Sure, we’re spreading the word, raising awareness and sometimes, money, but the fact remains: we still need those bleeding hearts to go out in the world and take a stand. Literally.
We need those men and women who will go outside of their homes, their comfort zones, their countries and do the demanding work – building houses and hospitals, offering care, cleaning wreckages. The list is endless.
Some say “Slacktivism” makes it easier for us all to be advocates of a certain cause and that thus, activism is less honorable. But I think slacktivism simply highlights the efforts of those people who still get up and do the hard work.
One of these people is Dominique Vidale-Plaza – our Fierce Woman of November.
We define Fierce Women as those who believe that they can change the world with each choice, each moment, and each breath of their lives.
In February of 2013, Dominique is entering the Mwenga Territory in the Democratic Republic of Congo, ranked as one of the most dangerous places to be a woman. It was recorded that in four months, 185 rapes occurred here.
Why is she going?
“The short time I spent in Kilungtwe really affected me. It spoke to another side of war and conflict … the way in which survivors and refugees in post-conflict settings are ‘unable to catch themselves’. The entire fabric of this community had been devastated by the wanton acts of violence of the rebels. Unable to overcome the trauma, they seemed full of despair, expecting only misfortune and unwilling to fight to reclaim what they had lost.”
Dominique’s project, Build Hope, will provide emergency medical assistance to women who have been raped or suffered gender-based violence (GBV).
GBV is rampant in the DRC – men and soldiers routinely rape and pillage women in their crusades to gain power, leaving women helpless, subjugated and damaged in their dust.
In the Mwenga Territory, medical centers are far and few in between, resources are old, expired, or too few, and quality of care is poor. Women are often forced to walk over 2 miles on foot to the nearest clinic, after having been raped or while pregnant.
Project Build Hope is hoping to open The Kilungutwe Health and Community Center in partnership with the famous Panzi Hospital. In addition to providing emergency medical care to rape victims, the project will focus on educating women on child care and maternal health. It will empower them by never letting them identify themselves as victims.
What inspired her? Dominique told me – “I have seen immense need before. But what I saw in Kilungtwe was so much more than anything else that I’d ever seen, and what made it worse, was the despair…the stench of giving-up.”
Later this month, Dominique will be raising money for Build Hope on MedStartr, a crowdfunding platform for health projects that many NGOs and startups alike have turned to for money. You can read more about her experiences on her blog or her project on Facebook.
Read more about Dominique’s story below:
Reflecting on your experiences, what made you want to go back to this specific place?
I left this village, challenged by God, asking myself questions I didn’t know how to answer, like, what was I doing in Congo, was I really serving where and whom I needed to be serving, was I tackling deep-seeded issues like gender-based violence with a rubber sword, and most scarily…what would happen if I were to respond to the pleas of the people of Kilungtwe that were silent but deafening, while our group walked through their dusty roads…
I spoke with my mentor and then-boss, Dr. Mukwege, on how to respond to the things that I was feeling, what should I do, and how could WE help the people of Kilungutwe and the surrounding communities.
The answer was clear – they needed a health center, we would build them one. I have the passion, the skills and the drive, he has a mighty vision to change the lives of women in Congo, a hospital and a battalion of medical professionals on his side, we shared a call from God to serve the vulnerable, and we are both crazy and determined enough to make something happen.
What made you so passionate about this issue? About women’s rights in particular?
I have heard and seen them crying. It is impossible to ignore or to forget. The wards at Panzi and Bukavu General Hospital are full. I have hugged and cried with women dying of HIV/AIDS. I’ve walked with women to get them medical treatment after being raped. I have cried over photos of massacred and dismembered women.
I’ve hugged a woman in the rain in Haiti, whose only shelter for her and children was her bedsheet. I have smelled the urine that drips down a fistula patient’s legs. I have cried with young Trinidadian girls recovering from abuse. But I have also laughed and danced and sang and jumped and eaten and celebrated incredible victories with these women around the world. I have watched women set up their tents, I have watched them learn to read and write. I have taught women how to drink from juice boxes for the first time. I have prayed with them. I have learned from them.
I refuse to go down in history as someone who did nothing to stop the atrocities going on around the world. Especially those being committed against my sisters. I believe that there IS hope for EVERY woman and if I can play even just a small part of bringing that hope to reality, I would be so honored.
Maxim is honored to feature Dominique and the work that she is doing. We cherish the fact that each woman can do her part to protect her sisters all over the world. We are trying to help build a community of women and a stronger world in which women’s health is protected. Read about how our products aim to do the same.