As I watched the weekly SITV announcement in my precalculus class a

As I watched the weekly SITV announcement in my precalculus class, a senior announced Magis would host the movie, City of Joy, on Thursday, February 28, after school. In room 207 with about thirty students, Mr. Lynch led the discussions, provided food and offered context throughout the movie. This documentary happened in Eastern Congo where several people created a safe haven – the City of Joy -for women survivors of violence.

The documentary stunningly projects the trials of each woman, revealing the details of their past and their journeof healing; however, I thought the images in the movie were gruesome.

The images of tied up women and murdered babies appeared in this movie. Of course, I have read about war violence, but the visuals made me visualize myself in the Congo. I felt the pain of the women- I felt sympathy for them. In Tattoos on the Heart, Chapter three, Compassion, describes sympathy in an example: “Well, sympathy is when your homie’s mom dies and you go up to him and say, ‘Spensa – sorry to hear ‘bout your moms’”(Boyle 62).

All humans feel the pain of another, but only through action does compassion reveals itself. Sympathy isn’t enough; the leaders of the City of Joy -Dr. Denis Mukwege, Eve Ensler, and Christine Schuler Deschryver – recognized this idea and tried to “bring them[the women] toward themselves” (Boyle 75). Dr. Denis Mukwege founded the Panzi Hospital in Bukavu, where he repairs the damage inflicted on rape victims through reconstructive surgery. Eve Ensler, the author of the Vagina Monologues, raised funds for the organization.

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As the director of the City of Joy, Christine Schuler Deschryver devoted her life to world awareness of femicide and sexual abuse in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The leaders displayed enormous compassion, “ripping the roof off the place”(75). Moreover, I also connected these leaders with my class’s discussion about role models. In the Jan term unit, my class discussed the importance of role models – a person who shapes the actions, views, and virtues of marginalized individuals and adolescents. They help the youth discover themselves and their purpose. Similarly, these three leaders offered a safe space in the chaotic Congo area, meanwhile instilling good morals and values such as human life and dignity.

In the discussion after the movie, my classmates spoke about a theme in the movie – racism. When the Europeans arrived in Africa, they introduced racism into Africa -an ongoing problem. A senior described the power dynamic between light and dark skin Africans: “The Europeans offered more resources and power to the light-skin, creating an economic difference.” The power dynamic made me think of other power dynamics in aspects of life that I never notice. It occurred to a power dynamics happens at our school. Sometimes I hear my classmates say, “It’s a freshmen thing” or “Lower classmen always take the good food.” Besides my sister, I do not know many lower classmen, but I do find myself saying these expressions. Of course, I cannot compare the different power dynamics in Africa versus in my school, but it makes me more aware of the struggles around to world