The following is written by Congo Initiative board member, Mary Henton. Please read and reflect... What are we being called to do? In our own lives, in the lives of others? It's a question that I think I need to ask myself more often... And listen to the answer(s) that I am given!
This is a beautifully written piece and I hope you will enjoy it.
-Bethany
A recent weekend trip to the town of Epulu (about 250 miles northwest of Beni) provided an opportunity to observe, reflect, and listen. What I observed, reflected upon, and heard in my heart were two persistent themes: (1) UCBC can take a lead in environmental education; and (2) UCBC has a responsibility to take action on behalf of women.
The scenery along the road to Epulu was magnificent: lush vegetation, surging rivers (Ituri and Epulu), glorious skies. But I was troubled to see evidence of the race to extract Congo's natural resources: old growth timber toppled, workers loading trucks with timber, plots of forest burned and tattered. Our hosts in Epulu spoke about the decimation of wildlife from poaching and loss of habitat. Here in Beni we see the pollution of waterways. But in the midst of this destruction UCBC has an opportunity. It is an opportunity to educate, to raise up professionals and practitioners, to develop and demonstrate a new ethic of resource stewardship, and create new models of sustainable resource management.
UCBC has an opportunity to transform how communities see and use their natural resources by cultivating a creation care ethic. We can make wise choices about our own land and natural resource use. We can also educate our students about the ethics of resource stewardship. And what an impact we could make if we established a faculty in environmental studies and/or sustainable resource management!
A second theme - As we passed Congo's women carrying loads of firewood, charcoal, water, and crops, I was reminded of the evidence regarding the significant role that women play in developing their local and national communities. A growing body of literature, including the recent publication, Half the Sky (WuDann and Kristoff), confirms that as the education, health, and opportunities for women improve in developing communities, so do the health, education, and opportunities for the entire community. As we passed women along the road, I thought, "We must, at UCBC, develop our women students and nurture strong women leaders. If we are going to transform this nation, we must make an intentional commitment to women's development." But what does/would that look like?
To begin with, we can be proud of our track record in highlighting women and gender issues such as our annual celebration of Women's Day and last year's gathering of women lawyers. We can also be proud of the ratio* of female/male students at UCBC.
However, we also have the challenge of bringing into similar balance the ratio of female/male faculty and administrators-Congolese or African faculty and administrators. We must give our students models of women in leadership, academics, and research. We must give them opportunities to learn from the voices, perspectives, and styles of women as well as of men.
We will keep listening for how our priorities and plans might coalesce around the deep needs and promises of this magnificent country that is Congo.
- Mary Henton
Mary is a Congo Initiative Board member and has spent the past two months living in Beni working on a variety of projects with our Congolese team. She is a life-long educator with expertise in teacher education, curriculum development, experiential learning and non-profit management.
