DRC: Dr. Gynecologist Denis Mukwege receives the “Patrice Emery Lumumba” award from the hands of a young Congolese woman
Letter of encouragement from a Congolese woman to Dr Denis Mukwege.
My sincere congratulations!
You have won the Patrice Emery Lumumba prize!
Dad Doctor Dennis Mukwege,
First of all, I would like to apologize for the delay in sending you this grand prize. Indeed, I am the legitimate ideological daughter of Patrice Emery Lumumba. You may be surprised, but I often communicate with my father from beyond. For ages, he had been ordering me to send you this award but life being what it is, I lost sight of it and couldn’t realize how good you were. fearlessness in the work you do to save lives. These innocent women abused by lawless men in the provinces of North and South Kivu, whom you assist and repair until they see their dignity reborn.
Your media outings for high-level advocacy to end these barbarities against Congolese women in all Western capitals are known to everyone: those who love you and those who hate you.
Right after, you saw your residence attacked because of your double fight of advocacy and care administered with fatherly attention.
To be honest, this story of the Nobel Peace Prize, which I was impatiently awaiting, triggered in me a kind of questioning on the order that my father had given me for nearly fifteen years.
I respect the choice made by the organizers of this prize, but I note that they have nevertheless done well. They attributed it to the chemical weapons thingy organization. My mind torments questions, as to this: Has this organization worked with dedication and commitment to save lives in danger like you dad Doctor? The answer may be yes, it is an organization that bans the manufacture of chemical weapons worldwide. Yes, it is a viable organization. Yes, it’s a group of talented people, but I in all of this I say this: we do not reward a person who does his sovereign job. It would look a bit like awarding a head of state who is developing road infrastructure in his country.
Tell me: if it doesn’t do that, what is it good for? I think in my humble opinion that Nobel himself rolled over in his grave twice when he heard the news, thinking to himself: how is it possible to divert my million dollars for people who do their work at instead of giving it to a gynecologist, with a big heart who deprives himself of the pleasures of this world to repair, unless I am mistaken on my part, forty thousand women survivors of sexual violence?
It does not matter, Dad Dennis Mukwege, you receive your prize today, moreover you are the first to receive it: The “Patrice Emery Lumumba Prize“, coming straight from the greatest national hero. The jackpot ? It is the merit and the recognition of your fight and especially to thank you by the fact that, for once, you gathered the Congolese citizens around the same cause. This phenomenon is extremely rare.
In the hope that this letter reaches you, please accept Papa Doctor Denis Mukwege, my warmest congratulations.
You are my living hero.
Chantal Faida.
Goma/DRC
