a few quick links

I thought I'd pass on a few writings by my teammates to give other perspectives on the current situation here, which I've been meaning to do for some time. First, my teammate, Cliff has a blog at http://www.cpt.org/blogs/cliff-kindy. Next, Wendy, who was here for the month of December and who left before I arrived, was interviewed on Chicago Public Radio and recently wrote an article for a US Mennonite magazine relating to mining in eastern Congo. The links are
http://www.mennoweekly.org/2009/2/9/economic-exploitation-fuels-congo-conflict/?page=1
and http://www.chicagopublicradio.org/Content.aspx?audioID=31486. Lastly, at http://www.cpt.org/work/africa_great_lakes you'll find articles and personal reflections written by all three of my current teammates.

The situation here is changing dramatically - yesterday we visited again the town of Minova and village of Kashenda and found people talking about the newfound safety they feel and their interpretation of current events. We stopped at a market on the way home to pick up some produce and I saw two soldiers walking side by side, one in CNDP uniform, the other in DRC military uniform. Former enemies just weeks ago, now walking amicably together, a result of a current integration program. What it all means for the future is hard to predict and people are still full of doubts but it's a promising sign.