“Listening and Leading: the Art and Science of Peace, Resilience and Transformational Justice from Rwanda to the World,” as a member of the Auburn Seminary cohort, sponsored by Aegis Trust.

Cohort of religious leaders from Auburn Seminary who attended the conference.
Kigali Genocide Memorial where over 250,000 people are buried in mass graves.
Nyamata Church Memorial where the genocidaires used a grenade to get through the door to massacre the women and children hiding inside; over 45,000 people are buried here in mass graves.
Kigali, Rwanda at night, a beautiful city and country where there is much more than the history and impact of genocide.

On Tuesday evening I returned home from “Listening and Leading: the Art and Science of Peace, Resilience and Transformational Justice from Rwanda to the World. It is the 30th anniversary year of the 1994 genocide which killed 500,000-800,000 Tutsi’s, plus moderate Hutu’s and the super minority Twa people.

At the conference we heard from UN dignitaries, clinical psychologists, genetic researchers, faith leaders, and artists for presentations about warning signs or threats of genocide, ideas about prevention, generational (including genetic) impact, strategies for supporting people who are recovering both as survivors and former perpetrators, and what it takes for a society to recover from mass trauma. Some of the conference was held at the Kigali Genocide Memorial, so we saw the memorialization and testimony that is part of the process of healing. There was so much information, so many stories and impressions, that I am quite sure I will be continuing to learn and process my experience for a long time.

I share a few early learnings here:

First, it was striking to be in a country where the government prioritized people’s mental health and recovery from trauma. Government programs offer material resources, like a home to live in or a job as well as counselors and therapists for both individuals and communities.

Second, the message in Rwanda is the government’s commitment to forgiveness and reconciliation. There is a lot to learn from people who have managed to forgive perpetrators of genocide, including the people who killed their entire family. 

Finally, I continue to think about what the human community needs to do in order to intervene in situations of such rampant and targeted evil. Alice Wairmu Nderitu, the UN Under-Secretary-General and Special Advisor on the Prevention of Genocide, said “we are better prepared to respond [to threats of genocide], but we are not inclined to respond.” And she called us all to pay attention and lend our voices and attention to what is happening in Sudan.

I look forward to continuing to try to understand these lessons of the capacity for human evil, and the work of reconciliation.