After my 10 days in Rwanda, going from one Genocide Memorial Site to another, from Museum to Church - meeting people from the Hutu, Tutsi and Twa and listening to their stories of horror and suffering, starving and brutal killings — but also about the enormous effort the Churches (and the Government) are now making to promote mutual acceptance, repentance, forgiveness, healing, unity and peace - which was deeply disturbing and moving  - I was and am heartbroken about the horror of what is now happening here! Here, where the miracle of 1994 had been an example for all the world!

It will take me a long time to process all the info from Rwanda — and some-how I am deeply concerned that this “forced” forgiveness and unity is much too soon and “too easy” and there-fore - even if they are absolutely serious about it and use all the best methods at their disposal - that it is more like papering over differences, shallow — in stead of doing a thorough surgical procedure, cleaning the wound and letting it drain and slowly heal from the inside…

And OUR wounds? So many of them, originating in the previous era of Apartheid, are still open and bleeding - and others are deliberately opened again and again.  Those that ARE healing have only JUST started to close from the inside out.  Now, once again, new injustice, new wounds, new pain — and new hatreds are born — partially because the old hatreds have not been addressed properly.  Now, a new group of people will want revenge…

In spite of the wonderful work which the TRC did, those who were either victims or perpetrators during the previous regime in SA have not been sufficiently counseled and accompanied on their way of processing that which had happened to them, their parents and grandparents. The result is that many young people amongst those who were previously dis-empowered and discriminated against today have this attitude of entitlement, coupled with the wrong perception of what democracy is all about. They feel they have a right to those things other people have to work for - and that democracy means: ‘I can do, or refuse to do, whatever I like without taking responsibility for myself, my family, my country….

Expatriates, on the other hand, even though they had to suffer many things, have come to SA to make a new beginning. They are willing to work very hard for little money.  Of course there are, as in every nation, some criminals, but, on the whole, they are honest people who have been trained in different skills. The forte many of them have is private enterprise. Others are professionals who bring their side in the companies where they have been appointed…

Shared by Annemie in an email after the The Gathering hosted by Amahoro Africa in Rwanda.  The processing continues as we each return to our home countries, our local contexts and we see afresh the need for deep reconciliation. K. Johnson

This entry was posted on Friday, June 6th, 2008 at 9:42 pm and is filed under Amahoro Gathering, Amahoro Journal. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.