In 2007, Andrea arrived in the United States from the Democratic Republic of Congo with two young daughters and pregnant with a third child. She was fleeing brutal political upheaval and seeking asylum in the United States. Her husband’s association with the recently overthrown Congolese government put her at significant risk anywhere in Africa. When she didn’t hear from him for several years, she assumed he had been killed in a bloody conflict that took approximately 800,000 lives in the Congo.
Andrea was 20 when she married Damian, an architect for the palace in the Congolese capital of Kinshasa. Within a year of their marriage, rebel leader Laurent Kabila began the First Congo War by overthrowing president Mobutu Sese Seko. Mobuto fled to Morocco with his family and government workers including Damian. In Morocco, Damian was unable to contact Andrea. Because Kabila’s rebel forces assumed anyone who worked for the government had money, Andrea was in grave danger. She was discovered by the rebel forces and brutally raped. She fled to her uncle’s house where she was again confronted by the rebels and raped. She then fled to her father’s country house where her mere presence put everyone at risk. For the next couple of years, she rarely left her home.
