Send Hope
This morning I was greeted by a letter from Amnesty International and their Greeting Card Campaign for SOFAD (Solidarite des Femmes Activistes pour la Defense des Droits Humains).
Ordinarily I wouldn’t publish charity campaigns (given that there are so many of them it would just become white noise) but this one caught my seasonal attention. Every year I battle with the waste produced by greeting cards vs. the joy of receiving cards at Christmas. Last year, I endeavoured to purchase only charity cards produced on recycled paper, or make my own and donate an amount per card made to a local charity. This year the same battle commences. However, reading Amnesty’s campaign letter made me realise that sometimes, a simple card can make a massive difference to someone.
The campaign is to support Justine Masika Bihamba, who works as a Human Rights Defender (top job title) in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). She leads SVFS (Synergie de Femmes contre les Violences Sexuelles) a collective of 35 women’s organisations that provide medical care, counselling, legal assistance, social support and income generating opportunites to women and girls who have been raped.
Ok, so at this point you might be divided in your response. Yes, it’s a good cause. Yes, there are people in the West – in your own country – who do similar things. But the thing that got to me about this campaign is that Justine paid a high price for her job. In 2007 Jusine got home to find that her 6 children were being assaulted because of their work to support victims of rape. Soldiers had broken into her home, tied up her family, threatened one daughter with rape whilst kicking her in the face and sexually assaulted another daughter with a knife. The family can identify the soldiers who commited these crimes, but they still have not been brought to justice. Her daughters have left the DRC in fear for their safety, but Justine remains. She still works for the many women who are being abused and assaulted with no hope of justice.
So I think you’ll agree her story is pretty shocking. It takes real courage to continue to fight against such brutality and stand up against a corrupt system. The kind of courage that, thankfully, most of us never have cause to employ. Instead, Amnesty – as well as the usual donations – are asking supporters to make a greeting card to send to Justine to let her know that she is not alone; that the rest of the world haven’t forgotten about the brutality that continues to persist in the Congo, and that most of all, we’re grateful that there are people like her to fight as hard as she does. Because, let’s face it, most of us wouldn’t.
Amnesty are sending out a small white greeting card for you to decorate with a message of hope for Justine and the women of the DRC. If you receive one, I hope you decorate it and send with it a donation to support the women in DRC. It would make a good Christmas present, don’t you think?I also like the idea of a load of people drawing on cards and sending them off to a country they’ve probably never been to. Those cards will be given to individual women who are victims of rape and also to Justine to show her that she is not alone in this cause. It’s a bit more powerful than the usual seasonal greetings we’ll all be sending soon.
If you don’t get the card in the post (which is being sent out to current supporters of Amnesty) make your own. The card itself is 10.5cm by 15 cmwhich you can, of course, buy in any craft shop, or better still use recycled paper. The address to send them (with a donation) is:
Greetings Card Appeal 2009
Amnesty International UK
FREEPOST RRRR-RHUC-HTZK
Redhill
RH1 1QD
Here’s a picture of my effort, and yes I know: that’s why I’m a writer and not an artist!
