Former national volleyball captain Christophe Gasarasi Mukunzi recalls that volleyball has helped him to forgive ‘everyone who played a role’ in killing his loved ones. Mukunzi was only six when the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi occurred. His father, Mathias Gasarasi, was killed during the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi. Yet 29 years later, the family is yet to locate his remains so they can accord him a dignified burial. At the age of 20, Mukunzi made his league debut with Kigali Volleyball Club (KVC) in 2009 – a few months after completing secondary school. Prior to his maiden league player licence, he had featured for different school teams in local and regional championships. When the left attacker joined KVC, his heart started to beat the day he heard that the team was nicknamed ‘Buhiri’ Volleyball club. The club, it is said, was given the alias because no Tutsi players were welcomed to play there before the Genocide. “I was like ‘what if I am joining those who killed our loved ones?’” he recalls. “But when I arrived in the team, they welcomed me and, shortly later, I felt at home,” he said. “I just came to a conclusion that it was time to take what happened, even if it was hard, and free myself to move on. That is when I started feeling a part of the group with not any hesitation,” he added. Thanks to volleyball, Mukunzi was convinced that he was doing the right thing when he decided to forgive the person who murdered his loved ones, including his father, during the Genocide against the Tutsi. He has never known the murderer yet but, in sports, he learnt to forgive. “I have forgiven everyone in general. I can’t tell who exactly because we couldn’t know whether the person who killed our relatives is alive or dead,” he told Times Sport. You would wonder why he decided to forgive the person who never came to ask for forgiveness but Mukunzi insists that he had various reasons to do so. “If you compare the time two children couldn’t study in the same class because of who they were to the present where they can study together and share everything, you realize that it was necessary to forgive,” he said. “What we did was to forgive that person because if our country had people who weren’t ready to forgive, it wouldn’t be where it is now, especially in terms of the rebuilding process,” he added. To him, not forgiving always keeps you thinking negatively which affects your personal development. Mukunzi is regarded as one of the most successful athletes that Rwanda has produced. He enjoyed a stellar volleyball career at club and national team levels. He played for continental clubs like Libyan side Tarsana, Algerian side, Blida Club, Al Arabi Sports Club in Qatar, and Bulgarian first division side VC Marek Union-Ivkoni. The veteran agrees that sports has played a big role in reuniting and reconciling Rwandans and it remains the same tool to bring Rwandans together after the tragic days of the Genocide that cost over a million lives in just 100 days. “We must work together to ensure that no one is left behind in sporting activities - especially youth, older persons and other marginalized groups.” Through sports, he says the country can be assured to have a united community that share the same values free of divisionism, ethnicity and Genocide ideology. “The world of sport, including athletes, has an important role to play to set an example, especially for young people. Our mission, beyond sharing our values and our working methodology, is really about teaching them that they belong; giving them a sense of belonging,” the APR left attacker noted.
