"tell the world it is possible"

Our search for possible stories for an exhibition on peace making after genocide takes us to a rural village in southern Rwanda, on the road to Burundi. Inside a simple mud-walled home we sit on hard wooden chairs. Light flowing through the open doorway and one small window brings depth and shadow to the listening faces.

In this small room are survivors and perpetrators from the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi. They are speaking about the peace-making training they received and how they spoke truth to each other, truth about what they did and how and where, the truth about what they experienced, finding words for the unspeakable that lay between them. The truth released them, they say. They came to understand, also, about trauma, how it was on all sides, and that they could help each other heal, that they could reconnect to life, to community. Forgiveness became a possibility.

The men and women in the room are members of a community association committed to promoting reconciliation and working together. They help each other. They frequently review their training manual, those who can read aloud to those who cannot. They talk to those who did not attend the training, share their learning and drama skits until everyone understands. They built a house for a young man who was living in the bush, his meager possessions wet in the rains.

some members of the community association

The young man, only 21, orphaned during the genocide at age 4, speaks of how he stole from everyone, how he felt entitled to take whatever he wanted, how the villagers were afraid of him. But they drew him in, they built him a house, he had an opportunity to attend a training. Now, he says, he’s a leader. His hands are clasped and still in his lap, his slight body motionless, but pride creeps into his face as he speaks of how he has gone from being a thief to providing security for the village.

A proud homeowner

They are confident, all of them, that they are moving in the right direction. They join together to attend the annual genocide commemoration; those who suffered and those who inflicted suffering together mourning the dead. They are confident that they will not obey incitements to violence, that they will think for themselves, that they will speak up in opposition to what is wrong. One woman says, "Don't hide what you think. Express it in a respectful way. If it doesn't work, you can even die."

What they want to know from us is if our opinion of Rwanda has changed since we came here, if the story we carry now is bigger than the horror? What they want us to take away is the story of what they are accomplishing here: survivors and killers living in peace. A woman in a bright green print wrap leans intently forward as she says, “Tell the world it is possible.”

Perpetrator and survivor, together

The community training referred to here is a project of La Benevolencija. For more on La Beneveloncija, see a June 2010 blog, Musekeweya. La Benevolencija promotes an understanding of the steps that lead towards and away from violence; positive values that include truth, empathy, inclusiveness, connection, trauma healing, values that lead towards active engagement rather than passive observation.