ArtHum - Artists for Humanity

by Bérengère Cortade

Artists for Humanity was created on December 19, 1999 in Uvira, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the former Zaire. This registered non-profit association set itself the objective of contributing to the safeguard of humanity through the development of cultural and artistic potentials. This approach answered a pressing need of the population, mainly composed of Zairean, Rwandan and Burundian refugees; a population torn and devastated by the 'Liberation Wars' of the neighbouring countries and internal guerillas.

"The Zairean population in general and the one from the Eastern region in particular was in a state of psychosis due to the authorities' neglect of the underprivileged and to the threatening opposition that was growing against the regime of the late President Mobutu.[...] To have an idea is one thing, to put it into practice is another. It wasn't easy to begin activities in an insecure climate, with guns firing and bombs exploding in the background, where suspicion was enough to loose your life or your entire family. Only politics and the military worked at heightening the population's awareness of causes in relationship with their 'revolutions', and any initiatives within the civil society was considered as undermining the security of their movements", remembers Dieudonné Amisi Mutambala, founder and director of ArtHum.

ArtHum undertakes several actions to help the people of the eastern region of the DRC including assistance to cultural initiatives, fight against intolerances, and civic education. All aim at developing the human potentials in order to reach mutual tolerance, reconciliation, and to live peacefully together once again.

The stakes are high, even more so as support from the government or other national associations seems impossible. Mr Amisi Mutambala explains that the situation is:

"[...] a question of 'survival'. Have [the] components [of the government], or the supervisory ministries for the issues relative to the non-profit associations, time to deal with what happens in a little organisation like ArtHum? Certainly [...] not. The political context hasn't changed that much for an improvement to be seen in regards to a rapprochement between the political and the civil society working in the field."

To complicate the situation even more, "the non-profit organisations having become the main preoccupation of the unemployed in the eastern region, and more specifically in the South Kivu, they proliferate and are, in most cases, subject to the paternalism, characteristic of most of the outside intervening parties, and to the patronizing of the local ones.[...] Lastly, the judgement that one or the other could have on our activities depends on the angle under which they regard the association. Is it in their interest to know what we are doing? Do they feel concerned with the problems we want to solve with the communities? Have they the time to immerse themselves in the situation and to recognise the hurdles against auto-determination and economic takeoff? Lots of aspects determine the perception that the government and the other associations have of us. It varies and is in relationship with their perceptions and interests.", continues the director of the association.

However, ArtHum greatly needs support:

"Our needs are so enormous that one doesn't know where to begin", explains Mr Amisi Mutambala. "The contribution to ArtHum's evolution is mostly made in terms of ideas, time, and energy from the majority of the members. That means they bring in constructive and reforming ideas for the association and physically participate in ArtHum's work." Every staff member is a volunteer.

Although some partnerships are created with some international organisations, like Pole Institute or Peace Direct, these partnerships are informal and are limited to exchange of information. The partnership with RESPECT, though, is productive for both entities:

"As far as RESPECT activities in the DRC are concerned, ArtHum [who has an official mandate to represent RESPECT in the DRC] gets mainly involved in the spreading of information regarding the programme, in the schools' affiliation, and in the supervision of the correspondence of school-aged refugees. We are hoping that the next steps will follow once these children have received answers from their friends in North America. However, we notice a slowness in these activities, mainly due to our lack of transport - ArtHum owns only a motorcycle as a running means of transport. [...] Sometimes, we feel pinned down and not able to carry out our intentions of bringing the programme to other areas where refugee children are."

On the other hand, RESPECT lends the Congolese association its technical support. One of the expectations of ArtHum was some help for the creation of an internet website. RESPECT found in its network of volunteers someone for that work, and the ArtHum website has just been launched. Today, ArtHum's director explains that the association has a pressing need for equipment and financial resources, and counts on RESPECT to "[serve as] a relay for other international NGOs having project work with Congolese associations or having a similar view as ours. Such news would be received with wide open arms by ArtHum."

For more information regarding ArtHum, please visit their website at www.romero-online.com/respect/arthum.