There is no Magical Wand; face with messy and uncertain realities

Posted on October 25, 2018

Doctor Miracle

Do you know Dr. Denis Mukwege? He is a Congolese Gynecologist, known as ‘Doctor Miracle.’ He founded and works in Pans Hospital in Bukavu, DR Congo, caring for more than 3,500 women a year and they are victims of rape.

As he was recently awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2018, many media broadcasted a tragic situation in DR Congo, where group rapes continue to be done systematically on a large scale, inflicting a 12 month old baby whose genital was completely opened up and a female who was assaulted and destroyed with her bladder and rectum by 7 armed men. These rape cases are largely and systematically performed by armed middlemen as a kind of reasonably chosen means to rule, by fear, communities located close to mines, in order to monopolistically dominate these mines which produce conflict minerals such as tantalum used for our familiar products, such as PCs, mobile phones, and military products, such as rockets, missiles and airplanes.

I happened to read relating articles when he got awarded. These articles made me feel deeply sad, showing me the victims’ terrible realities. Also, I was so embarrassed at my ignorance on such the situation until then, though I am a national government official in Japan, who should be highly responsible for not only Japan but also the international society. And at the same time, I felt a sense of crisis on ‘indifference,’ which is spread on our society.

Not a ‘domestic tragedy,’ but an ‘international incident’

This is not a ‘domestic tragedy’ occurring in a distant country, but an international ‘incident’ arising over natural resources that sustain and flourish our own lives. Dr. Mukwege says that people in his hometown do not know how to use electric appliances and they are threatened in order to provide these products for people in the foreign countries, they have never met up until now and from now on.

I was so upset when I realized that, without knowing such the fact, I usually enjoy the videophone, using my iPhone, with my son living in Japan, who became one year old this month, same as old as one of the victims.

And I assume that many, though not saying all, people in Japan and maybe in the world, do not know much about such the tragic situation, same as me. However, as Dr. Mukwege argued at the lecture held in Japan 2016, that refugees might try to escape from the country and aim for Japan, even people in Japan are thinking, “Oh, we are living in peace in Japan, and we have nothing to do with such the tragedy happening in the other side of the world.” He said, “It will be tough if refugees come from all over the world. There is no true peace without peace for all people.”

He also told, “Companies are by no means our enemy, not either an enemy against human rights, rather it is the opposite, our partner and any more friends who are able to realize peace and also are leverages to realize social justice and promote sustainable development. “

In addition, regarding us individuals as consumers, he mentioned, “We are committed to seeing what is being used among the products we buy, where they are coming from. Also, it is necessary to create a state where it can be confirmed by asking the selling person whether or not it was made through a very severe condition of human rights, women’s destruction and so on.” He also claimed that it is the time for requesting the establishment of a supply chain that enables us to fulfill needed due diligence, within the domestic mechanism in each country.

There is no magical wand

These are kind of complexly tangled string figures and it is needed to think in systems in order to figure out whole structures and tackle with these tragedies. As I work for a national government of one country and understand the limits of the capacity of government agencies, I suppose that each and every one of individuals have to come to know, think about, and take small actions toward such the situations, not falling into brain freeze and putting away these as tragedies of another country to be solved by just only the government and international organizations.

There is no magical wand, especially in the current world where the society becomes complicated and the values are becoming more and more diversified. A better world for everyone can only be established by facing with messy and uncertain realities that make us want to turn our eyes.

 

DH/bigwingedge

 

Reference:

The Dr. Denis Mukwege Foundation. https://www.mukwegefoundation.org/.

Nakano, Wataru. “Mukwege ishi, Congo no reipu higai wo kataru” [Dr. Mukwege tells about rape in DR Congo]. Huffington post, (October 14, 2016).

Meadows, Donella H. Thinking In Systems: a Primer. London; Sterling, VA: Earthscan. 2009.

Haraway, Donna. Staying with the Trouble. Durham: Duke University Press. 2016.

Ito, Joichi. Resisting Reduction: A Manifesto. 2017.

Boehnert, Joanna, Dimeji Onafuwa. Design as Symbolic Violence: Reproducing the ‘isms’ + A Framework for Allies. 2016.

Cole, Teju. The White-Savior Industrial Complex. 2012.

Rawls, John. A Theory of Justice. 1971.