August 24, 2005

BUNIA, Democratic Republic of Congo/GENEVA – The group of women who attended the trauma counseling meeting in Bunia town, eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, were all victims of sexual violence. It was also an opportunity for them to tell staff of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) Department for World Service (DWS) program in Rwanda and the DRC what kind of recreational activities they wished to have organized as part of the trauma counseling program.

Discussion centered on games, music and theater, but the women could not reach consensus on what they wanted as a group.

Then 58-year old Ms Oloi suggested that reading books would be a good recreational activity.

The rest burst out laughing.

But Oloi insisted, asking the women how many among them could read and write. Out of the 42 participants, only three said they could read and write without difficulty, 17 had a basic knowledge of words, while the remaining 22 could barely differentiate between numerals and letters of the alphabet.

An Opportunity to Fill Life-long Void

Oloi again surprised everyone when she proved that she could still read and write the letters she had learned when she was about 12 years-old – all vowels – a, e, i, o, and u. But she explained that her education had stopped there, as her parents had felt it inappropriate for girls to attend school. She estimated her age, as she had been told that she was born just after World War II.

Little as it was, and so many years later, she was still proud of her knowledge. She saw literacy lessons as an opportunity to fill the void she had felt for so long.

The group found it difficult to resist this kind of enthusiasm and agreed to have literacy as a recreational activity. At first, this writer was not convinced that these lessons could possibly be recreational, but the women persisted, wondering for instance whether illiteracy could be one of the reasons why so many of them had been so unfortunate in life.

A few days later, the "center of literacy for women" was opened in Bunia, the main town in DRC's Ituri district. The first week saw more than 200 women of all ages rush to enroll in the program – a problem, as the center's resources simply could not accommodate so many people. Selection criteria had to be set up, which essentially gave preference to girls and younger women.

But there was simply no getting rid of Oloi, who had been yearning for this very opportunity for so long. "You have to push me out by force to prevent me from attending the lessons," she stated, and literally fought her way into the classroom.

She was, however, not the only person to force her way in. Everyone was astonished to see a 13-year old boy, Kawaya, insisting that he too be enrolled in the class meant for women. (He had lost his parents when he was very young, and his grandmother who brought him up, could not afford to send him to school.) The women sympathized with him and recommended his participation. Two classes with 80 participants would be conducted.

Three months after the original meeting that decided on the center's setting up, the results were quite interesting: 15 percent of the young students had dropped out and had been replaced by older women. In general, it seemed that the older women were more motivated. Oloi was one of them.

I Can Write a Letter and Read the Bible

When visiting the center, she rushed up to this writer saying: "Now I can write a letter and I can read the Bible myself!" Indeed, she could, and proved it by writing a few words in Kiswahili. They were words of gratitude to all those people who had contributed to realizing her dream.

Another student Anto Malimba, widowed at 24, said: "When my husband was alive, he was helping me to count the money from my petty trade. Since he died, my nephews have been cheating me, but no one will cheat me now."

The women attending these classes now believe illiteracy had exposed them to many difficulties in life. Being together and learning to read and write together, they say, will enable them to better stand up for their rights, and protect themselves and other women from acts of violence and rape in the future.

Lutheran World Information
A contribution by Emile Mpanya, emergency officer, LWF/DWS Rwanda-DRC.
The LWF/DWS Rwanda-DRC Program provides emergency assistance and relief in partnership with member churches of the Christian council in the DRC.