DRC in Focus Issue 13 en Email

7/29/2019 DRC in Focus Issue 13 en Email

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September-October 2013 - Issue 13

Dans ce numro

SONG OF

THE VOLUNTEERS

DRCDRCinFocusinFocus

SONG OF

THEVOLUNTEERS


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Editorial

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Some people imagine volunteersperched on a huge pile of illusions,carrying their idealism over the

shoulder and looking at their colorful

dreams dancing as kites in a sweetsummer wind. Others think that theyspend so much time dreaming about abetter world that they manage to buildone, virtual, far from tough realities inwhich they collectively nourish individualutopias.

Well, there is nothing more inaccuratethan this representation of volunteerism.

Volunteers and United Nations (UN)Volunteers in particular, are the workmenof a daily reality. When they tell you thatthey want a better future, understand thatthey want tomorrow to be a better daythan today; when they claim to make thisworld a better place, comprehend simplythat they want more equality; whenthey speak about promising days, acceptthat they are just making a promise toyou. This particular feature is unique to

volunteers and makes all their value.

The Reality of Volunteering

This is why in May 2013 the United NationsVolunteers (UNV) programme in the DemocraticRepublic of Congo (DRC) called UN Volunteersto participate to the rst Volunteer Initiatives

for Peace and Development (VIPD) project.The objective of these actions is to raiseawareness about the values of volunteerismand civic engagement as a tool for peace anddevelopment.

After the call for proposals, seven projects(which two are featured in this issue of theDRC in Focus) were selected and implimentedin July all over the country. Despite their diver-

sity, these projecs have a common goal assimple as sincere improving the quality of life.Indeed, they have yielded modest but tangibleresults in areas as diverse as womens accessto education, awareness to conict resolutionmechanisms, the provision of school materials,etc.

Enjoy the reading!

The UNV programme in DRC


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September - October 2013/Issue 13

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DRC In Focus - As ASVOCOpresident, what does volunteerismmean for you?

Dufna Tabu - Volunteerism meanshelping for free. It suggests morethan not being paid, it means that we

expect nothing else in return than animprovement of the life of our brothersand sisters. It is as easy as that whichobviously means that it is very complexin the real life.

I was wondering why, in a country richlike DRC, in which we can nd all thathumans need, people still die starving?Why the environment is in such abad shape? I understood that whatthe population was missing was willpower. With the desire to accomplishsomething, we can do everything,especially in a country such as the DRC.I then decided to start by myself. I took

ve or six men with me and we star-ted cleaning and sanitizing the city ofGoma. After that we went looking foryoung and courageous people in orderto do more and better. This is how wecreated the ASVOCO on June 26, 1985.

How did you come to volunteerism?

Volunteerism is a state of mind; buta state of mind which has concreteimplications in the real world. It is inhard and painful moments that werecognize volunteers.

It seems that the people of Gomacame only to volunteerism because ofthe war. Ten years after the birth ofASVOCO, the rst Congo war started.The city of Goma was abandoned toitself, no legal authority remained. OnlyASVOCO continued its activity. We were

Interview

Volunteerism can savea nation

Twenty-eight years ago, Dufinu Tabu created theAssociation de Volontaires du Congo (ASVOCO).

He is now chairing this association with passion and determination. It is by looking at his eyes

that we can imagine what eternal youth looks like. Indeed, this man is, somehow, an alchemist.

With his marveling smile, his charisma, he changes the energy and enthusiasm of disorientatedyouth in concrete and sustainable actions. All this in the true spirit of volunteerism.

to Sylvain Liechti


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actually handling the administrationof the entire province. We rst had tobury the dead, we organized groups tocollect the bodies lying in the streets.We had to sanitize the entire city. I alsocalled on the radio all the medical staffin Goma, asking them to come at the

general hospital to heal hundreds ofvictims. During a couple of days, itsthe ASVOCO which, literally, ran thehospital.

We even went out of Goma, all overthe Province of North Kivu, organizingsanitization campaigns to persuade thevillagers to take their responsibilitiesand clean their localities from the smellof death. Its during this very difcult

period that people understood whatvolunteerism can bring to the societyand the general good.

Today, in our daily activities, we mixsensitization to volunteerism and trai-ning on Human Rights to pave the waytoward a sustainable peace in this partof the world ravaged by continuouswars.

You are in partnership with theUNV programme, what does itmean for you?

The partnership started in 2003 and wecarry on with great enthusiasm. Amongother things, I remember an activitywe realized in on December 5, 2006,for the International Volunteer Day. Werst shared a nice lunch with some kidson the lake shore before planting trees

on Mont Goma. I remember tellingthem: this tree that youre plantingtoday; it is like your children. Everytime you come back, you will have tovisit it. This symbolic act materializeda strong and permanent link betweenUN Volunteers and the ASVOCO.

What are the future plans for theASVOCO?

The ASVOCO is looking overseas.We are going to launch some youth(service) camps; so volunteers from allover the world can come to us.

All the volunteers belong to the samefamily, a family without border. I cango in Uganda, in Tanzania, in France,in Italy; and the other way around,volunteers from Europe, America,Africa or any other continent are mostwelcome here in Goma: it is home

for them. We will welcome them likecousins, and they will stay with theirfamily.

Doing so, we will win the ght againstracism, tribalism, or ethnic nationalism.These international voluntary workcamps break down mental barriers.

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Weeding, baking and pacifyingMaurices panopticon

Maurice Mukenge, national UN Vo-lunteer, has got a talent; he sees the

world in three dimensions. Actually,Maurice himself would be more humblethan that; it is not a talent, it is only a per-tinent methodology associated to a tenuredwill, not only to do good, but to do it well.He would never pretend to fully understanda situation without having a detailed ana-lysis of all the possible angles. Its the kindof guy who, when he sees the prole of anelephant, will tell you that to its currentknowledge, this animal is only on its left

side. He is right, it is grey from observingan issue by all the viewpoints that we canhope to understand and resolve it.

When Maurice read the call for volunteerinitiatives from the UNV Support Ofce inDRC named Volunteer Initiative for Peaceand Development (VIPD), he did not neglectany aspect of the call. The activity organizedcombined peace and development, theory

and practice, self-giving and trust in others,formation and information, body and brain,lectures and debates, women and men,young and elders, modernity and tadition,dreams and reality If we were showing

this list to Maurice, he would probably justanswer that this is nothing unusual since

these terms are not antinomic but work inassociation and are feeding each other. Theydo it in such a way that, at the end of twodays, Maurice naturally helped us circling thesituation. A feeling of satisfaction and smartsatiety ew over the seventy participants.An activity round like a planet.

Cassava a va !

What a coincidence! Planet Junior. The

friends of Peace is the name of thevolunteer association with which Mauriceimplemented a two day set of activitiesunder the VIPD. On Friday morning,volunteers from all over Gemena territory(some of them travelled more than 100km) gathered to think about the social andindividual gains brought by volunteerism.This reection time was followed by atraining in conict management throughmediation or negotiation.

The following day, they grabbed their ma-chetes and hoes to weed the cassava eldbelonging to ve widows. After a couple of

VIPD Gemena

Maurice Mukenge (on the left)

with local volunteers during

the cassava weeding.


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hours of intense and joyful work, all theparticipants (men and women, young andold) were trained on modern and fast tech-niques to make cassava our. With thesenew techniques, the merchants can im-prove the added value of their product andthus increase their benets. It has also alot of advantages for a non-commercial use

by families. Indeed, with this method onecan have a product of better quality for areduced price. In Gemena, we all had thechance to appreciate its quality with dough-nuts and lemon cakes made out of this newcassava our. The author of these lines cantestify of the great taste and lightness ofthese pastries; to our knowledge, the bestin the country.Flooding conicts

A public speech by Maurice is somethinglike the Congo River: it seems big and deepuntil we nd out that we were actuallynavigating on a small and distant inlet.

Then, we discover its immensity. We sailwith great pleasure on Maurices words. Hemakes them roll on a riverbed, sentenceafter sentence, depending on the audience.Their subtle reactions push him to otherplaces of this huge territory: his thoughts.Everything is so vast that it is impossiblefor us to know if we reached the riverside

or if we just reached a giant island. And thestream of words restarts: we were not atdestination; super, well go even further.The barge made by Maurice transports usserenely and pleasantly to the shore. Oncearrived at the port; the passengers lookeach other; we know because we feelit profoundly that we have all acquireda concrete knowledge on the techniquesof conict resolution. At this moment weknow that we are more able than before to

deal with future conicts well doubtlesslyencounter on more turbulent rivers

Thanks to this training, the participants will be able to make cassava our for foufou (ugali) in three days instead of thirteen.

This will allow them to have a better quality product in less time. If you are interested in replicating this experience, you can

contact Madame Paola (Tel: 08 11 84 18 26 ) who will explain you the cassava transformation method and give you tastycassava our-based recipes.

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Traditional recipes

Doughnuts

Mix all the dry ingredients in a big cooking pot. Add the water slowly and mixactively.

Wrap the mixture in a plastic bag and put it on the sun so the yeast can do itsjob (approximately 4 hours when the weather is good).

Then, you just have to fry doughs balls (the size of a small egg) in hot vegetableoil.

F Peel and wash cassava roots. Grate them (ifyou need a rasp, take a sardines tin and make

a lot of holes at the bottom, it works admirably

well) and then put the grated manioc in a strongbag to press it.

F To press it, at each end of the bag, insert a bigstick in quincunx. Turn each stick on itself and

in opposite directions (as you would do to wring apiece of clothes). This step is important as it takesthe hydrocyanic acid out of the cassava.

F Spread the cassava powder on a cleantarpaulin and let it under the sun dry for four

hours.

F Sift the our. It is now ready to be used incakes and breads.

How can you make your own bread-making cassava our?

Volunteers in the kitchen!

Listofingredients

150gramsofsugar

1teaspoonofsalt

1teaspoonof

traditionalyeast

2kgsofour(1

kgof

bread-makingCassav

a

ourand1kgof

wheat

our)

1literofwater

Enjoy!


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Pulling some few strings in the good rhythm and at the good time can do a lot to start a perennial

and efficient project. This is exactly what the UN Volunteers in Kamina (Katanga Province) did:they gave the necessary impulsion to have a properly functioning soap-making micro-factory

within the prison, to help improve the prisoners quality of life.

UN Volunteers are supportingKaminas prisoners throughincome generating activities

The team of volunteers initiated by UNVolunteer Claire Chantale Woksuu andnourished by her joyful and endless

energy (in partnership with MONUSCOCorrections Unit) started to help Kaminasprison in June 2013. The idea behind thisgroup is simple: each team member put aminimum of a 100 Congolese Francs per dayin the pot. After a month, the group gatheredenough money to buy buckets and washingproducts to the women of the detentioncenter. A quick answer to an immediate need.

But Claire and her fellow volunteers wantedto do more than offering short-termsolutions. The jails population needs long-

lasting solutions. This is what they havebeen working on these last weeks. With thenancial support of the UNV programme inDRC, the Volunteers team supported the

implementation of an income generatingactivity aiming at the improvementof prisonerss quality of life. As JulienOudrago explained in a public addressduring the inauguration ceremony, thismicro-factory has three main objectives:develop prisoners competencies andcapacities by helping their economic andsocial reintegration after their time injail; generate incomes which will (amongother things) improve the production ofthe prisons garden and improve prisonershealth and hygiene.

The volunteers contribution

So, the volunteers funded the required

material to start the adventure, trained theprisoners on soap fabrication and advisedthe steering committee (including prisonsmanagement personnel, local religious

VIPD Kamina


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leaders, and two prisoners). The micro-factory progressively gaining in autonomy,the volunteers will let the committee drivethe project independently. This is Clairestrumpeted cause, Our wish, she indicatedto the prisoners, is that, once the project ontrack, it will go on without our support; youare the key elements of this soap factory.You are at the same time the engine, the

drivers and the beneciary passengers. Ifyou only act as passengers, the vehicle willstop and you will have to start hitchhiking.If, in the long run, this activity works, it willbe your success, not ours.

Back in her ofce Claire comes back on thesubject, you know, these prisoners willeventually go out one day. But this activityhas to continue despite the structural tur-nover. This is why it is fundamental to havea well-functioning transmission of the tech-niques among prisoners themselves.

MY World : Tne United Nations global survey for a better world

MY World is a global survey for citizensled by the UN and partners. It aims tocapture peoples voices, priorities andviews, so that global leaders can beinformed as they begin the process ofdening the new development agendafor the world.

From now until 2015, the UN wantas many people in as many countriesas possible to be involved with MYWorld: citizens of all ages, genderand backgrounds, and particularlythe worlds poor and marginalizedcommunities.

MY World asks citizens which six of

sixteen possible issues they thinkwould make the most difference totheir lives. The sixteen issues cover theexisting Millenium Development Goals,

plus issues of sustainability, security,governance and transparency.

Yoo too participate to MY WorldGlobal Survey by lling the form atthe Volunteers stand or by clickingthis link www.myworld.org.

Two participants to the workshop mix water, oil and caustic soda,

which are the chemical components of soap.


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Contributions of the SecrtariatNational du Volontariat to peace

nd development

Volunteerism in the Congolese society

Traditionally, the society in DRC is asociety of mutual help and solidarity.These characteristics persist, making

Congo a place in which the modern denitionof volunteerism can ourish. Unfortunately,following a long-lasting socio-economiccrisis and long years of conict, thesepractices of mutual help and solidaritygradually disappeared for individualism.

The above mentioned values, which used tobe the main strength of traditional societies,recently made possible the survival ofmany families during violent wars and theirconsequences: poverty and misery. Thereis in these values a strong heritage thatone must restore, enhance and integrate innational development plans.

Indeed, volunteerism is an effective meanto encourage people to tackle the challengesof economic and social development. It canchange their rhythm and nature.

Volunteerism is conceived by the UN as animportant element of any strategy aimingto ght poverty; sustain development andhealth; prevent and manage catastrophes;favor social integration and eliminatesocial exclusion and discrimination. Thisdescription of volunteerism as a pertinentand necessary element to construct peacehas been voted by the General Assemblyof the UN in January 2002 (resolution A/Res/56/38).

Supporting volunteerism

The SNV was created in 2002 to facilitatethe materialization of these preoccupations.The creation of the SNV directly comes fromthe above mentioned resolution and followsthe International Year of Volunteerism(2001). The SNV has two main objectives:develop and strengthen a tradition ofcivism, a culture of responsibility, service,respect and common good within Congolesepopulations and get popular support to theactions of national reconstruction, ghtagainst poverty and the realization of asustainable human development.

Volunteerism in DRC

Placed under the Ministry of Planning, the Secrtariat National du Volontariat (SNV) is the

governement body which promotes volunteerism, supervises and supports voluntary-based

associations in DRC.


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The objectives of the SNV are to promoteand support volunteer engagement; liaisewith associations, and the general public topromote volunteerism for the general good;facilitate associations activities in their ob-jectives to improve development, innova-tion and uphold social ties; bridge the gapbetween volunteer associations and the pu-

blic administration.

In partnership with Congolese associa-tions and the UNV programme, the SNVhas already organized many activities andevent such as: reforestation programmes,

hygiene campaigns (Martyrs Stadium),ght against malaria (Kinshasa surroun-dings), initiation to environmental educa-tion in secondary schools, implementationof brigades of young volunteers for thesanitation of schools, AIDS screening testin universities, etc. SNV is currently wor-king in tight collaboration with the UNV

programme in DRC, to set up volunteerassignments for young people in order toinvolve them in the national efforts to buildpeace and development.

DRC in Focus - You were the formerExecutive Coordinator of the UNVprogramme (from 2008 to 2013)before joining the High Commissionerfor Human Rights. What contributiondo you draw from this experience foryour current position?

Flavia Pansieri - This was a very impor-tant experience which prepared me to mycurrent position not only concerning themanagement, but above all on the protec-tion and promotion of human rights andpeace. Indeed, during the several missionsI undertook as UNV Executive Coordinator, Ihad the opportunity to meet UN Volunteersand see directly the contribution they weremaking to the UN mandate in this eld.

How do you see the contribution of UNVolunteers to the realization of the UNmandate in DRC?

First of all, UN Volunteers of MONUSCO area fairly large effective and are deployed inalmost every MONUSCO duty stations, andin the most remote places. More broadlyspeaking, we can say that in peacekeeping

missions, the faces that people usually as-sociate to the UN very often are the faces ofvolunteers. Secondly, the Security CouncilResolution 2098 is foreseeing a gradualtransfer of MONUSCO activities to the UN

Country Team.It is essen-tial that thisprocess is ac-companied by a continuing presence of vo-lunteers. Indeed, UN Volunteers carry twomessages at the same time when they arein the eld: the rst one concerns their tech-nical skills and the second, which is difcultto measure but very important, is the hopeand condence in the future of the countrythey express through their presence on avoluntary basis. Their personal commit-ment is, by itself, an important contributionto a lasting peace.

Would you have a message for our UN

Volunteers in the DRC?

Yes, actually I have two. The rst is thatUN Volunteers are always in my heart. Thesecond: continue your work, it is essentialand very important for the communitiesand contexts in which you are working. Youare indeed holders of the values which are

at the foundation of the UN system.

Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights, Flavia Pansieri wasin DRC for a six-days visit to assess the human rights situation in the

country. She answered our questions.

Flav ia Pansieri: UN Volunteers are always in my heart !


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The United Nations Volunteers Programme

T

he United Nations Volunteers (UNV)

programme is the UN organization that

contributes to peace and development

through volunteerism worldwide.

Volunteerism is a powerful means of engaging

people in tackling development challenges,

and it can transform its pace and nature. The

energy and enthusiasm of volunteers are the

best tool to make important changes possible.

Volunteerism benets both society at large

and the individual volunteer by strengthening

trust, solidarity and reciprocity among citizens,and by purposefully creating opportunities for

participation.

UNV contributes to peace and development

by advocating for recognition of volunteers,

working with partners to integrate voluntee-

rism into development programming, and-

mobilizing an increasing number and diver-

sity of volunteers, including experiencedUN Volunteers, throughout the world. UNV

embraces volunteerism as universal and

inclusive, and recognizes volunteerism in its

diversity as well as the values that sustain it:

free will, commitment, engagement and soli-

darity.

UN Volunteers are active in around 140

countries every year. Within MONUSCO we

can count up to 638 UN Volunteers to which

we must add the almost 90 Volunteers of the

UN Agencies. Currently, and despite a conti-

nue progression, only one quarter of the Un

Volunteers are women. It is worth noting the

wide cultural diversity of the UN Volunteers,

and if half of them are Africans, in total they

are coming from approximately 100 countries.

They are highly skilled professionals (by the

way, the average age of UN Volunteers in

DRC is 41)

They spend the entire day working for the

United Nations and as soon as they have a

minute available: they give it to the communi-

ty. They live of giving and they will always ma-

nage to put a smile upon your face

For more information,

www.unv.org

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DRC in Focus Issue 13 en Email