Ashley Judd visited Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo as an Ambassador with Population Services International’s Five and Alive program in late April. She documented her impressions and experiences in a personal journal, which have been transformed into a week-long series of blog posts.

Day One:

There is tough work to be done. I begin tomorrow the Genocide Memorial and a talk afterwards about the progress Rwanda has made since that insanity. I will meet our host country staff (PSI Rwanda) and begin to learn more about the burden of poor health that continues to unnecessarily cost Rwandans their children, their lives, and stifle their economic progress. Rwanda is the most densely populated African country, and malaria, lack of safe water (only 2.5% of Rwandans have piped water), the great need for family planning, STI’s, HIV, and other preventable diseases and issues keep the entire population subsisting on less than a dollar a day. I will see our programs in action, celebrate what works, and help carry the message of prevention and effective grassroots programs to those who can fund them and help change attitudes and policies for the better.

Gender based violence will be a core theme of this trip. I have already abdicated my day to see the Silver Back Gorillas in order to go to Goma, a city in the Democratic Republic of Congo accessible more safely from Rwanda (Dario is not amused but Papa Jack is here and has done his work. We’ll be okay, said to be more stable now, a very large UN presence, too). The refugee camps are filled with masses of women - victims of rape. The gorillas, much as I love them, can wait. I am glad to be here, glad to learn, glad to serve, and am more than a little perplexed as to why me…

-Ashley Judd

Read the rest of this entry, on Five & Alive’s website.

Five & Alive, a program of Population Services International (PSI), provides children and their families with the education, products, services and care needed to improve health and save lives in more than 30 countries. www.fiveandalive.org

This entry was posted on Monday, June 16th, 2008 at 5:31 pm and is filed under Ashley Judd Rwanda/DRC 2008 Trip, PSI. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.