SFCG Europe Director Abou El Mahassine Fassi-Fihri shakes hand of H.S.H. Prince Albert ll of Monaco at the Peace and Sport Awards.
Launched in 2008 under the High Patronage of H.S.H. Prince Albert II of Monaco, the Peace and Sport Awards reward sport initiatives and organizations that have made outstanding contributions to peace and social stability in the world, in areas that have been made vulnerable due to poverty, the aftermath of conflict or lack of social cohesion. This year Search for Common Ground’s “The Team” project had the distinct honor of being nominated for The Special Jury Prize, which rewards “creative initiatives (such as films, books, exhibitions, art etc.) which have helped to highlight the positive role that sport can play in sustainable peace in 2010”.
The Gala Award Ceremony took place on December 2, 2010 in the prestigious Salle des Etoiles in Monaco, with the presence of H.S.H. Prince Albert II of Monaco. SFCG’s Europe Director, Abou El Mahassine Fassi-Fihri, represented SFCG at the Award Ceremony.
Search for Common Ground congratulates the winner of the Special Jury Award, “Out of the Ashes”. “Out of the Ashes” is a film that follows the rise of the Afghan cricket team from refugee camps in Pakistan to the Cricket World Cup. In a country that frequently makes the headlines for war and terrorism, this story reflects the power of sport to unite a country.
Congratulations to all the nominees!
What I Will
I will not
dance to your war
drum. I will
not lend my soul nor
my bones to your war
drum. I will
not dance to your
beating. I know that beat.
It is lifeless. I know
intimately that skin
you are hitting. It
was alive once
hunted stolen
stretched. I will
not dance to your drummed
up war. I will not pop
spin beak for you. I
will not hate for you or
even hate you. I will
not kill for you. Especially
I will not die
for you. I will not mourn
the dead with murder nor
suicide. I will not side
with you nor dance to bombs
because everyone else is
dancing. Everyone can be
wrong. Life is a right not
collateral or casual. I
will not forget where
I come from. I
will craft my own drum. Gather my beloved
near and our chanting
will be dancing. Our
humming will be drumming. I
will not be played. I
will not lend my name
nor my rhythm to your
beat. I will dance
and resist and dance and
persist and dance. This heartbeat is louder than
death. Your war drum ain’t
louder than this breath.
~Suheir Hammad
Focus on DRC: Tosalel’ango Impact
Earlier today we spoke about Tosalel’ango (Let’s Do It!), a reality TV program in the DRC that tackles issues suggested by young people. This post explores the impact of the show.
Recently, Mike Jobbins (SFCG’s Africa Program Manager) talked with Gedeon Engwanda, the Congolese Director of Tosalel’ango about the impact the reality TV show is having on DRC audiences. Mr. Engwanda talked specifically about the episodes covering the orphans of Kaniola, women’s inheritance rights, and girls in Lubumbashi who were victims of sexual abuse at school.
Talking about the response to the show focused on the children born of rape in Kaniola, Mr. Engwanda said,
People could not stop calling. They were stunned, and shocked. This sort of story is never shown on Congolese TV. When it aired, our studio phone line received 300 SMS text messages. People were so moved, but also confused because this story [featuring the perspectives of the rejected orphans] is so different and unusual. We received calls from other groups needed help, and we gave them what advice we could. Afterwards Werra Son [The Congolese superstar musical group] was doing a concert in Bukavu and they went to visit the same orphanage and bring their support. They did not say that they were doing this because they saw our program, but how else would the biggest musical group in Congo be in the small village of Kaniola, to bring help to orphans who were accused of being the children of rebels and rapists? In this way, the episode has really attracted a lot of attention to the topic.
By Rachel Lyn Okun
SFCG integrates media programming into all country programs to reach across the society as broadly as possible. In the Democratic Republic of Congo we’re using reality television in a dramatically different way: to start a youth movement and find local solutions to local problems.
DRC youth are angry at their politicians, frustrated with corruption and the status quo, and economically marginalized. And so in 2008, SFCG launched Tosalel’ango, which means “Let’s Do It!” in Lingala, the main language of Kinshasa and many other urban areas in the DRC. The show seeks to channel frustration and anger into actionable positive change in local communities.
Tosalel’ango stars a local rap artist named Patcha Bay. Congolese youth (18-29) contact the show with an issue they want Tosalel’ango to focus on. The producers match two people with the same issue, called “Challengers,” and give them the chance to find a solution. The show is a hit: 21% of Congolese youth watch it, about 6 million people. What makes the show work? It lets young people know they are not alone, that their problems are shared, and it shows their peers standing up to make a difference. They may not succeed at solving DRC’s infrastructure problems, but they can get a main road in their city repaired. read more…
Focus on the DRC: All Eyes on the Congo?
Survivors of sexual violence in the Congo hold signs reading "do you want us also to take up arms?" (from trendsupdates.com)
Last Friday, to coincide with International Human Rights Day, the British global advisory firm, Maplecroft released the Human Rights Risk Atlas 2011. 196 countries were evaluated in the report and rated in 30 different categories. In all, 92 countries were ranked in the “extreme” and “high risk” categories. The Democratic Republic of Congo won the first spot. This is the 5th consecutive year the report has been published.
The Congo popped up recently again in Time Magazine’s 2010 summation where mass rape in the country was named one of the top 10 underreported stories of the year:
“Limited international appetite for engagement with an apparently endless horror story has dimmed media focus on Congo, although the stakes in the fighting — control over reserves of gold and minerals like coltan, utilized in the production of cellular phones — give the story an intimate connection to the world economy.”
In some cases, increased international attention can complicate and worsen an already tense situation. Following Secretary Clinton’s 2009 trip to the DRC which was meant to put a focus on the issues of sexual and gender based violence, and the UN calling the DRC the “rape capital of the world” earlier this year, the extent of the abuses in the Congo are becoming more widely known.
Now with Christmas approaching, nearly 20 humanitarian organization are calling on the international community and the UN to prevent a Christmastime massacre in the eastern Congo by the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) like the ones that happened in 2008 and 2009, which killed an estimated 895 and 300 people respectively.
Do you think there will be a renewed interest in this forgotten conflict from the international community? What can be done to bring about greater awareness?
Here in Congo women are being raped. But they don’t talk about it. But with the traveling mobile cinema we break this silence. It stimulates other women to say, we can stop sexual violence through talking about it.
–Captain Pierre Basima, 10c region, National Army of Congo
SFCG’s Mobile Cinema program works with the military and women in the DRC to break the silence associated with sexual violence. The films and the accompanying conversations have started to address the underlying causes perpetuating this cycle. As one participant said, when discussing the reasons behind the high levels of violence, “More and more people tend to rape. Because it has become normal. Rapists are not punished.”
While much remains to be done, the power of talking about these issues has surprised participants. One man said, “I didn’t expect this result. I am amazed, we expected something else. It touches me to see that the film has so much impact.”
