In our final meeting, Kabera pulled out an invitation from a large folder.  “It is for our 13th anniversary celebration.  You will not be here, but I wish you could be. His Excellency will most be our guest of honor.  It will be a very special day for AERG.”

Kabera has dedicated a tremendous amount of work to this event that will take place on August 13th at Amahoro Stadium in Remera.  He will introduce President Kagame to 4,000 of AERG’s members and honored guests, and the ceremony will celebrate AERG’s numerous achievements over the past 13 years.

I tell him I am very sad that I will miss the ceremony.

“When you go home, will your friends and family recognize you?” Kabera asked.

“What do you mean?”

“You have gotten so fat since you have been here.  I don’t know if they will recognize you.”

“Fat?  Really?”  Gosh, I knew the french fries were taking their toll, but was it really that bad?  Maybe he was mixing up his words.  Perhaps he meant tan?

“Yes, when you came you were very small,” he gestured towards my arm and formed a tiny circle with his thumb and forefinger.  “Now you have grown very much large.”  He used both hands to form a new circle.  Then he pointed to my stomach.

Well, thanks for clearing that up Kabera.  I pouted.

The waitress brought over our coffee and juice.  “Murakoze,” I said.

“You are also Rwandan now,” he smiled.  “You speak Kinyarwanda and you know our culture.”  Hardly true, but a nice recovery.

“You must have a Rwandan name.  From now on, you will be Kamaliza.  Kamaliza is a very good name; it has two meanings.  First, it means gold, gold that we found in the ocean.  Second, I call you Kamaliza after the very famous soldier and singer, Kamaliza.  She sang during the war and encouraged the soldiers to go on.  Although she died, her music still inspires me.  So, like as you inspire me, you are Kamaliza.”

Ok, that made up for the fat comment.

We finished our drinks and the time came to say our goodbyes.

“Say hi to Obama!” he said.  “And you, say hi to Kagame on the 13th!  Tell him Kamaliza says hello.”

Kabera, the National Coordinator of the Association des Etudiants et Eleves Rescapes du Genocide (AERG), never ceases to amaze me. In our most recent meeting, I filmed Kabera as he told me about what happened to his family during the genocide in Rwanda, his new artifical AERG family, and his hopes for the future.

When I asked if he had political ambitions, Kabera diplomatically skirted around the issue (he would have done great on Meet the Press), but I can only hope that he enters Rwandan politics.  Kabera is a natural born leader, and any organization or country for that matter would be in good hands with him at the helm.

On Wednesday, Kabera invited me to join him on a site visit to the Lycee de Kigali (LDK), a prominent boarding school that President Bush stopped by during his one-day visit to Rwanda in February 2008.  The members of the AERG Managing Committee (MC) – Kabera and other university student leaders – dedicate the hours that they are not in class and not doing other work for AERG to visiting local AERG chapters at high schools and universities around the country.

AERG site visit to Lycee de Kigali

During a three-hour meeting in the school’s gymnasium, Kabera and his team held the attention of an audience of about 75 high school students members.  Kabera speaks with confidence and maturity, and it is immediately clear that everyone in the audience has great respect for him. The goals of the meetings are to inform members about AERG’s progress and latest activities, to discuss any problems in the chapter, and to provide general support for one another.

AERG families are introduced at the meeting

AERG families are introduced at the meeting

The meeting began after a prayer and a one-minute moment of silence in commemoration of the members of their families that died during the genocide.  Constance, the coordinator of the LDK chapter called out the names of each family (groups of about ten students who provide the kinship of a family to one another, since many of AERG’s members have no other family), and as the family name was called, the members stood up to be acknowledged by the MC.  Following family introductions, the AERG MC discussed recent developments and each member gave lectures on various topics: how to get good grades and the importance of studying, proper behavior during school and during the holidays (many students don’t have families to go to during the holidays, so the AERG MC provides their addresses and phone numbers for those who do not have a place to go or anyone to contact), and not fighting with fellow classmates.

“As members of AERG, you have responsibilities,” Kabera tells the students.  “You must help one another and be each other’s families, you must have love for each other, and you have to struggle to ensure that genocide never takes place again.  To do these things, we must study hard, behave well, and protect one another from disease, AIDS, and violence.  We must create a friendship.  We must have a kinship among AERG and among all Rwandans.”

Kabera addresses the Lycee de Kigali AERG members

Kabera addresses the Lycee de Kigali AERG members

All of the students rise and begin clapping as they break into song.  “It means, ‘we want to rebuild our country’,” Amos, one of the members of the MC whispers in my ear.

“Do you like hip hop?” Kabera (formerly known to blog readers as Jean-Paul; he told me this afternoon that he prefers to go by his family name, Kabera) asked me this morning as we waited for the slow Internet connection at AERG’s offices to upload his photos.

As Rihanna set the mood, we began to put together AERG’s first web site, a very simple google site that will allow Kabera and his colleagues to share information about their organization, post photos, and allow their members to share their testimonies with the world.

About an hour earlier, Kabera shared his story with my me.  We began our interview by discussing AERG’s mission and how he gained the position of national coordinator.  As the interview went on, we delved deeper and he told me about his own experiences during the genocide.  He spoke of the murder of his father at the very beginning of April; he had gone to the Church for refuge – “a place of God” – and then the massacre of his entire family when they were discovered hiding in the marshes.  They tried to kill him too, slashing his neck and leg with a machete, but he managed to survive.

“It is very difficult,” he said several times, “It is very difficult to talk about this.”  But he continued on; he wants to ensure that the world knows what happened to his family and to him.  He wants to ensure that it never happens again, in Rwanda, or anywhere in the world.

He talked of his new, “artificial” family, the family gained through AERG.  While he is the “father” of his organization, at his university, in his small “artificial” family of 12, he is a kid.  And he loves being a kid.

“Sometimes it is just fun to be a child,” he says with a smile.

The interview went on for close to an hour as Kabera shared the most difficult details of his story, the challenges he faces as the leader of AERG, and the hope he has for Rwanda’s reconciliation and peace.  I’m hoping to figure out how to edit the footage, and will hopefully get something resembling a video up soon.

Following the interview, he asked me about my family – if I have both of my parents, how many siblings I have, if I am married or have a boyfriend – and I felt guilty with each reply.  I think he sensed my discomfort, and chimed in, “I am very happy with my new family.  We provide each other with great love and care.”  He smiled and clicked on some Rwandan tunes.