Inspirational Story about Reconciliation in Rwanda

Parent Cafe
1

<p>Lots of hope for peace on earth in this story.</p>

<p>“A yearlong exploration by The Associated Press suggests that despite immense challenges, progress is gaining a foothold in pockets of Africa, in spheres ranging from democracy to education. And after minimal results from five decades of Western advice and aid, the progress is led by Africans themselves.
MAYANGE, Rwanda - The late afternoon sun gleams off the tin roofs of this small farming village, as neighbors Xavier Nemeye and Cecile Mukagasana watch their children play tag around the banana trees.
The two friends were born here and share much of Mayange’s daily life. They talk every day, pray at the same church and send their children to the same school, the only one there is.
They are also both recovering from the genocide just 13 years ago — when he hacked to death six of her friends with a machete…”
[Africa</a> war wounds begin to heal - Africa - MSNBC.com](<a href=“http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22286130/]Africa”>http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22286130/)</p>

2

<p>I agree it is inspirational but is the article saying Xavier and Cecile are parents together?</p>

3

<p>Wow! Thanks for posting that. It is, indeed, inspirational. I read quite some time back about the reconciliation process in South Africa and was so impressed by those leaders who chose to pursue forgiveness and reconciliation over revenge and power. Makes me think there is still hope for the world!</p>

4

<p>No, they don’t have children together. They are friends. They each have their own children.</p>

<p>More from the article:</p>

<p>"It was Mayange that finally brought the two together.</p>

<p>Mayange became Rwanda’s first Millennium Village last year, part of a program between the government and donors. The Rwandan government plans 29 more villages, one in every district.</p>

<p>The villages test the idea that $75 per poor person a year can lead to self-sufficiency in five years. They also show that peace and prosperity go together. The World Bank has long concluded that the best way to predict civil war is to look at a country’s economy.</p>

<p>For Xavier and Cecile, Mayange is hope. As Cecile laid bricks for the new village alongside Xavier, she slowly learned to accept that he was only a pawn in the genocide. It helped that they went to the same church, the church where Cecile’s family once hid.</p>

<p>She is still not quite sure how or when they became friends, as she sits in her four-room brick house with a tin roof that Xavier helped build.</p>

<p>“A sense of closeness would begin to form between us ? we just found ourselves together,” she says, smiling at how inadequate the explanation sounds. The strength of her will is clear. it is almost as if she is willing peace, and believes any less would be a betrayal of her faith and her village…</p>

<p>Hope also lies in the demographics. About 40 percent of Rwandans were born after the genocide, like the children of Xavier and Cecile. These children live in a Rwanda without ethnic identity cards, where it is no longer acceptable to identify yourself as Tutsi or Hutu.</p>

<p>Xavier is determined that his children will grow up in peace, and tries to pay for his past by helping Cecile and going to church. Both Xavier and Cecile agree that people can only move on from the past if they have a future, and that they need what he calls “security of the stomach.”'</p>

5

<p>More on Reconciliation efforts in detail (I have been supporting them for almost a decade, and my d. has given two benefit piano recitals for them):</p>

<p>[African</a> Great Lakes Initiative: Helping to create a more peaceful future in Africa](<a href=“http://www.aglionline.org%5DAfrican”>http://www.aglionline.org)</p>

6

<p>No, they don’t have children together. They are friends. They each have their own children.</p>

<p>I wasnt sure but I thought " wow, that is more than what I could do" but then I also thought- " I think that is more than what I can imagine anyone being capable of, with free will"</p>