by Belinda Bauman

This was the year my two sons began to love superheroes. We popped in the SpiderMan DVD one night out of boredom and for the next five months we watched everything SpiderMan， Superman， Ironman， and Whoeverman we could. So， when I announced I would be making a special trip to the Eastern 1）Democratic Republic of Congo （DRC） to find and record the stories of brave women living in what the U.N. calls the “most dangerous place to be a mother” their reaction was natural： “Mom， they are like superheroes.”

My journey into the heart of war-torn Eastern Congo began last summer. I first learned about the seriousness of the war in Congo years ago while living as a mom， with my two toddlers and my husband in Rwanda for 2）World Relief. The decades-long war in Eastern Congo is shaped by regional politics， ethnic rancor， and a greed surrounding the 3）lucrative mineral mines.

I saw that almost six million people have died in this war， making it the most deadly conflict since WWII， and yet never making front-page news. To mothers， the casualties are husbands， sons， daughters， and parents.

Villages where they had hoped their children would grow up are swallowed up by violence. Crops they had grown with the faith that there would be plenty are stolen. The land many of these 4）subsistence farmers hoped to pass on to their grandchildrens children is 5）pillaged and burned. As a result of this unrest and extreme vulnerability of 6）civilians， moms here live in the shadow of the largest U.N. peacekeeping mission in the world.

As I entered my first Congolese Internally Displaced peoples （IDP） camp in August of this year， I was struck by the sheer amount of children. Children of all ages—everywhere I looked.

By all accounts， on all fronts， both the formal and informal IDP camps around the region are beyond capacity. Marcel Serebungo， Church Mobilization Director for World Relief Congo， describes the situation：

“IDP camps were moving every day. People suffered so much because movement wasinvolving parents who are not strong enough to carry children and some of their belongings after spending days without eating and children who are so weak. Women and children are targeted because of their vulnerability. They live like slaves in their own villages—being beaten， put in prison without any reason， carrying burdens for armed people and paying non-reasonable taxes.”

Such was the story of Maisha Esperance. She and her family fled from the Rutshuru area one year ago. Shots fired in their village throughout the whole night， forcing her and her family out into the dark to run for their lives. The journey on foot and by cover of darkness took three days. They moved undetected from village to village and rested with the youngest children， but had to gather water and food for at least one meal.

Here in the overcrowded IDP camp， Maisha Esperance and I talked about how she gathers wood in the forest. For her， and many others who gather sticks for fire， this is dangerous work. Brave women go into the forests to gather wood. It may take as much as a third of a bundle of wood just to cook the hard casings of Congolese red beans. 7）Militia men know about these needed trips into the woods， and they wait for the women to come. Rape， as the saying here goes，is cheaper than bullets. In this region of Africa， a wife and mother are considered the beauty of the community—the heart of the home. If you can break the heart， you can break the community.

I asked if I could pray for her and her children. “Yes，” she said as she looked me in the eye for the first time. Then， without apology or hesitation she said， “Pray that I would have strength in my struggles. I need strength for my family and for the others. I feel alone. I have no one to speak for me.” This was her only request， and it came from the heart.

It turns out that mothers in war zones are not so different from mothers in Washington D.C.， Los Angeles， Detroit， 8）Milwaukee， or 9）Baltimore. Women and children have suffered the unspeakable here， and yet， they are full of bravery that propels them forward every day， taking back the dignity and control that has been wrestled from them. They find food， they give birth， they wash clothes， they heal from wounds， they start businesses， and they educate their children as best they can. Moreover， they extend comfort and strength to those around them.

Just like the fictional citizens of 10）Gotham City， the grassroots moms of Congo want to live in peace. It is these mothers who live in exile and uncertainty every day that carry on their shoulders the very future of Congo. Facing these brave ones， I see their hope and my heart remembers the power of a mother motivated. A woman filled with courage to survive is nigh on unstoppable.

Much like a superhero.

那一年，我兩個(gè)兒子開(kāi)始崇拜超級(jí)英雄。我們?cè)谀程焱砩铣鲇跓o(wú)聊而看了《蜘蛛俠》的DVD，接下來(lái)的五個(gè)月，我們看遍了所有能找到的關(guān)于蜘蛛俠、超人、鋼鐵俠等各路英雄的片子。所以，當(dāng)我宣布說(shuō)我將展開(kāi)一趟特別的旅程，到剛果民主共和國(guó)東部去尋找和記錄在那里勇敢生活的女性及其故事時(shí)，他們的反應(yīng)很自然：“媽媽，她們就像是超級(jí)英雄?！币?，聯(lián)合國(guó)稱那個(gè)地方是“對(duì)母親而言最危險(xiǎn)的地方”。

我的這趟旅程要進(jìn)入深受戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)摧殘的剛果東部心臟地區(qū)，其始于去年夏天。多年前，我作為一位母親，帶著兩個(gè)蹣跚學(xué)步的孩子和丈夫一起在盧旺達(dá)為世援社工作。那時(shí)，我初次了解到了戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)在剛果的嚴(yán)重性。這場(chǎng)在剛果東部歷時(shí)數(shù)十年的戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)由區(qū)域政治角力、種族仇恨以及涉及采礦場(chǎng)暴利的貪念而引發(fā)。我看到在這場(chǎng)戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)中約有六百萬(wàn)人喪生，成為了自二戰(zhàn)以來(lái)死傷最為嚴(yán)重的沖突，而這卻從未成為媒體的頭條。對(duì)于母親們來(lái)說(shuō)，這些傷亡人員就是丈夫、兒子、女兒和父母。

母親們希望自己的兒女能夠賴以成長(zhǎng)的村莊慘遭暴力吞噬。她們用心栽種期望豐收的糧食慘遭竊取。這些自給自足的農(nóng)民大多希望把土地傳給子孫后代，而這些土地卻慘遭掠奪和焚毀。局勢(shì)動(dòng)蕩不安，百姓命途乖蹇，母親們只能生活在聯(lián)合國(guó)最大規(guī)模的維和任務(wù)庇護(hù)之中。

當(dāng)我在今年八月進(jìn)入首個(gè)剛果國(guó)內(nèi)轉(zhuǎn)移人員營(yíng)地（IDP）時(shí)，單單是里面孩童的數(shù)目就把我嚇了一跳。所有年齡層的孩子都有——在我視線所及的每一處。

據(jù)眾人所述，在所有的前線地區(qū)，這個(gè)地域周圍的正式與非正式的IDP營(yíng)地都超出負(fù)荷。剛果世援社教會(huì)動(dòng)員組主管馬塞爾·塞雷邦戈描述了這種情況：

“IDP營(yíng)地每天都在遷移。人們苦不堪言，因?yàn)檗D(zhuǎn)移的人中包括了沒(méi)有足夠氣力背負(fù)孩子以及部分隨身物品的父母，這些人多日來(lái)都沒(méi)吃過(guò)東西，他們的孩子也很虛弱。婦女和兒童不堪一擊，往往被惡勢(shì)力盯上。他們?cè)谧约旱拇遄永锘畹孟衽`一樣，無(wú)緣無(wú)故就被毆打，投進(jìn)監(jiān)獄，為武裝分子扛裝備，繳納各種苛捐雜稅?！?/p>

那就是梅莎·埃斯佩蘭斯的故事。一年前，她與家人從魯丘魯?shù)貐^(qū)逃了出來(lái)。槍聲整晚都彌漫在他們的村子里，迫使她和家人在暗夜中匆忙逃命。在黑夜的掩護(hù)下，這場(chǎng)徒步逃亡歷時(shí)三天。他們從一個(gè)村莊逃到另一個(gè)村莊，沒(méi)有被人發(fā)現(xiàn)；他們安頓好最年幼的孩子，但又不得不為最起碼的一餐搜集水和食物。

就在這個(gè)過(guò)度擁擠的IDP營(yíng)地里，梅莎·埃斯佩蘭斯向我講述了她如何到樹(shù)林里收集柴火的事。對(duì)于她，以及其他許多收集樹(shù)枝的人來(lái)說(shuō)，這是件危險(xiǎn)的活兒。勇敢的婦女走進(jìn)樹(shù)林里收集柴火。要將外殼堅(jiān)硬的剛果紅豆煮熟可能需要多達(dá)三分之一捆的木柴。民兵男子知道這些進(jìn)入樹(shù)林的必要之旅，他們就等著婦女們的到來(lái)。強(qiáng)暴，正如這里的說(shuō)法所述，要比子彈廉價(jià)。在非洲的這個(gè)地區(qū)，妻子和母親被視作社區(qū)之美——家的心臟。要是你能毀掉這個(gè)心臟，你就能毀掉整個(gè)社區(qū)。

我問(wèn)梅莎我能否為她和她的孩子祈禱?！爱?dāng)然可以，”她說(shuō)道，她的眼睛第一次直視我。然后，沒(méi)有辯解和猶豫，她說(shuō)道：“替我祈禱，希望我在掙扎中擁有力量。我需要用以支持我的家人和其他人的力量。我感覺(jué)孤單。我沒(méi)有能為我說(shuō)話的人。”這就是她唯一的請(qǐng)求，而這發(fā)自真心。

很明顯，戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)地區(qū)的母親與來(lái)自華盛頓特區(qū)、洛杉磯、底特律、密爾沃基或者巴爾的摩的母親其實(shí)并無(wú)二致。婦女和兒童在這里遭受了難以言喻的痛苦，然而，他們卻滿載勇氣，驅(qū)使他們每天前進(jìn)，將被人剝奪的尊嚴(yán)和支配權(quán)奪回來(lái)。她們尋找食物、她們生兒育女、她們洗衣服，她們從傷痛中治愈，她們創(chuàng)業(yè)營(yíng)生，她們盡己所能讓孩子接受教育。除此之外，她們將安慰和力量傳達(dá)給身邊的人。

就像哥譚市的虛構(gòu)市民一樣，剛果的草根母親渴望生活在和平之中。正是這些每天活在流離失所和動(dòng)蕩當(dāng)中的母親肩負(fù)著剛果的未來(lái)。面對(duì)著這些勇敢的人，我看到了她們的希望，而我的心中則記下了一位積極母親的力量。一位滿懷生存勇氣的女子是幾近無(wú)可阻擋的。

像極了一個(gè)超級(jí)英雄。