Look To The Stars News: International Medical Corps

See Sienna Miller's Congo Documentary

Thu, 15 Oct 2009 13:00:00 -0000

Actress Sienna Miller was a guest on David Letterman’s show earlier this week and talked about her trip to the Congo that she made earlier this year.

During the trip – which she made with International Medical Corps – Miller made a short documentary about the situation in the country, where over 5.5 million people have been killed since 1998. The documentary focuses on the horrors experienced by women in the country at the hands of soldiers, who use rape as a weapon of war.

To view the documentary, visit TakePart.org. The site also tells you how you can help stop the war in the Congo by supporting relief work and ceasing the trade of minerals mined in the country.

Sienna Miller Traumatized By The Horrors Of The Congo

Fri, 31 Jul 2009 14:00:00 -0000

Written by Tim Saunders

Actress Sienna Miller is still haunted by memory of a rape victim she met while visiting the Congo earlier this year.

The actress was in the Congo in May with the International Medical Corps to raise awareness of the violence and struggle of the people living there, and according to Nylon Magazine she is still traumatized after meeting a gang rape victim who was violated by the butt of a rifle.

“I was just looking into her eyes, and she was utterly broken,” she said in an interview. “How can you have hope? She had been raped by men with the butt of a rifle. Her whole stomach had been split open, and I saw it. She was scarred all the way down.”

The woman was raped so brutally she will have to use a colostomy bag for the rest of her life.

Read more about Sienna Miller’s experiences in the Congo here.

Sienna Miller Raises Awareness From The Congo

Wed, 29 Apr 2009 15:00:00 -0000

Written by Tim Saunders

Actress Sienna Miller is currently in the Congo, on a mission to raise awareness of the violence and struggle of the people living there with the International Medical Corps, and is blogging about her experiences every day.

“I guess it’s important to clarify why I’m here,” she wrote yesterday, on the second day of her trip. “International Medical Corps is an incredible organization that is providing healthcare and support to people in dire need. I met with them in Los Angeles two months ago and they approached me to see if and how I could help in anyway. They desperately need funding and general awareness raised both for the organization, and for all the projects they are involved with. If my involvement in any way could contribute to either then I was more than happy to be involved. My one request was that if we were going to start working together, it was imperative, that I see and experience what is going on first hand….So here I am.”

Miller will spend much of her time in the country meeting with aid agencies and the people they work with, witnessing firsthand the attrocities many of them face.

“Today we went into the camps. It’s incredibly difficult to put down in writing what I saw and how I subsequently feel. I met so many courageous people: victims of brutal rape, mothers of children dying of starvation, and the children themselves. If a woman is married and raped here, most of the time her husband will leave her immediately. If she was too young to be married when raped, she will probably never have the chance to be married at all. It is brutal in every sense of the word.

“One woman recounted her story to me. She is twenty five years old, and was gang-raped five months ago. It is difficult to hear, but important to know that when women are raped it is sometimes not only by men, but by objects ranging from broken bottles and knives, to the butts of very large rifles. As a result of her experience, this woman will wear a colostomy bag for the rest of her life. I saw the scars, and the bag, and I can honestly say that it is one of the most harrowing images I will ever come across. A woman is raped here every eight minutes. This one, for better or worse, survived.

“The work being done is overwhelming, the problem so huge. The wards are constructed under makeshift tents and the drugs are constantly running out. No matter how many photos or documentaries we watch, nothing can compare to the experience of being in those camps. The smell alone is unforgettable. But the people smile, and the looks on their faces when they hear that we are trying to try and help is one of hope. That is often all they have.”

Miller’s blogs from the field are brutal and honest, and show the human face of the everyday tragidies that occur there – where over 45,000 die every month as a result of the conflicts.

“After the camps, we visited Virunga Hospital that caters towards seriously malnourished children. Some are skeletal, others are in an even worse state, their skin bloated to such a severe degree that it is bursting and ripping from their bodies. I have a ten-month old niece who I cherish and adore and who is bigger than a four-year-old child I met today. It is not however all completely depressing. This particular hospital has a 98% success rate, but the numbers of new admissions are growing and there are just not enough resources here to help everyone In need.

“I am back at the hotel contemplating the amount of food I have thrown away in my life. And the things, fundamental things in life that I absolutely take for granted. I’m sorry this blog is so doom and gloom. I’m searching my head for a funny anecdote to finish on, but not having much luck. Be grateful, be happy. If you are reading this on a computer, take a minute to realize how lucky you are. We are all so so blessed… over and out.”

To follow Miller’s accounts of traveling through the Congo, visit the TakePart website.

Have Your Favorite Star Record Your Voicemail Message

Tue, 24 Feb 2009 13:00:00 -0000

Written by Tim Saunders

Now is your chance to bid on a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to have a celebrity record your outgoing voicemail message – with proceeds going to charity.

A range of stars have put their voicemail recording talents under the hammer for this very special charity auction, including Ben Affleck, Robin Williams, Cindy Crawford, Billy Crystal, Joe Mantegna, Isla Fisher, Courteney Cox, David Arquette, Sacha Baron Cohen, Felicity Huffman, Jennifer Garner and many more.

Proceeds from the auction will go to the International Medical Corps and their work in supporting the women and children victimized by war in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The Democratic Republic of Congo has suffered 20 years of continuous fighting which has led to an estimated 5.4 million deaths.

The auction follows the star-studded event held last week honoring the organization.

To take part in the auction – powered by AuctionCause and ending very soon – visit eBay Giving Works.

Stars Come Out For The Congo

Fri, 20 Feb 2009 15:00:00 -0000

Written by Crystal A. Johnson

On Wednesday, February 18, the stars came out to join Children Mending Hearts for an event honoring International Medical Corps for their dedication in supporting the women and children victimized by war in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

The event was hosted by writer/producer Grant Heslov – of “Good Night and Good Luck” – and his wife Lysa at the House of Blues on Sunset Blvd. With Oscar week at a fever pitch, the A-list crowd was in town to support a good cause and listen to the musical styling of Sheryl Crow. Anderson Cooper was also honored for his work

In attendance for the event were Alyssa Milano – looking stunning in red satin – Ben Affleck, Joel Madden, Hank Azaria and many others.

When asked about his show of support for the event, Affleck replied: “I am involved because I spent some time with the international medical corps in the refugee camps they work in Goma and North Kebo which is in the Eastern Congo as well as a little bit in Uganda, Tanzania and Sudan. I got a chance to see what their work was like…I have personally seen them save lives and I was so struck by it that the least I could do was come to a party.”

The Democratic Republic of Congo has suffered 20 years of continuous fighting which has led to an estimated 5.4 million deaths. Lysa Heslov, has personally traveled the DR Congo in January of 2009. She filmed her efforts to raise awareness.

While on the red carpet, actor Hank Azaria admitted that events like this one help to raise awareness for him.

Actress Andie MacDowell was also in attendance and shared her thoughts with The Associated Press: “I want to participate in education and teaching people about what’s happening in the Congo, because I think unfortunately we don’t know. And I think knowledge is everything and once people understand what’s happening and start voicing their opinions about what’s happening – to women particularly in the Congo, about all these women being raped – we can make a change. People are powerful.”

Ben Affleck To Address Celebrities At Charity Event

Tue, 17 Feb 2009 15:00:00 -0000

Written by Tim Saunders

This Wednesday, February 18, will see some of Hollywood’s biggest stars turn out at the House of Blues in Los Angeles to honor International Medical Corps (IMC) and support its life-saving work in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Expected to attend the event are George Clooney, Jennifer Aniston, Kevin Spacey, Diane Keaton, Felicity Huffman, Forest Whitaker, Tobey Maguire, Kate Walsh, Heather Graham and Brooke Shields, with entertainment to be provided by Sheryl Crow.

The evening is to be hosted by writer/producer Grant Heslov (“Good Night & Good Luck”) and his wife Lysa, who founded the arts exchange organization, Children Mending Hearts, and traveled to IMC’s programs in the Congo last month. A special humanitarian award will be presented to CNN’s Anderson Cooper for his reporting in Africa.

Featured speaker at the event will be Ben Affleck, who has made several trips to the Congo and this week published an article he wrote about his experiences in TIME Magazine.

“I’ve been traveling to Congo since 2007,” he wrote in the article, titled A Glimmer Of Hope In Africa. “The picture of the eastern region of the Democratic Republic of Congo has grown tragically familiar: a region with great natural wealth, riven by war, racked with hunger and traumatized by a long history of colonial abuse, postcolonial kleptocracy and plunder. In the past 10 years alone, millions have died here, and more die each day as a result of the conflict. Most die not from war wounds but from starvation or disease. A lack of infrastructure means there is little medical care in the cities and none in rural communities, so any infection can be a death sentence. The most vulnerable suffer the worst. One in five children in Congo will die before reaching the age of 5 — and will do so out of sight of the world, in places that camera crews cannot reach, deep in a vast landscape and concealed under a canopy of bucolic jungle.”

Established in 1984, International Medical Corps is a global, humanitarian, nonprofit organization dedicated to saving lives and relieving suffering through health care training and relief and development programs.

Look To The Stars News: International Medical Corps

See Sienna Miller's Congo Documentary

Related past articles

Sienna Miller Traumatized By The Horrors Of The Congo

Related past articles

Sienna Miller Raises Awareness From The Congo

Related past articles

Have Your Favorite Star Record Your Voicemail Message

Related past articles

Stars Come Out For The Congo

Related past articles

Ben Affleck To Address Celebrities At Charity Event

Related past articles