Jay Greener and Jason Miller have graciously allowed me space on their blog to keep in touch with the people at Church of the Redeemer.  I’ll use this forum to post my experiences in Rwanda, especially those having to do with the Church here. 

Kigali.  First, a bit about the city:  I think the most remarkable thing about my new home is how clean it is.  Many say it is the cleanest city in Africa.  I was also surprised by the amount of ongoing development.  There are new buildings (including luxury houses) and sidewalks being built all over the place.   It is also very green, meaning “very vegetated,” not “very environmentally friendly.”  Most houses have a well-maintained garden, and there are quite a few trees around the city. 

Even as I’ve been hearing about the changing of the seasons in the US, there is a change of seasons underway here in Rwanda—from the dry season to the rainy season.  Though it was hot and humid when I arrived, during the past week, we’ve experienced a moderate downpour nearly every day, making the air cool and noticeably drier.  This is a welcome relief to those who have been here longer than I and especially to those people here who rely on agriculture for their livings (approximately 90% of Rwanda’s population) as the rains have been rather late this year.  The already green city is becoming seems now, I’m told that it becomes positively lush during the rainy season.

On the downside, Kigali is very spread out, making getting around for a pedestrian like me rather difficult.  The bare-bones public transportation system consists of “mutatus”—minivans that run fixed routes, in which Rwandans cozily sit four across.  (Many Rwandans have stared somewhat incredulously at the large, bearded mzungu as he attempts to fold himself into a space meant for people half his size.)  The main alternative is the small-engine motorcycle taxi.  The passenger gets to sit on the back.  The first time I did this, I was concerned about being thrown off the back if the driver accelerated quickly.  Then I realized that the engines haven’t got nearly enough power to cause this to happen.  It’s really not as dangerous as it sounds—traffic in Kigali is pretty reasonable, especially compared to other African cities.

Yesterday, I went to Kigali Genocide Memorial in Gisozi.  The museum is remarkably well done, incorporating both general facts and personal testimony, and appropriately sobering.  Outside the museum itself are mass graves where, according my guide book, over a quarter million victims are buried.  I hesitate to say more about what I saw, both for the benefit of those who may someday come to see this for themselves and because I might oversimplify the experience in an attempt to explain it to the wide range of people receiving this email.  But I am happy to discuss it further with you on an individual basis.

Umuganda, a part of Rwandan culture I didn’t know about, occurs on the morning of the fourth Saturday of every month in Rwanda.  On this morning, Rwandans are required by law to participate in community service in their neighborhood under the supervision of a local community leader.  They clean streets, tidy public spaces, tend to public greenery, etc.  This is an effort by the government to promote harmony, cooperation, community pride and mutual understanding among Rwandans in the wake of the genocide.  The cynical voice in my head also notes that it’s a convenient way for the government to get free labor.  Perhaps I am being too harsh, imposing personal values from my Chicago home, where government officials pay vast sums to their friends to have this type of work done. 

Work.  I’ve got my very own desk at work in a small house that serves as the IJM Rwanda office.  In addition to me, there are 5 other expats, with one more legal fellow to come in October, and 14 Rwandans in the office, which includes 4 Rwandan lawyers.  Our lawyers have great advocacy and informal dispute resolution skills, and given the somewhat informal manner in which justice is administered here, those are the most important skills for a lawyer to have.  However, they lack some other skills in which western lawyers typically excel, such as interviewing, research and writing.  And they don’t have much more than a passing familiarity with the actual text of the law.  So part of my role is going to be lawyer training and education in order to give our lawyers an additional edge when representing our clients. 

It’s an exciting time to be working on land rights issues in Rwanda because the government has recently begun an ambitious program to identify, demarcate and register all parcels of land in Rwanda.  IJM has been assisting the government in this process, and part of my role will be to work on this program and to help IJM evaluate the extent to which they want to be involved in the government’s next steps, understanding that while this sort of work might advance justice, it is a departure from IJM’s traditional focus on casework.  In addition, I’ll be working to generate materials aimed at educating local officials and citizens about the land registration process, ways to transfer land and land rights generally.  And if any of this sounds more lofty or glorious than it actually is, you should know that I’ll also be spending some time helping the office comply with its rather enormous burden of generating periodic reports for the government and IJM headquarters.

Church.  Last Sunday, I went to church at St. Stephen’s Cathedral here in Kigali, which is Archbishop Kolini’s see and better known by its French name, St. Etienne.  I was able to greet two of the pastors on behalf of Church of the Redeemer.  I was not able to speak to them at length, as our service had run long (2½ hours) and they needed to begin the second service.

While church does run a bit longer in Africa that we might be accustomed to, there were reasons for the length of this particular service.  First, we celebrated the Eucharist, which is a once-a-month event here.  Secondly, we spent time praying for and sending off one of the local leaders.  Manasseh is a young man who has been active in the youth ministry, leading worship and starting a choir in the cathedral and left this week for the UK, where he will study for full-time (probably non-ordained) ministry.  What struck me most was how much his sending resembled what we do in our own congregation. 

I was also reminded of home when it was announced that later that afternoon there would be a screening of the film, As We Forgive.  Many of you saw this film when Church of the Redeemer hosted a screening in Wilmette.  In the intervening year, this film has been shown to over 20,000 Rwandans across the country, and the filmmakers have produced a 20-minute epilogue that primarily addresses the reconciliation that John and Chantal experienced that had not yet occurred when the original film was finalized.  Unfortunately, the screening was poorly attended since most people were at Manasseh’s farewell party, but I did learn that the filmmakers are in the process of trying to obtain another grant in order to continue their work of showing the film to Rwandans and leading post-film reconciliation discussions.

Rwandans.  It would be grossly unfair for me to offer any sort of characterization of the Rwandan people; conclusions based on only a week’s observations could only be the worst sort of generalizations.  But I think it would be fair to repeat a generalization that I’ve heard from several Rwandans—Rwandans are reserved people, showing little emotion and making the stereotypical Brit seem to have a very soft and floppy upper lip by comparison. 

It wasn’t long before I saw an example of this.  After my trip to the genocide memorial, an IJM driver picked me up to give me a ride back to the office.  One of my Rwandan colleagues was also in the car and asked me what I thought of the memorial.   After I had offered a brief response, she looked at me and said, matter-of-factly, “Sixteen of my family are in there,” referring to the mass graves adjacent to the memorial.  I sat in stunned silence, finding it much more difficult to wrap my head around one person’s grief than the entire genocide display.  But after a minute of this silence, my colleague was cracking jokes, and we were all smiling and laughing.

Without a doubt, some extraordinary healing and reconciliation has occurred in this country.  However, my limited sense (based on only a week of living here) is that a great deal of pain still lingers beneath the surface, somewhat obscured by smiles, Umuganda, laughter and lush greenery.  It is this subsurface reality that I hope to get to know a little better while I’m here.

I’ll let you know what I learn.