Rose Mopendo
“I used to pray to God asking why I was a woman, why I was a Tutsi, why I was in the Congo, and why could You allow these things to happen,” she said. “But I think God didn’t do this. This is a choice people made to put other people in suffering, like the choice I made to speak on behalf of other women.”
What can we learn about Courage from Rose Mopendo?
Rose Mapendo was born in Mulenge, Democratic Republic of Congo in 1963 to a Tutsi family. A natural born caregiver, Rose was married at the age of 16 and began raising a strong family unit with her husband. Everything changed for the Mapendo family in 1998 when they fell victim to the ethnic genocide that originated four years earlier with the intent of punishing the Tutsi tribe. Rose and her family were taken to a prison camp where they endured horrific conditions and constant surveillance of the government. Women and children were starved, and two women and two children in her camp were murdered by the government. In the camp they had no food or health system, and everyone had lice. Children had to defecate in the cell because there was no sanitation. During their first week of imprisonment the government ordered all men to be murdered, including Rose’s husband. Then, Rose was faced with the excruciating proposition. To save her son from being killed by a soldier she had to give her 17-year old daughter as a sex partner. At this time, she was pregnant and sick.
Overcoming the Odds with Courage!
The turning point in Rose’s story was the birth of her twin boys in the death camp. After accepting that her life would never be the same, Rose prayed that God would end her life. She promised forgiveness to those who had harmed her, making a respectful statement by naming her twins after two of the camp commanders. The wife of one of the commanders recognized Rose’s actions as a sign of honor and arranged to have Rose and her family transferred to a less violent prison camp located in the capital of the DRC. They resided in this prison camp for just two more weeks before being sent to a Red Cross protection center that worked to help refugees resettle in other areas and move on with their lives.
Today Rose works as a global activist to bring awareness to the violence that continues in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Residing in Phoenix, Arizona, she founded the Rose Mapendo Foundation the mission is to create, through global awareness, an understanding of the condition of the women and their families in Eastern Africa and provide necessary survival resources to these women in the DRC who continue to be affected by the vicious ethnic warfare.
LET'S WORK TOGETHER FOR A BETTER FUTURE