Congo: Doctors without Borders tell people's stories through web video

conditioncriticalCondition Critical is a website showcasing the stories of victims of the violence in Eastern Congo coordinated and launched by Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF).

Xeni Jardin of Boing Boing asked Pete Masters of MSF for some more information on the project and then posted his reply:

Condition: Critical was launched one year ago by Medecins Sans Frontieres/Doctors Without Borders (MSF) to bring to the world's attention the plight of the people living through the war in Eastern Congo (DRC). BUT, rather than MSF at the focal point, it is the people and their stories that take centre stage. In this, the last chapter of the Condition: Critical project, listen to the stories of four people telling how the conflict has affected their lives.

A year ago we wrote about the project “Condition: Critical” and their call for action:

A campaign by Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders) to raise awareness on the stark state of the DRC will start on November 20th. The Condition:Critical project will collect voices from the war in Eastern DRC, starting off with a documentary to be published on the launch date. The trailer is extremely moving, starting with the poignant testimony of a child born and raised during the war, who perceives his future as a bleak path leading only unto death.

This is the same story that begins this next video telling the story of the war in the Congo and how it is affecting the people who live there. It also tells of the work MSF are doing in the area, trying to save as many people as they possibly can:

The following story has the pictures drawn by a former child soldier who tells of how he was kidnapped as a child and forced to commit terrible acts:

Francoise was locked in her home when it was set on fire. She was gravely burned and lost both children due to that event: one died inside the burning house, the other in the hospital. Even through her physical pain, she confesses that the hardest pain to deal with is the one in her heart.

Bahati tells how he saw his wife, mother, father and brothers die in the war and then he fled to a refugee camp, where they are still afraid due to the insecurity there. Since he is alone, he has to work to eat, and he teaches anyone who asks him how to be a lumberjack, so they don't starve to death, and hoping they in turn will also help anyone else in need.

Mishoka's brother was killed, and he was left to flee with his own family as well as his brother's widow and young daughter. He fled with all his village, carrying only a mat and a blanket, and now has to provide for all his extended family in a war situation.

You can visit Condition: Critical and leave a message of support to the People of Eastern Congo by clicking on the map filled with green squares and leaving your own. MSF will then share some of the messages with the people in Eastern Congo. To read about MSF activities and the current medical situation in the Congo, please read here. And for more eyewitness accounts on the violence and critical situation in the DRC, here.

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