Our crew has safely returned from the Congo, and no doubt lives were changed forever. One of our lovely pr advisers had worked with Sienna Miller a couple of years ago and felt strongly that she would be interested in the work that Children Mending Hearts were doing in Congo. We asked Sienna to attend our fundraiser in February but Sienna was in England and unable to join us. Her agent did attend the fundraiser at the House of Blues and had been moved to tears, obviously touched by what he had seen and heard. A few days later we met with Sienna. I must admit I felt a little trepidation, as when folks in the entertainment industry express a desire to get involved, I assume there is some unforeseen agenda at play. I guess, because my husband and his partner are so entrenched in the industry, I have become slightly jaded and alternately suspicious.

When I met with Sienna, I was instantly at ease and happily proven wrong. Her passion and desire to help were so transparently honest and from the heart. I was pleasantly surprised to learn about all the incredible charity work she has done, from England’s version of Make A Wish, to an awe inspiring project in Mumbai. Sadly, the media don’t tend to include such accomplishments in their diatribes.

What most touched me was that Sienna wanted to get on a plane and go find out for herself, to travel, without question, to one of the most heinous and dangerous places in the world for a woman to be at this moment. She was ready to buy a ticket, no questions asked. She wanted to help. She wanted to educate herself so she could speak with knowledge, alternately raising awareness to those in need.

Sienna was doggedly determined. We just had to find a way to get her into Congo – safely and quickly. I was not able to go on this trip as I had just returned from Congo, am in the middle of writing my masters thesis, working on my next trip, and most importantly, I could not leave the two little girls who call me mom and hop on a plane so soon after my last trip.

We came up with a couple of different NGOs that could get her there and after some research, we decided on the International Medical Corps. I had visited a couple of their clinics during my last trip, and coincidentally the timing would work out perfectly. Additionally, my husband Grant and I had highlighted the IMC at our last event. We arranged for Sienna to meet with the IMC, thus began her journey.

David Serota and I then met with my pals at TakePart as we thought it would be nice to do a video looking through a woman’s eyes. We wanted to capture her perspective while in Congo, where in some villages, two out of every three woman are raped and tortured. David’s outline was brilliant and TakePart, as usual, was supportive and enthusiastic.

We then decided to have Sienna hand out Children Mending Heart’s T-shirts to the children in the camps. This was immensely important to me as the children in Congo designed the shirts during my last trip and to have them have a clean shirt that they actually designed so touched my heart.

Please forgive me if I get so worked up over a T-shirt as I am acutely aware that my feeble attempts to bring some joy to these children will not solve the bigger problem. But if I can just make one child smile or laugh or feel some modicum of hope, then my job is done.

Although it’s vitally important to throw money at the problem, it’s equally crucial to throw advocacy and support to the solution. It’s about creating the infrastructure and addressing the all too important conflict minerals, which in my opinion is the real Mcguffin. I thank my friend John Prendergast for educating and calling me to action on behalf of conflict minerals. Every time I pick up my cell phone, I suddenly feel an uncomfortable lump rise in my throat.

Thank you all for your amazing support and good wishes and please get busy with our new campaign “Please Mr. President’. We will be traveling to eight cites in the US to hold workshops with homeless children, ending in Congo. Get on the Peace Train, and let us know if you would like us to visit your hometown.

Peace,
Lysa Heslov

(Images courtesy of Dokument Films)

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