A Stone in the Heart of Africa
I have a friend
who collects heart-shaped stones. So one day while traveling in Rwanda,
I gathered several for her. We had stopped to admire a magnificent
view, one of the many that each bend in the road unfolds in this
country of “the thousand hills.”
I am too young, O Lord,
to carry on my back a life -
a small one, yes,
but heavy enough
to be a burden.
I do not go to school,
but carry my sister...
only that she can grow, and carry one day, too,
and not go to school?
Ours are small lives, O Lord.
Bakavu, DRC - 14 October 2002
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This
time, though, my mind was on another stone, a huge one, in the heart of
the government of Rwanda — the “refoulement.” or forced repatriation,
of the Congolese refugees in the country.
Rwanda hosts about 28,000 refugees from Congo. They
were expelled by Congo’s former president Mobutu in 1996 on the grounds
that they are ethnic descendants of Rwandese who settled in the Masisi
region — some brought there as agricultural laborers by the Belgians —
at the end of the 19th century.
I have a soft spot for them, since the year I visited them in the
no-man’s land between Goma and Gisenyi, with the Jesuit Refugee Service
director for Rwanda. At that moment the request of Jesuit Refugee
Service to set up an education program for them was denied. However, in
1997 Jesuit Refugee Service became the implementing partner for United
Nations Commission on Human Rights and took on the provision of
education in the two camps designated for these refugees.
I had visited the projects several times before, and monitored the
progress of the teaching and learning in the camp schools. This year’s
visit was planned earlier on, but for many reasons the date was set for
mid- October. This time I looked forward to the added joy of knowing
that an RSCJ from Spain, Asun Sanchis, had just joined the education
team in Byumba, and we also planned to travel together to the projects
in Kibuye and in Bukavu.
But on August 31 the government began to put pressure on the refugees
to return home. Persons working with Non-Governmental Organizations at
the United Nations in providing essential services (health, education,
assistance to vulnerables) were especially targeted, since the easiest
way to get people to go home is to deny them such services. The
protests of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees and the
international community fell on deaf ears and stone hearts because “ a
peace agreement has been signed between Rwanda and Congo, there is
peace in the region, and all can go home.”
Asun and I set out on our visit, nonetheless. This is what we wrote
together for Dispatches, the newsletter of Jesuit Refugee Service.
“The schools of the Congolese refugees in the camps of Kibuye and
Byumba in Rwanda were ready to begin the new school year on the first
week of September. Instead, buses came to take the refugees back home,
a ‘voluntary repatriation’ to a region where there is little security
and where hardly anything is in place in order to welcome the refugees
and facilitate their reintegration. This move came as a surprise to JRS
education teams, who found themselves caught in the dilemma of
complying with the order of the Government and the responsibility of
enabling the children to begin the school year.
If Emmanuel-refugee
pitched a tent among us today,
His would be but a fragile dwelling
in the midst of hearts that will not shelter
the One whose Heart is the Father's home,
and ours, too.
Byumba, Rwanda - 11 October, 2002
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Jesuit Refugee Service was allowed to carry out, after long dialogue, a
head count of children and teachers present in Kibuye Camp. It was
moving to see the children run joyfully to their classrooms, ready to
sweep them in order to start classes. Many teachers profited from the
time before the actual count in order to teach something on the spot.
Three-fourths of the students and most of the teachers are still in the
camp. After the exercise, a report on the findings was written and
presented to the Ministry of Local Affairs.
We hope that the same procedure will be carried out
in Byumba, although the situation of this camp is much more complex.
Many refugees have returned to Congo. It is very striking to look at
the camp from a distance and notice the holes made in the landscape by
houses that have been torn down. And it is distressing to see the work
of hope carried out during the month of August by students, teachers
and parents. Classrooms made of plastic sheeting were replaced by
sturdier ones constructed with local materials (wood, bamboo) -
structures designed to improve the quality of learning by providing an
alternative to the stifling heat of plastic sheets, but which now are
half-finished and empty.
We arrived in Bukavu at a tense moment, as
Government forces were poised to take key towns in the region. The
Jesuit Refugee Service team had arranged for us to visit a school about
40 kilometers from town, in order to observe the progress of teachers
after workshops on the participative approach to education. We were to
accompany the six trainers and see how the sessions given were being
put into practice in the classrooms. The trainers took the situation in
stride and returned to the office in order to continue their work of
preparation for future sessions. We spoke together about the questions,
hopes and difficulties that they meet in their work of formation. There
was no question of giving up because of yet another instance of the
instability in which they live, but each one continued the work with
dedication. In spite of this setback, we were able to visit two of the
schools in town which are part of the JRS program.”
"Today the teachers teached us!"
An e-mail from Asun this morning tells me that the schools in Kibuye
have been given the green light. But in Byumba, the authorities ordered
a head count of the total population first, and this was interrupted by
heavy rain. The exercise should resume today, although it is less
likely that this school will open, as the local authorities are keen on
sending the refugees away. However, the fact still remains that what is
being done, forcing the refugees back against their will and into an
insecure situation, is directly against article 33 of the United
Nations’ 1951 Convention on the Status of Refugees.
Pressure and intimidation on another scale continue as
well. For example, the United Nations High Commission on Refugees was
prevented from distributing firewood. World Food Program had the
foodstuffs ready for the next distribution, but this also was held back
by the powers that be…drops to make the cup overflow. The message is
clear.
Meanwhile, here at home we are living tense days of
political awakening. At last the opposition to president Moi seems to
be getting its act together and most of the political parties are
rallying behind one candidate. The majority of the country is opposing
Moi’s anointed, Uhuru Kenyatta, son of the first president. However,
anything can happen in the moment of the election, as corruption is
rife and the votes can be easily bought or the count falsified. Let us
pray that whatever happens takes place without the violent clashes that
characterize Kenyan elections and the time leading to Dec. 12.
Lolín Menéndez, rscj
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Unfortunately, reports of violence are coming in from all corners of
the country. The first multiparty elections took place ten years ago,
and I marvel at the political savvy that ordinary Kenyans have gained
since. Heated political discussions are the order of day in offices and
street corners as well. Conversations around our dinner table are
heated and knowledgeable. Young sisters are quite involved and
interested in what goes on. On the other hand, schools were crippled by
a strike of teachers that was only partially resolved — where in the
world are teachers paid fairly? — because national exams were scheduled
to begin yesterday. Yesterday our neighbor’s youngest, age 6, came home
shouting happily "Today the teachers teached us!"
A last picture, which captures for me the situation
of the refugees: the lake, the rolling hills of Rwanda are framed for
them by a garbage heap and a torn plastic sheet.
How beautiful over the mountains
are the feet of the one who brings good news,
of the messenger of good news
who proclaims salvation. — Isaiah 52:7
I shall take from you your heart of stone
and give you instead a heart of flesh. — Ezekiel 36:26
Lolín
Menéndez, rscj, works in sub-Saharan Africa with Jesuit Refugee
Service. She has been living and working in Africa for more than 20
years.
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