'Kill Them All'

One thing that has always amazed me is how people who have suffered so much cruelty and evil retain their faith in God. I found the same phenomenon over and over in Sierra Leone on my last trip there in the Fall of 2006. One of the most interesting quotes was from a friend I made there named Mohammed. He and his 5 year old son was forced to watch the repeated raping of his wife by a rebel leader. The rebel leader kept his sonand wife, and told him to "run for his life."To make a long story short, he ended up with a compound femur fracture and withered away in the bush down to about 50 pounds over the course of about a month. His quote was "God seemed to answer my prayers quickly in those days. Now I am not sure when my prayers will be answered...


A victim of a recent militia attack in eastern Congo describes her horrific days in captivity.

In June, the Hot Zone reported the details of a recent massacre reportedly committed by Rwandan Hutu militia in eastern Congo in which 18 civilians, including six children, were killed.

One of the surviving victims, a 23-year-old woman we called Kahumba, provided a harrowing eyewitness account of the incident in which her brother was murdered in front of her and both she and her twin sister were sexually assaulted. The twin, who we'll call Mirenge, was kidnapped by the attackers and taken back to their camp. After weeks in the jungle, she escaped and returned to her village, but her suffering is far from over. This is her story, as told to reliable humanitarian sources on the ground in eastern Congo.
(..)

"I was suffering so much. One day I told them I was feeling ill and they tied me to a tree and three of them raped me. I felt like there was no more reason to live.
(..)
"We went to the river and decided we had to escape and return to our homes. We all slipped away into the jungle. It's only because of God that I am alive today.
(..)
"Now I am feeling very tired all over my body, I am urinating with much pain. I have constant headaches and backaches. When I stand up I am dizzy. When I remember what they did to me I wish I were dead.

"It is not important for me to get treatment because there is no difference between me and people who are dead.