Pomegranates thrive in warm environments that are tropical, airy, and carefree. The pomegranate has a leathery rough exterior that cannot be eaten. However, when you peel away the skin, an abundance of delicious seeds are waiting inside. This is how the eldest daughter is composed on the outside to themselves only. No one has peeled away the entire skin yet because she hasn't let them. The eldest daughter does not allow themselves to feel joy among their loved ones because they do not feel as if they deserve it. It might be a psychological aspect or something that has been ingrained by their environment at a young age but there always seems to be a hole occupying their heart. It always has a reason. Be better. Be better. Be better. BEBETTERBEBETTERBEBETTERBEBETTERBEBETTERBEBETTERBEBETTERBE. Deep breath in. Exhale with a deep breath out. Look in the mirror. Wipe away your foolish tears. Put on a pretty smile. Drink a glass of cold water. Take another deep breath. Sling your school bag over your shoulder, grab a water bottle, and run out the door to catch the bus to school. Smile. Deep breaths. It will all be okay. I can make it better. I can be better. Reset. A ballerina figurine is a graceful and beautiful silhouette that keeps turning to the elegant tune that plays out of the box. She keeps turning like the eldest daughter who keeps on smiling, keeps on walking with a high head, and keeps swimming even though it feels like she is drowning. She is an actress, so skilled that she could play in A-list movies. Over and over again she gets hurt because she cares too much. She loves too deeply and as a result, the shards of the aftermath leave deep gashes in her ballerina skin. It's okay. The eldest daughter will always push herself back on her feet. It should be fine right? She can get hurt over and over again and it will be her fault right? This is her fate, to feel too deep and get drawn into every situation like a moth to a flame. The eldest daughter is a glass doll who looks identical to the youth of her mother. She inherits her father's temper but not his talent in mathematical skills. No, she inherits her mother's memorization and observation skills. She inherits her mother's patience. Her father's artistic ability. She wants to go into law in the future because she feels useless at math. So why would she choose law? Because it is the quickest way to earn money with a career. The eldest daughter feels as if she needs to treat her parents better than they treat themselves. This only hurts more when the eldest daughter is from an immigrant family. She is the oldest so she needs to be the best. It hurts when all her siblings inherit mathematical skills. It hurts when she knows they will all be in advanced math classes. It hurts when she falls prey to the voices in her mind that taunt her. It hurts when she knows she can never be as good as them. It hurts when they are prettier than her. It hurts when they are smarter than her. It hurts the most when it is clear that her parents act warmer to them because they are younger rather than her. It hurts the most when the eldest daughter lets them hurt her again because she loves them more than anything. She would do anything for them. Anything. The eldest daughter has to teach herself everything. No, not have to but needs to. Because no one else will. Whenever she brings it up to her parents they will tell her in a heartbeat that they can teach her but in reality, both of them know that they have better things to do than indulge in her questions. So she refrains from asking questions unless necessary. The eldest daughter, pomegranate, ballerina figure, and glass doll all have a common factor. One wrong move and everything will crumble, making the insides pour out. Every insecurity, thought, fear, phobia, hope, and dream. It will all come pouring out without being able to stop. She will do everything in her power to stop this from happening. So again like every other time: she will bunch all of those feelings up into a ball, shove it into a box, and throw it into the endless voids of the pits of her stomach, wanting them to be lost forever. And ever, and ever, and ever. In truth, there is no happy ending. There is no conflict resolution, unlike the many lectures she attends during MUN conferences. No prince is charming like the fairytales. But when all else fails, when everyone leaves, and when everything is in ruin, the eldest daughter will always be there for herself. Like always, she will force herself to get back up and trudge through the muddled mess of her life. And she will know that everything will be alright because she is the only one who will always be there for herself. Always the admirer, never the admired, The Eldest Daughter.

As the Coronavirus pandemic accelerates in Africa, fear is gaining ground in eastern DRCongo, ravaged by violence and armed groups for decades. And our organization Amani-Institute ASBL implements a clever initiative to counter the Coronavirus crisis in a context of conflicts and humanitarian crisis while feeding the most vulnerable, preventing conflicts or community violence but also avoiding moral perversion or dissuading young people from joining the ranks of armed groups active in the region because of idleness during confinement. My organization has implemented an initiative called « Tupone wote » that is to say heal together, in the local language. As the Coronavirus pandemic surprised us, it was necessary to set up a dynamic of community mobilization as a matter of urgency in particular to deal with Coronavirus and its effects, but without leaving anyone behind. Our initiative includes several branches of activity and it is in particular: the production and the diffusion by the radio waves, spots and soap operas on the barrier gestures and solidarity in this moment of crisis…the awareness campaign on the streets by means of megaphones…the organization of the descents in makeshift camps where the displaced populations live to raise their awareness and give a device for handwashing but also rods of soap…the realization of the drawings hand and printing of posters to raise awareness of deaf mutes and offer them protective masks…the development of a community vegetable garden to supply fresh vegetables to the vulnerable, in particular elderly people and women survivors of violence sexual…the popularization of a small guide to conduct in confinement and the collection of books to read to avoid moral perversion with idleness among young people…the mobilization of community radios in the region for the cessation of hostilities or community violence linked to tribalism in order to prioritize peace at this time of crisis. The reason behind this initiative is that, we live in a region already weakened by armed conflicts and community violence and where the Coronavirus is one more misfortune. Here, people almost no longer trust the authorities or the humanitarian agencies because they think that they are at the base of their misfortune by targeting their own interests. And people develop mistrust with false beliefs and conspiracy theories that lead them to adopt hostile behavior that could endanger their own lives. This is how we took the initiative to intervene as young people mastering the local context, to calm the emotions first, confirm that the disease exists and show the need to adopt responsible behaviors to stop the spread of the dangerous Coronavirus. At least we were sure that the people would listen to us because we still have their trust. As a result or impact, we are pleased with the work accomplished to this level, because the mobilization was great and our activities were a great success thanks to the commitment of the young volunteers of our organization Amani-Institute ASBL. Without any support from outside, we estimate in particular that our initiative must have covered more than 50,000 people, many of whom must have heard our message from community radios, other people picked up our message from the street, many others have seen our posters and drawings…some people have also benefited from our protective masks, our fresh vegetables and our rods of soap or handwashing devices in the province of North Kivu. As a direct impact, some young people, women and men who, until then, were skeptical, have taken up the fight against the Coronavirus pandemic today and they continue to raise awareness in their villages even after our departure. But it must be said that there is still an important work to be done in particular in raising awareness, because it is a question of bringing people who are physically and morally bruised to change their behavior and this in a context of conflicts and humanitarian crisis. I admit that this process will be long and slow but we will succeed because we are a committed and dynamic youth but we also have the confidence of the population unlike the authorities and humanitarian agencies. We took several steps to implement this initiative and it was not at all easy. We first had to get rid of fear, to come together and conceive the idea in an emergency climate because the Coronavirus pandemic was already in our country. We then developed a business plan including social mobilization strategies adapted to the local context and a timetable to follow. And then, it was necessary to bring together the young volunteers, mobilize some means on board and give everyone their role. Thus, we launched the initiative towards the beginning of April, while several people had not yet realized the seriousness of the threat.