Where are they now?

Artist on Call Stevie French volunteered in Philadelphia for the 2010-11 Discovery program. She published her much-anticipated debut picture book Lizzie Fox-Top in 2010. This year, she followed up with providing new design and illustrations for the historic Cousin Ann's Stories for Children. This collection of short stories and poems was first printed in 1848 by the Quaker doctor and abolitionist Ann Preston. Visit Ogopogo Books to learn more, and explore Stevie's personal website, steviefrench.com.

It is Sunday morning, our first morning in Bukavu, Congo.  We arrived on Friday night in Kigali, Rwanda and spent the night there.  It was a moment of quiet relief.  Rwanda is in such good condition compared to the last time I was here just after the genocide.  We had a rolled package covered and taped in plastic (like a black garbage bag) to protect it, and before leaving customes we had to take it off and discard it.  Plastic bags are outlawed in Rwanda - an environmental issue.

Hope and healing happens when you learn a new skill, see yourself as you are, and envision applying that skill to your life.  Mural-Making, Photography, Dance and Arts for Trauma were all part of the Diaspora of Hope Congo in November where artists from the United States and Kenya made their way to the Congo to work with women who suffer from the ongoing war.  For most, if not all, of the women, this was the first time to paint or draw, to know how to mix colors, to hold a camera or take a picture, or to create a dance.  Most importantly is that they expressed hope for their future in having jobs, educating their children, and having safe places to live.  This expression is amidst tremendous physical suffering because of the war and recognizing that peace in the Congo is requisite for reality.