City of Joy

Recently, we watched a short promotional video about an organization called City of Joy. Mainly focusing in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, City of Joy helps women rebuild their lives after they have experienced horrific violence. The video provided us with a background of the situation in the DRC, of which has become a very serious and scary issue in our world. Currently, a war of resources for products is being fought on the bodies of innocent women. Women and children are raped and killed constantly, and City of Joy wants to help. "The City of Joy will provide women a place to heal emotionally as they rebuild their lives, turn their pain to power, and return back into their communities to lead" (http://drc.vday.org/city-of-joy). Turning pain to power. That is their message. And I truly believe this to be inspirational not only to those women in the DRC, but women all over the world. This reminds me of the Amy Biehl Foundation, which has a very sad background. A young girl was in South Africa 12 years ago and was murdered by four men. Her parents then forgave the men, and appealed that they be released from jail. Two of the men now work for the foundation. To me, this astonishing story of forgiveness shows how much power you can get from pain. 

      What touched me most about the video and this organization was the way these women acted. They have gone through so much violence and abuse in their lives, more than I can imagine. Yet they don’t let it ruin the rest of their lives. They are trying to move forward and live without fear. In the video, various women are dancing, singing, laughing, and generally having a great time. And Eve Ensler (author of The Vagina Monologues) is constantly trying to help them deal with their anger for what has happened to them. She tries to give them the opportunity to understand, and then throw it away and move forward, not hang on. City of Joy and Eve Ensler are also connected with V-Day, "an energy, a movement, a catalyst, a day to end violence towards women- born out of The Vagina Monologues" (xxxi). V-Day has spread around the world, gathering support for the fight against violence. Instead of us putting aside a day to celebrate the birth of someone, we put aside V-Day to celebrate the death of violence towards women.

      Another thing that I enjoyed seeing in the video was the building of a new City of Joy centre, to protect and help the women of the DRC. They showed men and women helping to build this centre. The fact that men were willingly offering their services to protect women almost shows that there is still hope that things will change. The situation will change, one day. Seeing the contributions of men and women put together in one effort appeared to me to be a true fight for the cause.

Here is the link to the video: http://drc.vday.org/building-the-city-of-joy

And here is a link to a video about the situation in the DRC: http://drc.vday.org/paintopower