There is nothing I can do but search for love

...closing words from a survivor of the Rwanda genocide, in the video Icyizere : Hope from the African Great Lakes Initiative of Friends Peace Teams:

AGLI workshops on Healing and Rebuilding Our Communities (HROC) take 10 people from one side of a conflict and 10 people from the other side for intensive encounters lasting three days, seeking something good in every person, a radical notion where neighbors and even family members have committed gruesome act. In Rwanda, this means Tutsi survivors of the genocide and the families of the Hutu perpetrators of the genocide. AGLI is now working in Burundi, Congo, and Kenya.

“Sense of Safety” is the first stage. It is common for participants to be wary of attending workshops fearing they might be a trap where they will be attacked, sent back to prison, or killed. Through experiential activities and cooperative exercises, participants begin to relax.
The second stage is “Remembrance and Mourning.” There are two Rwandan proverbs that emphasize the importance of speaking out about one’s pain: “The family that does not talk, dies” and “The man who is sick must tell the whole world.” Traditionally Rwandans and Burundians talk about their losses and talk through their grief with family and neighbors. Broken trust and dismantled families have impeded that intuitive process of healing, but it is widely accepted in the cultures here as an important step in the journey toward healing.
In the workshops a forum is created for participants to pay tribute to their losses and to share their grief with others. This process helps to humanize the “other” thereby laying the foundation for the third and final stage, “Reconnection.”

See also: other videos by Patrick Mureithi, the origin of Alternative to Violence (AVP) in prison work in the USA and Canada. "Peace cannot stay in small places", the story of its application by Friends in Rwanda since 1999. "Now, I am Human" testimonies from Rwanda and Burundi; Andrew Petersen's blog about environmental and peace work in Burundi, All Quiet on the Quaker Front. David Zarembka's Kenya Update and previous Kenya posts tagged in this blog.

Ruanda, Resurgiendo de sus Cenizas / Rwanda Rising From The Ashes

Oxfam Kaleidoscope 6 Oct 2007: Edmond Baganizi.
This excerpt is one of many stories from Oxfam's 2007 conference sponsoring 300 youths from 100 countries to develop action plans they will lead for the next 3 years. English translation below.

Uno Socio de Acción de Oxfam, Edmond Baganizi se dedica a ayudar a su país a resurgir de las cenizas del genocidio de 1994 que matan a cientos de miles de Tutsis y simpatizantes moderados Hutu... Estudiante de medicina en la Universidad Nacional de Ruanda, es el coordinador del Projecto Rwanda Village Concept llevado a cabo por estudiantes, que pretende incrementar los estándares de vida y salud de los pueblos en todo el país.

"El genocidio dejó a muchas mujeres viudas y huérfanos," dijo Edmond. Entonces afectó severamente al equilibrio de género entre mujeres, niños y hombres... Su proyecto está específicamente diseñado para animar a las mujeres a conseguir trabajo, tomar decisiones de forma activa sobre sus vidas y obtener educación. Esto asegura que las mujeres sean autosuficientes y que puedan cumplir con roles tradicionalmente destinados a los hombres.

El proyecto también se propone cambiar la mentalidad de las gentes de Ruanda para crear un país más justo y equitativo. Explicaba que si una familia no tiene dinero suficiente y tiene hijos de ambos sexos, entonces elegirán mandar al niño al colegio porque piensan que este conseguirá así una vida mejor. A Edmond le gustaría cambiar dicha mentalidad. "Nosotros animamos a las mujeres jóvenes a que vayan a la escuela porque nuestra cultura las deja de lado en la educación" comenta. En el proyecto también se implementan programas dentro de las escuelas para fomentar la educación y la igualdad de género. Está muy contento con los avances de su trabajo y ya ha visto un cambio en los pueblos con los que trabajan: "los hombres están aprendiendo a respetar la visión y las opiniones de las mujeres- está funcionando," apunta.

También se llevan a cabo proyectos de cría de conejos, colmenas y cafetales en los pueblos con dobles beneficios. El programa de cría de conejos enseña a las mujeres no sólo sobre el cuidado del animal sino también sobre cómo llevar a cabo un negocio exitoso mediante la venta de su carne. Ruanda posee una tasa bien alta de malnutrición y las propiedades nutricionales del conejo pueden ayudar a tratar este problema.

Edmond cree que todas las personas de su país, tanto Tutsis como Hutu, necesitan unirse y trabajar en conjunto para encontrar soluciones a sus problemas. Su organización dinamiza este proceso de reconciliación, sin embargo depende de fondos externos para mantener una conexión cercana con los pueblos en los que trabaja. Edmond cree que el modelo del Proyecto Rwanda Village Concept es exitoso por su enfoque local. Un conocimiento extensivo sobre la comunidad local significa que ellos puedan desarrollar planes de acción con éxito de manera independiente. Los Ruandenses, comenta, deben "se perdonar pero no se olvidar".

OIYP Kaleidoscope 2007 Action Partner Edmond Baganizi is dedicated to helping his country rise from the ashes of the 1994 Rwandan genocide in which hundreds of thousands of ethnic Tutsis and moderate Hutu sympathizers died...A medical student at the National University of Rwanda, he is the coordinator of the student-run Rwanda Village Concept Project which aims to increase the health and livings standards of villages throughout the entire country.
.
"The genocide left many widows and orphans," he says, upset the gender balance between male and females... His project is specifically designed to encourage women to gain employment, make active decisions about their lives, and gain a good education. This ensures that women can sustain themselves, in the roles traditionally filled by male breadwinners.

Some examples of the projects include implementing education on gender equality in schools and assisting women to start micro enterprises, such as bee keeping and rabbit breeding, which promote both the development of business skills and good nutrition. Edmond is really pleased with the progress of their work and has already seen a change in the villages that they have been working in. "Men are learning to respect women's views and opinions – it's working", he said. He believes that the Rwanda Village project model is successful because of the local focus. Extensive knowledge of the local community means that they can independently develop successful action plans.

Edmond believes that all the people of his country, whether Tutsis or Hutu, need to come together and work to find solutions to their problems. His organisation encourages this process of reconciliation. Rwandans, he says, must "Forgive but not forget".

See Oxfam International Youth Partnerships, Global Voices Online, UNICEF Voices of Youth, TakingITGlobal member stories, Oxfam report Oct 2007 on the arms trade Africa's Missing Billions / Les milliards manquants de l'Afrique.

Environmental crisis and violence in Kenya

Photo: Joseph Karoki. Man whose hands were chopped off with a machete, Burnt Forest, a Rift Valley city 35 km from Eldoret

24 Feb 2006 – UN envoy warns that 11 million people in Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia and Tanzania are facing food shortages because of a drought that has ravaged the region [since 2000]… after touring drought-ravaged Kajiado district of [Rift Valley] Kenya, where the fields are littered with carcases of dead livestock. Seventy percent of the district's 530,000 people were dependent on food aid, which needed to be rapidly increased, said Kajiado district commissioner, Ernest Munyi. "I have seen with my own eyes the terrible effect this drought is having on pastoralists, farmers and their families," said UN special humanitarian envoy Bondevik.

27 Dec 2007 - riots begin after disputed election in Kenya. World media emphasize “political” and “tribal” causes.

1 Jan 2008 - emails to Kenya Pundit: “Approximately 40-50.000 people are holed up at the compounds of St Patrick’s Catholic Church and Arnesen’s High School, both in Burnt Forest [W Kenya]. There is no running water, food and electricity has been cut. This means that people cannot recharge their cell phones and soon we’ll not be able to contact them… There has been reports of rapes and molestations. I’ve also heard that the Eldoret highway has been closed by thugs and that there is no transportion, hence people cannot leave this area. My family in that area feels very helpless and we can only ask that we spread the word and try and get some security in the area.”
Other (unverified) news from KP readers:
- Military set to take over tomorrow.
- Forced circumcisions in Buru Buru area. About 20 so far. 5 people have bled to death as a result.

1 Jan - from Jesse Masai in Rift Valley: Those who celebrated PNU victory on Sunday are now silent/fleeing. Things are falling apart. Heavy fighting in Uasin Gishu and parts of Trans Nzoia
- Aunt and family have been missing 3 days
- Information blackout terrifying. Media friend says hands tied by government
- In Kiptoy, Mitoni Mbili, etc, in Cherangany, people locked in their houses overnight, some reportedly burning. No security presence.

2 Jan – Kenya Pundit blog cites Kenya Red Cross reports of 70,000 displaced, hundreds of houses and farms set ablaze, and road blocks every 10km. One email says, “My family are in a ’safe’ place somewhere in Eldoret but for how long? It’s like a scene straight out of ‘Hotel Rwanda’. The fear grips me even if I am so far away. I hear my young nephews asking me to pray for them and my heart cries.Where will they get help? Relatives’ homes are nothing but ashes.”

2-6 Jan – Looting, killings, churches and homes in flames in Nairobi’s slums. Joseph Karoki blogs, “I am a father, who can imagine the pain of another father losing his child. I saw the pictures of the little girls piled up in a mortuary and I could not help but think of my baby girl lying there, like an animal. Piled up on other dead bodies."

5 Jan - Karoki sees Eldoret mortuary so full of bodies they have to be piled across floors.
Police attack Muslim demonstrators in the coast town of Mombasa.

8 Jan - Quaker blog Updates on Kenya reports: "An estimated 255,000 people have been displaced countrywide [half of them are children]. Dekha Abdinoor, who lived in Kibera, Nairobi's largest slum and centre of much of the capital's fighting, said she was forced to move with her four children after arsonists torched their house. In Garissa [NE Kenya] food prices have increased sharply and the majority of people have experienced problems buying new stock… women had been most affected as they were targetted by looters who invaded the market."

Reliable sources
9 Jan analysis from UN Office for Humanitarian Affairs : Kenya is the 10th most unequal country in the world. [Its] richest earn 56 times more than its poorest: the top 10 percent of the population controls 42 percent of the country’s wealth, while the bottom 10 percent own 0.76 percent. A person born in the western Nyanza province, the bedrock of ODM support, can expect to die 16 years younger than a fellow citizen in Central province, Kibaki’s home turf. Child immunisation rates in Nyanza are less than half those in Central...While almost every child in Central attends primary school, only one in three does in North Eastern. More than nine out of very 10 women in North Eastern have no education at all. In Central, the proportion is less than 3 percent. In these two provinces, there is one doctor for 120,000 and 20,000 respectively.
.
Wikipedia Kenya history and maps. Global Voices Online: If anyone doubts the power of the internet in Africa, they need to look no further than what is happening in Kenya right now… there was a media blackout. The only way to get any up-to-date news... has been through the blogosphere...

FWCC Kenya News , Quaker Youth blog, David Zaremka's reports on Kenyan Peacework compiled by Mary Gilbert, Updates on Kenya by Mary Kay Rehard of FUM
Wangara Maathai (Green Belt Movement) Peace Tent for reconciliation, Kenya
Christian Peace Teams African Great Lakes Initiative (AGLI)
Christian Peacemaker Teams in the Congo and Uganda
Thomas Homer-Dixon and Valerie Percival’s study Environmental Scarcity and Violent Conflict: The Case of Rwanda (June 1995)
UN Human Development Report 2007-08
Previous UN reports linked Darfur massacres to climate change.
On 24 Jan 08 at Davos, the UN Secy-Gen warned of "a high risk of violent conflict" in 46 countries with 2.7 billion people, owing to climate change and water-related crises, a further 56 countries, with 1.2 billion people "at risk of instability", citing data from International Alert. Click map for details.