Henri's Story

"My team and I were notified of a group of 700 militia, 475 from the notorious Mai Mai gang, who wanted to come out of jungle hiding places and lay down their weapons. For us this was exciting news; a rare opportunity to demobilize a gang renowned for widespread looting, harassment and rape. At the same time we knew any intervention would involve putting ourselves at huge personal danger in a highly volatile situation.

We decided we had to take the risk. Whatever the challenges ahead the potential for change was too great for us to ignore.

The militia didn’t take well to our visit. They accused us of a conspiracy with the Congolese army to have them arrested. The atmosphere was extremely tense. I explained that we had come in peace. That we wanted to help them get safe passage out of the jungle and support their reintegration into the community. We offered them time to think about our proposition and arranged to meet the following Monday at an agreed point.

On Monday no one showed. We waited nervously for another three days not knowing what was going on deeper in the jungle. By Friday we decided it was time to return home but as we left we found 38 militia men waiting out on the road for us. They were scared but wanted to find out more, curious about our persistence in wanting to talk to them. After we established a degree of trust, they asked us not to leave and promised to come back on Saturday with more militia who wanted to leave the jungle.

On Saturday 100 militia members turned up. We spent two days with them building trust and hearing their testimonies. We heard many horror stories about their life in the jungle, they had real fear in their eyes; haunted by the past and terrified about the future.

We’ve since helped reintegrate them into the Congolese national army and are working to build relationships between them and the local community they once terrorized."

Apply it »

Henri took a huge risk in going to the jungle and talking to this notorious militia gang but his bravery generated amazing results. Though we don’t advocate taking physical risks, making peace does involve taking emotional risks. Reach out. Pick up the phone, send that e-mail. Just do it. Use the Make Your Peace e-card. There will never be a perfect moment. And if you speak from your heart about what you feel, you lose nothing. And may gain something priceless.

Henri's Peacebuilder page »
Support Henri – donate now »

Return to the Peacebuilders' Toolkit »