Issue: Child Soldiers
Organization: Food For the Hungry & Discover the Journey
I was introduced to Lindsay Branham’s photogrphy at an event for Falling Whistles a few months ago when I painted a piece of artwork live at an event here in Denver. Lindsay’s work is nothing short of stunning.
Using photography, writing, and documentary film, Lindsay works with both Food for the Hungry and Discover the Journey, speaking out against the war in Congo and speaking on behalf of child soldiers.
When asked about her social justice story, Lindsay compellingly wrote this story:
“’Where are all of our friends?’ said Francois. ‘Where are the parents of Heritier? I don’t know. Where are the parents of Maombi? I don’t know. Where are all of them?!’
One man’s broken voice filtering through the phone lines from Goma to Nairobi. And this is war.
I look back on the last few years, and know that my branches have grown strong yet still weep salty tears on the shores of Lake Kivu. My soul is different and nothing is as it was. And I can’t help but embrace the new with joy. All of the Todays.
I had come to Africa for the first time in 2005. That first summer I met my first Congolese friends, and heard whispers of a war that had become the deadliest in the world. I was haunted by their pain.
In 2007 I was offered the opportunity to live in Congo. To create. Months stretched into a year and a half journey in eastern Congo and throughout the Great Lakes Region as a writer and photographer for Food for the Hungry.
Along the road I met children. And these children had been killers in various rebel groups scattered across the Kivu region. I saw in front of me a dichotomy of innocence and evil embodied in a small frame with wounded eyes. Peace hinged on these kidogos (child soldiers).
Journalistic zeal turned to a commitment for peace, for peace making. In French it’s called artisan de la paix. Literally, a craftsperson of peace. This is what I am building. And I recognize that true peace can come neither from me nor through my hands but from the One who has already absolved the evil we protest against. I submit myself.
Art is prophetic, and in eastern DRC, where thousands of children are conscripted to fight in a war saturated with brutality, a prophetic voice of hope and possibility has and can make way for the New.
I celebrate the dignity of these child soldiers that I have gotten to know and love. I believe in their Ndotos (dreams) and I labour alongside them for a future marked by Love and not by hate.
Through a variety of story, photography and documentary film initiatives with Discover the Journey, I commit myself to elevating the voices of these children, so they can share their lives with others. I know people will be changed. And their potential to create and live and heal is not only possible, it is being realized.
I do not understand my financial, social, national privilege. But I refuse to let it blind me and I refuse to be a tool in what is causing this war to continue, in what is forcing these children to become killers instead of students. I make no claims about my love or hope healing theirs. It is more the other way around. But I do believe there is power in our relationships with each other – mostly in the celebration of our commonness, in light of our much greater God.
On my last night in Goma, in December, my Congolese friend Francois grabbed my hands, looked me in the eyes and pleaded with me, ‘Lindsay, don’t stop crying for peace.’
I won’t.
Let Peace Take Flight.”
Take a look at Lindsay’s take on the war in Congo more by checking out this video on CNN.com.
I also encourage you to watch this video on the Paix t-shirt by Discover the Journey. I particularly appreciate how it’s framed, in that it’s “their language, their voice,” as we so often seem to forget that they’re more than capable of speaking for themselves. You can see the video in a larger size here, as well.
Check out more on Food for the Hungry and Discover the Journey at these places online:
www.fhglobal.org
www.discoverthejourney.org
www.discoverthejourney.org/paix
You can also find more of Lindsay’s work by going to any of these links:
CNN.com
Discover the Journey
Discover the Journey-PAIX
Food for the Hungry
Eagles Vantage Point
By: samo4prez samo4prez.com
20 April 2009 7:50 pm
Powerful, I love her work. I knew I had seen her stuff on CNN before. Thanks again Brandi for another inspiring soul.