„Congo Tour“ Travels in the Czech Republic

The Theater Club in Policka is the first stop of the Congo Tour. It’s part of an effort to educate the public about the difficult life for women in the African nation. It’s traveling to more than 30 Czech cities.

Marketa Kutilova is the creator and director of the Congo Tour. She says the project depicts her time working as a journalist and a humanitarian worker for the organization People in Need.

[Marketa Kutilova, Program Manager, People in Need]:
“I went to Congo to make the reports about sexual violence. I went to the war zone in east of Congo, the province of North Kivu and South Kivu. And there, one person told me: ‚if you want to see the real problems, the worst problems of sexual violence, go to the region called Bunyakiri‘.”

She also says the project is a great way to bring awareness to the plight of Congolese women.

[Marketa Kutilova, Program Manager, People in Need]:
“The Czech republic is a member of European Union and European Union is playing big role in Congo. So we as citizens, we can make some pressure on our government and our government can make some pressure on European Union, and finally there can be some real consequences in Congo.”

According to the recent report by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, at least 200,000 cases of sexual violence have been recorded in the eastern Congo since 1996.

The threat for the Congolese women comes from many sources. There are the Tutsi rebels, the Rwandan Hutus, the Mai Mai rebels, but also Congolese army soldiers. Rape is the main weapon to spread fear among the local people.

[Marketa Kutilova, Program Manager, People in Need]:
“In Congo it is normal that when the woman is raped she is rejected by the husband with the children and she stays basically alone on the street.”

One important element of the Congo Tour is the documentary “Tears of Congo” made by two Czech journalists who went to the dangerous region of Bunyakiri to interview victims.

[Olga Silhova, Journalist]:
“The filming was very difficult because the stories the local women experienced were shocking to us. But I was surprised how the women welcomed us and were open about their problems.”

And what do the visitors think about the project?

[Jirinka Bouskova, Congo Tour Visitor]:
“I think it will be very good if more people learn about it, people can help to break the silence about this issue.”

This is Vladka Maskova, NTD, Policka, the Czech Republic.

(NTDTV)