Virginia Episcopalian Magazine Summer 2012 Issue | Page 24

HOPE SURVIVES IN THE CONGO
ED JONES
One by one, they rose to tell their stories. Their voices were soft and without
inflection, as if the words had been uttered many times before. The roll call
proceeded with a rhythm that felt like a series of introductions on the first day of
school. And yet the details were horrifying.

“I lost my parents at the age of 10.”
“I was kidnapped and had been begging before I came here.”
“My father was killed. My mother was crippled.”
“My father is blind. They cut off the leg of my mom. I am 15.”

On and on it went until all 27 had
spoken. They ranged in age from 11 to
16. Many had been raped. At least three
had children from those rapes. These
are the orphans of Katana – the teenage
girls whose lives were torn apart by
the “negative forces” of the easter