It is socially and psychological hard for an offender and a victim, to live in harmony after a crime like that of Genocide. There is always gross psychological, economic and emotional damage. It therefore becomes almost impossible for harmony to prevail between the two.
It is socially and psychological hard for an offender and a victim, to live in harmony after a crime like that of Genocide.
There is always gross psychological, economic and emotional damage. It therefore becomes almost impossible for harmony to prevail between the two.
However, despite that incompatibility that can be easily justified by many, society needs to heal and be cohesive for progress to be realized.
Religion and reason, which are indisputably strong forces in everyday life, deem it necessary for oneness of all humans, to overcome differences and focus on a common goal of achieving "happiness which is the greatest good” according to Aristotle.
Just the other day, I was taken through the reconciliation activities undertaken by a church-based initiative dubbed prison fellowship. It has touched lives of many ex-convicts and survivors of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi.
What started as a forgiveness and reconciliation campaign with a spiritual backing, where members used to go to prisons and engage prisoners in order that they seek forgiveness and work to reconstruct their relations with those they offended, ended up entailing other developmental and welfare projects.
A prison fellowship program that started in 2002 has constructed 434 houses for both ex-convicts and survivors in various parts of the country.
This came after a realization that on top of struggling with the past and overcoming it, many people were in total misery with many lacking shelter.
In an interview, Rachel Weber an American volunteer with the project revealed that it’s practically difficult to foster reconciliation when poverty is biting hard. So prison fellowship found ways of improving people’s livelihoods, and constructing houses was one of them.
This initiative was aimed at fronting a practical contribution to the aspect of forgiveness and reconciliation. The idea of creating reconciliation villages in places like Kayonza, Bugesera and Musanze has great impact.
Among other programs that are undertaken by this initiative, is community re-intergration where ex-combatants and the community members, are psychologically and emotionally prepared to receive and absorb ex-combatants into society.
When asked about how prison fellowship, realizes that people have reconciled and forgiven each other genuinely as opposed to faking it for the benefit of getting a house, the projects communications director Alexander Guma, noted that he views it from the way these people who now live close to each other, help cooperate in times of problems.
"Most of the people in the reconciliation villages, have forgiven each other, viewing it from the way both survivors and ex-convicts of the Genocide help each other in their day to day problems.”
He revealed that some are running income generating activities together, which they enthusiastically participate in within the villages and outside.
The people to be reconciled, are first takenthrough a self-benefit training, where they are shown how forgiveness benefits the one who forgives before anyone else. And that’s when they come face to face with the struggle of overcoming the past and forgive.
"We have never heard of any wrangles or fights in the villages, we have chairpersons in the villages who give us reports on weekly and monthly basis,” added Guma.