Synopses & Reviews
International human rights activist Lisa Shannon spent many afternoons at the kitchen table having tea with her friend Francisca Thelin, who often spoke of her childhood in Congo. Thelin would conjure vivid images of lush flower gardens, fish the size of small children, and of children running barefoot through her familyand#8217;s coffee plantation, gorging on fruit from the robust and plentiful mango trees. She urged Shannon to visit her family in Dungu, to get a taste of
real Congo,
peaceful Congo; a place so different than the conflict-ravaged places Shannon knew from her activism work.
But then the nightly phone calls from Congo began: static-filled, hasty reports from Franciscaand#8217;s mother, and#147;Mama Koko,and#8221; of gunmenand#151;Joseph Konyand#8217;s Lordand#8217;s Resistance Armyand#151; who had infested Dungu and began launching attacks. Night after night for a year, Mama Koko delivered the devastating news of Fransiscaand#8217;s cousins, nieces, nephews, friends, and neighbors, who had been killed, abducted, burned alive on Christmas Day.
In an unlikely journey, Shannon and Thelin decided to travel from Portland, Oregon to Dungu, to witness first-hand the devastation unfolding at Joseph Konyand#8217;s hands. Masquerading as Franciscaand#8217;s American sister-in-law, Shannon tucked herself into Mama Kokoand#8217;s raw cement living room and listened to the stories of Mama Koko and her husband, Papa Alexanderand#151;as well as those from dozens of other friends and neighbors (and#147;Mama Kokoand#8217;s War Tribunaland#8221;)and#151;who lined up outside the house and waited for hours, eager to offer their testimony.
In Mama Koko and the Hundred Gunmen, Shannon weaves together the familyand#8217;s tragic stories of LRA encounters with tales from the familyand#8217;s history: we hear of Mama Kokoand#8217;s early life as a gap-toothed beauty plotting to escape her inevitable fate of wife and motherhood; Papa Alexanderand#8217;s empire of wives he married because they cooked and cleaned and made good coffee; and Franciscaand#8217;s childhood at the family and#147;castleand#8221; and coffee plantation. These lively stories transport Shannon from the chaos of the violence around her and bring to life Fransiscaand#8217;s kitchen-table stories of the peaceful Congo.
Yet, as the LRA camp out on the edge of town grew, tensions inside the house reach a fever pitch and Shannon and Thelinand#8217;s friendship was fiercely tested. Shannon was forced to confront her limitations as an activist and reconcile her vision of what it means to affect meaningful change in the lives of others.
Mama Koko and the Hundred Gunmen is at once an illuminating piece of storytelling and an exploration of what it means to truly make a difference. It is an exquisite testimony to the beauty of human connection and the strength of the human spirit in times of unimaginable tragedy.
About the Author
Lisa J. Shannon is a human rights activist, writer, speaker, and author of the acclaimed book A Thousand Sisters. She is the founder of Run for Congo Women, the first national grassroots campaign in the US working to raise awareness of the forgotten humanitarian crisis in Congo, and has spearheaded many other major media and human rights campaigns for Congo and Somalia. She lives in Portland, Oregon.