Rena Effendi

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Courage in the Congo

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Congolese nun Sister Angelique...n Refugee Award for her work.Â

1 of 20 © 2024 Rena Effendi

Congolese nun Sister Angelique Namaika attends early morning mass at the Catholic Church in Dungu, Congo DRC, where she has been working since 2008 supporting and assisting women victims of the Lord Resistance Army violence. She has received the prestigious Nansen Refugee Award for her work.Â

Women victims of the Lord Resis...by Sister Angelique in Dungu.Â

2 of 20 © 2024 Rena Effendi

Women victims of the Lord Resistance Army violence attending a literacy class organized by Sister Angelique in Dungu.Â

Sister Angelique in front of h... by the Lord Resistance Army.Â

3 of 20 © 2024 Rena Effendi

Sister Angelique in front of her home in Dungu along with the orphan chidlren that she has given shelter. Among the children are also those born by mothers raped by the Lord Resistance Army.Â

Lois, 18 y.o. was abducted by ...n the UNHCR IDP camp in Dungu.

4 of 20 © 2024 Rena Effendi

Lois, 18 y.o. was abducted by the Lord Resistance Army during an attack on her native village of Duru. A few years after the abduction, she finally managed to escape along with her two children fathered by one of the LRA soldiers, who had kidnapped her. She and her boys live in the UNHCR IDP camp in Dungu.

Marie 17 y.o. has been abducte...tion and subsistance farming.Â

5 of 20 © 2024 Rena Effendi

Marie 17 y.o. has been abducted by the LRA, but she managed to escape and now lives at the UNHCR IDP camp. Mari and other women victims of LRA violence stop for a break after planting soya in the three hectars of land in Nanzawa. Sister Angelique has provided the land to support the women in income generation and subsistance farming.Â

Early morning mass at the Catholic Church in Dungu.Â

6 of 20 © 2024 Rena Effendi

Early morning mass at the Catholic Church in Dungu.Â

Women survivors of the LRA abu...rming their crops in Nanzawa.Â

7 of 20 © 2024 Rena Effendi

Women survivors of the LRA abuse stop for a break after farming their crops in Nanzawa.Â

Marie, 34 y.o. lost her father...ther Marie and her children. Â

8 of 20 © 2024 Rena Effendi

Marie, 34 y.o. lost her father in the LRA attack on her native village of Ngilima. She managed to escape along with her ten children. Her father was the sole provider for the single mother Marie and her children. Â

People dance at the UNHCR camp ...violence in Dungu, Congo DRC.Â

9 of 20 © 2024 Rena Effendi

People dance at the UNHCR camp for the internally displaced by the LRA violence in Dungu, Congo DRC.Â

Jean, 55 y.o. was abducted by ...;The Triangle of Death".Â

10 of 20 © 2024 Rena Effendi

Jean, 55 y.o. was abducted by the LRA and mutilated. One of the LRA battalion commanders ordered to cut off her lips with a machete knife after they had killed her husband. "My lips fell into my lap like a donut" - she recalled. She was sent back to her village as a living example of brutality in order to spread fear in Ngilima, a.k.a. "The Triangle of Death".Â

Angelique (center) along with ...of the LRA violence in Dungu.Â

11 of 20 © 2024 Rena Effendi

Angelique (center) along with other participants in a cooking/catering income generation activity that she had organized for the women victims of the LRA violence in Dungu.Â

Jolia 11 y.o. an orphan playin...her orphan children in Dungu.Â

12 of 20 © 2024 Rena Effendi

Jolia 11 y.o. an orphan playing with peanuts laid out to dry in the courtyard of Sister Angelique's home where she shelters nine other orphan children in Dungu.Â

Ngilima, also known as "T...adly LRA attacks on the area.Â

13 of 20 © 2024 Rena Effendi

Ngilima, also known as "The Triangle of Death" due to the frequency of deadly LRA attacks on the area.Â

Ruth lost her sister, grandfat...bodies of her family members.Â

14 of 20 © 2024 Rena Effendi

Ruth lost her sister, grandfather and her brother in law in one of the LRA raids on her native village of Ngilima. All three were murdered. Ruth and her other family members, along with her children escaped and could not manage to return to the village to pick up the bodies of her family members.Â

Villagers build a new market i...e trauma still haunting them.Â

15 of 20 © 2024 Rena Effendi

Villagers build a new market in Ngilima, named "The Triangle of Death" due to the frequency of deadly attacks by the LRA. Ngilima is currently populated by refugees from other nearby villages, the original Nglima residents all fled with the trauma still haunting them.Â

Felicite 18 y.o. was abducted ... to his family home in Dungu.Â

16 of 20 © 2024 Rena Effendi

Felicite 18 y.o. was abducted by the LRA when he was a teenage boy and was forced to commit violence. While trying to escape he was shot in his hand and due to subsequent infection his hand was amputated. He subsequently returned to his family home in Dungu.Â

Villagers attend an early morni...the Catholic Church in Dungu.Â

17 of 20 © 2024 Rena Effendi

Villagers attend an early morning mass at the Catholic Church in Dungu.Â

Bishop AbbÃ© BenoÃ®t KinaleguÂ...ducted children from the LRA.Â

18 of 20 © 2024 Rena Effendi

Bishop AbbÃ© BenoÃ®t KinaleguÂ set up a rehabilitation center in Dungu to help some of the most traumatized children who escaped from the LRA and are in need to find their families and try to restore a normal life. He alsoÂ negotiated and facilitated the release of about 80 abducted children from the LRA.Â

Jean Paul Simba 16 y.o. was ab... Father Abbe Benoit in Dungu.Â

19 of 20 © 2024 Rena Effendi

Jean Paul Simba 16 y.o. was abducted by the LRA, but managed to escape. He is currently enrolled in a psychological rehabilitation program at the Rehabilitation Center founded by Father Abbe Benoit in Dungu.Â

Ngilima, also known as "T...adly LRA attacks on the area.Â

20 of 20 © 2024 Rena Effendi

Ngilima, also known as "The Triangle of Death" due to the frequency of deadly LRA attacks on the area.Â

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Thumbnail of Congolese nun Sister Angelique _en Refugee Award for her work.Â

Thumbnail of Women victims of the Lord Resist_ by Sister Angelique in Dungu.Â

Thumbnail of Sister Angelique in front of he_d by the Lord Resistance Army.Â

Thumbnail of Lois, 18 y.o. was abducted by t_in the UNHCR IDP camp in Dungu.

Thumbnail of Marie 17 y.o. has been abducted_ation and subsistance farming.Â

Thumbnail of Early morning mass at the Catholic Church in Dungu.Â

Thumbnail of Women survivors of the LRA abus_arming their crops in Nanzawa.Â

Thumbnail of Marie, 34 y.o. lost her father _other Marie and her children. Â

Thumbnail of People dance at the UNHCR camp f_ violence in Dungu, Congo DRC.Â

Thumbnail of Jean, 55 y.o. was abducted by t_t;The Triangle of Death".Â

Thumbnail of Angelique (center) along with o_ of the LRA violence in Dungu.Â

Thumbnail of Jolia 11 y.o. an orphan playing_ther orphan children in Dungu.Â

Thumbnail of Ngilima, also known as "Th_eadly LRA attacks on the area.Â

Thumbnail of Ruth lost her sister, grandfath_ bodies of her family members.Â

Thumbnail of Villagers build a new market in_he trauma still haunting them.Â

Thumbnail of Felicite 18 y.o. was abducted b_d to his family home in Dungu.Â

Thumbnail of Villagers attend an early mornin_ the Catholic Church in Dungu.Â

Thumbnail of Bishop AbbÃ© BenoÃ®t KinaleguÂ _bducted children from the LRA.Â

Thumbnail of Jean Paul Simba 16 y.o. was abd_y Father Abbe Benoit in Dungu.Â

Thumbnail of Ngilima, also known as "Th_eadly LRA attacks on the area.Â

Public Project

Courage in the Congo

Copyright Rena Effendi 2024

Date of Work Jul 2013 - Jul 2013

Updated Apr 2018

Topics Abuse, Documentary, Photography, Photojournalism, Portraiture, Rape, War, Womens Rights

Ravaged by a never-ending war between various militias, rebels groups, and criminal combatants, the Democratic Republic of Congo, where rape and abduction have been used as weapons of war, is one of the most dangerous places for women and children in the world. The Lord's Resistance Army, a militant movement formed in 1987 (and dubbed as "rebels without a cause") was infamous for its viciousness, but now three decades into its existence, the LRA's numbers have dwindled. And although the movement responsible for displacing 2.5 million people in the DRC is currently in survival mode, it's history of brutal killings and mutilation, raping of women and abduction of children has terrorized local communities, haunting them to this day. Many still remain in the grips of their trauma and are too terrified to go back to their homes.

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