A Thousand Sisters (37 page)

Thank you to my beloved family and friends, especially Lana Veenker, Tammy and Amit (Kai, Lia & Neha) Singh, Julie Shannon-Miller, Aria Shannon, Adriana and Julian Voss-Andreae, Shelley Jacobsen, Rick Jacobsen, Phil Atlakson, Garry Wade, Aileen Adams, Rae and Hack Fuller, Deidre McDerrmitt, Felicity Fenton, Sam Shannon, Dirk Simon, Kristin Leppert, Almine Barton, Tobias Hitsch, Lisa Maeckel, Shannon Meehan, Ashley Muhlherr and Tim. And, of course, to D, for being a refuge.

Thank you to the entire Women for Women International staff (past and present), especially Ricki Weisberg, Patty Pina, Trish Tobin, Alison Wheeler, Erica Tavares, Karen Sherman, and Jennifer Morabito.

My thanks go out to Dr. Richard Brennan of the IRC, Adam Hochschild, Eve Ensler and V-Day, John Prendergast and everyone at The Enough Project and Raise Hope for Congo Campaign, The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, The Chicago Congo Coalition, Congo Global Action, and Friends of Congo (who were working on Congo ages before I came along).

Thanks to Christine Karumba and the entire Women for Women Congo
staff. To Maurice, Serge, Jean Paul, Hortense, and Moses, because I was never really alone in Congo. To Murhabazi Namegabe and BVES, the Panzi Hospital and Dr. Roger, and Eric.

Thank you to my publisher and editor, Krista Lyons, who read the proposal and declared, “Seal Press needs to publish this book.” To my agent, Jill Marsal, for believing in the project and invaluable manuscript feedback, as well as to the Sandra Djikstra Literary Agency, especially Sandra Djikstra and Elise Capron.

Thanks to my writing mentors: Cynthia Whitcomb, Betty Sargent, and Maureen Barron. And special thanks to Blake Snyder, who spent many hours helping me find the elusive through-line, even if it meant looking petty or self-aggrandizing or just plain bad in the interest of an honest story. He passed away before reading this book, and thank you. You're missed, Blake! To Yusef Komunyakaa, for writing a poem that would still haunt me eighteen years after reading it. To Wesleyan University Press, for permission to reprint it in this book. And to everyone who read and gave me feedback on the book proposal and manuscript.

My thanks go to everyone in Congo who shared their stories with me. To everyone who donated to Generose's house. To everyone who has ever donated, run, hosted a house party, volunteered, or in any way supported Run for Congo Women.

And to my beloved Congolese sisters.

Associated Foreign Press. “17 Villagers Knifed To Death in Congo.” May 27, 2007, as forwarded via email from “Eric.”

Blumenauer, Rep. Earl. Statement prior to passing of the “Democratic Republic of the Congo Relief, Security, and Democracy Protection Act of 2006.” The Congressional Record, 152, no. 133 (December 6, 2006).

Brody, Liz. “I Am Starting To Throw Away My Worries One by One.”
O, The Oprah Magazine
, December 2006.

CNN. “Logging Decimates African Rainforest.” CNN, April 16, 2007.

Enough Project, The. “Congo Quick Facts.”
www.enoughproject.org
, 2009.

———. “Key Terms.”
www.enoughproject.org
, 2009.

———. “Roots of the Crisis.”
www.enoughproject.org
, 2009.

Enough Project Team, The, with the Grassroots Reconciliation Group. “A Comprehensive Approach To Congo's Conflict Minerals.” Stragic paper, The Enough Project, April 24, 2009.

Freeley, Rebecca, and Colin Thomas-Jensen. “Past Due: Remove the FDLR from Eastern Congo.” Strategy paper, The Enough Project, June 3, 2008.

Gettleman, Jeffrey. “Congo's Army Clashing with Militias.”
New York Times
, October 25, 2007.

Greenpeace International. “Conning the Congo.” Investigative report, Greenpeace International, July 2008.

Hamilton, Michelle. “2006 Heroes of Running.”
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.

Haught, Nancy. “Hearing the Cries, and Running to Help.”
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, August 26, 2005.

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.

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.

———. “Congo: Ex-Rebels in Army Are Accused of Now Looting, Raping, and Killing,” The Associated Press,
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, May 19, 2009.

———. “Congo Violence Reaches Endangered Mountain Gorillas.”
New York Times
, November 18, 2008.

———. “In Congo, a Little Fighting Brings a Lot of Fear.”
New York Times
, November 3, 2008.

———. “Mai Mai Fighters Third Piece in Congo's Violent Puzzle.”
New York Times
, November 21, 2008.

———. “Rape Epidemic Raises Trauma of Congo War.”
New York Times
, October 7, 2007.

———. “Rape Victims' Words Help Jolt Congo into Change.”
New York Times
, October 18, 2008.

———. “Rwanda Stirs Deadly Brew of Troubles in Congo.”
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December 4, 2008.

Keane, Fergal.
Season of Blood: A Rwandan Journey
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Komunyakaa, Yusef. “You and I Are Disappearing,” in
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, July 23, 2006.

———. “War's Chaos Steals Congo's Young by the Millions.”
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LISA J . SHANNON
is founder of Run for Congo Women, which began with her lone thirty-mile trail run and quickly blossomed into a global, volunteer-driven grassroots effort to raise funds and awareness for women in the Democratic Republic of Congo. She previously owned a photography production company, where she served as art director and producer. Shannon lives in Portland, Oregon.

Adrien

Alejandro, Major

André

Angola

animal casualties

Asende

Banyamulenge

Baraka trip

Beatrice

Bonjour

border crossing

Brownback, Sam

Bukavu, Congo;
See also
Orchid Safari Club

bullies

Bureau pour le Volontariat au Service de l'Enfance et de la Santé
(BVES)

Burundi

carbon stores

CARE

Caritas

Cecile

Chantal

Chihamba

child mortality

child refugees

child-soldier rehabilitation center

child soldiers

Choctaw Nation

Christine

Christophe

Claude

coltan mining

Congolese Army

corruption

Democratic Liberation Forces of Rwanda (FDLR)

Democratic Republic of the Congo

departure from the Congo

Dr. Roger

Eric

father's death

FDD

First Annual New York Run for Congo Women

fistula

Fitina

Friends of Congo

Furaha

gang rape

Generose

genocide memorials

gold mining

gorilla preservation

grassroots activism

Harkins, George

HIV

Hochschild, Adam

Hortense: Baraka tripcharacteristics; sister visits; Walker visit; Walungu visit

Hutus

Interahamwe: abductions; attack on Generose; child recruits; ethnic violence; Kaniola attacks; military conflicts; refugee camps

International Medical Corp

International Rescue Committee

Isabelle

Jackson, Lisa

Jean Paul

Johnson, Teisha

Joseph

Jules

Junior

Kabila, Joseph

Kabila, Laurent

Kahuzi Biega National Park

Kaniola

Kaycee, Major

Khan, Colonel

Kigali Genocide Memorial Center

Kigali, Rwanda

King Leopold's Ghost
(Hochschild)

Komunyakaa, Yusef

Leopold (King of Belgium)

letter from Generose

Ling, Lisa

Luc

Lucien

Mai Mai: Baraka trip; children; killing ideology; and René; sexual violence

malnourished children

Mama Annie

Marie

Marie (sister)

mass graves

Maurice: Baraka trip; farewells; guide and translator; Kaniola visit; peanut purchase; real estate shopping trip; return visit; sister visits; Walungu visit

mineral resources

mining activities

missing people

Mobutu Sese Seko

Morel, E. D.

mortality rates

Moses

mother-daughter relationship

Munch, Edward

Nadine

Namegabe, Murhabazi

Namibia

National Congress for the Defense of People (CNDP)

Nina

Nkunda, Laurent

Noella

nongovernmental organizations (NGOs)

North Kivu Province

note from father

Nsemeru

Nshobole

Obama, Barack

Orchid Safari Club

Pai Pai

Pakistani Army officer

Panzi Hospital

Pascal

peanut girl

Philips, Patty

photography business

Polgreen, Lydia

Prathiba

Pygmy village visit

Rahema

Rally for Congolese Democracy (RCD)

Rasta

real estate shopping trip

Red Cross

refugee camps

refugee children

René

return visit

Ricki

Rumi

Run for Congo Women events

running events

Rwanda: background information; military conflicts