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Interview With Mugisho Ndabuli Theophile from DR CONGO

3 February 2010 31 Comments

mugisho-2

Background: I met Mugisho when I joined The Safe World Support Centre. Mugisho is the Team Leader of the DR Congo Project, and I became one of his volunteers. As I had more correspondence with Mugisho, I learned that he is also starting a new project called Congolese Females Action For Promoting Their Rights (COFAPRI). Part of the text of Mugisho’s plan reads as follows:

“The DRC is a big country located at the heart of Africa. It has recently been drug into a bloody war that lasted more than a decade. Like any war, aftermaths are unavoidable. The latter makes suffer more the females especially in the country because they fear to speak out what happened to them as abuses. This makes them suffer physically and morally as it is due to some practices and traditions that forbid females to report on everything. Being secretive therefore seems to cause them another kind of internal injure. Women and girls who have been raped for instance cannot say it publicly for fear to break the customs and even be repudiated by their husbands, thus be ridiculed in their respective communities.
In some households, there are also variety of abuses done on females like being beaten by their husbands, rape by husbands, not accepting them to work outside, not giving them a floor to speak in public, girls are not given chances like boys, etc. Violating women’s rights is also another form of devilish violation of human rights; the background of an individual does affect them in the future.
All the above mentioned elements attracted our attention and thus we thought females, educated or not, need our voice to empower them and so break the stigma and tell the world the abuses they undergo in the name of the culture safeguard. Thus the creation of COFAPRI is to break the cycle of violence, the stigma and the silence and denounce these destructive practices.”

In requesting permission of Mugisho to do an article about him and his proposal for this project, I asked whether in so doing it would place him in any danger. Mugisho stated in his response to this question, “As for danger, I do not think there may be one although we never know the behaviour of our people. But I am ready for it.” The following is my interview with Mugisho Ndabuli Theophile:

Cher: Please tell us a little about your background.

Mugisho: I am Mugisho Ndabuli Theophile. Married and father of one daughter aged 2 years and eight months today. I hold a degree in Education, English language teaching and I am reading for Master’s in conflict resolution at UKZN, South Africa. Today I am a university teacher, am volunteering with SWFW DR Congo team leader. I and Bahati are the founders of COFAPRI.

Cher: You have founded COFAPRI, Congolese Females Action for Promoting Their Rights. What lead you to do this?

Mugisho: I felt pity with discrimination, violence and injustice done on women around me in war, at work or at home. Also I got motivated by the campaign we are leading in Safe World For Women.

Cher: What are the primary goals you want to address in this organization?

Mugisho: To empower females to say NO to all kinds of evil actions done on them and then help them to organize and produce something for survival. Never fear to claim for their rights non-violently.

Cher: Can you cite specific examples of violations of women’s rights in DR Congo?

Mugisho: They are refused to work outside the home, girls are not given chances to go to school as boys are, women are beaten by their husbands, they are not allowed to speak in public; cultures is to blame here.

Cher: I have read that part of the violations of women come from those in your military. Is that still the case?

Mugisho: Today things are changing smoothly though slowly. Nothing is sure for grant.

Cher: Our Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, visited your country last year. One woman was quoted as telling her, “Children are killed, women are raped and the world closes its eyes.” Can you respond to that?

Mugisho: This is true but the world will not respond to what they are not told. So women must report such devilish attitudes and actions to appropriate instances.

Cher: What part does the fight over minerals in the DR Congo play in the violation of women’s rights?

Mugisho: The Eastern part as there are the militia who often rape women and girls.

Cher: Are women shunned by their families when they have been raped?

Mugisho: Sure, they are shunned because their husbands abandon them and the latter believe such women are not fitting the community or they maybe are now HIV positive, they bring shame to the family.

Cher: Are arrests made in cases of rape?

Mugisho: Sometimes, yes but the rapers are released soon.

Cher: Is there an organization to which people can donate to aid your efforts?

Mugisho: There are but I am contacting them and take an agreement.

I am very grateful to Mugisho for this interview. While it was done across the miles, the courage he speaks is the courage he lives. Once his plan for COFAPRI is approved, I will have a widget on this blog. He is at this time searching for trustworthy venues through which donations can be made. Please keep Mugisho, his family and the women of the DR Congo in your thoughts.

—cher

31 Comments »

Mama ASID - BadGalsRadio.com said:

Excellent Interview. he is very astute in his assertions. if we don’t do something to help the women break the cycle it will consume all the people. I’m glad to have read this Cher. This is an Excellent Interview Cher

# 3 February 2010 at 10:21 pm

admin (author) said:

Mama ASID,
Thanks so much for your kind thoughts. Mugisho is an inspiration, isn’t he. Let us keep him, his family and the women of the DR Congo in our hearts and prayers.

# 3 February 2010 at 10:28 pm

ChrisJ said:

I know that crying and screaming isn’t a helpful response, but that’s what I feel like doing.

I hope he is successful and I hope other men, as well as women, join him.

Good interview.

# 4 February 2010 at 12:35 am

Windroot said:

Welcome to Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, a tale set in the Congo. If you haven’t already done so I would recommend reading a book entitled King Leopold’s Ghost, by Adam Hochschild. It tells the story of the Belgian rule in the Congo and the heroic efforts of one man to reverse the evil. My own summary can be found here:

http://www.windroot.com/everyman/singleminded/morel.htm

# 4 February 2010 at 8:29 am

admin (author) said:

ChrisJ,
It does make one want to cry at such heinous treatment of women, Chris. I truly believe that awareness is knowledge and the more we have the better we are able to be proactive. Mugisho is strong in his commitment to helping women in the DR Congo. How very refreshing that a man, a very brave man, is taking a leadership role in this.

# 4 February 2010 at 10:16 am

admin (author) said:

Windroot,
Thank you for reminding me of Heart of Darkness. I had read it many years ago, and perhaps subliminally that is why I have such hope for the success of Mugisho in his quest for helping these victims.

I was most impressed with the link you sent. It is highly informative and quite telling. You are such a good writer and the last paragraph was very compelling:

“When I read about folks like Morel, I am both heartened and dismayed. It is good to remember than one man can indeed make a difference. It is sad to see the toll that such dedication and singlemindedness often takes on those who would make that difference.”

One man can make a difference. My prayer is that God protects Mugisho and offers him the strength he will need.

# 4 February 2010 at 10:26 am

The Sandman said:

It is so sad that there is so much injustice and cruelty in this world. The positive side is that there are people like Mugisho who is try to work against it and people like you to help expose it. Hard work, but necessary work. In addition, a well done interview, thank you.

# 4 February 2010 at 7:10 pm

admin (author) said:

The Sandman,
Thank you for your kind words. I am but a background for the impressive and altruistic venture Mugisho is undertaking. We need people in our global society to make a difference and to help raise our conscience levels. Mugisho is a tender-hearted soldier, strong in his vision for the DR Congo.

# 4 February 2010 at 7:35 pm

Trulyfool said:

Cher,

I’ve taught students from the DRC. One woman was bright and strong and the support for her brother. They were not living ‘the good life’ here, but it was relatively safe.

Some places in the world simply have too little — not just money and supplies and educated people, but years of that. A long tradition that has worked out some of the worst kinks.

And women have been on the short end of virtually all traditions.

Thank you for the energy you give toward this awareness. Mugisho and the DR Congo work is clearly needed.

# 4 February 2010 at 8:20 pm

admin (author) said:

Trulyfool,
Teaching students from the DRC must have been interesting and challenging for you. Sometimes “traditions” become trademarks for injustice. You reinforce what Mugisho stated when you said, “And women have been on the short end of virtually all traditions.” There must be a way to turn that corner.

I would be interested in hearing more of your experience. When I was a teacher, I often learned as much about life from them as they learned in classroom studies from me.

# 4 February 2010 at 11:47 pm

Bob Loosemore said:

Mugisho is brave indeed to question the traditions that ensure control remains in the brutal hands of men. Men for whom subjugation of the female is a potent means of preventing the dilution of their power.

ChrisJ. Crying and screaming IS useful – and required – providing it embarrasses or moves the people in our over-fattened and over- privileged (but wonderful) worlds who can actually DO something about this kind of injustice.

May I hijack your post slightly Cher? Females in my part of the world (England) have been irritating me for decades with their neurotic and selfish demands for their own ‘rights’ while ignoring the abuses of females of other cultures; dominating the media and crowding out the stories of real suffering, and of real heroism like Mugisho’s They want more cherries on their cake while the majority lives on stale bread, so to speak.

Cher,are you able to follow up on Mugisho, and get him to tell you of others doing the same? They can speak anonymously? Love you all.

# 5 February 2010 at 5:19 am

DorothyL said:

Thank you Cher & Mugisho Ndabuli for this post on a very much needed awareness. I have contacts with a few missionaries in Africa who tell of very similar horrifying experiences. The numbers of single mothers and homeless children is climbing due to the outbreak of aids, which has been killing off many of the men in their villages. The rape and sexual deviance go far past women being raped…boys are also being raped..hence the spread of aids.

Mugisho…I can only hope that you can penetrate the walls that have been built around your countries women, which allow this manipulation and archaic treatment to continually crush a woman’s self-respect and right to say NO!.

Stepping aside from this post a bit…I am going to play a bit of a Devil’s advocate here….
I can understand somewhat why different cultures are the way they are( this is not to say they are right)…what I do not understand is why our culture involving this exact carbon copy of abuse still exists. When I read about how people in other countries are trying to abolish these ‘old rules’ and I look around at our own so called ‘civilized’ countries… I have to wonder…is there any hope in ending this sort of monstrous bullying and controlling violation of women?

In our own back yards this type of treatment is still being carried out and kept silent for similar reasons as Mugisho has written about. Our own people who were not raised in poverty or old rule cultures are doing exactly the same thing…what is their excuse?

Are we all missing something here?
Is it really the old rules of cultures that is the reason for abuse towards women?

~D~

# 5 February 2010 at 8:53 am

admin (author) said:

Bob Loosemore,
Your passionate response makes my heart feel good. You are quite correct in that many women take their freedoms for granted while ignoring the plights of their global sisters.

I will continue to follow up with Mugisho. His story and his efforts deserve to be told. There are also other venues in which I am participating that have similar awareness-raising issues, and I will be posting about those in the future.

Thank you for you kind and generous spirit.

Love to you, dear Bob.

# 5 February 2010 at 10:58 am

admin (author) said:

Dear D,
You bring up an important issue in that even in our country, many women suffer similar abuses, though perhaps not to the pervasive extent of the women in DR Congo. It is difficult to change cultures and accepted practices, isn’t it? It may be that only when women link hearts and arms across the globe that we may attempt to change this.

My heart has been filled with joy as so many men have weighed in on this issue with empathy and outrage. We need such men and Mugisho is one of them. May he be blessed on this journey and may others join his ranks.

# 5 February 2010 at 11:06 am

admin (author) said:

This message came in today from Mugisho:

Cher,
Can you post this on behalf of COFAPRI?

‘COFAPRI’ WANTS FEMALES RIGHTS RESPECTED IN SOCIETY.
From time to time, we hear people talking about human rights. This is easy and simple to say but when it comes to implementation, everybody is silent. In most cases, the DR Congo women do not go out for work though they have studied. Yet, most people go to school simply that they need to access good job after studies completion. This is not the case in some areas of the DRC. This is due to the fact that some men feel so happy to see female suffering. But this is inhumane and devilish. Since such beliefs are still dwelling in some people’s minds, no sustainable development will be achieved; rather poverty will take roots, followed by destruction.

# 5 February 2010 at 11:19 am

Carpetbagger said:

Thanks for the great post, Cher. I’m always inspired by individuals who stand up against injustice and evil perpetrated by the system against the disenfranchised. I hope his movement spreads within his country. I fear it will be a long battle.

I’ve recently be reading Nelson Mandela’s autobiography and was amazed at how early their struggle began–right after the Second World War. I think of how long it took our country to get from the Civil War and meaningful Civil Rights legislation. And those both had organized resistance movements.

I pray that Mugisho finds others to stand with him–both within and outside his country. I hope that the spotlight of public attention will shine bright and make a difference.

# 5 February 2010 at 12:33 pm

admin (author) said:

Carpetbagger,
Change does take a long time, and it takes tenacity. As you said, we saw it in our country regarding Civil Rights and certainly we saw it through the tenacity and endurance of Nelson Mandela. Thank you for keeping Mugisho in your prayers. You are a good man, Bagger.

# 5 February 2010 at 4:12 pm

Mugisho N. Theophile said:

Thank you everyone for the encouragement you are giving me. This shows that I have people behind me outside my country. I know the way is not straight and not short but our commitment and devotion together with your strong support will lead us to achieve this noble objective of making the world a safe place for us, especially our wives, sisters, mothers and daughters. If we do not fight strongly against these devilish practices on women, the future generations will face more troubles than there are today.
Thank again everyone for motivating me more.
We are together.

# 7 February 2010 at 7:21 am

admin (author) said:

I just received a message from Mugisho that his wife has been hospitalized. Please keep them in your thoughts and prayers. We wish her a speedy recovery.

I will let you know how she is as I get updates.

# 7 February 2010 at 11:15 am

Clovis Habimana said:

Indeed, I notice that Mr Mugisho is a man who needs support of the world in fighting against the illtreatments of women, particularly here in Africa. If the world can line up behind him great things can be achieved in this domain. His courage is exceptional as he is touching the prominent issue that most people fail to face because they fear to destroy the kingdom of males over females. I am sure Mugisho is about to bring change but he may face strong resistance of the leadres. Mr Mugisho will bring light where there has always been light.
Let us together support him in this noble task.

# 9 February 2010 at 3:56 am

admin (author) said:

Dear Clovis,
Thank you so much for your support of Mugisho’s efforts. He is a man of courage and good heart. I am certain he will appreciate your encouragement. You are so correct; he is a noble man.

Thank you again for your own courage in writing this response.

# 9 February 2010 at 10:30 am

Mugisho Ndabuli Theophile said:

Dear Clovis,
I do totally agree with you. Unity, togetherness and commitment will make us bring light
where there has been darkness. The fight is long of course, but as you put it the kingdom of males walking over females rights must end. Females are human beings just like everyone among us.

# 10 February 2010 at 3:02 am

Mugisho Ndabuli Theophile said:

Dear All,
I send you my heartfelt thnks for your encouragements and you make me grow more motivated and stronger than before.
Thanks a lot.

# 10 February 2010 at 3:04 am

admin (author) said:

Mugisho sends word that his wife, Bahati, is now out of the hospital and in recovery.

# 10 February 2010 at 6:01 am

Interview With Mugisho Ndabuli Theophile from DR CONGO | congotoday said:

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# 21 February 2010 at 7:31 pm

Emm said:

This is an incredible interview – well done and thank you to the both of you! It is fantastic to learn about the efforts being done to control the tide of violence against women and children. This is very powerful stuff and I wish you the best of luck Mugisho.

# 23 February 2010 at 11:38 am

admin (author) said:

Emm,
Wishes coming from you, the advocate of advocates, means so much. Mugisho is strong in his endeavor on women’s rights in the DRC. He is a man of much courage, and I know he will welcome the support you send him from your heart. That gives him even more empowerment to go forward.

Take care, dear Emm

# 23 February 2010 at 2:58 pm

Mugisho Ndabuli said:

I thank everyone who is encouraging me in this noble activity I am involved in. Your support in anyway will be giving me more motivation. I am sure the issue of the DRC women is at your heart and I do encourage you to think about them day and night; the way is long but our strong motivation will reach a positive issue.
I thank you all again for your comments.

# 24 February 2010 at 10:30 am

ausetkmt said:

Dr Mugisho how is the most recent spate of events sorting things out now ?

# 8 April 2010 at 7:03 am

Mugisho Ndabuli Theophile said:

Ausetkmt, things are moving smoothly and we are getting the attention of different people from all the corners of the world. The way is not that easy but our commitment and courage together with the people’s support, we will come to change this awful situation. We will bring light where there has been darkness.

# 8 July 2010 at 6:47 am

Mugisho Ndabuli Theophile said:

Carpetbagger, thank you for the encouragement. You are right when you say that injustice must be rooted out the society. If we all together we stand hand in hand with the same voice speak out injustice, it cannot resist. The problem is that strong people make the weak ones suffer injustice. Weak people should be protected and not led into suffering. Since practicing injustice is a learned behavior, it is possible that we unlearn it and make everyone enjoy their rights.

# 8 July 2010 at 6:54 am