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This Week's Voices: "If I didn't come to teach there would be an empty classroom"


December 2, 2011
By The IRC

Uwizera Desange, 23, teaches fourth grade in an area of the Democratic Republic of Congo that is still being ravaged by violence.

Photo: Aubrey Wade/IRC

Hear from a teacher who is trying to keep kids learning amid crisis in eastern Congo --- plus, other notable quotes  touching on the work of the International Rescue Committee around the world:
 

"If I didn't come to teach there would be an empty classroom."
- Uwizira Desange, who teaches fourth grade in a primary school in a violence-torn area of eastern Democratic Republic of Congo
 
"You want to do your best but (at times) you’re overtaken by emotions and breakdown and ask why?”
- Sirat Amin, head nutrition nurse at an IRC hospital that treats severely malnourished Somali children in Dadaab, Kenya 
 
“They were drawing flowers, bugs, houses – all the things that children draw.”  
-  Emily Holland, former IRC communications officer, on the recovery of children she met in IRC "child-friendly spaces" in Darfur who were once so traumatized they drew only pictures of bombings.
 
“There is inadequate sanitation and large amounts of waste are building up in residential areas. It is a breeding ground for disease.”
- Christine Petrie, IRC deputy program director in Thailand, on the flooded neighbohoods where many Burmese refugees live in the capital, Bangkok. 
 
"Abilene is my city."
- Ali Mitachi, refugee from the Democratic Republic of Congo who was resettled in Abilene, Texas, through the IRC. 
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2 comments

Comments

These are very sad and

Submitted by Mike Gaylord (not verified) on December 11, 2011 - 8:59am.

These are very sad and frustrating stories.
Without necessarily donating money, How can I help? For example, is raising awareness about the CONFLICT MINERALS trade still relevant problem, as it was a few years ago?
Mike, in Poland (Canadian citizen)

Mike, thanks very much for

Submitted by The.IRC on December 12, 2011 - 2:12pm.

Mike, thanks very much for your interest in getting involved. You can find information about IRC awareness and advocacy campaigns (FYI, our two current campaigns target US legislators) at http://www.rescue.org/take-action. You might also be interested in the issues our UK and Europe affiliate (http://www.rescue-uk.org) and our advocacy affiliate the Women's Refugee Commission (http://www.womensrefugeecommission.org) are working on. There's also a list of more ways to help at http://www.rescue.org/how-you-can-help. Thanks again so much.

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