Over a two week-period from the 26th of March to the 9th of April, Never Again Rwanda hosted the Regional Peace-Building Institute, where they welcomed 29 peace ambassadors from across the continent and engaged them in a number of presentations, lectures, discussions, activities, visits, tours, and reflections.
The aim of this genocide prevention and peacebuilding course was to give these participants a learning experience wherein they had an opportunity to discuss issues such as mass violence, sexism, societal wounds and issues of governance, as well as to gain skills and values such as tolerance, openness and critical thinking. Here are a few blog posts from participants explaining what they learnt and their experiences at the PBI in general:
Elizabeth Sirengo from Kenya
The stereotypes that we have among our societies more often than not if left unchecked can lead to alienation, discrimination and even dehumanization. In our communities today, we have a lot of stereotypes over certain groups of people which brings the concept of “we vs them” mentality. Taking lessons from Rwanda, the negative stereotyping resulted to the 1994 Genocide against Tutsi. From this experience, young people should foster a culture of appreciating diversity within our communities rather than using it as a source of division, and also pruning out the roots of negative stereotypes that may have negative consequences in the society.
The putting up of memorial sites as a way of preservation of history is something that other communities should learn from Rwanda. The Genocide memorial sites serve as a lesson to the younger generation to see the dark past of what had happened so as to prevent the same from happening in the future. We as the young generation should work towards preservation of our cultures and history and make the effort to learn our past so as not to lose ourselves in the future.
Shereen Nhodza from Zimbabwe
There is a light in this world. A healing spirit more powerful than any darkness we may encounter. We sometimes lose sight of this force when there is suffering, and too much pain. Then suddenly, the spirit will emerge through the lives of ordinary people who hear a call and answer in extraordinary ways.
Attending the Peace Building Institute became an eye opener for me and I have learnt that as human beings we can never attain peace by fighting the existing but we have to build the new models and develop a critical mindset. Critical thinking helps us to move away from the fixed mindset and allows us to integrate revised perspectives into our ways of thinking. We need to ask critical questions and go beyond our conventional wisdom. Peace comes when we respect humanity and when we are able to contribute the best that we have, and all that we are towards an Africa and world we want. As peace ambassadors we need to be the change that we want to see for peace starts within us. The program highly motivated me to do something both in my immediate environment and Africa as a whole.
Ayomiposi Ayodele from Nigeria
I have always known that the media is powerful and had thought I had a good sense of it’s power, at times I even boast about it! Interestingly, I was humbled as we started having sessions around the part that the media played before, during, and after the genocide. It was a surprise to see how the media was used and what the outcomes were.
I am leaving PBI with a deeper understanding of the power of the media, and will gladly begin using my new understanding of the media in relation to peace building. Particularly I want to use social media to stand as a watchdog against conflict inciters or manipulators, and as a tool for peace building, healing, and reconciliation. I will make my interventions where needs be, starting from my little circle of influence among youth in my country of Nigeria.
Sanny Aline from Rwanda
As a Rwandan, looking at how secure and peaceful Rwanda is, I used to think that Rwanda’s security and peace are definite achievements, and that we do not need to keep learning about peace building. Over the past two weeks that I have spent attending the Peace Building Institute organized by Never Again Rwanda, I have learnt that we do not need to have conflicts in our communities for us to start the process of building peace. I have also learnt that the process of building peace is a gradual, never-ending process, that involves various stages and mechanisms. One of the biggest lessons that I took from this peace building institute comes from Pastor Antoine Rutayisire’s words that “in times of conflict, most of us are silent when we are supposed to speak, and we speak when we are supposed to be silent.” The objective is to know when to speak and what consequences our words might have, and to know when to stay silent when our words are not needed.
Eric Iradukunda from Rwanda
As a young adult who survived the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda, the Peace Building Institute organized by Never Again Rwanda have been a profound experience. Talking about forgiveness, as it applies to the Genocide survivors forgiving their perpetrators, has always been very tough for me. When I was young, I believed that I would grow up to avenge my father’s death, and I truly believed that this would be a noble endeavour. These thoughts of revenge gradually faded as I gained new dreams and aspirations, but they never completely disappeared. After participating in the peace building activities, and after learning about the process of healing and reconciliation, I now understand that even though it might be a long process, forgiveness should be at the centre of my healing process. Now I think about living the kind of life my father would have wanted me to live. And I am convinced that avenging for his death would never be part of a life he wanted for me.