The World needs to wake up

With less than 24 hours till we arrive, I am getting extremely excited! It's so interesting to hear peoples different reactions when I first told them I was going out to visit Christian Aid's partners in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Some people didn't know where the 'DRC' actually is, , others were those who were very scared and nervous for me, and the rest were extremely excited for me. I definately fit into the latter of those categories when I was told where we would be going on our 'gapper' trip.

Until a few weeks ago, my knowledge of the DRC was extremely limted-I just about knew where it was and that it has a history of war. However, having spent time over the past few weeks reading about this amazing country, I feel alot more informed. But still, due to this country being an extremely complicated and vast one, there ae huge holes in my knowledge which need to be filled in.

Many people not knowing where the DRC actually is means that most likely even more people don't know about the monstrosaties that have gone on in this country. I found it extremely hard reading some of the stories I came accross about the DRC, some even making me feel incredibly sick. This is a country which is so scarred it is hard to believe that full healing will ever take place. When I read the figure '5.4 million' as the number of people who have been killed since the outbreak of fighting in August 1998, it was almost a figure that skipped me by as it's so hard to comprehend how many that really looks like.

When you hear other facts and figures banded around about this country, it is so easy to disgard them as merely 'facts and figures'. But this country has experienced the world’s deadliest conflict since World War II, and yet the world has not woken up and taken notice of it. And it's time we did! We need to raise so much awareness of this country that the world can no longer ignore it.

I am so looking forward to going out and experiencing the culture and meeting the locals out there. It will be absolutely fantastic to see what good work Christian Aid is doing through it's partners out there. I will fill you in on it all when I am back!