Appeal from the Congo: We know war, don’t let the guns talk!

         I have written a whole series of blog posts that just don't seem appropriate at the moment. The situation in Ukraine is too serious for me to deal with other issues. I found this article at Vatican News and even if this appeal can no longer prevent the attack on Ukraine, it is impressive how schoolgirls in Congo, who have only experienced war and its consequences all their lives, warn against it and stand up for peace.

A group of Congolese schoolgirls is appealing to Europe to do everything it can to prevent a war in Ukraine. “Love, listening and dialogue: this is the real way to resolve conflicts!” demand the girls from the war-torn central African country.

 “We young people of Bukavu – the generation of war – have experienced so much suffering and trauma from war. So we ask: Do not start a war! Someone once wrote: “If you want peace, prepare for war.” But we say with Pope Francis: “If you want peace, prepare for peace.” This is the appeal of the missionary sister of Zafira, who told the news agency that she is the mouthpiece of 60 Congolese schoolgirls from South Kivu, in the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The girls from the region that has been war-torn for decades demand that Europe do everything it can to prevent a war between Russia and Ukraine.

The girls remind us that all the suffering will again only hit the poor, but not “the warring states and multinational corporations that produce weapons and get rich from war.” Anyone who wants war today should ask the Congolese about their experience of war.

 “In war, we lose our parents, brothers and sisters, our property and our lives. In war, many of us have lost our grandparents, who today might otherwise teach us how to get through life. Women become widows, men become widowers, children become orphans, and parents lose their children. Many children have never met their families; they do not have a home, they live on the streets and they’ve never seen a school from the inside.”

War tramples on human dignity

War destabilizes society, brings hunger and misery, tramples on human dignity, prevents progress, and thus brings regression in all areas: mentally, intellectually, morally, and materially, the appeal continues. “Wars destroy the environment: bombs pollute the air and cause diseases. Schools are closed, health facilities are destroyed, and the country is rendered uninhabitable. People are fleeing by the thousands only to live a miserable life in a neighboring country.”

The girls warn that anyone who has ever gone through war is deeply traumatized. Survivors suffer serious injuries and are often mentally, physically, and psychologically disabled. Violence against women in front of their children and husbands is a wound that will never heal. Unintended pregnancies are on the rise and there are more and more babies who are simply being left to their own devices, left on the streets.”

War divides …

The girls describe the psychological consequences of armed conflict: “War divides and provokes slander, jealousy, revenge, and discord.” And war destroys the young people, the world of tomorrow. During the war, soldiers recruit young boys and turn them into rebels. “War leaves behind violence, murder, rape, robbery…Children are born into war, they grow old and so war is passed on from generation to generation,” is the bitter result.

War distances us from God

War also distances us from God, the girls continue to stress, because “we do not respect his creation, his project of love and brotherhood among men.” War is not a solution to problems, but a problem within a problem. Nothing is gained in war, but there are irreparable losses. “Love, listening, and dialogue: this is the real way to resolve conflicts!” the girls come to the point.

Their last appeal is “We ask you out of love for God our Creator: try to be reconciled, forget what divides you, lay down your arms.” There are many ways to make concessions without having to go to war. We’re all siblings: why do we hurt each other because of this world which will pass away anyway? The earth does not belong to us: sooner or later we will leave it. Let us cherish the precious gift that God has given us: life! “

(fides – skr)  (Agenzia – skr) February 23, 2022 by vexol.ushttps://vexol.us/2022/02/23/appeal-from-the-congo-we-know-war-dont-let-the-guns-talk/



Photo: Democratic Republic of Congo: a war-torn country(AFP or licensors)

Formularende

 

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