Rwanda!

Thanks for sharing your experiences here. It’s nice to hear about what everyone is learning from all over the globe! As a proud member of IDS diaspora, I’m in Rwanda working for an itty-bitty community based organization called SEVOTA, which works with widows and orphans from the 1994 genocide. I will be conducting an evaluation of their HIV/AIDS support groups and education program.

So far my time here has been a flurry of adjustments and introductions. I’m living with a very kind and accommodating family in a relatively nice area. The house is big, but there is no running water. As an avid shower-er, I’m finding that this is the most difficult aspect of life here for me. That, and judging from the fact that I’m followed, touched, and yelled at by people who seem to be both amazed and frightened by my existence, I seem to have grown a second head.

Luckily though, other aspects of life here are much better than expected: the food is very yummy (I’m on a high-carb diet this summer), my French still works, the local language, Kinyarwanda, is coming along nicely, and I have electricity for at least the next two weeks! All very good things. Plus, I saw Anderson Cooper in the Kigali airport, which was pretty much the highlight of my life.

This week, I had my most impactful experience yet. Jen (my travel buddy) and I got to sit in on a meeting of a widow’s support group. The women shared what has happened to them over the past week, leaving me astonished as woman after woman shared horrendous stories as though they were routine… a woman with HIV explained that she’s getting sicker and sicker, another has a child in the hospital and can’t afford the bus money to visit her, one widow had to beg her neighbors for food this week, while another told the story of her son who is being teased because he is the child of a rape, several women reported that their homes had been destroyed during last week’s rainstorm, and the group commiserated about how a “genocidiare” still awaiting trial had recently paid off a local judge and been released. They ended with the affirmation that sharing each other’s burdens and knowing that others are experiencing the same things helps them to heal.

Finally, they read this Bible verse, “Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us” (Romans 5:3-5). I have read this verse many times, but seeing heads nod as it was read to women who have seen their families killed, been raped by many men, and daily live in extreme poverty was incredibly humbling. Suddenly my own concerns of not being able to take a shower or call my family whenever I want to seemed pretty small.

The presence of the genocide is everywhere here and I’m still not sure how to interpret it. How do victims continue to live next door to their families’ killers? Before I came here I wondered how anyone could forgive something this horrible. After meeting the widows and seeing them cry fourteen years after the genocide ended, I understand that they have not forgiven. They are still forgiving and it seems must do so many times a day for the community to hold together.

I’m learning so much and am looking forward to the rest of my time here. I hope you all are happy and healthy wherever you are! I’ll talk to you again soon.

Stephanie