wfn.org | LWF Photo Exhibition on Genocide Makes Impact in Rwanda

["Frank Imhoff" <franki@elca.org>]

LWF Photo Exhibition on Genocide Makes Impact in Rwanda 
The Search for Truth, Signs of Hope and Reconciliation 

GENEVA, 7 June 2004 (LWI) - The photo exhibition "Rwanda - Back to Life, Ten
Years after the Genocide" that officially opened in Rwanda's south eastern
province of Kibungo on 7 April 2004, concludes its tour of various districts
in the country with a June 21-25 display at the Kigali Institute of Science
and Technology. 

Its opening in Rwanda coincided with the launching of nationwide activities
to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the genocide in which over 800,000
people died in a period of 100 days, triggered by the 6 April 1994 shooting
down of a plane carrying the country's president then.

The 30 panels mounted with 80 photos taken between 2000 and 2003 by
photographer Thomas Lohnes portray genocide victims and perpetrators, the
arduous search for truth during the Gacacas (community-run courts), problems
encountered by returnees, and the situation of street children and people
living with HIV/AIDS. Photographs depicting activities of the LWF Department
for World Service (DWS) in Rwanda focus on signs of reconstruction and hope,
reconciliation and new life. 

The exhibition was prepared by the LWF German National Committee in
collaboration with German aid organizations Bread for the World and Diakonie
Katastrophenhilfe, Protestant press service * epd, and Action by Churches
Together (ACT) International, the Geneva-based global alliance of churches
and aid agencies working to save lives and support communities during
emergencies. It was also presented in Finland and Germany. (See LWI 2004-029
Photo-Exhibition: "Rwanda - Back to Life. Ten Years after the Genocide")

Ms Anne Masterson, LWF representative in Rwanda and director of the DWS
program there says there has been a lot of interest in the exhibition
displayed at community halls in three languages * English, French and
Kinyarwanda. In Gitarama alone, one of the three provinces in which DWS
Rwanda has development projects, around 1,300 people visited the exhibition.
She considers this figure significant as such artwork is not a common feature
in the rural areas. 

Equally important is the involvement of local authorities. Provincial
governors inaugurate the exhibition and use the opportunity to talk openly to
the general public about what occurred during the genocide. They stress the
need to recognize that what happened a decade ago was wrong. Their message to
audiences that include school groups, representatives of various local
organizations including churches, as well as genocide survivors'
associations, underline the need for justice and reconciliation, and urge
people to focus on creating a common Rwandan identity that is not based on
ethnic division. 

Discussions about the exhibition's future documentation include a proposal to
donate it to the Lutheran Church of Rwanda or archive it at the University of
Butare museum. Masterson points out that all universities in Rwanda have a
cross-cutting theme on peace and reconciliation. 

The display "has turned out to be a historic document to be used in the
future by the Rwandan people," she stresses. (500 words)

The four features that follow are part of the photo exhibition "Rwanda - Back
to Life, Ten Years after the Genocide."

Innocent * Marked Forever
Revenge No Way Out * The Country Needs These People to Move Forward

The shadows of the past rest with him. Nightmares still haunt Innocent
Gakwerere. He narrowly escaped death. Seriously injured, he survived the
genocide. The murderers' machetes marked him forever. He has deep notches at
the back of his head. Large scars distort his face. The injuries to his nose
were so severe that he experiences great difficulties that could only be
corrected through surgery. Even if he had a job he could not afford the costs
for such an operation. 

One notices the bitterness rising up in Gakwerere as he recounts his
situation. The mill he operated with other genocide survivors since 1995
stands idle as the self-help group no longer has money to buy spare parts.
The Lutheran World Federation (LWF) came to the aid of the small cooperative
by writing off their original loan repayment amounting to a quarter of the
start-up financing. Now DWS Rwanda is working to put the mill back into
service. There is a shortage of everything. "Where does one get money for
food?" Gakwerere asks helplessly. It is almost impossible to get money for
medical treatment, he says.

For the severely marked man who survived the 1994 killings, it was a shock
when more than 20,000 genocide prisoners were released through a presidential
decree on 1 January 2003. He considers it unjust that for many of them, the
Gacaca trials have not yet begun. And if he had a choice he would not attend
the trials. He is afraid the process may awaken the old fears repeated in his
dreams over and over again. At night, any unfamiliar noise still startles him
from sleep.

Fear will never let him go. Gakwerere has no clear answer to the question as
to whether the horror might return. "That is not possible," he says
spontaneously. Later on he concedes: "The victims are afraid it will happen
again." But then he takes heart: "God will not permit it."

He tells this writer that he met the offenders * two men from the
neighborhood * and they had a drink together. Then he forgave them, "from the
bottom of my heart," he says seriously. He is convinced he has to forgive
these people. Revenge is no way for him. "The country needs these people to
move forward."(428 words)

(Written for LWI by Rainer Lang, Stuttgart.)

Marianne's Longing to See Her Youngest Son at School
Living Positively * HIV/AIDS Self-help Group in Rukira

Marianne's youngest son, her second child, is just seven months old. The
older son, eight-year-old Rajab, is playing in the village with friends; her
husband deserted her shortly before the birth of their last-born. She is
HIV-positive, and has known her status for five years. 

Marianne is a member of the HIV/AIDS self-help group "Jijuka"		     
  in Rukira, southeastern Rwanda. The group has around 80 members mainly
women. When the first HIV-infected persons, encouraged by another group, met
for the first time in 1996, it took a great deal of courage for one to openly
speak of their positive HIV status. Only three years ago, neighbors/then
ignorant about the means of HIV transmission/fled at the sight of Marianne or
her family members. Apart from the sometimes evident physical weakness of an
infected person, the taboo that surrounds public discussion about sexuality
in Rwanda made life difficult also for the people involved in HIV/AIDS work.
But the commitment of the self-help groups, more of which have been
established in the past few years, and support for their educational work by
the churches and the Rwandan government are beginning to bear fruit.

In 2001 Rwanda had around half-a-million HIV-infected persons, representing 9
per cent of the adult population. More than 260,000 children lost one parent
or both through AIDS. Compared to neighboring Uganda, where information about
HIV infection and its prevention have become general public knowledge, there
is little awareness about the disease and the risks involved here. Through
inter-religious cooperation, churches have trained so-called AIDS pastors to
look after infected persons, and promote educational work at parish events.

The Jijuka group has rented a house and plot in Rukira. Not only do the
weekly meetings take place here, but the members weave baskets, sew, among
other things, school uniforms, make soap and samosas (small meat or
vegetable-stuffed rolls), and store food purchased at low prices during
harvest for retail at higher prices later. These activities toward which the
LWF provided a start-up credit of Rwandan francs 300,000 ( EUR 500) are aimed
at accumulating income to support needy group members whenever necessary.

Without support from the LWF and other organizations, this money would not
even be enough to pay the rent amounting to Rwandan francs 15,000 (EUR 25)
per month. Jijuka obtained land from the district administration to rear
goats donated by the LWF and to cultivate vegetables. As in all such groups,
the 20 neediest members receive food aid from the LWF. There is strong
cohesion in the group/when a member dies, the children he/she leaves behind
are adopted by the other members. Jujika currently has 60 AIDS orphans, half
of them living in families without any parents. The group's support to the
child-headed households includes provision of school uniforms and other
clothes, school fees and food supply. The DWS Rwanda program constructed 12
houses for needy families.

Jijuka considers HIV/AIDS information sharing in schools, villages and
parishes to be a very important aspect of its work. The president of the
group says: "Nowadays we are invited; in the past, we had lengthy
negotiations before we could be allowed to visit schools. We encourage people
to take tests and help those who are positive with admission to a treatment
program. Besides, we try to mobilize people so that they do not withdraw and
keep silent but instead inform their neighborhood."

Rwanda has been admitted to the William J. Clinton Presidential Foundation.
The program was launched by former United States' President Bill Clinton to
strengthen the capacity of people in the USA and throughout the world to meet
the challenges of global interdependence by focusing on five critical areas,
including the battle against HIV/AIDS. The program aims at guaranteeing the
supply of affordable AIDS treatment, including generic products to infected
persons. 

This is a decisive improvement, for even if an AIDS test costs only Rwandan
Francs 300 (EUR 0.50), the supply of medicine for infected persons is far
from being guaranteed. According to a decision of the World Trade
Organization, generic products may be marketed in certain circumstances for a
short time. Thus, pharmaceutical companies in developing countries copy the
usually expensive patented medicine from the industrialized nations so that
more HIV and AIDS patients can access affordable treatment. Using generic
products, one treatment normally costs about EUR 0.40 a day, compared to at
least EUR 1.24 when using branded products.

When this writer visited Marianne in her recently redecorated house, Marianne
brought out her daily dosage: one tablet against tuberculosis, a disease
frequently resulting from HIV infection. She hopes to be admitted to the
Clinton program soon: "So that I can have the opportunity to help my youngest
son at school!" (800 words)

(By Regina Karasch, LWF German National Committee, Stuttgart.)

A First Step: Fresh Water for Thousands
Returning Refugees Increase Pressure on Drought-prone Region 

It used to take Coletha Mukabaziga half-a-day to fetch water. With her big
yellow cans she had to walk five kilometers to the nearest water point. Today
she walks a mere 200 meters to a water pump. Clean water was not available in
her village Kabimba, not until the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) repaired
the water supply system constructed by the government about six years ago.

Mukabaziga is happy to spend less time fetching water for domestic use. Now
the 49-year-old mother of five can use the extra time for other household and
farm work. This is a great advantage for her family in Rwanda's Kibungo
province, an agricultural area that has been hard hit by drought. They
cultivate maize, cassava and beans.

Those who fetch water from the pump are members of the local water committee.
But many of them cannot even raise the annual contribution equivalent to EUR
2.00 for the pump's maintenance. Only about 60 per cent can afford that
amount. Didace Bugingo, who heads the local water committee with 935 members,
is also in charge of the entire network of 18 water points, starting from the
main one in Gituku extending over 32 kilometers.

Around 16,000 people benefit from the project which has been operating
independently since July 2003. The LWF trained community members to maintain
the networks and ensure the pumps are in working order. But the committee
does not have money for everything. Almost the entire membership fees is
spent on spare parts and local repairs. There is hardly anything left for
25-year-old Bugingo, who should be drawing a regular salary from his tasks as
a technician and supervisor of the water pumps. It is an intensive job as he
has to ensure that all the pumps are simultaneously supplied with water,
which does not always work out during the dry season. 

Water for the households is only a first step. Vincent Kasaja, coordinator of
the LWF/DWS projects in Kibungo, explains that an irrigation system is
necessary to improve the situation in the drought-prone province bordering
Tanzania. The agrarian engineer is planning construction of water supply
systems for new settlements in Ndego on land that was part of the national
park. Until now water was supplied in tanks. But there are no sufficient
financial resources to cover the project yet.

Drought has become a major impediment to any agricultural activities in the
province and more food is urgently needed. In the densely populated and drier
areas, the pressure has increased since the return of about 20,000 refugees
who had fled to Tanzania following the genocide. Many of those who recently
returned do not even have a decent roof over their heads. (459 words)

(By Rainer Lang, Stuttgart.)

Half a Friend *Bicycles for His Pastors 
Making Peace and Reconciliation Accessible to Parishioners 

Pastor Martin Habiyakare's life story is typical of many Rwandan Lutheran men
and women. As a child Habiyakare fled to Tanzania with his family in 1961.
Once there they found help and company in a Lutheran community and through
the LWF Department for World Service (DWS) refugee program. 

In November 1994, when all Rwandans were allowed, and partly urged strongly
by their host countries to return from exile after the genocide, Habiyakare
was one of the 100,000 Tutsis who came back home. Today he is the pastor of
Rukira parish in the southeast. In 2003, the Lutheran Church of Rwanda (LCR)
to which the parish of 320 people belongs, had 17,000 people, a significant
increase from the 7,600 members recorded in 2002, the year it was registered
locally, and joined the LWF. 

Habiyakare views the increase in membership somewhat differently. The church
is not growing as fast as it should, he says: "We don't have schools or
hospitals like the Roman Catholics or Anglicans, and people expect quite
practical help from their church!" But with assistance from Lutheran churches
worldwide and in cooperation with LWF/DWS Rwanda, the LCR achieves quite a
lot. The humanitarian help that began directly after the genocide currently
focuses on long-term development work. 

The LCR faces manifold tasks. Bishop George Wilson Kaliisa considers the
pastoral care for genocide survivors as the most important one. "Now people
are beginning to talk and we must give them all the necessary support in
dealing with the terrible experience." Ten years after the genocide,
offenders and victims co-exist as neighbors again, and the work of the
Gacacas is in full swing. Memories are opening up again like scars, mentally
injured people try to find their way between revenge and forgiveness. The LCR
collaborates with other Christian and faith groups. "We want to make the
thought of peace and reconciliation accessible to our parishes," says
Habiyakare. "Before 1994, there were inter-religious talks at the highest
level, but it is much more important to work at the grass-roots and to make
neighbors talk to each other," he stresses.

Religious leaders are involved in preparing their parishioners for the
Gacacas in Rukira. The so-called Gacaca pastors have been trained to
accompany the victims, offenders and their relatives. Those in the latter
category often consider their way back to a normal neighborly co-existence
blocked too. "My son killed our neighbors' daughters who were like my own
children. How can I look in the eyes of the girls' parents?" That is how the
mother of one genocide perpetrator describes her own distress. 

The LCR collaborates with other local, regional and international partners
and the government in HIV/AIDS work. Membership in the Lutheran Communion in
Central and Eastern Africa facilitates the exchange of ideas and information
about the churches' response to the pandemic. There has been some progress in
the past three years/one can openly talk about HIV/AIDS, making it easier to
do specific educational work. But many parishes have limited financial and
human resources. The LCR's 15 pastors and 57 evangelists do not receive a
regular salary but rely on kind donations, proceeds from their agricultural
products or other family income.

The great distances a pastor has to cover to look after parishioners in
remote areas of the hilly country is another challenge. Bishop Kaliisa dreams
of bicycles for his pastors and evangelists. "It is true that a bicycle is
only half a friend: it helps you half the way and you must help it uphill,"
he says with a smile. "But half a friend is better than no friend at all!" he
concludes. (611 words)

(By Regina Karasch, LWF German National Committee, Stuttgart.)

(The LWF is a global communion of Christian churches in the Lutheran
tradition. Founded in 1947 in Lund (Sweden), the LWF now has 136 member
churches in 76 countries representing 62.3 million of the almost 66 million
Lutherans worldwide. The LWF acts on behalf of its member churches in areas
of common interest such as ecumenical and inter-faith relations, theology,
humanitarian assistance, human rights, communication, and the various aspects
of mission and development work. Its secretariat is located in Geneva,
Switzerland.)

[Lutheran World Information (LWI) is the LWF's information service. Unless
specifically noted, material presented does not represent positions or
opinions of the LWF or of its various units. Where the dateline of an article
contains the notation (LWI), the material may be freely reproduced with
acknowledgment.]

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