We traveled down dirt roads near the town of Beni, in eastern Congo, close to the Ugandan border. Militias are active in the region, so our group was protected by an armed escort. Interactions at checkpoints along the road are unpredictable. In the town of Beni itself, a curfew is imposed each night at sunset.

Nearly all the homes in the area are within a few kilometers of the main road. Venturing further into the jungle is to risk attack. Women can be kidnapped and used as porters or sex slaves.

Conflict takes a toll on lives, but also on livelihoods. There is no employment in this part of the Congo other than agriculture. But decades of war helped destroy coffee production, once the main cash crop. Insecurity also makes it risky to forage in the jungle for bananas and other fruit.

But hope has come in an odd form: the world’s appetite for chocolate. Cocoa grows well in this part of the world. It can be cultivated by cooperatives, in safer areas, using environmentally sustainable methods. An even when the rebels come, they don’t steal the cocoa, which isn’t useful to them. In the Congo, cocoa isn’t just a cash crop. It is a survival crop –- a particularly resilient form of agriculture.

I was traveling to the region with the Eastern Congo Initiative (ECI), a grant-making organization founded by actor and director Ben Affleck and supported by important foundations. Ben has made eastern Congo the focus of his activism and philanthropy, earning tremendous respect from his local partners. Together –- along with Ben’s delightful mother Chris, a teacher who lives in Massachusetts -– we visited a number of cocoa farms and production facilities.

ECI is helping in two ways. It supports a partner named Greenhouse, which teaches farmers the proper techniques for growing and processing cocoa. The process is relatively complex. Cacao trees are grown in the shade. Its fruit is opened to reveal milky white seeds, which are fermented in vats before being dried. Getting each stage of production right requires training.

But an agricultural commodity needs a market. So, ECI has helped connect Congolese cocoa farmers with a Seattle-based company called Theo Chocolate. Its Founder and CEO, Joe Whinney, accompanied us on the trip. Theo sells chocolate in more than 4,000 retailers, including Whole Foods.

Joe takes a socially conscious approach to business, making sure that his supply chain is ethical and transparent. But he also pushes hard for farmers to increase quality -– particularly in fermentation and drying -– which is essential to a premium chocolate company and the key to higher incomes for farmers. Joe believes that Congo cocoa is some of the best in the world. “The cocoa here is exquisite,” he told me. “It tastes like brownies smell in the oven.” Theo Chocolate has pledged to purchase all the quality cocoa produced by local cooperatives.

So far, Greenhouse has helped organize 19 cooperatives, which benefit families including about 11,000 people. The daily income for farmers producing quality cocoa will increase from about a dollar a day to $2 or $3. Doubling or tripling their income will allow farmers to purchase metal for the roofs of their sheds, or to provide dowries for their daughters. Most of the cocoa farmers we spoke with also mentioned that increased income would pay school fees for their children.

This is not only a success story in the making; it is model for development. “So much development,” Joe says, “is like pushing on a string. Market demand is what pulls the string.” Farmers who produce marketable products are taken permanently out of extreme poverty. They find independence, self-sufficiency and dignity -– the ultimate goals of development. “This is one of the best ways to invest in Africa’s future,” argues Ben Affleck. Joe makes the point with typical enthusiasm: “Cocoa can save the world.”

Coltan is now one of the world’s most precious materials. It is required for the production of tantalum, a vital ingredient in electronic circuitry. These minerals can be found in all kinds of electronics ranging from computers, cell phones and home appliances.

The result is an international tantalum market worth about $2 billion annually. But the price of the coltan mining industry in perpetuating human misery for millions of Congolese people is immeasurable. As these items fly off of store shelves this holiday season, at least some of our money will be contributing to the pockets of companies who have continue to source Coltan in the DRC and who lobbied –- and are still lobbying –- these new against disclosure laws. More importantly, we will be financing a lucrative war that is plagued by human rights abuses.

In an effort to end human rights violations and rape in the Congo, the United States Congress has taken steps to expose those profiting from conflict. This summer, the Brownback Amendment to the Dodd-Frank Act passed in the Senate. According to The Globe and Mail, it is set to take effect in the coming months, and features a clause that would pressure companies to disclose where they are buying minerals, including Coltan’s derivatives. This new transparency will allow consumers to trace the origins of their electronics equipment.

Through educational global campaigns and conscious consumerism, we can fight atrocities and compel companies to source their products in responsible ways. Many conscious consumers have taken action to influence electronics industry leaders, as they weigh whether or not to invest in making their supply chains transparent and producing verifiably conflict-free products by declaring their commitment to purchase conflict-free electronics.

To learn more about other kinds of conflict minerals, view The Globe and Mail’s multimedia slideshow, “The face of conflict minerals.”

Photo courtesy of UCLA’s African Studies Center.

Labor unrest empties South African hospitals – The nationwide strike of public employees in South Africa has paralyzed hospitals and schools across the nation, undercutting major drives to combat AIDS and TB and to repair a deeply troubled education system. (Celia Dugger, New York Times)

U.N. Congo report offers new view on genocide – A forthcoming UN report states that the Rwandan military and their rebel allies massacred ethnic Hutus in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in the aftermath of genocide in Rwanda. (Howard French, New York Times)

Big Pharma not to blame in Africa, says director – The International Policy Network’s Alec Van Gelder argues that global health experts should demand more investment in health infrastructure and drug availability rather than blaming the patent rights of “Big Pharma” for Africa’s worsening health crisis. (Wall Street Journal)

UN Summit focuses on mothers and babies – The world can win the fight against AIDS, but it’s failing to save the lives of mothers and babies. That’s the message from a UN health summit in Melbourne this week focused on tackling the world’s greatest health problems. (Cathy Alexander, The Sydney Morning Herald)

Turning to censorship betrays South Africans– The Guardian slams the proposed laws restricting the media in South Africa, highlighting the media’s vital watchdog role, and arguing that the legislations smacks of diversionary tactics given the country’s other social and economic issues. (The Guardian)

As Secretary Clinton continues her visit to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), FORGE is grateful that her trip is calling the world’s attention to the millions of lives lost due to the horrific conflict occurring in the country. And yet, having worked with over 50,000 Congolese refugees for the past six years, FORGE’s true hope for the Secretary’s visit is that it will advance the public’s understanding of modern DRC far beyond the prevailing perceptions of violence and shattered lives. We are optimistic that the trip will spotlight the tremendous opportunities for peace and development in one of Africa’s most populous countries and will focus on the inspiring progress being made by the conflict’s courageous survivors.

FORGE works with displaced communities in Africa, educating and empowering refugees to break the cycle of war and poverty through methods that address the underlying causes of poverty and oppression. By re-conceptualizing humanitarian assistance to include practical skill building and human capacity development, FORGE affirms the role of local citizens as empowered agents of peace and development rather than mere beneficiaries of international agencies. Our collaborative, bottom-up approach is both innovative and imperative, but progress towards our ultimate vision of peace and prosperity takes time.

Now in our sixth year of operation, we are proud to see growing examples of the returns on our investments in individuals. Earlier this week, we received a moving email that confirms our results. The following is from Antoine Ngeleka, the former head of one of FORGE’s Computer Training Centers, who is currently getting his B.S. in Computer Science through FORGE’s university scholarship program. He has some exciting news about developments in Congo, preparations for the 2011 elections, and how FORGE’s programming is helping otherwise-ineligible populations join the reconstruction process.

Hi,

I hope all is well with you and everyone near you. I just wanted to share the compliments I received from my former students who repatriated last year and this year. The voter enrollment that officially started early June in Kinshasa to prepare the 2011 elections is starting in the rest of the country this week. The last time it happened in Congo was before the 2006 elections, and most of the people who got jobs with the electoral commission during enrollment were from urban areas. The same thing is happening this time too since it is a computerized enrollment and there are no computer training centers in most rural areas of the DRC.

And yet, I have received so far seven phone calls from former students to inform me that they managed to pass the test and got a job with the electoral commission of DRC! Two of these people are in Mwange (Moba territory), one in Pweto, three in Kirungu and one in Moba port. I believe that many more of my students were selected but haven’t yet informed me for some reasons. One of them said, “I didn’t know whether the knowledge and skills I acquired from Kala Computing Center had any value until I managed to defend your work at the test. I know now that I have an important intellectual property in me, thanks to FORGE and its staff”.

This is a sign that FORGE was not wasting time and resources in its projects but was actually investing in people. The good seeds that FORGE was sowing are now producing.

May FORGE live longer,

Antoine NGELEKA, Bachelor Of Science in Computing, Cavendish University Zambia

This beautiful testimonial is moving evidence of the benefits of FORGE programs in Zambian refugee camps. In order to capitalize on the momentum towards peace, security and reconstruction in DRC, let us all remember that the time to invest in the DRC is now. Just this week, FORGE secured official approval from the Congolese government to launch a base of operations in Katanga Province (southern DRC). FORGE’s collective efforts will help communities design their own unique solutions to local challenges and will play a valuable and unprecedented role in rebuilding civil society in the DRC. As we continue to embrace the tremendous opportunities in Africa, we look forward to sharing many more stories of individuals triumphing over war and adversity in the coming months and years.

For more information about FORGE, visit http://www.FORGEnow.org or email info[at]FORGEnow[dot]org. Please join us in this movement—there are many simple ways for every one of us to contribute.

-Kjerstin Erickson, Vaughn Hester & Abby Speight, FORGE

Day Six:

At a heaving market place I visited a tiny box that is PUR’s point of sale. Having set up in neighborhoods, we found folks at home have no money, but when they go to the market, they obviously have a little in their pockets for the grocery list. So, we set up a kiosk, and today I was doing a public demonstration of PUR for anyone who happened to be passing by. I love this sort of thing, being on the street, hanging out, trading witticisms and having fun, getting people involved.

In front of the kiosk I stood with a wooden stool (which would be a “primitive” collectable in the U.S.) and a big pale of nasty river water, laden with brown muck and filth. Using a fantastic, enormous wooden spoon, I sprinkled in PUR and began to stir. A great crowd was already gathered, and we hollered questions and answers back and forth about water: where do you get your water, do you get diarrhea, wait til you see PUR, sold here for .50, and how it makes even river water safe! The crowd grew.

-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

Day Six:

One day, PSI staff who go door to door visiting people to offer education about family planning arrived at their household while Victor was out. Therese listened keenly, told her husband what she had heard, and they went to the clinic I had visited earlier to learn more. Characteristically, Victor was concerned the birth control might have some hidden, long term detrimental affect on Therese’s health: he had already seen her suffer so much. Eventually learning from medical staff it was safe, they’ve been using an injectable birth control every 3 months.

We sat in the shade of a fine tree as this sweet couple shared their success with family planning.

-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

Day Five:

There is a weekly call in radio show called “Abajene,” a rally cry for youth, which is hosted by a young idol we have empowered with medically accurate information. For kids without electricity and phones (so many!) our Cinemobile does tours to rural parts of the country gussied up with a audio/visual kit in order to attract kids, give them “infotainment,” and let them use the provided cell phone to call in their teen age dilemmas and inquiries. On site, there is dance, singing, games, recreational pursuits, a football pitch, and job skill training. Within these “services” kids learn everything from personal hygiene, prevention and treatment seeking behaviors (how/when/why to go to a medical clinic), and let us not forget, they have a chance to simply be kids, to play, to run, to forget, for a few precious moments, all their burdens and cares, the back breaking chores that await them at home, and how they will probably be going to bed hungry. Again.

I love this approach, not just because it is holistic, but because it embodies the ideal of collaboration with other grassroots organizations.

-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