Community creates pottery for Panzi Foundation

“In all of the 200 languages spoken, the Democratic Republic of Congo didn’t even have a word for rape. Then the war started.” 

These are the words displayed prominently on the Panzi Foundation’s website, a non-profit organization dedicated to improving the lives of women and children in the Eastern region of the DRC. This area has been ravaged by years of conflict and war, resulting in widespread sexual violence against women and children.

For senior Benita Manzengo, this cause hits close to home. She grew up in the DRC but in the West, far from the conflict and war; however, she has always been aware of the suffering and violence happening in the East of her country.

“As we grew up, it was such a present thing in our society but still very distant because I was living in Western DRC, and that was happening in Eastern DRC,” Manzengo said. “There’s that connection, but at the same time, there’s a distance. Then, with the years, you kind of get used to it. That just becomes the status quo because that’s all that you’ve heard about that specific area of the country.”

As she got older and learned more about the situation, Manzengo said she realized this violence was not just a distant issue but one that affected her own people and could have easily affected her if she had been born in a different part of the country.

“I grew to have less of a distant history of what is happening and more of a very personal reality of what is happening to my people, to girls like me. If I was just born further east, that could have been me,” Manzengo said.

This realization led Manzengo to take action. It was then that she came across the Panzi Foundation and made the decision to become an ambassador for their cause.

Having majors in both art and government, Manzengo saw an opportunity to use her interests and skills for a greater cause. With the help of Augustana’s ceramics professor Molly Uravitch, Manzengo has planned a fundraiser centered around creating and selling ceramic pieces in support of the Panzi Foundation.

The Panzi foundation was founded by Dr. Denis Mukwege, a renowned gynecologist and human rights activist who has been advocating for the rights of women in the DRC for over two decades. The foundation provides comprehensive care and support to survivors of sexual violence, including medical treatment, psychological support, legal assistance and economic empowerment programs. 

According to UNICEF, DRC had the world’s highest levels of verified cases of sexual violence against woman and children committed by armed forces and armed groups in 2021, 2022 and 2023.

“The women in Eastern DRC have been so used to the sexual violence as a result of the conflict that when a daughter would tell her mother that she was assaulted, it would just be like this ritualized thing where there’s not much she can do,” Manzengo said. “It’s a very sad situation when the mother has experienced it, and her mother and now her daughter. There is this sense of, maybe not normalcy, but that that just is the way it is.”

Manzengo finds a particular interest in Panzi’s use of mobile courts.

“So if a woman says, ‘I want justice served,’ and she’s from a very remote area where there aren’t necessarily courts and stuff like that, Panzi will hire people and bring the courts to that remote space in the village to ensure that she gets the justice that she needs,” Manzengo said. “I think it’s such incredible work and such intentional attention to justice.”

The Panzi Foundation also works towards addressing the root causes of sexual violence by advocating for political and social change in the DRC. The foundation strives to create a future where the cycle of violence and conflict is broken, and women are empowered to live fulfilling and safe lives.

After becoming an ambassador for Panzi, Manzengo approached Uravitch with the idea of using the university’s facilities to create artwork to sell and raise funds for the foundation. 

“Benita was a student of mine, and she first came to me and asked if she could use the facilities to make some artwork in order to have a ceramic sale in support of the Panzi Foundation,” Uravitch said. “And so in dialoguing with her about what this cause was, I thought that this was a really important cause.”

Uravitch said she was immediately on board and, together, Uravitch and Manzengo organized a “making day workshop” on Jan. 20 and a “glazing day workshop” on March 23, where students and community members came together to create ceramic pieces that would be sold to support the cause. As a team, they enlisted the help of other ceramics majors and minors, as well as students from the African Student Union, to create pieces for the sale.

For junior Mattie Tschetter, an art BFA student with a ceramics emphasis, being a part of this fundraiser has been a rewarding experience.

“I think it’s really cool that [Manzengo] had this idea and was able to come to [Uravitch] and kind of sprout it into this big thing to help with Panzi and the fundraising,” Tschetter said. “It’s really cool how at Augie we can just get things done and rather than throw ideas around, this actually came to be pretty quickly.”

Uravitch said she is excited about the impact this fundraiser can have not only for the Panzi Foundation but also for her students and the campus community. 

“As a new faculty member, this is my first big project that I’ve been involved in creating, which gets me more involved with the entire student body,” Uravitch said. “Over in ceramics, I kind of feel like I’m on the edge of campus and don’t get out much. So this will be a great way to network, meet more people, connect with students and get them excited about ceramics.”

Uravitch said she is looking forward to expanding this concept into the future, using the success of this sale as a launching point.

“We hope to continue to have ceramic sales every year,” Uravitch said. “Whether it’s foundation based work or for the costs associated with the ceramics studio. Next year, we want to try and raise money for some of our majors to go to a ceramics conference, which is going to be in Utah.”

The sale will feature a variety of ceramic pieces with prices ranging from $2-25, as well as a silent auction of large vases with bidding starting at $5. In addition, raffle tickets will be available for purchase at $2 each, with a chance to win artwork made by Uravitch.

The sale is scheduled for April 23 and 24, beginning at 10 a.m. and ending at 5 p.m., on the first floor of the Morrison Commons.

“I think the most rewarding part of this process, for me personally, is just taking myself from the girl from Western DRC who didn’t necessarily understand the realities of the East of my country to this growth and this change in my perception of the conflict,” Manzengo said. 

Manzengo said the development in her understanding of the conflict resulted in part from growing up and becoming a woman herself. 

“Going from this kind of normalization of the conflict to being involved and making at least the smallest contribution to changing the lives of people back home, back in my country, I think is the most rewarding for me,” Manzengo said.