Bananas instead of education

As Malteser International continues to work in the DR Congo, we offer this story about Julie* and how we help commemorate International Day for Elimination of Violence Against Women Day (Nov 25) by supporting victims of sexual violence and receive medical and psychosocial assistance. You can support our efforts in the DR Congo and everywhere we work with a tax-deductible donationto the Order of Malta Worldwide Relief -- Malteser International Americas.  You can also view Malteser International's Women in Congo photo gallery.


As the sun sets, Julie* is sitting on the streets and is selling bananas and corn to people that pass by on bicycles. Beside her, in the shadow, her three years old son Emile* is constructing a tower with small stones. Julie plants the corn by herself in the garden of her parents. She still lives with them and her son Emile. But deep inside, the Congolese woman once had different dreams: she wanted to finish school, study and have a family of her own. "But life is rarely a dream", she says.

Three years before Julie was raped for the first time, in broad daylight, on the way to Mahagi in the east of DR Congo, on the way back to her home village, which is several kilometers away. An unknown man was following her. When nobody was around on the streets any longer he pulled her into the bushes. Nobody heard her cries for help.

Two months later she realized that she was pregnant. So she had to tell her parents and explain her pregnancy. "It was a terrible blow for them. Not only because such a thing happened to me, but also for the shame that I had brought to the family: made pregnant by a man whose name I didn’t even know? My father went completely mad, my mother was in despair." Even now, Julie is still not able to speak with her parents about her feelings. At least she is allowed to stay at home. But where would she have gone – without money and education? When she became pregnant, she needed to leave school and never continued with it. "I need to take care of my son and to ensure our survival."

Rapes are still a part of daily life in Congo. Most of the offenders are former soldiers and rebels. In most of the cases they are not caught and are rarely adequately punished. But the affected women and girls – and more frequently also boys – are suffering through the discrimination of a society. Up until now sexual violence has been a taboo subject in the DR Congo. Their society often judges and isolates the victims, because they still believe that victims either wanted or provoked their attack. Due to this way of thinking many men leave their wives.

Many victims of rape need medical and emotional support and because of this Malteser International has a project to care for the affected girls and women. Its main focus is the prevention and treatment of sexually transmitted diseases like Hepatitis or HIV/AIDS.

The organization collaborates with local partners that take care of the necessary psychological support. Since the beginning of the project in 2005, Malteser International has treated almost 7,000 women. The true figures are far higher. "Often I go home after work and can’t forget what I have heard and seen all day long", tells the attending doctor in the health center of Mahagi. "The most terrifying thing is that the victims are getting younger. More and more we are seeing children aged five or six. I then imagine my own children and ask myself if it could happen to them. Who is doing such things like that? Absolutely horrible. Every month I have to treat 300 to 400 cases."

Julie has found herself yet again under the care of the medical center, having been raped again last year. It happened again during broad daylight, and again on her way back to her village. Even today, twelve months later, she has serious injuries over her whole body and needs to take medicines. "I am very happy that I get treatment for free in the health center", she says. "And that I have somebody with whom I can talk about what happened.

Malteser International gave me a bicycle. With this I can get to the health center a lot quicker and I am not so afraid of the going home alone."

It is late afternoon. Julie has sold all the bananas and is packing her things together, ready for going home with Emile. Children and teenagers are crossing her way. She looks at them with a wistful expression in her eyes. "Maybe one day I can go back to school. This is my dream."

Kathrin Meier

* Names changed.

Malteser International Begins Food Distribution in DR Congo

In Minova, the region on the border between North and South Kivu in the East of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Malteser International is distributing around 1,000 tons of food supplies to more than 6,000 families who have had to flee because of the conflict in North Kivu.

"Together with other relief organizations, we have done an assessment in the region of Minova and counted 30,645 internally displaced persons (IDPs)”, says Dr. Georg Nothelle, Head of the Africa Department of Malteser International explains. “Within one week we will distribute foodstuffs such as flour, vegetables, oil and salt to all of the families. A second distribution campaign is planned for December.” The distribution will be financially supported by the World Food Programme of the United Nations (WFP) which aims to assure the food supply for the IDPs during the next two months...”

You can join our call for our efforts to build on the relief efforts in Eastern Congo, Malteser International is in urgent need of donations:

• In order to build on the relief efforts for the growing number of internally displaced persons, Malteser International is in urgent need of donations: 
  Donation Account 2020122;
  Pax-Bank Köln, von-Werth-Str. 25-27, D-50670 Köln, Germany,
  Sort Code : 370 60 193; IBAN : DE93 3706 0193 0002 0201 22; BIC: GENODED1PAX
  Reference : "Congo"
  
• You can link to the donation form on the website of Malteser Germany (English version available) for donations in Euro:  http://www.malteser-spenden.de/spenden.html?&v=3959&z=1&l=2&t=X8XXX1
• You can link to the donation form of Order of Malta Worldwide Relief - Malteser International Americas (for donations in US Dollars): http://www.maltarelief.org/site/PageServer?pagename=support_main

 

World Toilet Day 2008: How children in Sri Lanka learn the importance of safe drinking water

November 19, 2008 is World Toilet Day and the final event in the International Year of Sanitation. Thbis week, we'll look at some of our stories about water and sanitation. Today's story by Katrin Rehfuss tells how school children in Sri Lanka learned the improtance of sanitation and clean water. Visit our homepage for more links about our WASH program.


When Kaushalya Walgama arrives in Batuwanhena primary school (in Elpitiya zone) with her team, lots and lots of children come running to her. They don’t stop jumping up and down; they scream and gather around her. The visits of Kaushalya and her teams always mean that something special will happen. The pupils are excited and curious what they will happen this time. Today they are going to decide on the design and location of their new sanitary facilities. Kaushalya is a Health and Hygiene Promoter for Malteser International, the worldwide relief agency of the Sovereign Order of Malta for humanitarian aid. When the "welcome ceremony" has found an end, 20 pupils out of almost 1,000, some teachers and several parents assemble in a classroom where Kaushalya starts her session. (planning locations, right) 

The idea of this "Child Friendly School Project" is to include the whole school community into decisions concerning the construction of new latrines and washing points. "Especially the pupils are encouraged to express their wishes and needs, as they are the ones who use the facilities and as they are also expected to maintain them" Kaushalya explains. "We want the school community to develop a sense of ownership", she points out, "we hope the children in the end say: This is my toilet, and I’m going to take care of it." This might work more easily when pupils, teachers and parents are involved from the beginning. As in Batuwanhena most schools in Sri Lanka have neither satisfactory water supply nor adequate sanitary installations. The existing sanitary facilities are often dilapidated. They are not separated according to sex and thus do not ensure privacy.

This situation has many impacts on the pupils, as Kelvin Shingles points out: "All children need a sanitary and hygienic learning environment. However, the lack of sanitation and hygiene facilities in schools has an even stronger negative impact on girls than on boys", explains the Malteser International Project Manager." Girls need safe, clean, separate and private sanitation facilities in their schools."

After having explained to the children and adults in Batuwanhena primary school the idea of today’s session, Kaushalya asks them to meet for discussion in three groups: pupils, teachers and parents. "The children speak much freer when they are with their peers", the 34-year-old explains one advantage of this method. All groups start discussing why they are not satisfied with the existing sanitary facilities and how they want their new latrines and hand washing points to look like. Making 20 pupils discuss is no easy task, but finally, they express their worries. The boys complain that they do not have a feeling of privacy in their urinals, and the girls mention that the taps are broken. All of them would like to have garbage bins in the classroom and enough water in the water tank so that they do not need to bring bottles from home or ask for water in the neighboring houses. Amazingly, girls and boys agree easily on the colour of their new latrines: the girls want theirs to be painted in light yellow, while the boys prefer dark green. And they accept the suggested health messages to be written on the walls, so that they do not forget to wash their hands after using the toilet etc.

The "Child friendly concept" has been developed by Malteser International and UNICEF for 53 schools in Galle, Matara, Hambantota and Ampara Districts. Around 16,000 pupils have already or will soon get access to child friendly water and sanitation facilities. The need for this intervention has been identified by the Sri Lankan government, and thus Malteser International works closely with the Zonal Education Officers. According to Kelvin Shingles, the approach is based on the idea that children who participate in efforts to create a safer and more hygienic environment, learn about health and hygiene by doing: "This is an effective way to help young people to acquire the knowledge, attitudes, values and skills needed to adopt healthy lifestyles."

The Malteser International team gives lessons on health and hygiene education following a life skills approach. The pupils learn for example how to test, if the water at school and in their homes is safe for drinking. The three groups in Batuwanhena all meet again in the classroom to finally decide on the location of the new latrines and hand washing points. Kaushalya has painted a plan of the school grounds on a big poster. She asks the representatives of the school community to discuss the advantages and disadvantages of the different possible locations. The parents want the latrines to be close to the school building, so that the teachers can easily monitor the children. The pupils pay attention that the girls’ and the boys’ latrines are not too close together. Most of the participants are engaged in a lively discussion, and finally everybody agrees.

During the school visit Kaushalya needs to clarify several times who Malteser International is
and what the organization aims for: "Many parents are worried that an organization which is
based in Europe could want to evangelize the kids." Kaushalya explains over and over again that
this is not what Malteser International’s approach is about. She points out that the organization
provides help without distinction of religion, race or political persuasion.

After a while, Kaushalya can convince the families. At the end, the participants of the meeting
even invite the Malteser International team to join the Parents Teachers Association for their next
meeting and to present their work there to all the other parents. At the end, all sides are very satisfied with the session: "Everybody was very much interested and motivated to participate in the
planning process. Even the small children, who are often too shy to express their opinions, were
involved in the decision making", says Kaushalya.

New Photos from Pakistan Earthquake

Malteser International has new photos of the effects from the deadly earthquake that struck last week in Pakistan, where a devastating earthquake hit on Wednesday, October 29. Malteser International is preparing for emergency relief efforts after a quake with a 6.4 magnitude in the Baluchistan province, which borders Afghanistan, just before dawn. Hundreds were killed in the quake.

Malteser International will send medical personnel and supplies and coordinate hygiene awareness activities to more than 500 families as part of our relief effort. We will also provide temporary shelter, blankets, water cans and hygiene articles for people in Pakistan. 

You can help our relief efforts with a tax-deductible donationto the Order of Malta Worldwide Relief - Malteser International Americas. Your support will help our direct efforts in helping people in Pakistan -- and everywhere we work! 

Click on a photo to enlarge