Masika’s Story

My name is Masika and I am 68 years old. I am married to a man named Barthélémy and I have 5 children. These days, I lives in a town called Beni in Eastern Congo, but my home village is called Kainama. The reason I now live in the larger town of Beni is because I decided to flee Kainama when the rebels kept coming to our village. Day after day there were rebels coming and wreaking havoc so I decided it would be safer to leave our village, our home, and go to Beni.

The experience of the rebels was horrendous. Over and again i saw rebels come in and rape women and girls, even in front of their families and husbands. They would kill people like you kill an animal, cutting the head and leaving the body.

I fled with my granddaughter after she was raped, she almost died but luckily we got out before she was killed. I am traumatised seeing all these actions.

After coming to Beni i found The Mother’s Union, here they registered me into their literacy program, they teach me how to read and write. My desire is to read the bible for myself and use my mobile phone without help. I have learnt a lot and i feel proud of the new skills i have learnt alongside the other women in my group. My hope is that i can help my community to return to our village. Being a refugee in your own country is not easy, it makes us sad and we would like to go home and be safe. We need peace and safety in DRC, particularly in the Eastern part of Congo where i live.