November 2009 Notes
Congo Action Now
Democratic Republic of Congo Committee
November 15, 2009
Present: Coleen Houlihan, Kelley Ready, Marie Jackson-Miller, Pat Aron
Congo Action Now held another productive meeting on November 15, 2009. A number of people couldn’t attend - their input was missed. The meeting began with check-ins. Kelley suggested that we share something we’ve recently learned about the Democratic Republic of Congo and she spoke about the Enough website’s information on tracking conflict minerals. Pat informed the group that Jewish World Watch has contacted us through our website and is interested in collaborating with us on DRC issues. This organization works against genocide and other human rights violations –its website is www.JewishWorldWatch.org.
The group reviewed the two activities we had in recognition of Breaking the Silence/Congo Week II – a vigil and a house party. The vigil was held in Harvard Square on Saturday, October 10, from 2 – 4. We agreed that a major strength of the event was our flexibility. Instead of presenting all the material we had developed, we all came together and responded to the flow of people (and the wind) and focused on getting signatures on our petition urging Sen. Kerry to cosponsor the Congo Conflict Minerals Act of 2009. We collected almost 200 signatures. A turning point in the vigil was Jackie’s arrival with her strong voice announcing to people what we were doing. She was able to get people’s attention and funnel them to the petition, a very successful strategy. We ended the vigil with a reading of the DRC resolution passed by the Cambridge City Council. The group agreed that at our next vigil we’ll have more clipboards for petitions so people won’t have to wait to add their signatures. We’d also like to have a table with a display and materials as a focal point where people will stop to see what we’re doing.
Our first house party was held on October 24 at Jackie’s house in Dorchester. Everyone agreed that this was a powerful event. We began with introductions followed by a brief overview of the situation in the eastern DRC. We showed ½ hour of the film Breaking the Silence – Rape in the Congo and Samba talked about her experiences in the DRC. People were strongly affected by the movie and by Samba’s talk. People stayed late to talk and some of the women expressed interest in joining our group. Again, our flexibility was a strength. Samba couldn’t present her PowerPoint about her visit to the DRC because of a problem with the projector, so she talked informally about her life. People were mesmerized and had many questions for her and for her son. (Coleen has put Microsoft 2007 on her computer to avoid problems in the future.) A number of women who had planned to attend had to cancel, but the smaller number allowed for intense discussion. We decided that at our next house party we’ll warn people about the vivid images in the movie before showing it given people’s reactions.
Kelley offered to host our next house party at her house in Dorchester on the second or third Saturday in January. She will let us know the date.
The group discussed the possibility of bringing the play Ruined to Boston next year. Kelley will contact Maman Jeanne for information (she had earlier made this suggestion). We would need to identify a venue. We brainstormed possible locations – the YMCA or YWCA in Cambridge, the Armory in Somerville, the Fenway Community Health Center auditorium, and First Parish (Unitarian-Universalist) in Cambridge.
On November 9, Kelley met with staff in Sen. Kerry’s office to present petitions and to discuss the need for the Congo Conflict Minerals Act. The staffer she met was knowledgeable about the situation in the DRC but didn’t know about the act. He thought Sen. Kerry wasn’t cosponsoring the act because he didn’t know about it. Kelley will make an appointment with Sen. Kirk’s office – will let us know the date so some of us can join her.
Kelley will send additional information to Coleen for the CAN website. Everyone who hasn’t submitted a short blurb about themselves is asked to send one to Coleen.
Pat discussed the group’s need to develop a budget to submit to WILPF for next year’s activities. Marie discussed mini-grants that are available from national WILPF.
At the next CAN meeting, we will begin planning for next year’s activities. Suggested activities included supporting the International Violence Against Women Act and sponsoring a speaker or event such as Ruined. Everyone was asked to think about ideas for next year before the next meeting – it was suggested that we send ideas around by email. We’ll need to develop a budget at the December meeting.
The next meeting of the group will be on Sunday, December 13, at 3:00 at Pat’s house in Jamaica Plain. Our agenda will include identifying activities for next year and developing a budget. We will also be hosting the president of Ensemble pour les femmes, a French organization that works to support women in the DRC and to educate people about the crisis there. This will be a great opportunity for us to learn about the creative work done by this group.
Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom
Democratic Republic of Congo Committee
November 15, 2009
Present: Coleen Houlihan, Kelley Ready, Marie Jackson-Miller, Pat Aron
Congo Action Now held another productive meeting on November 15, 2009. A number of people couldn’t attend - their input was missed. The meeting began with check-ins. Kelley suggested that we share something we’ve recently learned about the Democratic Republic of Congo and she spoke about the Enough website’s information on tracking conflict minerals. Pat informed the group that Jewish World Watch has contacted us through our website and is interested in collaborating with us on DRC issues. This organization works against genocide and other human rights violations –its website is www.JewishWorldWatch.org.
The group reviewed the two activities we had in recognition of Breaking the Silence/Congo Week II – a vigil and a house party. The vigil was held in Harvard Square on Saturday, October 10, from 2 – 4. We agreed that a major strength of the event was our flexibility. Instead of presenting all the material we had developed, we all came together and responded to the flow of people (and the wind) and focused on getting signatures on our petition urging Sen. Kerry to cosponsor the Congo Conflict Minerals Act of 2009. We collected almost 200 signatures. A turning point in the vigil was Jackie’s arrival with her strong voice announcing to people what we were doing. She was able to get people’s attention and funnel them to the petition, a very successful strategy. We ended the vigil with a reading of the DRC resolution passed by the Cambridge City Council. The group agreed that at our next vigil we’ll have more clipboards for petitions so people won’t have to wait to add their signatures. We’d also like to have a table with a display and materials as a focal point where people will stop to see what we’re doing.
Our first house party was held on October 24 at Jackie’s house in Dorchester. Everyone agreed that this was a powerful event. We began with introductions followed by a brief overview of the situation in the eastern DRC. We showed ½ hour of the film Breaking the Silence – Rape in the Congo and Samba talked about her experiences in the DRC. People were strongly affected by the movie and by Samba’s talk. People stayed late to talk and some of the women expressed interest in joining our group. Again, our flexibility was a strength. Samba couldn’t present her PowerPoint about her visit to the DRC because of a problem with the projector, so she talked informally about her life. People were mesmerized and had many questions for her and for her son. (Coleen has put Microsoft 2007 on her computer to avoid problems in the future.) A number of women who had planned to attend had to cancel, but the smaller number allowed for intense discussion. We decided that at our next house party we’ll warn people about the vivid images in the movie before showing it given people’s reactions.
Kelley offered to host our next house party at her house in Dorchester on the second or third Saturday in January. She will let us know the date.
The group discussed the possibility of bringing the play Ruined to Boston next year. Kelley will contact Maman Jeanne for information (she had earlier made this suggestion). We would need to identify a venue. We brainstormed possible locations – the YMCA or YWCA in Cambridge, the Armory in Somerville, the Fenway Community Health Center auditorium, and First Parish (Unitarian-Universalist) in Cambridge.
On November 9, Kelley met with staff in Sen. Kerry’s office to present petitions and to discuss the need for the Congo Conflict Minerals Act. The staffer she met was knowledgeable about the situation in the DRC but didn’t know about the act. He thought Sen. Kerry wasn’t cosponsoring the act because he didn’t know about it. Kelley will make an appointment with Sen. Kirk’s office – will let us know the date so some of us can join her.
Kelley will send additional information to Coleen for the CAN website. Everyone who hasn’t submitted a short blurb about themselves is asked to send one to Coleen.
Pat discussed the group’s need to develop a budget to submit to WILPF for next year’s activities. Marie discussed mini-grants that are available from national WILPF.
At the next CAN meeting, we will begin planning for next year’s activities. Suggested activities included supporting the International Violence Against Women Act and sponsoring a speaker or event such as Ruined. Everyone was asked to think about ideas for next year before the next meeting – it was suggested that we send ideas around by email. We’ll need to develop a budget at the December meeting.
The next meeting of the group will be on Sunday, December 13, at 3:00 at Pat’s house in Jamaica Plain. Our agenda will include identifying activities for next year and developing a budget. We will also be hosting the president of Ensemble pour les femmes, a French organization that works to support women in the DRC and to educate people about the crisis there. This will be a great opportunity for us to learn about the creative work done by this group.
Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom