Despite the potential for cynicism, I do believe the rich and famous should go - and go often - to the DRC and similar places on Earth. Rulers, gangsters and warlords of Hellish places need the international publicity, the glare of flashing cameras. They should be invited to explain their atrocities.

Here are some of them:
Government troops, Ituri Province.

"...The dissident, General Laurent Nkunda, leader of the CNDP (National Congres for the Defense of the People), poses at his headquarter in his stronghold of Kichanga, Masisi hills in North-Kivu [Province]. Written on the wall: Justice is rendered in the name of the people." (See more of these prize-winning photos by Cedric Gerbehaye - Agence VU/Newsweek.)

Ben Affleck has been to the DRC three times in the past year, according to BBC News Online. One of my favorite bloggers is CongoGirl, a rather heroic figure herself, who led me to this BBC article.

Very likely at Panzi Hospital* in Bukavu,
though the photo captions don't specify.


Ben Affleck films DR Congo Crisis
Friday, 27 June 2008

Quote:

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Actor Ben Affleck has said he made a TV report on the Democratic Republic of Congo because the humanitarian crisis there deserved "our eyes and our ears".
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The Oscar-winner visited refugee camps, warlords and hospitals while in the African country to record a film for Nightline, on US channel ABC.
In the past decade more than four million people have died during the conflict, most from hunger and disease.
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The 35-year-old has visited the country three times in the past year. It has been embroiled in a civil war since 1994, when an influx of refugees from neighbouring countries arrived [mainly because of the Rwanda genocide].
[...]
"I view this as a long and ongoing learning experience to educate myself before making any attempt to advocate or speak out," the star of Good Will Hunting and Pearl Harbour said.
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Affleck met conflict survivors, aid workers and warlords on his visit
"My plan has been to explore, watch, listen and find those doing the best work with - and on behalf of - the people of the DRC."
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He was trying to "give exposure to voices which might not otherwise be heard", he added. Affleck joins the long line of celebrities, among them Madonna, Angelina Jolie, George Clooney, Brad Pitt and Bono, who have campaigned for relief in the continent. But Affleck, who paid for the trip himself, stressed: "It makes sense to be sceptical about celebrity activism."
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"There is always the suspicion that involvement with a cause may be doing more good for the spokesman than he or she is doing for the cause," he added.

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If it takes celebrities to get the attention these places deserve, so be it. On the other hand, how much progress toward peace has really been made in the Sudan because of the attention it gets?

*CLICK HERE for information about Panzi Hospital, a medical refuge for women,
and Dr. Mukwege, who surely by now has earned the Nobel Prize for Peace.

Edited by diane9247 (08/15/08 11:41 PM)

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