Congo Swim is a global collective action to raise awareness about the deadliest conflict in the world since World War II while garnering support for Congolese women and youth who are waging a courageous battle for peace, justice and human dignity in the Congo.
People of all ages and abilities are registering to swim or host a party in a location of their choice on or before August 25, 2013 with proceeds going to benefit Congolese women and youth led groups receiving grants from the Global Fund for Women and Friends of the Congo, as well as the USA Swimming Foundation's Make a Splash initiative to prevent children from drowning in the US.
Keris Dahlkamp, the founder of Congo Swim will be striving to swim the 22 mile length of Lake Tahoe which he expects will take him 12 hours. Speaking of the Crisis in the Congo, Keris says "If it were my wife, mother or daughter being violated, I would hope that those who could do something, would do something. We must launch out into the deep. Join me."
Coco Ramazani, a survivor of extreme sexual violence in the Congo whose story is told in Tell This To My Mother, will join Keris along with Charles Chapman, the first African-American to swim the English Channel, and other swimmers for a ceremony to mark the true price paid in the international scramble for Congo's spectacular natural wealth. Coco says "It is too painful to imagine that all that has happened to me in Congo is happening to other women and children right now. For this reason, I decided to break my silence about the rapes, my HIV status, and the post-traumatic stress disorder."
