During the commemoration period every year in April, Rwanda and the world remember over a million Tutsis who died in the carefully planned massacres in the 1994 Genocide Against the Tutsi, until stopped by the young men and women of Rwanda Patriotic Front (RPF).
As Rwanda remembers, Sens Magazine’s Gatera Emmanuel interviewed Reverend Canon Antoine Rutayisire, a genocide survivor, a prominent figure in the Anglican Church, an author, and former vice president of the National Unity and Reconciliation Commission on the youth’s need to be educated about Rwanda’s history as a solution to divisionism.
The former senior pastor of Remera Anglican Parish, who authored “Reconciliation is My Lifestyle: A Life Lesson on Forgiving and Loving Those Who Have Hated You,” explained why divisionism among the youth is a virus to the nation’s reconciliation journey and how to overcome it.
Below are the excerpts;
How are parents doing with educating the young generation about the genocide’s history?
Well, I think that’s one area that needs some reconsideration. Because not many parents are able to talk about what happened during the genocide, before the genocide, or even after the genocide.
For many reasons, which means that a good number of youths, even when they receive education about the genocide, it’s not from their parents. Because, number one, we have a large number of Rwandese who were part of the perpetrators. And I’m sure no one will dare to tell his kids that at some point they were murderers.
Even those who have been put in prison, they always find reasons to tell lies about their role in the genocide. So that makes it a taboo talk among the parents and the children. And for those who went through the genocide, some of them don’t like talking about it because of the wounds and the scars it left on their minds. So, I don’t think much is being done by parents to educate their children about the genocide and its consequences.
As a survivor and teacher, what solution do you suggest to the silence in families about the genocide’s history?
I don’t think there is any individual who is equipped well enough to take up that responsibility. It is better if the education is done by people who are competent to talk about the genocide. This leaves school facilities as the only solution for learning about our history and the genocide. The adults and even the children who are growing up, can learn it from their school curriculums and good media.
Unfortunately, when I talk about the media, it’s a mixed channel of communication because we have the media which is positive, but we also have outsiders who are throwing in dirty ideas into the flow. This makes it a mixed channel of communication, but it’s our role to pick the truth and avoid being fed wrong information.
Speaking of education, many youths today rely on the internet to learn about history. Do you see that as a risk or an opportunity?
It’s both! It’s an opportunity if you are realistic and balanced in your views, because the internet is being fed by two flows, those who speak positively about what Rwanda has achieved, and those who speak negatively. So, depending on which article you read, you will get confused. That’s what’s confusing the youth in terms of education about the genocide.
What resources, efforts needed for the younger generation to be educated enough about the genocide against the Tutsi?
Again, when you speak of the youth, you have to consider that we have both sides, and some want to hear what they want to hear which means that some of them prefer the negative rather than the positive. So, it’s just a matter of carrying on, stabilizing the country, keep on educating, keep on repeating the good things.
As a parent and survivor, how do you communicate your story and its implications to your children?
My children are all grown-ups now, but I have tried my best to share my history with them in all possible ways, especially because I was very much involved in teaching reconciliation. I was a commissioner on the Unity and Reconciliation Commission, and it helped me to communicate to my children about the genocide. I even wrote a book about it so that they understand the history of our country. We talked about it; they know my work and discussion around it.
It is now 30 years since the genocide against the Tutsi happened. Rwanda grew and healed in front of your eyes. Apart from the commended development, what are you most proud of about Rwanda’s journey?
I think Rwanda has rebuilt itself in all the areas of social and economic life. It’s no wonder that it has become a model. When people speak about recovery, when they speak about economic development, when they speak about peace, Rwanda is taken as a model already, not only in the region, but on the whole continent of Africa.
I think, out of the many things that happened in the last 30 years I am most proud of the fact that Rwanda has not only developed and healed but have become a model as well.
Which homework would you leave to the young generation today?
Do not repeat the mistakes of the past. Because people learn history, but not many learn from history. Young people today should focus on learning from the past mistakes and make sure the history doesn’t repeat itself.
Don’t listen to naysayers who are spreading divisionism, even when they promise to promote or to give money. Because money is not everything in life. We have seen what divisionism can do. Don’t take the same route!
