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Panzi Hospital is probably the most well-known hospital in all of DR Congo. It's gained a great deal of attention due to the fact that they have a section which is devoted to treating cases of sexual violence.       Attention was really thrust upon the hospital by a special report on CNN in 2006, then Eve Ensler of "The Vagina Monologues" fame, and then Oprah. What has thusly ensued and is fueled by seemingly good intentions has been a media blitz the likes of which is preposterous. The issue of sexual violence is currently one of the "sexy" issues in the eastern regions of Congo. It's sexiness is due to its brutality and the fact that it makes for news story that leave western mouths agape.       To back up a bit, the regions of eastern DR Congo have been in the midst of a multi-national war that has scarred the Ituri, North Kivu, and South Kivu regions for the past decade starting in 1998 and officially ending in 2003, although a great number of skirmishes still flare up and there are large numbers of rebels still in the jungles. Rather than attempting to sum up (and probably quote incorrectly), those who are interested should read more about what has been termed, the African World War.       Most of the results of the war were typical and quickly glossed over by western media once western interest waned. Land mines? Sure, they exist, but that's so WWII. Death? Sure, about 5.4 million people they estimate, but hey, that's just war. Displacement? Of course, but that can happen anywhere and without war as was seen in New Orleans, so that's super boring. Rape? Well, now we're starting to get somewhere, since rape isn't something we like to think happens in the western world and can be easily juxtaposed on Africa as a problem inherent to the "Dark Continent". Sexual violence? Ah yes, pay dirt. The more brutally and horrendous the violence done to women and girls, the better. That is sordid news and it makes for the kind of print runs that leave the rest of the world shaking their heads in disbelief. A disbelief I might add, that is prejudicial. Yes, these events occurred. No one would ever want to belittle what has happened to the people in this area, but to posit the reporting in such a way as to paint the Africans in the countries involved as being anymore brutal than any other humans in the history of warfare is just pathetic, lazy journalism. For a brilliant take on this point and the excessive abuse of hyperbole, Michela Wrong (whose writing is simply some of the finest there is) wrote an article about her frustrations in how journalists are dealing with the situation in eastern Congo.       While all these media coverage has generated a good deal of funding directed to the hospital, much of the money doesn't get there, as it is tied up in bureaucracy like the UNFPA which seems to only exist to fund staff and offices who then disseminate money to organizations that actually are hands-on. But as far as hospitals go in Congo, this is one of the better ones with people receiving treatment and getting help. Obviously there is more demand that there is space, but this will hopefully improve with time. Something that would help to improve it is journalists covering other hospitals in the regions, which while not the media darlings that Panzi is, are doing much the same work, yet without the recognition. And this is a big problem. Western people don't understand what's happening in Congo and so they figure that just throwing money at the issue will make it better. While it may make them feel good about themselves and less guilty about the good lives we lead in the US and Europe it isn't fixing the problems.       We need journalist that actually go out and do their jobs instead of just nuzzling the easy headlines. I mean, there was a German journalist from Focus magazine there the day we were. When asked if they had an angle or if was just a reportage, the photographer told me it was just a reportage and he actually felt good about this. Panzi is flooded with people reporting on a story that has been done to death, so why does it keep happening? We talked with Dr. Denis Mukwege and the man is tired of journalists coming day in, day out for reports that interrupt his work and then don't translate in to action. It's what I like to call the "Israel Syndrome" wherein journalists get their hooks in to a place that's easy to cover and gets a lot of attention from their viewers/readers. Thusly they keep going back there time and again whenever a "tough" piece is needed.       As citizens in our respective countries, we need to have awareness to start with and then effective action to follow. Sensationalist blather like Lisa Jackson's The Greatest Silence get all kinds of media attention, while films that actually tell the stories of the victims, such as Lumo (which wasn't shot at Panzi) get overlooked. And while I would suggest that direct aid is the best place to put your money, I wouldn't suggest that Westerners should head to Bukavu or Goma and attempt to save the helpless, no matter how grand their delusions. People need to be aware of where their money is going. Just blindly donating to the Red Cross or agencies such as UNFPA does little good as you don't really know where your money is going. For god's sake, read up and learn about the agencies that operate in places like Congo. The information is out there. Make use off all the benefits of the web and be an educated donor, not one of Oprah's blind followers. That is of more help to Panzi and the other hospitals at the moment than anything else, because the source of the suffering and sexual violence comes from the foreign policies of our governments and if we really and truly want to end it, we need to pressure the people in charge not just slap a bandage on bad politics.

I spent about one day in the east of Congo, in Bukavu in perfect health. After the flight from the west, I was just mainly tired, but excited to see this other side of the country with its beautiful Lake Kivu, mountains and much fresher air. Bukavu is at 1,500 meters (about 5,000 feet in metric-so-scary-land) which makes for a number of changes. For one, the climate is much cooler, which means a lot fewer mosquitoes. The constant sweating and thick air that is so hard to breath in Kinshasa just isn't there. While the air isn't incredibly pure due to all the trash being burned all the time, it is much more enjoyable. The other thing is that life is much slower in Bukavu. The throngs of people wandering around all the time are severely lessened. There are still a lot of folks though, since Bukavu sits right on the border with Rwanda and there is a lot of commerce traffic because of this.       It was our first day after a good night's sleep that we headed out to watch a march by the journalists of the town in support of World Press Freedom Day, a holiday that doesn't get a lot of attention in the US or Europe, but is quite important in DR Congo where journalists are killed simply for digging just a touch too deep on an issue.       It was quite a warm day for the march and we were photographing it without bringing along any water. At first this wasn't a big deal, but then we were out under the sun in the peak of the day, waiting for two hours to see the governor of the South Kivu province come out and address this march that was waiting in front of his office. Of course, as is typical with Congolese politicians, he never showed, leaving us dismayed and also dehydrated.       After lunch, I started to feel a lot less than fantastic. My head started throbbing like nothing I've ever felt before and I was having trouble seeing straight. We headed back to a friend's house and the symptoms only got worse. I decided to call it an early day and go to sleep while drinking a great deal of ORS to try and correct what was appearing to be a severe case of dehydration.       Overnight, nothing really got better and I woke up the next day feeling just as dizzy and completely out of it, barely able to walk a few steps without wanting to collapse. We called up some friends who came over and had me take some malaria medication just to be sure I wasn't coming down with that. Then it was back to bed to sleep some more, only to wake up in the afternoon and throw up all the food I had tried to eat previously, but at the same time keep drinking water. It was also at this point that some lovely intestinal disorder started up that had me running to the toilet about every hour. The next day was much the same, although I started to feel a bit better by the end of it after more vomiting.       On the third day of this, I really did start feeling better. Chatting with a friend of ours we realized that I had either gotten sunstroke and some of the lovely intestinal amoebas that are around, or it was just the amoebas. I don't really know what the case was, but I got well enough to fly back to Kinshasa and then pick up some medicine for the possible amoebas which seemed to cure that as well and was quite a steal at $10 compared to what digestive antibiotics would cost back in the US. Naturally, while in Kinshasa I got some kind of weird rash on my arm that is just starting to go away as well.       On the crappy side of all this, I missed out on getting to see the gorillas in Kahuzi-Biega Park, which was a real bummer, since it's one of the few "affordable" ($300) places to see gorillas in the wild. On the plus side, I lost about eight kilograms (15 pounds in metric-so-scary-land) but of course gained a good deal of it back once able to hold on to solid food.       It's amazing all the crap that's waiting for people in the jungles of Africa and it explains why I spent the ridiculous amount of $500 on vaccinations before going. It's just ironic that I got taken down by something so basic as the sun and it's taught me an important lesson to always drink plenty of water. You fuck with the sun and you will indeed get burnt, like the top of my head was.