Norran berättade i november om att tjejerna bestämt sig för att donera klasskassan efter att en nyhetsartikel om läget för kvinnor i Kongo gjorde dem medvetna om situationen. Nu är insamlingen klar och pengarna har skickats iväg till Panzi hospital.
– Det har gått bra med insamlingen och vi fick ihop till 57 000 kronor. Vi skickade även ett brev till Dr Denis Mukwege på sjukhuset, säger Sanna Westerberg.
Dr Denis Mukwege Mukengere arbetar på Panzi hospital och hjälper kvinnor som utsatts för våldtäkt. Pengarna som tjejerna skänker ska gå till kvinnocentret Dorkas som finns på sjukhuset. Där hamnar de kvinnor som har opererats. De får ta mikrolån och får hjälp att komma på fötter igen.
– Vi vet inte exakt vad våra pengar kommer att gå till, men det räcker till jättemånga hus. Kvinnorna kan också behöva symaskiner för att starta eget och mjöl för att baka bröd och sälja, säger Sanna Westerberg.
Nedan kan du läsa Dr Denis Mukweges brev i sin helhet.
”Dear students at Anderstorpskolan, Estetiska programmer, dans och teater, ES3C.
I am very touched by your decision to donate you class-funds to Panzi hospital. It is young adults like yourself that are the hope for the future. Congolese women need people like you, who hear their voices and call for help.
Panzi is, as you are aware of, known for treating victims of sexual violence. Unfortunately, sexual violence does not know any cultural, social, economic, geographical, nor age age barriers. It should be noted that rape is actually not related to the Congolese culture. Before the first war, I do not remember having been confronted with a case of raped and tortured women. It was in 1999 that I discovered the horror: this is a woman who comes to see me, she was raped and her genitals were completely destroyed by gunshots. Since that day, more and more women visited the hospital with bodily or vaginal injuries bearing the signature of a rebel group or armed group that prevailed in the region.
Despite this sad story of women and girls we are still marked by the coping mechanisms of these women and girls, and their ability to overcome their suffering and resume activities and rebuild a useful life for themselves and for their society.
A young girl one day came as a patient to the hospital She had been brutally raped. She couldn't read or write and she had missed a a lot of her schooling. After we had repaired her physically we also worked for a long time to heal her mentally. She learnt how to read and write, and in a few months time she had managed to finish primary school. She went on to secondary school and she is almost finished. She has a clear goal - she wants to become a doctor so that she also can help others. Seeing girls like her, determined to fight back and standing up for women's rights, not only for themselves but also for their communities, gives me hope for the future. But these women need to know that they are not alone in their struggle. That someone is listening to their cries. I was just in Canada and I met a lot of young women and men, who had decided to stand up alongside the Congolese women and girls. Just like you have decide to do as well. You are the leaders of the future. You can make a difference.
Thank you again for all your support!
For the Panzi Hospital