Postcard from Bukavu, part 3: Marie Jeanne's Peace Village

In this letter, Marie Jeanne describes the effects of the war on the women in the group: Here in our country, rape is an odious act. A rape victim feels humiliated and so does her entire family. That's why men, unable to stand this shame, often leave, go far away from the family and become strangers. Meanwhile, the woman suffers alone, trying to support the children by herself. To escape the scorn of people in her village, these women prefer to come live in the city where no one gossips about their situation. Take the case of Justine, who lives with a child born of rape, and forced by maternal love to demonstrate great affection to him. She already had four children so now with this baby they are five. We found a cabin with two rooms and a living room, that's where Justine lives with her little family. We have several such cases. We have a case of two young, inexperienced 14-year-old girls who now have babies. Each one has her story, but it takes nerves of steel to listen to them and hear what they went through during their time as hostages. We have managed to send them to school. But often they have no education, because in the villages boys are sent to school more than girls. That's why we try even harder to give the girls in our program some schooling. Justine has the "Baccalaureat." She is 27. Next year I must register her for classes in university, maybe she'll study Law so that she can defend women's rights. With our modest soap and bead-making business, and sometimes working as household helpers, we are able to help our poor women regain their dignity and personnality in spite of their suffering. We enable them. Sister Georgette lives 2000 km away from our town. But she comes to Bukavu from time to time, she helps sell our products and gives us advice. Your contribution: 1. Prayer, 2. Your advice, 3. See if it is possible to find people willing to sponsor us, especially these young girls. 4. If possible, send us your postal address so we can send you the cards to sell. If you have alternatives you may also suggest them. You ask what my projects are for the future. My husband had found my cardmaking really good, so we had a plan, inspired by a Rwandan brother, to create a Peace Village where every woman will be accepted and welcomed, with their children born of rape and rejected by society, without regard to tribe or race (there are little ones of mixed race here, fathered by U.N. peacekeepers, who are also orphans). About my school: I have 500 students, boys and girls, rich and poor. The rich ones help me send the poor ones to school for free. They live side by side as brothers. I have limited means, so I only have the kindergarten and primary school. I would love to open a high school for girls, with boarding. I am now building another school because we've run out of space. In each classroom we have 40 to 50 children. About me: I have 5 biological and 3 adopted children. My oldest is 20, she is in 2nd year of medical school. The second is in first year of medical school. The third is a boy, in first year of secondary school. 4 and 5 are also boys, one is 10 and the other 8. (This letter was originally written in preparation for an interview by Sunapee, New Hampshire, high school student, Jennifer Coverdale, who interviewed Marie Jeanne in February 09 for a school project. My translation.)