Tom Brokaw in Rwanda |
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January 9th, 2007 - 12:22PM |
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Tom Brokaw visits an IRC program for at-risk youth in Rwanda. Photo: Michael Despines/The IRC International Rescue Committee communications officer Emily Holland is blogging from Rwanda this week. As Rwanda recovered in recent years from the horrendous genocide of 1994, IRC programs have focused on reestablishing trust and revitalizing the nation’s communities. Over the last five years, the IRC has been helping local governments and community organizations to rebuild. This week, Tom Brokaw, co-chairman of the IRC Overseers, is in Rwanda to visit the IRC’s programs here. He began today by visiting with Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame to discuss Rwanda’s reconstruction and the IRC’s role in it, and then traveled to the southeastern Province of Kibungo, where the IRC runs several programs designed to improve children’s health and welfare. I spoke with him afterward in Rwanda’s capital, Kigali. Emily Holland: What was your reaction to what you saw today? Tom Brokaw: It’s been twelve years since the genocide, but it’s had a real domino effect on this culture – politically, the impact on families, the ability of Rwanda to put itself back together again. I think that we’re fortunate in that the people of IRC and the political leadership here are determined to make conflict resolution a critical element in Rwanda’s reconstruction. It’s a complex problem, but I think we’re doing the right thing. And what has been most encouraging is how responsive all Rwandans are, from the local communities all the way up to the President’s office for the work that we’re doing here. Emily Holland: Is this a one-of-a-kind situation here in Rwanda? Tom Brokaw: It strikes me that the lessons we’re learning here will serve us well elsewhere. Conflict resolution must become the way of the world. Whether it’s Afghanistan, the Kashmir Region, Somalia or even Iraq, it’s not enough anymore to treat the effect. You’ve got to treat the symptoms as well. Otherwise our work is without end. Emily Holland: What role does memory play in Rwanda’s reconstruction? Tom Brokaw: The Rwandan people have to remember the lessons of the past, but it’s a question of how they act on that memory. If you act in a vengeful and vindictive way that’s lurking just beneath the surface and could emerge again, that’s obviously unproductive. If you act on the horror of it and your own and collective determination to make sure it doesn’t happen again, that’s a different kind of memory, and that’s the one we should be emphasizing. Emily Holland: You saw a range of IRC programs today. Were you especially taken by any of them? Tom Brokaw: All of them were impressive, but it was gratifying to see the IRC’s center for young people who had been living on the streets until recently. Many of them were the offspring of genocidaires – the people who committed the crimes. You think of the orphans of the victims of those crimes but not always the children of the guilty. And now the IRC is helping them to receive an education and learn important skills. And as a broadcaster myself, I was delighted to visit the radio station that the IRC helped get on the air. Radio is the form of mass communication in Rwanda, and the station has proven to be a vital outlet for citizens who want to express their feelings about reconciliation and the tribunal process. Emily Holland: How would you sum up? Tom Brokaw: There’s a certain maturity to the IRC programs here. We’re seeing which ones are working and how they’re working. That’s helpful not only in Rwanda but elsewhere. This country turns out to be a very good laboratory for the rest of the world, as it moves beyond the horrific events of over a decade ago. Indeed, the country is still emerging from its colonial past and finding its way into political stability. And history will tell us that that’s not easy. Next: Justice and Forgiveness Posted By: Emily Holland | Africa, Children & Youth, Rebuilding Communities Permalink |
