Week 3 (June 8 – 12)

The week began with a surprise celebration for my birthday. Unexpected after only two weeks in the office, but so very much appreciated. It was the first birthday I’ve celebrated in the US in a while and it was such a pleasure to celebrate with friends I haven’t seen in years throughout the week.

I attended a screening of Rien que la Vérité (Nothing but the Truth), a Congolese television program that uses drama, music, and interviews to increase HIV/AIDS awareness and reaches 3 to 5 million viewers in Kinshasa (DRC) weekly. The project is part of a comprehensive awareness campaign that began with a music CD in 2006 through collaboration between the Public Affairs Section for the U.S. Embassy in Kinshasa and the Kinshasa Music Club. I enjoyed the episode immensely and appreciate the concept of increasing awareness and bringing about behavior change in a way that can compete with other popular media. Such an innovative concept, I hope that the idea will expanded to other sectors and other countries and used in a way that is specific for the context.

The website has more information, including free downloads of their AIDS awareness CD:http://www.abcd-laverite.com/

I also attended a presentation on the International Rescue Committee’s (IRC’s) programs that counter gender-based violence (GBV) in Sudan and Pakistan. They discussed the projects and listed the lessons for GBV response which included: different designs are necessary for different contexts; GBV response in crisis situations should “start early and stay late” (and be integrated into other immediate response programming such as WATSAN and health); dedicated GBV staff can increase effective and immediate response; and low reporting of GBV might indicate a lack of services rather than lack of GBV. Apparently, these “Lessons” are not new, yet they continue to be “learned” over and over and are slow to be implemented into programming.

News from the Great Lakes Region during the week…

DRC: LRA Attack in Northern DRC: Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) rebels reportedly kidnapped and killed villagers in two attacks last week in a northern DRC village. LRA fighters raided the village of Dakwa, approximately 125 miles south of Congo's border with Central African Republic, on June 2 as residents gathered for a funeral, before returning to mount a second attack the following day. MONUC reported that 217 people were abducted, seven were killed, and 4,000 were displaced to Dingila, a village approximately 50 miles to the south.

Gabon: President Omar Bongo, the longest-serving president in Africa, died on June 8. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8088399.stm