Since 1933, the IRC has provided hope and humanitarian aid to refugees and other victims of oppression and violent conflict around the world. Visit our Web site
Conflict and humanitarian crisis in the Democratic Republic of Congo have taken 5.4 million lives since 1998, according to a survey just released by the International Rescue Committee. That’s equivalent to the entire population of Denmark or the state of Colorado perishing within a decade. In fact, it’s the greatest loss of life in any conflict since World War II — and the numbers keep rising. As many as 45,000 people are dying each month.Last summer, IRC survey teams traveled across the vast country — by motorbike, canoe, 4-wheel-drive, and on foot — to research death in order to save lives. They visited 14,000 homes, talking to people about loved ones they lost: not just to violence, but to illnesses that no one dies from in the United States these days. People who died simply because they couldn’t access basic health care.
Dr. Rick Brennan, who conducted the study and manages the IRC’s health programs in more than 20 countries, hopes the research will raise awareness of this “forgotten” crisis and help people understand the dire circumstances of life in Congo. “We want people to give a damn,” he says. Watch this video to find out how you can get involved.
Gacaca courts, or “community justice,” are Rwanda’s way of dealing with and prosecuting genocide crimes humanely. In this video, Tom Brokaw speaks with Rwandan citizens about the effectiveness of gacaca courts. Among those participating were imprisoned perpetrators of the genocide and genocide survivors – many of whom knew each other when the horrors occurred but had not met again until that point.
This was by far the most moving day of the trip for me. Back in ’98, conversations like those happening at this gacaca court were a distant dream. Now, citizens were talking about what and why the genocide had happened and why it couldn’t again. I had seen not just the physical but the real emotional aftermath of genocide: the horror show Rwandans had either carried out or survived but all lived with … the getting past and getting on.
The IRC’s Marc Sirkin is just back from Kakuma refugee camp in Kenya, where he caught this amazing rap from a group of young refugees who were rehearsing for a World AIDS Day performance. The lyrics:\
Give me an H ……I give you an H
Give me an I ……..I give you an I
Give me a V………. .I give you a V
Give me a / ……… I give you a /
Give me an A………I give you an A
Give me an I ……… I give you an I
Give me an D………I give you an D
Give me an S ………I give you an S
CHORUS
Double XL (Stop AIDS, take the Lead)
Double XL HIV/AIDS
Make a decision base on facts and not fear.
Social forces, discrimination and poverty affect those who get HIV and what kind of treatment shall I get when I become so sick?
Some people would rather think that only bad people get HIV
(since if they themselves are good then they will not be infected)
this is not true, people and government need to accept that HIV is a problem for everyone and work together, hand in hand to stop the spread of the disease all over the world.
People with HIV have faced discrimination.
Here are some examples on how people have tried to stop this.
In 1997 Zimbabwe’s government establish a national Code Of Practice that makes it illegal to discriminate against people living with HIV which Gonna be a big flow on years chart
CHORUS
Double XL (Stop AIDS, take the Lead)
Double XL HIV/AIDS
I remember, in some countries, some business owners ask people who are looking
For jobs to take an HIV test.
They also hire older workers who are less likely to have HIV and AIDS.
Activists are trying to tell employers not to use HIV test in deciding whom to hire
The government is also encouraging HIV testing for everyone, people going into army and those going for trainings
Many ways of explaining health and illness make some believe that HIV/AIDS is caused by a virus, others believe it is a punishment for wrong doing, cause by a bad spirit or is a result of jealousy.
Please take a look at all these complications and try to find out what people in our community believe.
Leaders and health worker organize group discussions among ourselves know what is going on here and there before we get into trouble
CHORUS
Double XL (Stop AIDS, take the Lead)
Double XL HIV/AIDS
We still facing the challenge of working and living with HIV every day
The virus inside a cells destroys the whole body immune system, no more cells to release antibodies; where are those ARV kind of drugs actually work to stop HIV Zidovudine, AZT, ddi, ddc, Nevirapine, d4t.
Helps avoid pointing fingers at others, African and Caribbean but understand HIV is a problem in every country.
Taking an action to stop the spread is important for the world.
Don’t ignore the pandemic, it’s not important to know where the virus started, it is important to know where it is going.
Most people with HIV are adults, twenty to forty years of an age we are dying at an age when we are vital members of our communities.
Learn how the International Rescue Committee is helping to prevent the spread of HIV and support people living with the disease in our World Aids Day special report.
The IRC’s impact is intergenerational. In Rwanda, IRC centers for at-risk youth provide young people - including youth who had been living on the streets - the opportunity to get an education and learn important skills. I joined Tom Brokaw on a visit to one of these centers.
What I remember most about this visit is the music. Young people who had been living on the streets and enduring experiences no young person should singing, clapping and dancing again. It was pretty moving.
CNN profiled the Toma family, an extended Iraqi Christian family recently resettled by the IRC in Atlanta, on Monday. The story followed the Tomas as they adjust to life in the U.S., and featured Ellen Beattie, IRC resettlement director in Atlanta, and other IRC staff helping them at the IRC’s resettlement office. Video at CNN.com
