Wrote By: Brittney Teasdale (Downtown Toronto Correspondent - Canada)

Lumo: One Woman's Struggle to Heal in a Nation Beset by War is a remarkable and eye-opening documentary. Following Lumo, a young Congolese woman, in her journey to a small hospital in Goma called Heal, the film places the viewers in her footsteps. The film uses close-ups to humanize the viewer to the disgusting acts of sexual violence which are occurring to thousands of women everyday in Eastern Congo. Hopefully, after viewing the film people will want to use their influence to help out and put an end to the horror in the DRC (Democratic Republic of the Congo).  These horrific acts of sexual violence should not only be referred to as rape and beatings, but as terrorism. Western society only thinks terrorism to be associated with non-sexual acts associated with the tragedy of 9/11, but the rape occurring in the DRC is the definition of terrorism.

The women and their families believe that after they have been attacked they are ill and destroyed. Therefore, their families disown them and leave them with no home or help. Lumo states "They destroyed us." The serious condition that the women are left with after their attacks is called fistula, which is a tear in between the bladder and vagina. This is the condition that Lumo, who is 22 years old, has been battling for 2 years and has had 4 previous surgeries to correct. Throughout the documentary, the viewers are shown numerous close-ups of Lumo's round face. Her face leaves a mark in your mind that is not escapable, and her hope stays with you long after the film is complete.

The film mixes documentary footage with actual news coverage from the Congo; putting the actuality of the war violence that is occurring right now into the foreground. The militia targets civilians and uses rape as a weapon of war and terrorism. What society does not realize is that most acts of terrorism in the world are rape. This inhumanity must end, and this end can start with compassion for others. 

The HEAL Africa hospital is an oasis for female victims of rape. During the course of Lumo's stay at the sanctuary, the film only shows one woman in tears. The film deals with the aftermath of rape; the healing process is emphasized. The counsellors at HEAL are referred to as "mammas" which I believe give the women a sense of family since most of them have been disowned by their relatives and loved ones in a time when they needed them the most. Lumo states, "I felt forgotten," and one of the mammas says at the beginning of the film "women travel hundreds of miles seeking safety within the hospital walls." The women are marginalized in their villages and made a mockery. Lumo says, "When I became ill he refused me." Her fiancé rejected her as soon as she was brought home to her village after her father found her surrounded by blood unable to move on the ground. The women are not treated as victims of a crime but as ruined and damaged goods. 

The documentary shows the patients, victims, and rape survivors in the HEAL hospital in Goma as human beings. They present the issue as something that could happen to anyone around the world. This point of view humanizes the issue, and brings the issue into our sight. Lumo puts a personality and a heart into the public's eye, showing a problem that is happening right now in another part of the world which must brought to our attention. Many people in North America believe that they are too far away to help, but this is not true. Contrary to popular belief, it can be as easy as a donation to help in saving the life of a woman; contributing in whatever capacity, you are making a change for the better.  

The film travels into the operating room with Lumo on her 5^th operation to cure her fistula. The doctors speak to the camera explaining fistula and Lumo's condition. The camera then shows Lumo undergoing surgery in which she is awake during. Her joyous face which we have seen is in utter excruciating pain. Lumo finds hope is every situation. When one of the girls who have healed leaves the hospital she is hopeful that she might heal one day too. Lumo is always still smiling. This film brings into focus how lucky people in North America are to have safety and stability in their lives, while realizing that North American society is oblivious to their basic privileges. Even in the midst of a civil war in which hundreds of innocent women are being raped and murdered everyday, some can still find hope.  

After the screening three remarkable women came out to speak about what is occurring in the DRC, Congolese Lawyer and Human Rights Activist Mimi Kashira, Kigali Radio Contact (Rwanda) Producer Lauren Vopni, and Canadian Human Rights Activist Cheryl Sutherland. Mimi spoke of how rape has become normalized in the DRC and women can only wish that the violence of rape would come to an end. Over the past ten years the issue has become no longer a case-to-case problem but a societal issue. Mimi says that very few women are able to make it to the hospitals like HEAL and that even though the problem is overwhelming, help is needed and action must occur.

Society must work with the government and media of the DRC to end the violence against women; if action is not made we are just as ignorant as the people committing these crimes. We as a society must look at real systemic causes of rape since the media is only showing sensationalized versions of brutal rape. Society must look to alternative forms of media for information and knowledge on issue occurring in the DRC and in other countries around the world; that is why Journalists for Human Rights teamed with the Goma Film Project to highlight the film Lumo. Find the film, and help to find a solution. 

Lumo can be purchased on the films website at: http://www.gomafilmproject.org/

Journalists For Human Rights: www.jhr.ca

Film: Lumo: One Woman's Struggle to Heal in a Nation Beset by War
The Goma Film Project
Film by Bent-Jorgen Perlmutt and Nelson Walker III
Produced and Co- directed by Louis Abelman
Edited and Co-directed by Lynn True
Executive Producer Lyn Lusi
Released in 2006
Feature Length Documentary
What: LUMO: Film Screening and Panel Discussion on systematic gender violence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
When: Wednesday, May 28th 2008
Where: Innis Town Hall, University of Toronto. 2 Sussex Avenue, Toronto, Ontario
Presented by: Journalists for Human Rights (JHR)Discussion Panel: Congolese Lawyer and Human Rights Activist Mimi Kashira, Kigali Radio Contact (Rwanda) Producer Lauren Vopni, and Canadian Human Rights Activist Cheryl Sutherland