About this teaser: A friendship forged by war. A war that tore them apart. Two child soldiers in the Democratic Republic of Congo are faced with a choice to wield peace instead of the gun. Can they?
THE INJUSTICE // CHILD SOLDIERS:
The Democratic Republic of Congo has seen the deadliest crisis in the world since WWII. Over 5.4 million people have lost their lives to war. And the ones who are fighting on the front lines of this conflict are children. Thousands of child soldiers have been forcefully recruited, abducted and coerced into joining various rebel groups to fight for peace that continues to escape the ones who want it most.
/ THE PURPOSE:
Fear is the root of war. Unbiased love has the potential to absolve fear from the hearts of both the oppressors and the oppressed. Discover The Journey seeks to inspire people to love child soldiers in the Democratic Republic of Congo for the sake of love alone. For until we realize that our own action or inaction proliferates oppression, peace will be illusory.
We believe child soldiers are more than tools of war; they are potential catalysts for peace. An entire generation is being trained to perpetuate violence. But it can stop. As people are collectively inspired to step into the process of caring for these children, both in Congo and around the world, their collective intervention can result in holistic love for these children, allowing them the chance to become proliferators of peace and end the cycles of war that have held Congo hostage to brutality for years.
/ INVESTIGATIVE STATUS
Documentary Film in Post-Production. Most recent filming occured July 2009
/ OUR GOAL
We won’t stop journeying with this story until children are no longer used as soldiers in DR Congo and healing spreads throughout communities.
/ INITIATIVES:
Discover The Journey is initiating the following projects to amplify the voices of the children in the midst of this crisis.
/ ADVOCACY REPORT:
The Child Soldier Advocacy Report is an academic research report detailing the situation of child soldiers in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Using field-based research methods, combing qualitative and quantitative data, as well as the insight of the United Nations, NGOs and the international community, policy positions and intervention recommendations are presented.
/ No More Tears:
A forthcoming documentary from DTJ, No More Tears is about child soldiers and the choices they are faced with. We hope to create momentum around the concept of peacemaking, which is the struggle the children face in the film and the journey they embark on. We believe this film will cause a shift in the hearts of people who watch it to enter their own journey of becoming peacemakers.
/ A Silent Song:
A Silent Song is a photography and written word expose, serving as an invitation into the lives of child soldiers in the Democratic Republic of Congo. This photography book will combine journalistic prose, professional photography, and the art and poetry of the child soldiers themselves. A journey, a window, a portrait.
/ PAIX T’s:
There is a saying in eastern Congo: "qui veut la paix prepare la guerre" (who wants peace prepares for war). This mantra represents the thinking that has fueled the violence that has enslaved children to fight in a war they should never be fighting in.
Our Congolese friend Francois proclaims instead: "qui veut la mort prepare la guerre mais qui veut la paix offre le pardon" (who wants death prepares for war, but who wants peace offers forgiveness).
Former child soldiers, our friends, will be given these shirts to wear as message bearers to their communities. Peace is the message. They will be the messengers.
You buy two shirts. One becomes your message. One becomes theirs. Each shirt has one side of a full set of wings. Your wing points right. Their wing points left. The completed winged dove represents both the peace that can come and the Bearer of that peace.
Children should never be soldiers. Let peace take flight.
/ POINT OF CONTACT
Contact us to learn more. Please email congo@discoverthejourney.org
To the children of Congo:
You are a messenger of peace. Peace can start in your own life and then spread to your village and your country. If people talk of war, you can talk of peace. If people want violence, you can talk about forgiveness.
NO MORE WAR.
With this shirt you are now a messenger of peace. Tell your family, your school and your village that the path to peace is forgiveness.
And even if you do not wear this shirt, you can still carry the message of forgiveness on your heart and through your life.
You are the future of Congo. There is hope. There is Life.
