Background: As part of the Peacebuilding Practitioners Interview Series, Jason Klocek interviewed Emmanuel Murangira, who has served as the Representative of Tearfund for Rwanda and Burundi since 2008. In this interview, Murangira shares his story, explains how reconciliation has worked in Rwanda, and offers his opinion on the future of Rwanda. He also discusses particular challenges to promoting reconciliation in the country.
Mr. Murangira, can you first speak about your background and how these experiences have brought you to your current work?
First, I would like to say that I am Rwandan. I was, however, born a refugee in Burundi, and I remained a refugee until I was 33 years old. When I was still very young, my family moved from a refugee camp in Burundi to one in Tanzania, and I remained a victim of the disorder and chaos of the life of a displaced person. In particular, I was denied access to school. So at the age of 10 years old, I was sent to Kenya, where I was able to receive my primary and secondary schooling. I also completed my university studies in economics at the University of Nairobi. My particular focus was development economics.
I feel very blessed for how things turned out. There are two paths one can take when you have been a refugee and displaced person your entire life. Either you will take the path of violence and turn into a sadist. Or, you will become a person who seeks to fight the injustice and the situation to which you were subjected. You become a pacifist, using your reason to protect the future for others.
How did you come to work for reconciliation and peace in Rwanda? Did your faith influence your decision to become active in this kind of work?
I believe that Christ calls us to be one and to be at peace with one another. That is why Christians are called peacemakers. But this calling requires us to do more than simply stop war; we must seek to prevent war from starting in the first place. And, the only way to do this is through reconciliation. We must learn to live together despite our differences. In fact, we must come to appreciate diversity—to see diversity as better then a monolithic community.
In Rwanda, things were difficult. For 40 years a political, social, and cultural hegemony was promoted. But look how much as been accomplished in the last 10 years, how far we have come from the genocide. How far ahead would Rwanda be today if we had embraced diversity 50 years ago?
For these reasons, I became involved in church-based organizations. I felt it was necessary to work for peace and reconciliation after the genocide, which is when it was also possible for me to come back to Rwanda. And, although I was trained as an economist, I also have taken some courses on conflict at the University of Birmingham. These, in particular, strengthened my resolve to work for reconciliation in Rwanda. The only way to avoid a reoccurrence of the violence that took place here is through reconciliation.
Can you talk about your work with Tearfund?
I came to Tearfund in 2008. Before that I was working with the Lutheran World Federation. Tearfund is exclusively a partner organization; we do not run programs of our own. Rather we provide grants and other resources to organizations so that they can then conduct trainings and run their projects.
My position is representative for Tearfund in Rwanda and in Burundi. Actually, I just got back from Burundi this afternoon. My job is to support our partner programs in both countries. One organization we have worked closely with in Rwanda is a small faith-based organization called Moucecore. We have helped them to build the compound that they now work out of, as well as develop programming on counseling and reconciliation.
What does reconciliation mean for you and others at Tearfund?
Reconciliation is a dynamic process. It is not a step-by-step process where you say first I will feed the people, then I will do reconciliation. Development and reconciliation need to go hand in hand. Still, the development models of the 1980s—which have been proven not to work—are forced on us.
People reconcile through contact and engagement. To this end, we work to mobilize the church communities and church-based organizations, which then mobilize the communities. And they do not focus exclusively on Christians in the community; they seek to work with the entire community.
What we have to remember is that reconciliation cannot be a requirement; it cannot be simply imposed from the top down by the government or church leaders. Reconciliation has to be genuinely accepted by people and for this to take place they need to have a reason to reconcile.
Faith communities and faith-based organizations have an important role to play in this process.
Throughout all of Africa, not just Rwanda, people are deeply religious. And I don’t mean only after the missionaries arrived. We were a deeply religious people even before; the missionaries simply tapped into this part of our nature. Religion goes to the core of our being.
Religion in Rwanda before the genocide played a major role in preventing violence. For example, in the 1958 massacres many Hutus refused to take part in the killings because their religious convictions forbade such actions. As a result, the violence did not gain momentum, and most of the killings had to be carried out by Belgian or Congolese soldiers. We even had a tradition here in Rwanda where the godfather of a Hutu would be a Tutsi and vice versa. This kept the communities linked.
Things changed after 1959. In particular, the Catholic Church helped to create a society that obeyed its leadership absent of personal reflection. That is part of the reason the violence in 1994 gained such momentum.
Still, you cannot build peace in Rwanda if you do not engage the churches. They are a deep part of our society, and they are implanted into our communities. They reach many, many people. And for the most part, they are still a very trusted institution in our society.
In the end, many of our values come from our churches; the churches underscore our identity. Also, the churches carry much power. I think if the churches had said no to the reconciliation effort that would have been the end of things. As I have already mentioned, the churches have the capability of supporting both violence and peace because of their strong social influence. I would go as far as saying that the churches power is comparable to that of the state. Fortunately, over the last decade, the churches have helped a lot in the reconciliation work, perhaps to an unprecedented level. But there is still much to be done.
What are the major challenges to reconciliation efforts today in Rwanda?
Of course the biggest challenge is resources—material and human. Part of the major problem in this respect is that even the resources provided by NGOs and FBOs is misplaced. Do you know that violence in Rwanda has killed more people that HIV/AIDS, but most of the money goes to HIV/AIDS awareness? Please don’t get me wrong: such education is important. But if one issue has caused more death and destruction, shouldn’t we focus heavily on that issue? They now say that more than one million people died in the genocide and then we lost many more in the days after. Because of this I have to question the rationale of many NGOs and FBOs as to why they don’t focus more on reconciliation.
Also there is the problem of who participates and leads the reconciliation effort. At the moment, I would say that many of the resources go to the wrong people. For example, while the government is an important part of the process, you cannot enforce reconciliation—or at least not a genuine type of reconciliation. You need to invest in those organizations working in the local communities.
Further, reconciliation is linked to all the other development work people are trying to do in Africa. For example, you cannot fight poverty without reconciliation. Reconciliation is a process that transforms people. So we need to integrate the many projects by NGOs and FBOs with the reconciliation effort. They should not be working as separately as they are now.
As for human resources, unfortunately one influences the other. Without the material things it is hard to get people. Also, we need more than people who simply have knowledge or have taken conflict resolution courses. We need people who can transfer those skills.
Another major challenge besides resources is leadership skills. We need to build up the leadership skills of our local leaders. There are people in our communities that are fully capable of doing the work that needs to be done, and all they need is to be developed and nurtured. We do not need people to do the work for us. But time and time again, you see NGOs and FBOs focused on short-term goals and not capacity building. We need to be practical in our work and develop the skills of people, not just build things.
To this end, we should be supporting smaller NGOs and FBOs and developing their personnel and programs. Tearfund has worked with Moucecore for a number of years, and we simply gave some basic advice and training and then provided the capital to start their work. Now, this small faith-based organization has accomplished what the biggest NGOs and FBOs only dream of doing.
Can you say more about the future of Rwanda? What are the key issues on which to focus?
We have come a long way, but there is still a long way to go. In general, we need to more systematically assess reconciliation efforts to date and plan for the future. One thing we should pay more attention to is the different views of reconciliation held by the government and the churches. For the government, reconciliation is more about rule of law, creating responsible citizens who can live together. For the churches, the concern is more on developing a moral person. I believe that reconciliation is not about the law alone, but also morals.
Let me say it this way: the legal framework of the state has provided the policies any normal government should create to ensure peace and security. But what of spiritual matters? Reconciliation is at the bottom a spiritual issue. I commend the state for what it has done to date, as well its coordination with faith communities. The state has even helped bring the Muslim community into the process. But, the state cannot dictate morals. These will have to be developed by the churches and in our local communities.
Mr. Murangira, thank you very much for your time today.
First, I would like to say that I am Rwandan. I was, however, born a refugee in Burundi, and I remained a refugee until I was 33 years old. When I was still very young, my family moved from a refugee camp in Burundi to one in Tanzania, and I remained a victim of the disorder and chaos of the life of a displaced person. In particular, I was denied access to school. So at the age of 10 years old, I was sent to Kenya, where I was able to receive my primary and secondary schooling. I also completed my university studies in economics at the University of Nairobi. My particular focus was development economics.
I feel very blessed for how things turned out. There are two paths one can take when you have been a refugee and displaced person your entire life. Either you will take the path of violence and turn into a sadist. Or, you will become a person who seeks to fight the injustice and the situation to which you were subjected. You become a pacifist, using your reason to protect the future for others.
How did you come to work for reconciliation and peace in Rwanda? Did your faith influence your decision to become active in this kind of work?
I believe that Christ calls us to be one and to be at peace with one another. That is why Christians are called peacemakers. But this calling requires us to do more than simply stop war; we must seek to prevent war from starting in the first place. And, the only way to do this is through reconciliation. We must learn to live together despite our differences. In fact, we must come to appreciate diversity—to see diversity as better then a monolithic community.
In Rwanda, things were difficult. For 40 years a political, social, and cultural hegemony was promoted. But look how much as been accomplished in the last 10 years, how far we have come from the genocide. How far ahead would Rwanda be today if we had embraced diversity 50 years ago?
For these reasons, I became involved in church-based organizations. I felt it was necessary to work for peace and reconciliation after the genocide, which is when it was also possible for me to come back to Rwanda. And, although I was trained as an economist, I also have taken some courses on conflict at the University of Birmingham. These, in particular, strengthened my resolve to work for reconciliation in Rwanda. The only way to avoid a reoccurrence of the violence that took place here is through reconciliation.
Can you talk about your work with Tearfund?
I came to Tearfund in 2008. Before that I was working with the Lutheran World Federation. Tearfund is exclusively a partner organization; we do not run programs of our own. Rather we provide grants and other resources to organizations so that they can then conduct trainings and run their projects.
My position is representative for Tearfund in Rwanda and in Burundi. Actually, I just got back from Burundi this afternoon. My job is to support our partner programs in both countries. One organization we have worked closely with in Rwanda is a small faith-based organization called Moucecore. We have helped them to build the compound that they now work out of, as well as develop programming on counseling and reconciliation.
What does reconciliation mean for you and others at Tearfund?
Reconciliation is a dynamic process. It is not a step-by-step process where you say first I will feed the people, then I will do reconciliation. Development and reconciliation need to go hand in hand. Still, the development models of the 1980s—which have been proven not to work—are forced on us.
People reconcile through contact and engagement. To this end, we work to mobilize the church communities and church-based organizations, which then mobilize the communities. And they do not focus exclusively on Christians in the community; they seek to work with the entire community.
What we have to remember is that reconciliation cannot be a requirement; it cannot be simply imposed from the top down by the government or church leaders. Reconciliation has to be genuinely accepted by people and for this to take place they need to have a reason to reconcile.
Faith communities and faith-based organizations have an important role to play in this process.
Throughout all of Africa, not just Rwanda, people are deeply religious. And I don’t mean only after the missionaries arrived. We were a deeply religious people even before; the missionaries simply tapped into this part of our nature. Religion goes to the core of our being.
Religion in Rwanda before the genocide played a major role in preventing violence. For example, in the 1958 massacres many Hutus refused to take part in the killings because their religious convictions forbade such actions. As a result, the violence did not gain momentum, and most of the killings had to be carried out by Belgian or Congolese soldiers. We even had a tradition here in Rwanda where the godfather of a Hutu would be a Tutsi and vice versa. This kept the communities linked.
Things changed after 1959. In particular, the Catholic Church helped to create a society that obeyed its leadership absent of personal reflection. That is part of the reason the violence in 1994 gained such momentum.
Still, you cannot build peace in Rwanda if you do not engage the churches. They are a deep part of our society, and they are implanted into our communities. They reach many, many people. And for the most part, they are still a very trusted institution in our society.
In the end, many of our values come from our churches; the churches underscore our identity. Also, the churches carry much power. I think if the churches had said no to the reconciliation effort that would have been the end of things. As I have already mentioned, the churches have the capability of supporting both violence and peace because of their strong social influence. I would go as far as saying that the churches power is comparable to that of the state. Fortunately, over the last decade, the churches have helped a lot in the reconciliation work, perhaps to an unprecedented level. But there is still much to be done.
What are the major challenges to reconciliation efforts today in Rwanda?
Of course the biggest challenge is resources—material and human. Part of the major problem in this respect is that even the resources provided by NGOs and FBOs is misplaced. Do you know that violence in Rwanda has killed more people that HIV/AIDS, but most of the money goes to HIV/AIDS awareness? Please don’t get me wrong: such education is important. But if one issue has caused more death and destruction, shouldn’t we focus heavily on that issue? They now say that more than one million people died in the genocide and then we lost many more in the days after. Because of this I have to question the rationale of many NGOs and FBOs as to why they don’t focus more on reconciliation.
Also there is the problem of who participates and leads the reconciliation effort. At the moment, I would say that many of the resources go to the wrong people. For example, while the government is an important part of the process, you cannot enforce reconciliation—or at least not a genuine type of reconciliation. You need to invest in those organizations working in the local communities.
Further, reconciliation is linked to all the other development work people are trying to do in Africa. For example, you cannot fight poverty without reconciliation. Reconciliation is a process that transforms people. So we need to integrate the many projects by NGOs and FBOs with the reconciliation effort. They should not be working as separately as they are now.
As for human resources, unfortunately one influences the other. Without the material things it is hard to get people. Also, we need more than people who simply have knowledge or have taken conflict resolution courses. We need people who can transfer those skills.
Another major challenge besides resources is leadership skills. We need to build up the leadership skills of our local leaders. There are people in our communities that are fully capable of doing the work that needs to be done, and all they need is to be developed and nurtured. We do not need people to do the work for us. But time and time again, you see NGOs and FBOs focused on short-term goals and not capacity building. We need to be practical in our work and develop the skills of people, not just build things.
To this end, we should be supporting smaller NGOs and FBOs and developing their personnel and programs. Tearfund has worked with Moucecore for a number of years, and we simply gave some basic advice and training and then provided the capital to start their work. Now, this small faith-based organization has accomplished what the biggest NGOs and FBOs only dream of doing.
Can you say more about the future of Rwanda? What are the key issues on which to focus?
We have come a long way, but there is still a long way to go. In general, we need to more systematically assess reconciliation efforts to date and plan for the future. One thing we should pay more attention to is the different views of reconciliation held by the government and the churches. For the government, reconciliation is more about rule of law, creating responsible citizens who can live together. For the churches, the concern is more on developing a moral person. I believe that reconciliation is not about the law alone, but also morals.
Let me say it this way: the legal framework of the state has provided the policies any normal government should create to ensure peace and security. But what of spiritual matters? Reconciliation is at the bottom a spiritual issue. I commend the state for what it has done to date, as well its coordination with faith communities. The state has even helped bring the Muslim community into the process. But, the state cannot dictate morals. These will have to be developed by the churches and in our local communities.
Mr. Murangira, thank you very much for your time today.
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