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 Four:

I am here (in Goma, DRC) to visit our clinics that specialize in family planning, maternal and child health, and the treatment and prevention of malaria. (We also do safe water and HIV prevention in this area of the DRC). I also hope to visit with women who are rape victims. Rape is an epidemic here. It is an emergency. It is everywhere, on a massive scale. It is not altogether unreported in the western media, but it is grossly underreported. An ancient and common tool of warfare, this area’s female population has been hostage to gender based violence for decades.

What a shocking difference a few feet make. On the Rwandan side of the crossing, the roads are tidy, neat, maintained. The earth is red and the wind blowing through the trees, the lapping of the shores of Lake Kivu, is serene. There is a sense of orderliness and even within the clear poverty; I feel the purposeful attempt at self improvement, through agriculture and the tiny, colorful flower gardens.

Passing into the DRC…Oh my God.

-Ashley Judd

Read the rest of this entry, on Five & Alive’s website.and check back to the ONE Blog next week for highlight’s from Ashley’s journal on days 5,6 and 7 of her trip.

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