Sitting in the Rwanda airport, waiting for our return flight to Nairobi via Kenya Air, after a full morning with Rev. Deogratias, visiting one of the reconciliation villages outside Kigali. A small community of about 45 families, this is one of the villages where perpetrators of genocide in 1994 and subsequently imprisoned, are now living side-by-side with victims of the genocide. We met and spoke with one of the perpetrators, Matthew, and then spoke with his neighbor and friend (now), Janet, who lost 5 members of her immediate family in 1994.
All of these women question the justice of what has been and is being done in Rwanda, though many of them express a willingness to forgive IF the perpetrators truly express contrition for what they had done. One woman spoke of being sexually attacked repeatedly by a man who had long been her neighbor and when he was released after three years of prison, he came to her, demanding to be forgiven. When she did not respond favorably, he offered her a cow in return for her forgiveness. Her reaction was, "Isn't a human life worth more than a cow? My life has been destroyed- and he offers me a cow!"
We learned that Matthew now sometimes watches Janet's children, while she does grocery shopping for him. Reconciliation...quite amazing...and yet, I must confess that it raises any number of questions for me, especially since I have been reading a book of interviews with female survivors of the genocide, all of whom were repeatedly raped, many of whom are HIV positive, most of whom live in total poverty since husbands, sons, and fathers were killed in the 1994 massacre.
All of these women question the justice of what has been and is being done in Rwanda, though many of them express a willingness to forgive IF the perpetrators truly express contrition for what they had done. One woman spoke of being sexually attacked repeatedly by a man who had long been her neighbor and when he was released after three years of prison, he came to her, demanding to be forgiven. When she did not respond favorably, he offered her a cow in return for her forgiveness. Her reaction was, "Isn't a human life worth more than a cow? My life has been destroyed- and he offers me a cow!"
Driving out into the countryside, we saw one of the churches where people had gathered, seeking safety. The church was bombed by the Hutu troops when the priest of the church told them about the people hidden there. So much to wrap one's mind around, isn't it? So much which seems so far beyond understanding...so much which wounds the mind and heart. A beautiful and difficult day...as so many have been here in east Africa.
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