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Tom Brokaw (center) traveled to the southeastern province of Kibungo, where the IRC runs several programs designed to improve children’s health and welfare.
“It’s been twelve years since the genocide,” Brokaw noted on his visit to Kibungo, “but it’s had a real domino effect on this culture – politically, the impact on families, the ability of Rwanda to put itself back together again.”
“I think that we’re fortunate in that the people of IRC and the political leadership here are determined to make conflict resolution a critical element in Rwanda’s reconstruction,” Brokaw added.
Brokaw visits a children's center in Kibungo. "It was gratifying to see the IRC's center for young people who had been living on the streets until recently," Brokaw said. "Many of them were the offspring of genocidaires – the people who committed the crimes. You think of the orphans of the victims of those crimes but not always the children of the guilty. And now the IRC is helping them to receive an education and learn important skills."
Brokaw meets boys who are participating in an IRC program for at-risk youth in Kibungo.
Brokaw later traveled to the western province of Kibuye, where twenty Rwandans had gathered to discuss the genocide.
Among those participating were imprisoned perpetrators of the genocide and genocide survivors -- many of whom knew each other when the horrors occurred but had not met again until now.
Brokaw asked one genocidaire what he was prepared to say to the survivors. The man told him, “I look forward to expressing my apology and for them to accept it. I don’t want them to worry every time we see each other.”
Brokaw speaks with a survivor of the genocide. One woman told him that 92 people in her family were killed--she was the only survivor. She said that she sometimes worries that genocide could happen again in Rwanda.
Gacaca courts, or “community justice,” are Rwanda’s way of dealing with and prosecuting genocide crimes, humanely. Brokaw had a chance to speak with some of the survivors and perpetrators about the effectiveness of these courts. He asked one perpetrator whether he was willing to acknowledge his guilt. “I have already confessed to my crimes,” the man told him. “I look forward to sensitizing others who have not confessed to theirs.”
Brokaw visits a radio station in Kibungo the IRC helped get on the air. “Radio is the form of mass communication in Rwanda,” Brokaw said, “and the station has proven to be a vital outlet for citizens who want to express their feelings about reconciliation and the tribunal process.”
Brokaw tapes a report from Kigali for the IRC on the last day of his visit to Rwanda. He said, “it strikes me that the lessons we’re learning here will serve us well elsewhere. Conflict resolution must become the way of the world. Whether it’s Afghanistan, the Kashmir Region, Somalia or even Iraq, it’s not enough anymore to treat the effect. You’ve got to treat the symptoms as well. Otherwise our work is without end.”
Read more about Tom Brokaw's trip to Rwanda on the IRC blog.
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(January 2007) Twelve years after Rwanda's horrific genocide, Tom Brokaw, co-chairman of the International Rescue Committee Overseers, is visiting IRC programs that are helping Rwandans reestablish trust and rebuild their communities.
Photos by Emily Holland and Michael Despines/The IRC | |
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