Click on the links below to read these women's stories.

Lucienne's Story

Honorata's Story

Lucienne

Lucienne M’Maroyi is a 24-year-old woman who has been separated from her husband since she was raped. She is in the Bwirhonzi group of Walungu, the mother of three daughters, the third of whom resulted from her rapes as a sex slave.  She named her baby Luck because the people with whom she was taken in the bush were killed, but she was lucky not to have been killed along with them.

“My husband was on a trip to Bukavu when some Interahamwe broke into the house where I was staying with my sister-in-law at around 9 pm. It was in December 2006. They came with flashlights. I had my baby in my arms. They pulled it away from me and threw it aside. I was alone in the house.  They left the kids behind, and they stayed with a neighbor.  It was a blessing that they did not rape my daughters—they were so young and small, it would have been the worst tragedy for me. They pulled me and tied my arms behind my back with a rope together with my sister-in-law. They dragged us out and brought us to the home of another family where they collected other people. They also took my brother with us.  Soon there were five of us. On the way they shot one elderly woman because she could not walk fast enough.

”When we got to the bush, they pulled me down to rape me in front of my brother. They gave him the flashlight to hold.  As he hid his face in shame, they struck him with a gun and pulled him away to kill him.

“When they were about to kill me, one of them said I resembled his sister and that I would become his wife instead. They killed another woman. We were beaten many times.  As we were swollen because of the walk and having been beaten, one of the men warmed water and gave it to us so we could massage ourselves. They sent a woman to us with food. Fortunately, to my surprise, it was my sister whom we mourned and thought had died. She had been taken at the time they killed my father. She told me she was ill and that nobody would allow her to get treatment. She was also pregnant.

“My sister-in-law was killed during a dispute between two men who wanted to have her as a wife. They decided to solve the problem by killing her.

“Another woman was impregnated. She tried to abort the baby, but she bled too much and died due to lack of access to medical treatment. I remained alone with my sister. I was also pregnant with this baby, Luck, whom I delivered in October 2007. I spent three months and a half with these people as a sex slave.

“I escaped when my elder sister was in labor and was being sent to the maternity clinic. They asked me to take her there, but took my clothes off so that I would not run away.  I wore only pants. On the way, we met a government soldier whose wife gave me clothes to put on. They also made porridge for us. Unfortunately my sister died during her delivery. I kept the baby until its father came and took it to Bukavu.

“When my husband heard I was back, he said he would not remain with the Interahamwe’s wife. He stopped me from coming to his farms. I had to live at my father’s old friend’s place, where I sleep with my children on the floor in their sitting room.

“Joining the program has been a salvation. My children were suffering from malnutrition, but since I began receiving training and learned about the three types of food that need to be part of good nutrition, my life has changed and my children are healthy. I used my sponsorship funds to pay for medical treatments for them. They are not school-aged yet. I recovered confidence through the [Women for Women International] training.”

Honorata

It was in 2002 that the world turned up side down and Honorata lost the signs of a "true and nice life" that she and her husband had built. She was captured and tortured by the armed militias. She was gang raped, sexually abused, forced to endure unimaginable humilities. Honorata's days blended into one another until the moment another marauding band stormed the camp. In the confusion, she escaped.

With nowhere to go, no food, nothing but the torn cloth she wore, Honorata walked. And walked. And walked. Through the blistering heat and through rain storms, she walked over 150 miles to Bukavu, a village that had become a haven for people fleeing the war. There she found her five children who had survived by the kindness of strangers. Reunited, she began to rebuild their life.

But just as she tried, the war came to her doorstep again. And, again she was raped, beaten and sexually abused. Families that had helped her feared she was cursed. She was left, again, crushed but determined to recover and rebuild.

Honorata joined Women for Women International in August 2004. Her story of survival was featured on the Oprah Show and in the O Magazine February 05 issue article, Post-cards from the Edge.

Relating the horrors of what she experienced was the first step to her healing. Until joining Women for Women International, Honorata had never shared her story and silently endured the trauma. "It is one thing to have been through what I have been through. To have no one acknowledge it enhances that pain threefold," she said. "Your willingness to recognize my humanity has given voice to my distress and meaning to my pain."

In a culture that marginalizes rape victims, Honorata felt isolated from the society that failed to protect her. She felt fragmented socially, economically, and psychologically. But once she realized she was in a safe place, both physically and emotionally, she began to rekindle her dreams.

The program "has dared me to hope-of having a house, of living in peace, of reclaiming my dynamism, my dignity. If not director of a school, I would like to be someone of importance, someone of value again," she said optimistically soon after she started.

Honorata joined a small group of women who also suffered in war. Each had their own stories of horror, of lives lost, and of struggling to regain their dignity. Together they shared their lives, their hopes and dreams. They sat side by side to discuss the role of women in rebuilding society, women's rights and the new Constitution, and family law. They learned about reproductive health issues, such as their anatomy, HIV/AIDS and sexually transmitted diseases, pregnancy and child birth.

In small groups, the women learned basic business and marketing skills. They enrolled in special job skills classes designed to meet the market needs of their community. They talked about the economic value of housework, and the importance of education and literacy in gaining economic independence.

Honorata chose tie-dyeing for her vocational skills training. Using her money from her Sponsor, she is creating a small business. Life is still hard but she is trying to earn a living and provide for her family's basic needs. She is determined to find ways to increase her income to enable her to save so one day she can have her own home again.

From the beginning, Honorata actively participated in the training sessions, particularly the classes on women's roles and the importance of becoming an active citizen. In the session about women and the Constitution, she vowed to play her role in rebuilding the country. After attending a community meeting on violence against women, Honorata noted "I come to these meetings on violence against women. It is always a so-called expert talking about us rape survivors. I have never seen that they give the floor to us to talk about ourselves. We have a voice and we can articulate what has happened to us and how that has impacted our lives."

Determined to share her first-hand experience and not to be silent, Honorata gave a speech on March 8, International Women's Day, about the suffering of women in eastern Congo. She boldly called for accountabilities at all levels. In the audience was the Governor of the Province and other political figures and community leaders. On behalf of other rape survivors, she called on the humanitarian community and national authorities to take heed of what has happened to women in Congo and what continues to happen.

"I did not believe that I could still hold a speech in front of a crowd. But I have done just that," she said proudly afterwards.

Her participation in Women for Women International has not only helped her to regain her sense of self, but it has given her the hope that she was looking for. "I feel like I am someone important," she said recently. "The recognition that I have been given today has made me realize that I am a valuable member in my community."