By: Priscila Néri, Posted: Sep 9 08

Africa, Awaiting Tomorrow, Congo, DRC, Health, HIV/AIDS

Our colleagues Becky Lichtenfeld and Bukeni Waruzi travelled to the Democratic Republic of Congo last week to work with local organizations and government officials and help catalyze action in response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the region. Watch this short video below with a roundup of their time in Kinshasa and then read the string of blog posts below for Becky's daily reports and for links on how to take action!

DAY 6: Roundup of the Week

After a week in the DRC working to help demand urgent care for the more than 1.3 million* people living with HIV/AIDS in the DRC, Becky and Bukeni have just returned to the US with great news about the outcome of their trip:

1) WITNESS and Ajedi-Ka helped to form a coalition of 18 locally based organizations who would continue to exert pressure on the government to ensure that it addressed the advocacy objectives of the “Awaiting Tomorrow” campaign  in meaningful ways. (Read more in the string of posts below.)

2) Senegalese musician Youssou N’Dour  met with the Congolese Minister of Health to deliver an urgent letter from Archbishop Desmond Tutu to President Kabila. In the letter, Tutu calls on the DRC government to learn from the mistakes made in South Africa and act now to address HIV/AIDS.

3) The Congolese Minister of Justice and Human Rights will use the Ajedi-Ka/WITNESS produced video, Awaiting Tomorrow, to advocate for greater support addressing HIV/AIDS issues in the country, as well as to sensitize people to the issue.

4) Press coverage of the issue and this advocacy campaign with Youssou N’Dour, along with select interviews with Bukeni Waruzi, appeared in all the major newspapers and broadcast tv and radio news outlets in the DRC, including: Le Potentiel, L’Observateur, L’Observateur, Digital Congo Web News, TV-RTNC, TV Horizon 33, TV Antenne A and Mirador TV, Radio Elykia, RTNC.  “Awaiting Tomorrow” was also screened in its entirely or in excerpts on many of the tv broadcast outlets, too.

You too can help. Click here to sign a petition calling on the Congolese government to take immediate action to provide care for those living with HIV/AIDS in the DRC.

DAY 5: Youssou visits largest public hospital in Kinshasa

This morning we took Senegalese musician Youssou N'Dour on a tour of the General Hospital, largest public hospital in Kinshasa, where one in four people live with HIV. Once there, Youssou walked through the hospital with Bukeni (WITNESS Program Coordinator), and Mauwa and her son David (Mauwa shares her story in Awaiting Tomorrow). There was also a ceremony in which Youssou presented rice as a gift to the hospital on our behalf and then spoke about WITNESS, Ajedi-Ka and HIV/AIDS in Africa.

The irony was that Youssou arrived 45 minutes early, so our videographer and photographer only caught the very end. Still, the experience was very touching. Youssou told me that he was unbelievably moved - and i quote - and that he felt like he moves so fast that he never gets to stop and look. He also made a special shout out to Mauwa when speaking and spoke of her courage. it was a beautiful moment. Keyboard is a mess. Hard to type.

Tomorrow we will are planning to go with Youssou to visit the Minister of Health.

Wish us luck!

DAY 4: 18 NGOs working on HIV/AIDS form coalition

Here's a little update from Kin (as they say here). Words can't really describe the elation I'm feeling now after an unbelievable day. Bukeni was amazing. I haven't seen anything quite like it before. It feels like we passed through 4 seasons in one day here as things change so fast - plans, meetings, schedules, etc - and we made it through.

The day started off well as I met Nellie from Ajedi-ka. She arrived safely late last night with Muawa and her son David. Muawa is featured in Awaiting Tomorrow (the film we co-produced along with Ajedi-Ka)... after taking a boat to a bus to an airplane, they have arrived in Kinshasa to work with us for the rest of the week and through the weekend. We are now a complete team!

By the end of the day, Bukeni had screened Awaiting Tomorrow for members of 18 different NGOs working on HIV/AIDS in Kinshasa. They all weighed in on the campaign goals and they agreed to join forces with WITNESS and Ajedi-Ka to make sure that the objectives of this campaign stay strong. It was exciting to see a network forming in front of our own eyes - and watching Bukeni navigate the waters.

The press was also invited to the meeting of NGOs and Bukeni was mobbed with questions. The anchorwoman from Horizon TV (where he gave an interview Monday) was there and told Bukeni that after he appeared on the show they got many many phone calls from people wanting to speak to him. YAY! We'll bring a copy back with us for you all to see.

Youssou N'Dour's awesome manager has also arrived in Kinshasa. We are set to meet with Youssou on Friday and have been told that he is very much looking forward to working with us. We will be sure to discuss WITNESS and the campaign when he does a press conference upon his arrival tomorrow night. It's starting to feel like a big family - from our friend and colleague Christian (who did an amazing job setting up today's NGO meeting) to Youssou's manager, to Nellie and Ajedi-ka and all the amazing people we've met so far.

And the last bit of news is that Bukeni and I have been granted another meeting with the Vice-Minister of Health Thursday morning to try and arrange a time for the Health Minister to meet with Youssou on Friday. We are also working on the presidential meeting from multiple fronts so let's wait and see what happens...

End of the day Wednesday - a strong coalition of 18 NGOs working together on a series of objectives around HIV/AIDS, a megastar arriving who is ready to rock the DRC (in more ways than one), and two meetings confirmed with ministers...Not bad!

DAY 3: Youssou N'Dour confirms!

Great news!  Senegalese singer Youssou N'Dour has confirmed that he will be taking some time from his busy schedule to meet with WITNESS in Kinshasa and hopefully participate in a few field visits with local organizations addressing HIV/AIDS in the DRC. Stay tuned for more news!

DAY 1: Planning the week in Kinshasa

Greetings from the Congo,

Day One was a success! Kinshasa looks very different by day...

Early this morning at our hotel, Bukeni and I met with our colleague Christian, who is making things happen on the ground. We met to go over our schedule and the various things we aim to accomplish in the next 5 work days. Here's what we're planning:

1 - meet with the Health Minister

2 - meet with the Minister of Justice and Human Rights

3 - help build a coalition of NGOs working with HIV/AIDS in the DRC

4 - present President Kabila with a letter from an internationally renowned public figure calling for immediate action on HIV/AIDS in the Congo

5 - spend some time on this issue with singer Youssou N'Dour over the weekend

6 - Organize a press conference in Kinshasa

Piece of cake...

After that we met with 3 NGOs that are working on the issues of HIV/AIDS in the Congo. These are leading organizations in Kinshasa that will continue working on these advocacy goals once WITNESS heads back to NY and Ajedi-ka heads back to Uvira. We met with Amo Congo, Femmes + and RACOJ, all of which are doing inspiring work and are ready and willing to collaborate. It was exciting to see a new network forming and to be a part of a project with the potential to bring so many groups together...

Later in the evening we headed to the Horizon Plus television station, where Bukeni did an excellent interview on live TV about WITNESS, Ajedi-ka, HIV/AIDS in the DRC and the use of video to make a difference. The station also showed an excerpt of Awaiting Tomorrow (the video we produced with Ajedi-Ka during the program). Congrats Bukeni! He looked great, even if the seat they gave him was MUCH lower then the anchor woman and the table... (pictures to come).

It was a long, exhausting day, but I am lucky to be here, working on this campaign...

Hoping for an equally successful day tomorrow,

Beck

[*Although official statistics from the Congolese government account for 1.3 million people living with HIV/AIDS in the DRC, international organizations estimate this number can be as high as 2.6 million.]