Just over a year ago, Canadian rock band Sum 41 accompanied War Child Canada President, Dr. Eric Hoskins, and Executive Director, Dr. Samantha Nutt, to the eastern region of the Democratic Republic of Congo. The goal was to film a documentary for Canadian youth that examines the devastating impact of the country's longstanding civil war on Congolese children - a war that has killed approximately 3 million people. The result was an emergency evacuation from the country by the UN, and a documentary that offers Canadian youth a close up view of the effects this war has had, and continues to have, on the Congolese people.
During their ten-day trip, the band members met with former child soldiers, girls who had been raped by soldiers and rebel fighters, UN and aid agency officials, and many other Congolese victims of war. A sudden and unexpected outbreak of violence between government soldiers and troops loyal to a renegade commander forced their much-publicized evacuation from the Congo, led by Canadian peacekeeper Chuck Pelletier, the namesake of the grateful band's most recent release.
"We went to Congo to show people what war is like, how harmful it is to civilians, and we ended up becoming war-affected ourselves", said Steve Jocz, the band's drummer. Deryck Whibley, Sum 41's lead singer, added, "Our being there, hearing the bullets around us, the mortar fire, the injured being brought in for medical treatment, it reinforced our belief that more must be done to prevent war and protect innocent civilians."
"The war in the Congo is one the world's worst humanitarian disasters" said Dr Eric Hoskins, President of War Child Canada and Executive Producer of Rocked. "Sum 41 went to the region with the intention of galvanizing public attention and support for the Congolese people, and in the process were caught in the crossfire of war themselves. But this isn't a documentary about a rock band from Ajax, Ontario, dodging bullets. It is the story of how we are all complicit in the Congo's brutal war - a war that has left more than 3 million people dead. It is also the story of what we need to do as global citizens -and as Canadians - in order to help bring an end to this senseless tragedy."
If you haven't seen it yet, or have yet to see it. Go get it when it comes out. Just in time for Christmas.
