Never again only if we make it so

The main genocide memorial in Kigali.

The genocide in 1994 when 800,000 – 1, 000, 000 were killed in 100 days in Rwanda is, in my opinion, still the Main Event although Rwandans are reserved and don’t talk about it much. There is life before and life after. Every government initiative I read about, and there are many, are all forward-looking but have their roots in the genocide and the determination to heal from it and not let it happen again. The slogan here is Never Again, as it was for the Jews after WWII. I guess the cynical message here is never say never.

I visited 2 memorials, one of them the national one here in Kigali, the capital. It gives a good history of the genocide and events leading up to it, and also includes exhibits about the other genocides in the 20th century. The brutality is overwhelming. I started to describe it to Elliott and he told me to stop, it’s unbearable, which it is. At the end of the exhibit, there are about 10 blown up pictures of kids from 9 mos. to 12 years with simple identifying statements about them – favorite food, games, etc. One was – Last statement before he died – Mum, where do I run?

The other memorial is a church in which hundreds of people had been told was a refuge but were killed by the extremist militia once gathered within. All the pews, which are long wooden benches, are piled up with the clothes they were wearing that day, in their memory. It is very haunting and very moving. Richard, the BPeace program manager in Rwanda, and I talk a lot about the genocide and current politics and our conversations have given me insights and information that make this experience that much more.

I think that’s why working with these women entrepreneurs is so rewarding. Like everyone in this country they have been touched by the genocide, many of our women in the closest way possible, yet they not only exist, they are building for the future with hope and optimism. All the women I’ve met with over the last few days I’m meeting with again so I will update you on those meetings after they’re concluded.

Another project I stumbled upon while reading about Rwanda on the Net ( http://www.agahozo-shalom.org/) is a youth village for orphans of the genocide called Agahozo-Shalom, modeled on the youth villages established in Israel for orphans after the Holocaust. The philosophy is specifically geared to traumatized youth. It is an effort between the Joint Distribution Committee, the founder, who is an American philanthropist, the Rwandan Dept. of Education and an educational institute in Israel. It is an astonishing endeavor and I encourage you to visit the website.

I went to visit this village with Susan, the BPeace program assistant and my interpreter for my time here. Agahozo-Shalom, agahozo meaning “dried tears, shalom meaning “peace”, is about one and one-half hours from Kigali, one-half hour down a rutted dirt road. When we went, it was in the afternoon rain and of course we got lost and it became a 2 ½ trip. I was almost ready to turn back when we spotted the village, and it was completely worth that bumpy, muddy trip. The construction of the village was started in the fall and they’re almost done. There are already 125 kids living there and there are plans for expansion to 500-750. The kids live in small houses with a house mother, an older Rwandan woman, and a counselor, who is younger. What the house mother does is mother, get the kids up in the morning, off to school, etc. At night, from 9-10, there is family hour with the mother and the counselor where they sit and chat and review the day. In the morning after the kids are gone the house mother then has English and computer lessons. All the teachers, who are Rwandan, were taken to Israel for 2 months for training in the educational philosophy. The school in the village is away from the houses, up on a hill, because they want the kids to walk to school to make the demarcation between school and family clear. The teachers do not live in the village, for the same reason. Every detail has been thought through. The homes are simple but beautifully designed. The village is wireless. They have a farm where they’re growing all their fruits and vegetables so they can be as self-sustaining as possible. And for sustaining itself financially over the long haul so this doesn’t become just an interesting experiment, they’re creating a water-processing plant for coffee, building visitor lodges (they’re almost done), and on and on.

The director is an Israeli, Nir Lahav, who has managed a miracle in getting the houses up and the kids there and in school so quickly. He’s one of these guys who has a million ideas – and gets them done. There is sufficient staff including 10 volunteers, 5 from the U.S., and 5 from Israel. It’s a one-year stint for a post-college person. Airfare and a small stipend is paid. We met a few of the volunteers and they love it. Everyone does, including the contracted-out Rwandan construction crew. The spirit of the place dances in the air. If you know someone in their 20’s who might want to volunteer for a year (from Dec. to Dec.), send them to the website.

To close on a light note: as we’re traveling back from the youth village, we are passing through very rural parts of Rwanda and the kids are shouting out with mischievous fun – muzungu! That’s the word for white person in at least East Africa, if not the whole of sub-Sahara Africa. I have to say I nearly laughed the whole way back to the hotel. And to remind me of those kids, I bought my sons-in-law t-shirts with MUZUNGU printed on the front.