Being Reminded...

College isn’t all about the social life. There is more to the experience than having midnight adventures in the city or watching the Miss Universe at the International house. This post, I will focus on something more academic.

On Saturday, September 23, I went voluntarily to the Congo conference at Clark University in Worchester, Mass. I woke up after 4 hours of sleep and would have loved to go back to bed but this conference was on Congo, my homeland, and I really wanted to go. Just like any other conference, we had speakers. Some were native Congolese, one still lives in Congo and the others live in the states and are activists for Congo. Other speakers were people whose line of work had led them to Congo.

The keynote speaker lives in Congo and is a journalist, helping the stories of women be heard. She was wearing the traditional Congolese dress, which reminded me of my mom and aunt. The way she spoke was moving and reminded me of my parents. She was the perfect person to set the tone for the entire conference. We had panelists who provided more information on the situation on Congo and informed us on how to get involved with helping Congo.

All of this so far had reminded me of how blessed I am to be in the states today and how much I want to get involved in helping Congo. It wasn’t until we watched a clip from Crisis in Congo: Uncovering the Truth that I lost it. So often, it is easy to hear about what’s happening and feel touched but then go back to my normal life. The clip we watched mentioned names of places, stories and things that I have heard of, been to, or experienced. I wasn’t just an audience member anymore, I was one of the girls and my mom was one of the women in the story. If it wasn’t for God’s plan for my family’s life, I would still be one of the girls in Congo and what would be of my family, I don’t know.

I don’t have the answers of how to fix Congo. I don’t know the best policies to make the changes that Congo needs. All I know is that my home country needs help. It needs to rebuild so that innocent people can stop dying and those who long to go home can go home. I also know that I am going to tailor my major to involve learning about African countries, especially Congo so that I may play a part in the change that is needed.

We learned about Congo week  at this conference nd we are going to try and organize something on Trinity’s campus. We don’t know what it'll be but we plan to put to use what we learned on saturday.
So for now, all I can do is pray for the people of Congo, especailly from my family there and for the people who have the potential to help.

Dear God,
Thank you for the opportunites you have given me. You brought me and my family out of Congo for a reason. We are Americans but Congolese Americans, who would love to visit our other home one day. Use us as people who can lead the change that Congo needs these days.  Help this world see what Congo needs so that innocent people may stop dying.