Human beings have an interesting way of explaining unexpected happenings or their outcomes, especially when they involve radical change that defies conventional wisdom. They call them miracles. This tag is sometimes only a convenient way of dealing with what one does not understand. It is the passive acceptance of a situation. Other times, it is simply the refusal to admit that such change has real agents behind it. Assigning to it a miraculous quality is a way of denying its actual doers the credit, presumably because it can only be the work of other creatures. In other cases, it is simply a lazy answer to a complex situation. In the last twenty two years Rwanda has undergone such rapid change that has earned it the miracle label. The same reasons for qualifying anything as a miracle also obtain in the case of Rwanda. There has been a grudging admission that what has happened is truly remarkable given the circumstances. But there is usually a rider to this acceptance that seeks to explain it away as some incomprehensible act to which Rwandans could not have contributed. Or if they did, they cannot sustain it and it is therefore bound to unravel at some point. For some Rwandans, there is a feeling of immense pride in their astonishing feat, defeating all the odds and registering success. But even among these there is a tinge of incomprehension. There is a third way of looking at this sort of progress. Miracles don’t just happen. They are caused. They are the products of deliberate, conscious actions of individuals, institutions or nations,. Even for the deeply religious or the mystic, miracles are answers to earnest entreaty to a being with the reputed power to make them happen. There is no question: Rwanda is experiencing rapid transformation, especially given where it was only two decades ago. The country all but died. Then it recovered but did not go through a normal and lengthy period of convalescence with all the dangers of relapse. Instead, the country rebounded with new found energy and raced fast ahead, beyond what was expected, or in some instances, hoped for. This is what is sometimes called the miracle. However, a study of Rwanda’s progress shows that there is a perfectly understandable explanation for it. One of the reasons is the confidence Rwandans have in their own abilities as individuals as well as a nation. Another related reason is what President Paul Kagame told the RPF Political Bureau meeting recently: trust among the citizens and between them and their leaders and national institutions. Clearly, self-belief can lead to feats previously unimagined. And so the miracle is only a demonstration of the transformative power of confidence, correct choices and hard work. All this was in evidence at the just concluded Umushyikirano (National Dialogue) and was expressed in several ways. First, there were the usual presentations of facts and figures of what has been achieved and projections of future achievements. Second were the testimonies. Most go something like this. This is what happened to me. My neighbours have seen it. You can all see it. It is real and the work of people, not spirits. It sounds very much like the witness at religious revival meetings, the sort that says: ‘I was once a sinner but now I am a new person, redeemed from certain damnation by the blood of Jesus Christ’. In the new Rwanda, there is a slight variation on this: ‘I was once a street hawker selling groundnuts by the spoon and earning a pittance, but now I am an entrepreneur earning millions and employing hundreds’. This time redemption came from the blood of young Rwandans whose sacrifice made it possible to regain self-belief and to create opportunities for all of us. It also came from hard work and exceptional leadership. Third, participation at Umushyikirano has undergone transformation of its own in tune with other changes in the life of the nation. In the past, citizens were eager to ask questions, usually of a personal nature about their individual situation. Today, the questions are fewer and concern the whole community. They are about roads, electricity, health services, seeds and markets, and other issues of development. Even then, they are not just questions, but include possible solutions. The confidence Rwandans have in the country was summed up by a young entrepreneur recently returned from Canada who said that the future for Rwandans is in Rwanda, not outside. President Kagame put it another way: “We used to struggle just to survive. Now we struggle to thrive and prosper”.
