Pastor Sosthene Muzenende Kubisa will visit Gustavus Adolphus College to give a lecture titled “When Peace Conquers War: Experience of the Democratic Republic of the Congo” at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, April 9 in Confer Hall 127.
The founder of an African non-governmental organization called Laissez l’Afique Vivre (Let Africa Life), Kubisa has worked closely with 2018 Nobel Peace Prize winner Dr. Denis Mukwege to help those affected by civil unrest and violence in the DRC.
“Our speaker has been engaged for many years now in social justice activism that brings about meaningful changes in the lives of people of the Democratic Republic of the Congo,” Gustavus African Studies program director and French professor Paschal Kyoore said. “We want to highlight how peaceful approaches to conflict prevail over discourses of violence, and also bring about social justice.”
Headquartered in Bukavu, DRC, Laissez l’Afrique Vivre provides job skills training and psychosocial support to former child soldiers and women who were victims of violence and sexual abuse. It was through this work that Kubisa was connected with Mukwege, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize along with Nadia Murad “for their efforts to end the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war.”
Kubisa’s lecture will focus on the continuing efforts for peace in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and include stories of his work. The lecture is sponsored by the Gustavus African Studies Program and will also make a personal between Kubisa’s peacemaking work and his personal life – his daughters, Ingrid and Reidun, are current Gustavus students.
Tuesday’s lecture is free and open to the public.
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