes for the last few months. Health care workers in particular have rallied around this effort. Grassroots efforts are underway to encourage North Carolina's senators, particularly Senator Kay Hagan (D-NC), to co-sponsor the Congo Conflict Minerals Bill, S. 891. What remains remarkable to me is that folks are rallying together, one community at a time, for people halfway around the world, people they will likely never meet in places they will likely never visit. That is inspiring, the essence of a true movement.

To find out how you can get involved, visit RAISE Hope for Congo.