Last Friday, I met with Adelite Mukamana, the Coordinator for IBUKA’s Department of Trauma Counseling.  Speaking at Nyanza - a genocide massacre site which today houses IBUKA’s offices and a memorial - Adelite shared her insight on Rwanda’s progress on trauma counseling and the advantages of Survivor Corps’ signature peer support program.  She also imparted some words of wisdom for those suffering from trauma in Rwanda and throughout the world: to help one’s self, one must help others.

“We can’t punish them without thinking about their future and the future of our country,” Jean-Paul Nyirindekwe, the coordinator of Travaux d’Intérêt Général (TIG) – “Works of General Interest” – told me last week when we spoke about the work of TIG, the government-sponsored program through which perpetrators of the genocide in Rwanda atone for their crimes through community service.

Many Rwandans convicted of genocide in the gacaca courts are sentenced to community service, which is led by TIG.  TIG only began its work in 2005, but it hopes – and needs – to move quickly.  As of today, almost 8,000 perpetrators have completed their service through TIG, 26,000 are currently serving their sentences in 60 camps around the country, and 40,000 still wait to be placed into a TIG camp.

Jean-Paul explained the three aspects of TIG’s programs: punishment, social reintegration, and reconstruction of society through development projects.  I wonder if punishment is the correct word to use in this case.

My mind drifts to my walk to work in Nyamirambo, I pass a TIG camp with hundreds of prisoners in pink jump suits milling around the compound, usually carrying some sort of tool to do this service work.  It is a bit disconcerting to start the morning coming face-to-face with murderers and rapists.  I think of Emilienne, of Chantal and Consolee, of all of my friends who have shared their stories from 1994. I cannot imagine what this must be like for them.

Genocidaires in the TIG program

Genocidaires in the TIG program

I’ve asked Albert about this before.  “It is necessary,” he said.  “It is the only way.”

Albert and Survivor Corps are working with TIG on the third element of the TIG program, social reintegration.  Survivor Corps will provide peer support training to TIG staff and perpetrators in TIG’s programs.  In addition to this training, Survivor Corps plans to work with local government to train and deploy community-based peer outreach workers to provide sustained support to perpetrators as they reintegrate into society.  By encouraging survivors and perpetrators to work together on community service projects, Survivor Corps and TIG will work to not only rebuild communities, but to repair relations between survivors and perpetrators.

Jean-Paul stressed the importance of TIG’s partnership with Survivor Corps.  “The social reintegration component is the major output of our program; it is our output into society and it will shape Rwanda’s future.

(Photo credit: THOMAS LOHNES/AFP/Getty Images)

Consolée and Chantal at ARCT-Ruhuka

Consolée and Chantal at ARCT-Ruhuka

“Vous êtes un survivant?” I asked Consolée Mukeshimana.  During my time in Rwanda, speaking with Survivor Corps’ partners, I’ve noticed a pattern.  Every trauma counselor I’ve spoken with is a survivor of the genocide.  So, I just assumed that Consolée would fit the mold.

Sitting in ARCT-Ruhuka’s conference room, Consolée hesitated and laughed nervously.  She looked toward Chantal, the other trauma counselor who was part of our joint-interview.  “Quelle est la definition d’un survivant?”  Consolée asked.

What is my definition of a survivor? I was taken off guard, so I turned the question around, “Qu’est-ce que vous pensez?”

No luck, Consolée replied, “I asked you.” I told her – in my broken French – that a survivor is someone who has experienced a traumatic, life altering, mental or physical injury; has faced and accepted his or her injury; and has chosen to continue on with life and give back to the community, in particular those suffering from similar trauma.

Consolée relaxed a bit.  Then she said something I have not heard any other Rwandan say since I have been here, “Je suis Hutu.”  Not only is it inappropriate – and somewhat illegal – to talk about ethnicity in Rwanda today (if you were to cross politically correct lines and ask someone’s identity, you would most likely hear, “I am Rwandan”), but I had yet to meet a Rwandan so open about being a Hutu.

There was a long pause.  Chantal chimed in, “Just because she was Hutu, it does not mean she killed.  She was in opposition to the genocidaires.  She was afraid of them. She does not know if that makes her a survivor.”

Neither do I.  But one thing I learned during our interview is that Consolée has adopted the attitude of many other trauma counselors that survived the genocide.  In true Survivor Corps’ fashion, she has accepted the scars of the genocide, taken back her life, and is now giving back to those who suffer from trauma today.

Following the genocide, Consolée saw that there were many people throughout the country suffering from psychological wounds.  “There was lots of stress, fear, psychological problems,” she told me.  “In 1996, I began my training to become a counselor because I wanted to help those still experiencing trauma.”  She was working as a social worker in a rural health center when Trocaire – the Christian charity that trained many of ARCT-Ruhuka’s counselors – came to her district and asked for volunteers.  It was a no-brainer for Consolée; she joined the Trocaire team, and continues her work today as a counselor with ARCT-Ruhuka.

Chantal – a survivor who lost her husband during the genocide – has a similar post-genocide story.  She too saw the difficulties that many people faced following the genocide and began her studies to be a trauma counselor.  “It is good to talk and commemorate because memory is part of the healing process,” Chantal said.  “I help people express their emotions and overcome their fears.”

Both Chantal and Consolée are optimistic.  There are not nearly enough psychosocial services in the country, but they believe their continued work and the peer support training that Survivor Corps has provided to their counselors will begin to bear fruit.  As more counselors gain training throughout the country, survivors will be able to assist one another in the recovery process.  Chantal and Consolée are looking forward to gaining more training in peer support and helping spread this process to other counselors throughout the country.  “Mutual experience is the best way to help,” Consolée said smiling.

Above is a video interview with Emilienne Mukansoro, a genocide survivor and a trauma counselor with IBUKA who works with women who have experienced sexual violence.  Emilienne’s story is difficult to listen to, but her experience as a survivor has shaped who she is and what she does today.  After the interview, Emilienne told me that she thinks peer-support is a wonderful way to heal the wounds of survivors, both those who are suffering today and those who have overcome their trauma.

In 1993, when Eugine Mussolini was fifteen years old, he stepped on a landmine while trying to join the RPF forces in Rwanda’s eastern province.  Doctors performed successive operations on his left leg, amputating more each time.  Today, he must replace his prosthetic leg yearly to avoid further infection, and he must pay for this out of his own pocket.

“My first thought was, ‘I am crippled.  My world is over.’” Mussolini told me yesterday afternoon as we sat in the restaurant at Chez Lando.  “But after talking about my challenges, I faced my problems, and accepted how I am.  There is nothing I can do but overcome.”

And overcome he has.  Besides working full time for the Ministry of Finance, he runs the Association of Landmine Survivors and Amputees (ALSA) on a volunteer basis.  ALSA does not have the money to hire staff, open an office, or create brochures and advocacy materials.  Despite these significant setbacks, a group of over 30 ALSA members meets every Saturday to support one another – they have begun using the peer support methods they learned during Survivor Corps’ recent training – and contribute whatever amount each can give.

I will be working with Mussolini to develop a business plan, create a budget, design a web site, and strengthen ALSA’s advocacy efforts.

Mussolini ended our meeting on a high note. “Life continues,” he said, “When we can change a survivor’s mindset, teach that person to overcome, and to help himself, we call it a ‘resurrection,’ both for the him and for us.