Mai Mai (water, water)

There is a traditional people who live throughout eastern DR Congo called the Mai Mai. As many of the various militias roaming throughout the jungles of eastern DR Congo are not well paid, fed or supplied, and with the terrible habit of attacking villages without warning, stealing food and committing atrocities, the Mai Mai realized they had no one to defend them. Thus, the Mai Mai took up arms and have become local security forces for their own villages.

The Mai Mai (corruption of the Swahili term for ‘water water’) sprinkle themselves with water that has been endued by sorcerers’ powers. The Mai Mai believe that when attacked and shot at, this magical water makes bullets fall harmlessly to the ground. There is enough evidence, at least locally, that Mai Mai fighters are invincible in battle, only if they’ve doused themselves with this water. As you can imagine these beliefs make the Mai Mai an especially fearless, and according to some sources, vicious fighters. In fact, the Mai Mai have secured mining areas for illegal extraction of gold and have committed many atrocities against civilians throughout the Kivus. Not the kind of people you want to run into in the forest.

Through a series of events that are beyond my understanding, there is a village not far from Bukavu which believes that there is a Mai Mai goat in their midst. Allegedly this Mai Mai goat roams freely throughout the village, eating people’s crops and other valuables, and is effectively invincible. The people in the village are afraid to slaughter it for food (the fate of many goats in the developing world) for fear that it would be impervious to bullet and blade, and somehow retaliate. Perhaps we’ve been misinformed, but this seems to be a regular sized goat, nothing especially large or intimidating about it. Perhaps its beard is longer than other village goats or it blankly stares with an exceptional intensity while it masticates its choix de la moment. Nothing too scary about any of that. One thing is for certain, by doing what goats do best – essentially eating everything within mouth and hoof distance, (and getting away with it) – this goat has become as bold as a lion. Who knows, maybe this goat actually is a Mai Mai and would liquefy any attempt to kill it. Or perhaps a local has had a bit too much to drink and fabricated this myth with enough gumption to convince others. Either way you look at it, this is one lucky goat.

Just a normal goat?

From DRC to Haiti

Even though we are now in DRC we have not forgotten about Haiti. It is curious to see the similarities found within both countries. One of Tearfund's partner organizations, Restored, just posted on their blog an article I wrote on Gender- based violence in Haiti. I have posted the article found from their website below. click here to see the Restored website. One countries response to gender-based violence maybe different then anothers. Yet at the heart of both is the power behind a restoration of relationships.


Responding to Gender-Based Violence in Haiti

Following the earthquake in Haiti in January 2010, sexual violence has emerged as a key issue for women living in camps. In this guest blog, Monica Verhaege, who works with Tearfund in DRC, describes how one community has demonstrated how women and men together can develop an effective response:

Tens of thousands of people died in the earthquake that rocked Haiti in January of 2010. Hundreds of thousands more were left displaced, with an estimated 1.2 million people in makeshift camps within Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince. In one camp in the Darbonne region of Leogane, near the epicentre of the quake, gender-based violence issues came out of focus group discussions on hygiene and health. Women from this region reported that they were afraid to go outside their tents at night because rape was so common in their area. The women also reported that they had stopped using latrines after sunset. Sexual violence was a barrier to good health for this impromptu community, as well as many others like it.

One woman stated, (translated from Creole):

‘Gang rape is very common here because many men drink too much and then wander through the camps looking for women. The camps have no protection and security to offer. Sometimes you can hear women scream for help at night but no one comes, because everyone is afraid.’

The community themselves, men and women together, brainstormed about solutions to address this issue with the hygiene team. The first solution that came out was to form a security committee whose main role was to protect women and girl children throughout the day and night. However, the security committee suggested that they receive some form of self-defence and security training before they undertook this task. When the women from the community heard this request from the security committee they too wanted to have self-defence training for themselves. One teenage girl said, (translated),

‘We should all know how to defend ourselves. Security involves every person. We are all part of the security committee now.’

The hygiene team partnered with a security team from another NGO and trained the camp’s security committee in addition to the large group of women in the community who also wanted self-defence training. The training focused on how to reduce the risk of sexual violence, how to prevent violent situations from occurring, and the importance of walking with others, especially with members of the security teams, when going to the latrines at night. All of the female participants chose a partner in small groups and began learning and demonstrating their newfound self-defence techniques. The women laughed as they started actually practicing the self-defence moves. It was a huge success. Many women reported that the training gave them the knowledge they needed to keep them and their families safe. Within the camp, the training sparked healthier and more respectful relationships between men and the women as the community participated in their own solution to insecurity and sexual violence. This solution required both men and women to act together in order to prevent the violence and to achieve more harmonious and restored relationships.