the doctor

t h e   d o c t o r

Doctor Denis Mukwege would be one of our houseguests of honour and in this old colonial mansion house. We would would wash his feet morning and night and all feel incredibly inadequate in his company, feeding him mangoes all day long in one of our colonial dining rooms we would sit waiting with baited breath to hear one of his inspirational real life stories of survival.

After founding the Panzi Hospital in 1999, Mukwege was increasingly being confronted with the horrors of the sexual violence that were being used as a weapon of war in the region: countless of women, genitally and sexually mutilated by armed militia asked for his help. Dr Mukwege was profoundly touched and agonised over what he witnessed, decided at that point, to dedicate his life to the recovery of the survivors of rape in Bukavu. Almost 20 years later, the Panzi hospital has become a reference for the physical, psychological and social recovery of women and girls who have been sexually mutilated.