There is no peace without bread

I don't even know how to catch you up on everything that has been going on so I won't even try. I will attempt to give short snippets to give you a bit of a sense of my experiences. I don't think I have mentioned that in my pre-departure session class, I had mentioned that I really wanted to see poverty this trip. Well, I had a "be careful what you ask for experience." I was in Uvira, DRC with Elizabeth about 10 days ago. I had done two sessions on grieving to women from the community and the leaders of the various peace projects there. We had just said our goodbyes to three colleagues and decided on supper in five minutes before we parted our way. I had just entered my room and sat down for a minute when gunfire broke out in front of the hotel--a robbery was in progress next door, at the business of a wealthy man. Before I continue with this story, let me say that I was in a secure hotel (think gated community with razor wire fencing as in Stony Mountain Pen--a common decoration here--along the top). The military had robbed him, injuring his bodyguard in the process. The population of the village is very poor and they revolted. On the other side of our hotel was the police station and the townspeople descended upon it en masse to demolish it. The police, army and peacekeepers all fled. The robbery occurred around 6:30 pm and so the riot went on most of the night. The people threw rocks, set fires, and managed to demolish a good chunk of the police station. Items from the station were dragged out to the street right in front of Elizabeth's room where I was now staying. To make a long story short, I felt like I was experiencing CNN Live but without a remote to change the channel. The rioting continued for hours while we prayed for a peaceful resolution--not that I could conceive what that meant. Who really knows the mind of God? Shortly after 10 pm, I heard rain softly begin to fall. "Is that rain?" I asked incredously, and laughing, bowed my head to pray that God would open the skies and the heavens would pour down rain. Elizabeth joined my and in about 10 minutes, rain was indeed pouring down, sending the angry mob home. The photo shows the remains of bonfire from the night before.

The next morning we awoke to the army's return. They had grabbed one young man and were shouting to grab 3 or 4 more and kill them as an example. Elizabeth bravely stepped out onto our balcony and called down in the local language he was using that doing so would only make things worse. He heeded her message and set the young man free, thankfully. I was safely escorted back to Bujumbura late in the afternoon when the top brass arrived in Uvira and the rioting was contained. The essence of the rioting was that the people have had enough of the crimes committed in their town. They are poor and tired of living without peace. The DRC is a country in great turmoil and the poverty is extremely oppressive. Remember especially the DRC in your prayers for peace. I have just been in a three-day conference for the Quaker Peace Network where the people from the DRC (Goma and Uvira) shared difficult stories with the other participants. One of the women from a small town near Uvira said, "There is no peace without bread." When people are starving and struggling to survive, including the members of the army, peace is fragile and incidents like the one I experienced are apt to unfold. Congo is teaching me harsh lessons in this regard. No magic wand can alleviate the suffering. For those of you so inclined, I've said the least I can do is to ask for your prayers for the people in North and South Kivu.

peace,

Suzanne