剛果戰火下的“超級英雄”媽媽

by Belinda Bauman

This was the year my two sons began to love superheroes. We popped in the SpiderMan DVD one night out of boredom and for the next five months we watched everything SpiderMan， Superman， Ironman， and Whoeverman we could. So， when I announced I would be making a special trip to the Eastern 1）Democratic Republic of Congo （DRC） to find and record the stories of brave women living in what the U.N. calls the “most dangerous place to be a mother” their reaction was natural： “Mom， they are like superheroes.”

My journey into the heart of war-torn Eastern Congo began last summer. I first learned about the seriousness of the war in Congo years ago while living as a mom， with my two toddlers and my husband in Rwanda for 2）World Relief. The decades-long war in Eastern Congo is shaped by regional politics， ethnic rancor， and a greed surrounding the 3）lucrative mineral mines.

I saw that almost six million people have died in this war， making it the most deadly conflict since WWII， and yet never making front-page news. To mothers， the casualties are husbands， sons， daughters， and parents.

Villages where they had hoped their children would grow up are swallowed up by violence. Crops they had grown with the faith that there would be plenty are stolen. The land many of these 4）subsistence farmers hoped to pass on to their grandchildrens children is 5）pillaged and burned. As a result of this unrest and extreme vulnerability of 6）civilians， moms here live in the shadow of the largest U.N. peacekeeping mission in the world.

As I entered my first Congolese Internally Displaced peoples （IDP） camp in August of this year， I was struck by the sheer amount of children. Children of all ages—everywhere I looked.

By all accounts， on all fronts， both the formal and informal IDP camps around the region are beyond capacity. Marcel Serebungo， Church Mobilization Director for World Relief Congo， describes the situation：

“IDP camps were moving every day. People suffered so much because movement wasinvolving parents who are not strong enough to carry children and some of their belongings after spending days without eating and children who are so weak. Women and children are targeted because of their vulnerability. They live like slaves in their own villages—being beaten， put in prison without any reason， carrying burdens for armed people and paying non-reasonable taxes.”

Such was the story of Maisha Esperance. She and her family fled from the Rutshuru area one year ago. Shots fired in their village throughout the whole night， forcing her and her family out into the dark to run for their lives. The journey on foot and by cover of darkness took three days. They moved undetected from village to village and rested with the youngest children， but had to gather water and food for at least one meal.

Here in the overcrowded IDP camp， Maisha Esperance and I talked about how she gathers wood in the forest. For her， and many others who gather sticks for fire， this is dangerous work. Brave women go into the forests to gather wood. It may take as much as a third of a bundle of wood just to cook the hard casings of Congolese red beans. 7）Militia men know about these needed trips into the woods， and they wait for the women to come. Rape， as the saying here goes，is cheaper than bullets. In this region of Africa， a wife and mother are considered the beauty of the community—the heart of the home. If you can break the heart， you can break the community.

I asked if I could pray for her and her children. “Yes，” she said as she looked me in the eye for the first time. Then， without apology or hesitation she said， “Pray that I would have strength in my struggles. I need strength for my family and for the others. I feel alone. I have no one to speak for me.” This was her only request， and it came from the heart.

It turns out that mothers in war zones are not so different from mothers in Washington D.C.， Los Angeles， Detroit， 8）Milwaukee， or 9）Baltimore. Women and children have suffered the unspeakable here， and yet， they are full of bravery that propels them forward every day， taking back the dignity and control that has been wrestled from them. They find food， they give birth， they wash clothes， they heal from wounds， they start businesses， and they educate their children as best they can. Moreover， they extend comfort and strength to those around them.

Just like the fictional citizens of 10）Gotham City， the grassroots moms of Congo want to live in peace. It is these mothers who live in exile and uncertainty every day that carry on their shoulders the very future of Congo. Facing these brave ones， I see their hope and my heart remembers the power of a mother motivated. A woman filled with courage to survive is nigh on unstoppable.

Much like a superhero.

那一年，我兩個兒子開始崇拜超級英雄。我們在某天晚上出于無聊而看了《蜘蛛俠》的DVD，接下來的五個月，我們看遍了所有能找到的關于蜘蛛俠、超人、鋼鐵俠等各路英雄的片子。所以，當我宣布說我將展開一趟特別的旅程，到剛果民主共和國東部去尋找和記錄在那里勇敢生活的女性及其故事時，他們的反應很自然：“媽媽，她們就像是超級英雄?！币?，聯合國稱那個地方是“對母親而言最危險的地方”。

我的這趟旅程要進入深受戰爭摧殘的剛果東部心臟地區，其始于去年夏天。多年前，我作為一位母親，帶著兩個蹣跚學步的孩子和丈夫一起在盧旺達為世援社工作。那時，我初次了解到了戰爭在剛果的嚴重性。這場在剛果東部歷時數十年的戰爭由區域政治角力、種族仇恨以及涉及采礦場暴利的貪念而引發。我看到在這場戰爭中約有六百萬人喪生，成為了自二戰以來死傷最為嚴重的沖突，而這卻從未成為媒體的頭條。對于母親們來說，這些傷亡人員就是丈夫、兒子、女兒和父母。

母親們希望自己的兒女能夠賴以成長的村莊慘遭暴力吞噬。她們用心栽種期望豐收的糧食慘遭竊取。這些自給自足的農民大多希望把土地傳給子孫后代，而這些土地卻慘遭掠奪和焚毀。局勢動蕩不安，百姓命途乖蹇，母親們只能生活在聯合國最大規模的維和任務庇護之中。

當我在今年八月進入首個剛果國內轉移人員營地（IDP）時，單單是里面孩童的數目就把我嚇了一跳。所有年齡層的孩子都有——在我視線所及的每一處。

據眾人所述，在所有的前線地區，這個地域周圍的正式與非正式的IDP營地都超出負荷。剛果世援社教會動員組主管馬塞爾·塞雷邦戈描述了這種情況：

“IDP營地每天都在遷移。人們苦不堪言，因為轉移的人中包括了沒有足夠氣力背負孩子以及部分隨身物品的父母，這些人多日來都沒吃過東西，他們的孩子也很虛弱。婦女和兒童不堪一擊，往往被惡勢力盯上。他們在自己的村子里活得像奴隸一樣，無緣無故就被毆打，投進監獄，為武裝分子扛裝備，繳納各種苛捐雜稅?！?/p>

那就是梅莎·埃斯佩蘭斯的故事。一年前，她與家人從魯丘魯地區逃了出來。槍聲整晚都彌漫在他們的村子里，迫使她和家人在暗夜中匆忙逃命。在黑夜的掩護下，這場徒步逃亡歷時三天。他們從一個村莊逃到另一個村莊，沒有被人發現；他們安頓好最年幼的孩子，但又不得不為最起碼的一餐搜集水和食物。

就在這個過度擁擠的IDP營地里，梅莎·埃斯佩蘭斯向我講述了她如何到樹林里收集柴火的事。對于她，以及其他許多收集樹枝的人來說，這是件危險的活兒。勇敢的婦女走進樹林里收集柴火。要將外殼堅硬的剛果紅豆煮熟可能需要多達三分之一捆的木柴。民兵男子知道這些進入樹林的必要之旅，他們就等著婦女們的到來。強暴，正如這里的說法所述，要比子彈廉價。在非洲的這個地區，妻子和母親被視作社區之美——家的心臟。要是你能毀掉這個心臟，你就能毀掉整個社區。

我問梅莎我能否為她和她的孩子祈禱?！爱斎豢梢?，”她說道，她的眼睛第一次直視我。然后，沒有辯解和猶豫，她說道：“替我祈禱，希望我在掙扎中擁有力量。我需要用以支持我的家人和其他人的力量。我感覺孤單。我沒有能為我說話的人?！边@就是她唯一的請求，而這發自真心。

很明顯，戰爭地區的母親與來自華盛頓特區、洛杉磯、底特律、密爾沃基或者巴爾的摩的母親其實并無二致。婦女和兒童在這里遭受了難以言喻的痛苦，然而，他們卻滿載勇氣，驅使他們每天前進，將被人剝奪的尊嚴和支配權奪回來。她們尋找食物、她們生兒育女、她們洗衣服，她們從傷痛中治愈，她們創業營生，她們盡己所能讓孩子接受教育。除此之外，她們將安慰和力量傳達給身邊的人。

就像哥譚市的虛構市民一樣，剛果的草根母親渴望生活在和平之中。正是這些每天活在流離失所和動蕩當中的母親肩負著剛果的未來。面對著這些勇敢的人，我看到了她們的希望，而我的心中則記下了一位積極母親的力量。一位滿懷生存勇氣的女子是幾近無可阻擋的。

像極了一個超級英雄。