Wednesday Recap

“Oooh, we’re halfway there!” Literally.
As we’re sitting on the bus this morning on our way to the YMCA with Bon Jovi blaring through the speakers, we are taking the time to reflect on the presentation Janice Kaminir-Reznick gave us last night. She is a representative of Jewish World Watch, an organization designed to educate, advocate, and provide relief for genocides occurring around the world. She taught us a lot about the conflict minerals and the horrible situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo. We were shocked to hear the extensive crimes, particularly the brutal gang raping of Congonese females as young as five years old. It was especially moving and touching to hear one woman’s personal story about how she was raped by five different men in front of her children and then had to escape from her burning home.
The presentation was last night after three days of strenuous service and volunteer work. It’s remarkable that after three days’ hard work, we saw the Boys & Girls Club of Santa Monica transformed. Yet later that night, we heard about problems and situations that desperately need our attention. It just goes to show you that no matter how much time and effort you put in at one place, there is still so much more to be done. Ms. Kaminir-Reznick provided us pamphlets and fliers with information about where to go next and what we can do. Anyone can contribute their time to help make the world a better place.

Jennie Brill and Lili Sajecki