Brendan Bannon Slideshow - JS

* I think that the people in Congo have it pretty bad; they live in fear and hopelessness. Their entire lives have been turned upside down by the violence of rebel forces. When rebels attack, family and Friends are killed. There was a boy who was paralyzed, and he watched his entire family being killed right before his eyes. There was a man who watched in horror as his two children were ripped out of his hands, stolen by the rebels who were going to sell them into slavery. For his part the father says that he will always feel like a bad father because he could not save his children.



* Families get torn apart and many are forced to leave their homes. Pregnant women and children and even babies are separated from their families. Some are sold but some are forced to make their own way as husbands, parents, and families are killed. The boy who was paralyzed would’ve died had it not been for the kindness of strangers. Many of the people became refugees. Fleeing to Uganda or Sudan. Having to start their lives over. Some people were given land others were left to pick up the pieces and survive on their own.



* The Journalist Brandon Bannon has said “I take off my hat to those who survive daily.” I feel the same; I couldn’t begin to imagine what life is like there. It makes me sad and angry, and I wish there was something that I could do about it.

--J.S.