Lack of Access to Safe Water and Hygiene

The lack of access to safe drinking water and poor hygiene is a major cause iud the current cholera outbreak along the Congo River.

allAfrica.com: Congo-Kinshasa: Relighting the Candle - MSF's Emergency Cholera Response in DRC

Durbin Calls for Human Rights Awareness in the Congo

"As human beings, we all have a responsibility to ensure that the products that make our lives easier and more convenient are not making life unbearable for others. As Americans, I believe we have a special responsibility to do what we can to end the horror in Congo. For decades in the past, we turned a blind eye to conflict and corruption in DRC because we considered it an ally in the Cold War. Today, America is home to the largest end-user companies of conflict minerals."

Durbin Calls for Human Rights Awareness in the Congo at the Holocaust Memorial Museum

In a speech at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today called attention to the human rights abuses in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and what the US can do to reduce the violence and hold perpetrators accountable. The speech was part of the “Voices from the Congo” conference, co-hosted by the US Holocaust Memorial Museum’s Committee on Conscience, The National Endowment for Democracy, and the Eastern Congo Initiative, which aids grass-roots groups in Congo.

Embracing Otherness

Thandie mentions her trip to eastern Congo. She said our selfishness of electronics leads to the rape of Congo women.

"Light the torch of awareness. Honor the eventual death of self, appreciate the privilege of life, and marvel at what comes next. Simple awareness is where it begins."

http://www.ted.com/talks/thandie_newton_embracing_otherness_embracing_myself.html