Changing Poison Into Medicine Through Social Processes Of

Home , African Great Lakes, Charles Gabriel Seligman, Dominique Mbonyumutwa, Gihanga, Mutara III Rudahigwa

CHANGING POISON INTO MEDICINE THROUGH SOCIAL PROCESSES OF

“FINDING PATHWAYS OUT”:

THE RWANDAN CONSTRUCTION OF A NEW DESTINY

IN THE

AFTERMATH OF THE 1994 GENOCIDE

MARTHA ANN POTTS

Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements

For the degree of Doctor of Philosophy

Dissertation Advisor: Dr. Eric Neilsen

Department of Organizational Behavior

CASE WESTERN RESERVE UNIVERSITY

August 2011 CASE WESTERN RESERVE UNIVERSITY

SCHOOL OF GRADUATE STUDIES

We hereby approve the thesis/dissertation of

Martha Ann Potts ______

Ph.D candidate for the ______degree *.

Eric Neilsen, Ph.D (signed)______(chair of the committee)

Ronald Fry, Ph.D ______

David Kolb, Ph.D ______

Mark Chupp, Ph.D ______

______

June 07, 2011 (date) ______

*We also certify that written approval has been obtained for any proprietary material contained therein. © Copyright by Martha Ann Potts 2011

Dedication

To Dr. Daisaku Ikeda who has taught me the most direct route to world peace

starts with the inner transformation of each individual.

To all the Batwa, Hutu and Tutsi who have lost their lives to violence throughout

the centuries.

Table of Contents

Dedication ...... i Table of Contents ...... ii List of Tables ...... vii List of Figures ...... viii Acknowledgements ...... ix Abstract ...... 1 1 Introduction ...... 3 1.1 Background of the Study ...... 3 1.2 Statement of Phenomenon of Interest ...... 4 1.3 Purpose of the Study ...... 6 1.3.1 A Note About the Study ...... 6 1.3.2 Significance of the Study ...... 8 1.4 Research Methodology ...... 9 1.4.1 Emergent Theory ...... 10 1.5 Outline of the Dissertation ...... 11 2 The Personal Journey ...... 13 2.1 Introduction ...... 13 2.2 Trauma and the Search for the Greater Self ...... 13 2.3 Addiction and Subsequent Substance Abuse Recovery ...... 15 2.4 Introduction to Nichiren Daishonin’s Buddhism ...... 16 2.5 Pursuit of Higher Education ...... 17 2.6 Why Research in Rwanda? ...... 18 3 Rwanda: An Historical Overview ...... 22 3.1 Introduction ...... 22 3.2 The African Great Lakes Region ...... 24 3.3 Pre-Colonial Early Inhabitants ...... 25 3.3.1 Batwa Pygmies ...... 25 3.3.2 Hutu-Bantu Great Lakes Migration ...... 27 3.3.3 Tutsi of the Great Lakes Region...... 30 3.3.3.1 Foundation Myths ...... 31 3.3.3.2 Hamite Hypothesis ...... 33 3.4 Pre-Colonial Rwandan Clan System ...... 37 3.4.1 A Political Snapshot ...... 42

3.4.2 The Reign of KIGERI Rwabugiri (1860-1895) ...... 45 3.5 Theories of Race ...... 46 3.6 Colonization ...... 48 3.6.1 German Colonial Rule (1897-1916): Indirect Rule ...... 48 3.6.2 Belgian Colonial Rule (1916-1962): Disruption of Traditional Society ...... 49 3.6.2.1 Higher Education ...... 50 3.6.2.2 Ethnic Identity ...... 50 3.6.2.3 The Roman Catholic Church and “The White Fathers” ...... 51 3.7 Some Consequences of Colonialism in Rwanda ...... 53 3.8 Hutu Revolution (1959) ...... 54 3.9 The Role of Hate Media ...... 59 3.10 The Final Solution…100 Days of Genocide ...... 60 3.11 Summary ...... 62 4 Methodology and Research Design ...... 63 4.1 Introduction ...... 63 4.2 Classic Grounded Theory ...... 64 4.3 The Evolution of the Research Design ...... 71 4.4 Preparing for Travel to Rwanda ...... 72 4.5 2006—Travel to Rwanda (September 6-October 15) ...... 74 4.5.1 Women Investment Fund ...... 76 4.5.2 Avega-Agahozo...... 82 4.5.3 Duhozanye ...... 85 4.6 The Next Steps ...... 87 4.7 2007—Things Don’t Always Go As Planned (March 30-April 21) ...... 90 4.8 Thinking About Additional Measures ...... 95 4.9 2008—Concluding Data Collection (March 12-April 20) ...... 97 4.9.1 Coporwa ...... 98 4.9.2 Ibuka ...... 100 4.10 Summary ...... 102 5 Genocide and the Way Forward ...... 105 5.1 Introduction ...... 105 5.2 Overview of Genocide ...... 106 5.2.1 Conditions of Genocide ...... 110 5.3 Fundamentals of the Way Forward in Post-Genocide Rwanda ...... 112 iii

6 Results and Related Literature ...... 118 6.1 Introduction ...... 118 6.2 A Grounded Theory of “Finding Pathways Out” ...... 118 Individual Pathway ...... 127 6.3 Managing the Void ...... 128 6.3.1 Numbing down ...... 133 6.3.1.1 Literature Related to Numbing Down ...... 134 6.3.2 Masking ...... 135 6.3.2.1 Literature Related to Masking ...... 136 6.3.3 Mimicking ...... 138 6.3.3.1 Literature Related to Mimicking ...... 139 6.3.4 Episodic recall ...... 140 6.3.5 Confronting the void ...... 142 6.3.6 Catapulting the gap ...... 144 6.4 Literature Related to Managing the Void: Summary Concept ...... 148 National Pathway ...... 150 6.5 Reconstituting National Identity ...... 151 6.5.1 Invoking the ancestors — Utilizing the Past ...... 154 6.5.2 Embodying change — Utilizing the Present ...... 162 6.5.2.1 Literature Related to Embodying Change ...... 165 6.5.3 Operationalizing change ...... 166 6.5.4 Sharing the dream — Utilizing the Future ...... 171 6.5.4.1 Literature Related to Sharing the Dream ...... 174 6.6 Literature Related to Reconstituting National Identity: Summary Concept ...... 174 Community Pathway ...... 178 6.7 Improvising Civility...... 178 6.7.1 Encouraging oneness ...... 182 6.7.1.1 Literature Related to Encouraging Oneness ...... 185 6.7.2 Reaching deep ...... 188 6.7.2.1 Literature Related to Reaching Deep ...... 192 6.7.3 Engaged healing ...... 193 6.8 Impediments to Finding Pathways Out ...... 199 6.8.1 Residual suspicion and violence ...... 199

6.8.2 Corruption ...... 200 6.8.3 Continued marginalization of the Batwa ...... 201 6.8.4 Self serving mentality ...... 202 6.8.5 “Small gods” ...... 202 6.9 Conclusion ...... 203 7 Theoretical and Practical Implications ...... 206 7.1 Review of Emergent Theory ...... 206 7.2 Bronfenbrenner’s Ecology of Human Development ...... 208 7.2.1 Contributions to Extant Theory — Individual Pathway ...... 211 7.2.2 Contributions to Extant Theory — National Pathway ...... 216 7.2.3 Contributions to Extant Theory — Community Pathway ...... 219 7.3 Recommendations — Rwanda ...... 220 7.4 Future Research ...... 227 7.5 Final Thought ...... 230 Appendices ...... 232 Appendix 1 Great Lakes Region of Africa ...... 233 Appendix 2 Equatorial Africa ...... 233 Appendix 3 List of Known Clans of Rwanda ...... 235 Appendix 4 NYIGINYA Dynasty of Rwanda ...... 236 Appendix 5 Pre-colonial Political Structure ...... 238 Appendix 6 Colonial Political Structure ...... 239 Appendix 7 Rwandan Identification Card ...... 240 Appendix 8 Racial Classification of Rwandans ...... 241 Appendix 9 Hutu Ten Commandments ...... 242 Appendix 10 Archbishop André Perraudin’s Quote ...... 244 Appendix 11 Chronology of Events Leading Up to the Rwanda Genocide of 1994 ...... 245 Appendix 11.1 The 17 Rules of the Tutsi ...... 251 Appendix 11.2 The Arusha Peace Agreement ...... 254 Appendix 12 Excerpts from Kangura ...... 255 Appendix 12 cont...... 257 Appendix 12 cont...... 258 Appendix 13 Excerpts from Radio Télévision Libre des Mille Collines (RTLM) ...... 259 Appendix 14 Conceptual Memo ...... 260

Appendix 15 African Cannibal Cartoon ...... 262 Appendix 16 Current Administrative Map of Rwanda ...... 263 Appendix 17 Informed Consent (English) ...... 264 Appendix 17 cont. Informed Consent (Kinyarwanda) ...... 267 Appendix 18 Murambi ...... 271 Appendix 19 Information About Gacaca ...... 272 Appendix 20 Prison Recruitment Process ...... 273 Appendix 20 cont...... 275 Appendix 20 cont...... 276 Appendix 20 cont...... 278 Bibliography ...... 280

List of Tables

Table 1 Study Participants ...... 102

Table 2 Additional Data Sources ...... 103

Table 3 Preliminary Codes ...... 119

Table 4 Invoking the Ancestors ...... 156

vii

List of Figures

Figure 1 Outline of "Finding Pathways Out" ...... 122

Figure 2 "Finding Pathways Out" ...... 126

Figure 3 Managing the Void ...... 132

Figure 4 Reconstituting National Identity ...... 154

Figure 5 Improvising Civility ...... 182

Figure 6 Ecology of Human Development ...... 208

Figure 7 Approaches to Building Peace ...... 212

Figure 8 Approaches to Building Peace through the Lens of Managing the Void ...... 216

viii

Acknowledgements

Mary Winter was a Ph.D. student in the Department of Organizational

Behavior at Case Western Reserve University during the time that I was also in the program. I learned many things from Mary in her role as colleague but I learned the most from her during the final days of her life as she surrendered to her battle with cancer. Mary had grown noticeably weaker with the passing of each day. She was extremely frail, her breathing was shallow and she could barely open her eyes. In this condition she would somehow muster the strength to wave goodbye, hug my neck or give me a kiss on my cheek. I had seen her display this same behavior with several others who came to visit her. I reflected quite a bit on how Mary was choosing to use the last bit of her precious life energy and on one of my final visits I shared my thoughts with her. I shared that

I had seen her connecting with people and displaying a deep sense of appreciation for those around her. As I concluded my comments, she turned in her bed to look up at me. Her eyes widened and the corners of her mouth turned upward. Mary Winter taught me that the most important thing in life is the relationships you build with other people. It is a lesson that was etched in the depths of my life and one that has guided me throughout the PhD journey. I will continue to honor this learning until my final days.

It is with heartfelt appreciation that I wish to thank all those who have been instrumental in supporting me on this journey particularly the following:

My PhD Tiger Cubs family (Deniz Kirazci, Greer Jordan, Guy Hutt, Nadya

Zhexembayeva, Sarah de Swart, Tim Ewing and Verena Murphy- honorary) for

ix co-creating a supportive space in which to learn about human behavior; to my

Gestalt community family for teaching me to believe in the value of being me in the moment and bringing my heart into human interactions; to all the members of my Soka Gakkai International Buddhist family who taught me that a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step; to my Classic Grounded Theory family and all the members of the Glaser family who demystified theory building and urged me to trust in emergence; to Judith Holton and Alvita Nathaniel whose dissertations served as exemplars that guided me through writing the methods and results chapters; to faculty, staff and students in the Department of

Organizational Behavior and members of the Case Western Reserve University

Internal Review Board for guiding me through the woods, giving me heartfelt feedback and challenging me to push myself beyond my limits; to Darryl Cook who handled me with love and patience while working to improve my writing skills; to my dissertation committee Ron Fry, Dave Kolb and Mark Chupp for supportive and encouraging feedback that pointed me toward the finish line; to the chair of my committee and my friend, Eric Neilsen for believing in me all those years; to my biological family members who love and support me just because…to my ancestors who eluded me before I began this process but who have become companions in my heart; and finally, to the Rwandan people for inspiring in me a deeper understanding of the importance of perceiving the equality of all people.

Changing Poison into Medicine through Social Processes of “Finding Pathways Out”: The Rwandan Construction of a New Destiny in the Aftermath of the 1994 Genocide

Abstract

MARTHA ANN POTTS

Between April 6th and mid-July of 1994, more than a million Tutsi, moderate Hutu and Batwa were killed in the Hutu government orchestrated genocide in Rwanda,

Africa. The initial purpose of the research was to explore micro-financed small business partnerships between Tutsi and Hutu women in the aftermath of the genocide. Based on the dictates of classic grounded theory the research was redirected to the more salient issues for the research participants. The topic evolved to one of looking at reconciliation, the creation of a progressive civil society and coping with tremendous loss. A grounded theory of “finding pathways out” of the horrors of genocide emerged as being the more salient concern of the research participants. The phrase, “finding pathways out,” refers to a group of social processes present in post-genocide Rwanda. They emerged from the data on three levels of the society; individual, national and community.

On the individual level is a concept termed managing the void, the properties of which are: numbing down, masking, mimicking, episodic recall, confronting the void and catapulting the gap. On the national level, the concept is reconstituting national identity and the properties are: invoking the ancestors, embodying

1 change, operationalizing change and sharing the dream. On the community level the concept is improvising civility with properties termed encouraging oneness, reaching deep and engaged healing. The theory highlights how Rwandans are redefining the past, shaping the ideals of the present, and envisioning the future as a means of influencing the reconciliation process.

KEYWORDS: grounded theory, genocide, post-genocide recovery, coping behaviors, community engagement, peacebuilding,

1 Introduction

“"People learn from history and when they have been in calamities they fear what they have learned. Fear of repeating the past motivates the re-creation of a better future. The timing or the time period and good leadership are essential for success…Things are understood when viewed holistically. Let people research and write so we can see what we are not willing to see.”1

1.1 Background of the Study

History is replete with significant struggles between people who engage in conflict based on opposing worldviews. There are numerous examples of individuals, groups, communities and nations that have become unyielding in their ideological positions. There are those who view the world in a different way and are perceived as threats. Annihilating the “other”, often in brutal ways, is sometimes an eventual solution to the inability to tolerate differences.

The early history of Rwanda saw the Belgian colonizers intentionally arrange communal fractures that were severely exacerbated during the span of colonial rule. Arbitrary divisions were constructed which placed a few select

Tutsi in a higher class with more power, prestige and privilege. The remaining majority of the Tutsi, Hutu and Batwa were relegated to lower social status.

These divisions were institutionalized, learned by the inhabitants, and have been passed down through generations to the present day.

One of the consequences of these socially constructed class differences was the ongoing tension that existed between the Tutsi and Hutu. Between 1959 and 1962 nearly 15,000 Tutsi were murdered at the hands of Hutu extremists;

1 Field Interview File #74 3 and in 1994, the people of Rwanda saw the genocide of nearly one million Tutsi, moderate Hutu and indigenous Batwa in a swift and systematic slaughter of men, women and children.

1.2 Statement of Phenomenon of Interest

I originally came to be interested in doing a study in Rwanda as a result of a photo that was on the Center for Business as an Agent of World Benefit website (http://worldbenefit.case.edu/). The picture was of a young white boy who looked to be approximately ten years old. He had stark blonde hair and was standing in the center of a sea of jet black African children. As an African-

American woman, the picture elicited a range of emotions that compelled me to read the story accompanying the picture. The article was about the Sager Family

Traveling Foundation and Roadshow, a Boston businessman turned philanthropist, who traveled the globe with his family. The story highlighted the

Sager’s travels to Rwanda after the 1994 genocide and their funding of a micro- lending program. The Sager’s saw supporting the micro-lending venture as an opportunity to infuse hope into an otherwise devastated society.

Recent history has seen the emergence of organizations that are committed to creating spaces and opportunities for individuals and groups, entrenched in highly polarized positions, to interact on a more personal and human level. After the murder of two family planning clinic workers, the Public

Conversations Project in Boston Massachusetts began facilitating dialogues between pro life and pro choice opponents. Numerous groups have brought

Israeli and Palestinian youth together in dialogue. They have emerged cognizant

4 of the opportunities that exist and the responsibilities they have to future generations in their respective countries. The Truth and Reconciliation

Commission of South Africa allowed perpetrators and victims a chance to confront one another with a goal of collective healing and proceeding toward the national transition to full democracy. Search for Common Ground, based in

Washington D.C., continues to bring together adversaries in the Ivory Coast with the goal of “reducing tensions by providing space for dialogues on key issues, helping communities engage in constructive cooperation, and strengthening social cohesion by increasing local capacity to resolve conflicts non-violently”.2

These and other such interactions have taken place through dialogues, in small business ventures, in workshops, and in a host of other environments that, given the level of antagonism in their relationships, tend to be highly unusual.

These venues have acted as “incubators” to inspire reflection, reveal commonality and assist in the promotion of a transformative process.

One such “incubator” in Rwanda that was funded by the Sager’s was called Women Investment Fund (WIF). It was started by a Tutsi woman who survived the Rwandan genocide of 1994. She had a background in finance and envisioned reconciliation through the lens of poverty alleviation, empowerment and relationships. She designed a program that coupled Tutsi women who survived the genocide with Hutu women whose husbands were incarcerated as perpetrators of the genocide. This micro enterprise aimed to challenge the women of Rwanda to participate in an unparalleled blend of economic empowerment and reconciliation.

2 Obtained from Search for Common Ground website: www.sfcg.org 5

It was the Sager Foundation’s relationship with WIF that afforded an opportunity for me to engage with the women of this micro enterprise.

1.3 Purpose of the Study

In 2006, I traveled to Rwanda to interview the women who were engaged in these entrepreneurial relationships. The interest began as a focus on what happens to adversaries when they are offered opportunities to engage with each other in more creative ways. It was my aim to better understand the business relationships between the Hutu and Tutsi women in the micro lending program.

Since these women of the community were brought together with a common goal, it was believed that the circumstances might have created opportunities for the participants to interact on a personal level and experience the “other” differently. It was expected that interviews with these women would produce sufficient data about their business partnerships. These data would become a part of my pursuit of a doctorate in organizational behavior.

It soon became abundantly clear that the women interviewed wanted to give voice to their experiences of post genocide survival. Over time, the study evolved from one of looking at micro finance to looking at reconciliation. More specifically, the research respondents shared aspects of the very complex social processes involved in the recovery of a nation of people who experienced a horrendous ordeal.

1.3.1 A Note About the Study

Since the genocide occurred, it has become socially unacceptable to refer to Rwandans as belonging to the “ethnic” categories of Tutsi, Hutu or Batwa.

The current prevailing wisdom suggests they view themselves under the umbrella of their Rwandan identity. As a foreigner, this at times made it difficult to know from which group, i.e. Hutu, Tutsi, or Batwa, interview participants derived. For purposes of this study, differentiating may have been important since the majority of the victims were Tutsi and Hutu were the predominant perpetrators. The Batwa have been identified as victims and perpetrators as well as bystanders.

Although the associations participating in the study are survivor focused, it is believed a significant number of the research participants were from each of the three groups although the sample size is not categorically known. I was often made aware of the informant’s group affiliation through self identification by the participant or sometimes through the interviewee implying group affiliation.

However, everyone I interviewed either killed someone, had family members who were killed or were related to someone who killed. Often, it was found that an interviewee fit in more than one of these categories.

Additionally, there are still some Hutu within Rwandan society who feel the atrocities were justified. However, I did not encounter any Hutu who claimed the

1994 genocide was a warranted act. Given that Hutu with this perspective dwell within various sectors of the society, their voices are glaring omissions. Hutu with these perspectives would have provided important information about the

7 economic, social and cultural transformations that are currently taking place in

Rwandan society.

Another constraint of the study is the fact that there was no attempt to systematically sample all political views in the country. The focus was on an articulation of the dominant themes at the political level that we became aware of when conducting the interviews.

1.3.2 Significance of the Study

The research contributes to the fields of posttraumatic growth, conflict transformation, peacebuilding and large group intervention methods. An elucidation of the social processes of “finding pathways out” offers information that could be useful in providing a blueprint for preventing genocide. The

Rwandan people identified several factors that were used to promote and instill shared meaning and a shared vision. Those features involved a revival and modification of significant traditional values, the infusion of a sense of ownership and empowerment at every level of society and the creation of a vision in which all citizens felt invested. Of course, ongoing political will has been fundamental to the entire process.

The study also has implications for an emerging field of research called post traumatic growth (PTG). The phenomenon is described in the following way: “Posttraumatic growth is the experience of positive change that occurs as a result of the struggle with highly challenging life crises. It is manifested in a variety of ways, including an increased appreciation for life in general, more meaningful interpersonal relationships, an increased sense of personal strength,

8 changed priorities, and a richer existential and spiritual life” (R. G. Tedeschi &

Calhoun, 2004).

There is much to be discovered about using conflicts to uncover sustainable methods that facilitate group and organizational transitions in the direction of cooperation and coexistence. The research opens opportunities for developing pedagogic applications for this kind of sustainable transition.

1.4 Research Methodology

The data for the study were generated from my three visits to the country of Rwanda, on the continent of African. Although the initial research was framed around the business partnerships between Hutu and Tutsi women, I wanted to remain receptive to more relevant concerns that may have been present in the

Rwandan’s perceptions of their own environment. These perceptions determine how they relate their internal perspective to the external environment. It is “both the self’s needs or experiences and the environment’s demands or conditions”

(Woldt, 2005).

The devastating and painful experience of genocide cannot be easily understood by the outside observer. It was with this lack of tacit understanding and a desire to respect and more fully appreciate the Rwandan experience that I thought the theoretical underpinnings of classic grounded theory to be the most appropriate methodology to use in approaching this study.

Grounded theory is an inductive methodology that systematically generates a theory in the form of conceptual categories that are related to each other. These categories form the basis of a theoretical explanation of the actions

9 that continually resolve the main concerns of the participants in a substantive area.3 Grounded theory foregoes “…forced, preconceived full conceptual description” (B. Glaser, 1992, p. 11) and allows the researcher “to absorb the data as data [and]…be able to step back or distance oneself from it, and then to abstractly conceptualize the data” (ibid).

As mentioned, my initial interest was to better understand the business relationships between the Hutu and Tutsi women, my use of classic grounded theory as the research methodology allowed continued flexibility in the exploration of the emergent concerns of the participants involved in the study.

The phenomenon of interest evolved to one of looking at adaptations of a nation of people who see themselves as striving to surmount obstacles created out of perceived differences that were introduced by Europeans who came to Rwanda during the colonial era (Germany 1897-1916; Belgium 1916-1962).

1.4.1 Emergent Theory

“Finding pathways out” is my conceptualization of aspects of a social process taking place in Rwanda in the aftermath of the genocide. The data highlight the phenomenon on the individual, the national and the communal levels.

On the individual level, our data show the various ways Rwandans are coping with the realities of life since the genocide. On the national level “finding pathways out” emphasizes how values from the Rwandan past are being used to

3 This information was obtained from the Grounded Theory Institute official website located at: http://www.groundedtheory.com/what-is-gt.aspx 10 enhance the present and frame the future. The communities are the places where the strengths and weaknesses of the human spirit are revealed.

Additionally, the data reveal persistent obstructions to the restorative properties of the social processes of “finding pathways out.”

1.5 Outline of the Dissertation

The dissertation is comprised of six chapters as follows:

Chapter 1—covers the background of the study and the statement of interest and purpose. It also includes the significance of the study while noting important social conditions encountered during the research process. It proceeds from there to introduce the research method and a summary of the emergent theory.

Chapter 2—is the story of my personal journey and how I came to pursue a

PhD in Organizational Behavior. The chapter highlights significant events and critical turning points, some of which provided training in the “school of hard knocks”. Those experiences coupled with serendipity changed the trajectory of my life, eventually steering me in a direction of being able to “change poison into medicine”.

Chapter 3—uses extant literature as well as oral accounts to provide several thousand years of historical context from which the 1994 genocide emerged. It introduces the reader to the original inhabitants of the African Great

Lakes Region and provides a snapshot of social structures in place before and after colonization. The chapter describes the divisive social climate fostered by

11 the Hutu-centric post colonial government of Rwanda and concludes with the massacres of 1994.

Chapter 4—describes the classic grounded theory research method and the evolution of the research question and design. The chapter highlights the preparation for and trips to Rwanda in 2006, 2007 and 2008. Data collection sites are introduced and the resulting theory begins to emerge.

Chapter 5—provides an overview of some conditions known to exist when genocides have occurred. It concludes with an outline of the way forward for the country in a post-genocide Rwanda.

Chapter 6—elucidates a grounded theory of “finding pathways out”. The pathways are basic social processes that emerged on the individual, national and community levels of society. They account for the behaviors that were being enacted by the Rwandan people.

Chapter 7—begins with a review of the emergent theory. The chapter continues by identifying contributions finding pathways out makes to the extant literature on the individual, national and community levels. The chapter concludes with recommendations for Rwanda and concluding remarks.

2 The Personal Journey

…It all comes down to which path we choose at major crossroads in our lives. Will we choose the wise path that leads to our further growth and development as human beings? Or will we choose the foolish path in which we are constantly swayed and controlled by others’ opinions? In a sense, it could be said that in life we are always at such a crossroads. That is why it is vital for us to have an unwavering criterion for choosing the correct course in life each time.

…Daisaku Ikeda 2.1 Introduction

Life presented multiple challenges for an African-American female growing up in the 1960’s and 70’s. As a latchkey kid living in a public housing tenement, I was easily influenced by some of the darker realities of public housing life.

Exposure to drugs, alcohol, gangs and abuse were a few of the “rites of passage” that were common in the subculture where I spent all of my childhood and most of my adolescence. It has been an arduous journey sorting through which values, beliefs and worldviews are important to maintain and which are not and that may have shaped the world views and biases that underlie this dissertation.

This chapter will provide a snapshot of critical stages in my life that steered me in the direction of pursuing a PhD in organizational behavior. This will help facilitate an understanding of the lens through which I view the world and how that might influence the research process.

2.2 Trauma and the Search for the Greater Self

I was raised, along with my two older sisters, by a single parent in Buffalo,

New York. As the sole provider, my mother did her utmost to raise her daughters in a comfortable environment that was furnished with an abundance of the basic needs. She dreamt of being able to provide her girls with the best education that

13 was available. Although I was enrolled in Catholic schools for the bulk of my primary and high school years, the education was not enough to rescue me from the rugged course that lay before me. I became ensnarled in a host of difficult situations that were common in the housing project setting.

By the age of eight I was consuming alcohol and by the time I reached my early teens I was a connoisseur of illicit street drugs. Many of my childhood friends have had their lives so severely affected by addiction, crime, poverty and prison that they are merely a shadow of who I once knew them to be, that is, if they are still alive. Having experienced continuous childhood sexual abuse and serious struggles with addiction, I considered myself fortunate to have graduated from high school. I had no further desire for a higher education. Completing high school was high enough for me. As a product of a public housing projects in the ghettos of Buffalo, New York, my dreams and aspirations tended not to extend very far beyond the concrete structures of my immediate environment.

The universe, however, offered alternative directions for my life. I encountered a series of significant, life altering “interventions” that redirected me onto an alternative path. Many of these “interventions” were in the form of nurturing relationships, and others took the shape of life changing events. Of course, to name everything and everyone of significance would be a daunting task.

Instead, I will highlight a few of the factors that have been instrumental in leading me to this dissertation process.

2.3 Addiction and Subsequent Substance Abuse Recovery

During my early twenties I was abusing drugs, one of many self destructive behaviors that could have been viewed as a prelude to my epitaph.

The long-term substance abuse problem was useful in masking the devastation of the childhood sexual abuse experiences.

By the age of twenty-eight, a friend introduced me to crack cocaine. It was one of the worst experiences of my life. The use of this drug produced feelings of extreme “euphoria”. In this state I had delusional thoughts namely, that nothing was more important and the crack cocaine was good for me. This exhilaration was always followed by irritability, restlessness, paranoia, depression and a strong craving for more cocaine. That friend later died as a result of her chronic use of the drug. I was certain that I was not far behind her.

The drug quickly became the most important thing in my life. The more I filled my lungs with the seductive white smoke, the more I became aware of a degeneration of my core values that were essential to my humanity. The

“euphoria” masked the intense internal struggle between an unfathomable darkness buried in the recesses of my life and the limitless yet unrealized potential I somehow knew resided within me as well. I was losing the battle and I felt trapped in ways I had never known. I was afraid for my sanity and afraid for my life. It was at that crucial juncture that I decided to sign myself into a drug rehabilitation facility.

Although I encountered Buddhism and began chanting Nam Myoho

Renge Kyo in the mid 70’s, I began practicing with a more sincere resolve within

15 the first few days of my recovery. The sober support I received from my recovery community and the encouragements offered by my faith community were essential to my recovery and growth.

In retrospect, I view this very difficult experience in a positive light. I was motivated, to some degree by fear, to address my lifelong tendency to abuse drugs and alcohol. The experience further propelled me to address the primary cause of my addictive behavior; the childhood sexual abuse experiences. That was in 1984 and I’ve been totally drug and alcohol free since that time.

2.4 Introduction to Nichiren Daishonin’s Buddhism

I eventually moved to New York City to experience the freedom and thrill of living in a big city. At the age of twenty-one, while living in New York, I was introduced to Nichiren Daishonin’s Buddhism. My decision to practice Buddhism was not at all profound. I started my practice because many of my new friends happened to practice Buddhism. It’s been a constant in my life for over thirty-five years.

The essence of Nichiren Buddhism is contained in a concept called human revolution. It is a process of inner transformation whereby individuals gradually expand their lives while conquering negative and destructive tendencies. The individual strives to ultimately make the life state of boundless wisdom and infinite compassion their dominant life-condition. Chanting Nam

Myoho Renge Kyo is the primary practice in Buddhism. The literal meaning is:

Nam (devotion), the action of practicing Buddhism; myoho (Mystic Law), the

16 essential Law of the universe and its phenomenal manifestations; renge (lotus), the simultaneity of cause and effect; kyo (Buddha’s teaching), all phenomena.4

There is a concept in Buddhism called hendoku-iyaku that served as my constant source of inspiration. It means one can transform even the deepest suffering into an opportunity for growth and advancement; or in other words one can “change poison into medicine”. This concept left no room for self pity and caused me to view my life circumstances as unique opportunities to be used in re-calibrating my life toward a more positive direction.

2.5 Pursuit of Higher Education

I moved to Cleveland, Ohio to be closer to my father and my sisters. During this period of my life I was employed at the local public transit system. With several months of sobriety under my belt, I received promotions and advanced to the position of control center supervisor. This job was responsible for overseeing the safe operation of the system’s revenue train traffic by way of computer console.

At each level of advancement within the transit system I became increasingly aware of my disenchantment with the transit organization. There was a pervasive atmosphere of complaint and unhappiness in the work setting. The conditions fostered negativity and I found myself feeling extremely disgruntled. I decided to take responsibility for my circumstances and made a determination to educate myself in order to become a part of the solution instead of a disgruntled employee who contributed to the organization’s dysfunction.

4 Information obtained from the official website of the Soka Gakkai International USA: www.sgi- usa.org 17

I eventually returned to a higher education program while continuing to work full time and acquired associate, bachelor and master’s degrees over the course of several years. Of particular significance was the transformative experience I had in the Master of Science in Organization Development and Analysis program at Case Western Reserve University. It was while in this program that I developed a deep desire to better understand how group and intergroup relations play themselves out in all manner of social settings. This interest emerged as a central theme of the research in Rwanda. I applied and was accepted into the

PhD program in Organizational Behavior at Case Western Reserve University. I resigned from my job of nearly 25 years to become a fulltime PhD student.

Also of note was the training I received in the Gestalt Training and Working

With Physical Process Programs at the Gestalt Institute of Cleveland. These programs provided a safe environment in which to attend to emotional, relational and energetic obstructions that were residual patterns from my past.

2.6 Why Research in Rwanda?

I became involved in programs offered at the Gestalt Institute of

Cleveland. Briefly, gestalt means “an organized whole that is perceived as more than the sum of its parts”.5 It has a goal of improving an individual’s ability to connect with the self and her/his physical environment. The physical environment also includes the people in the environment. This connection sensitizes the person to an internal awareness as well as the awareness of the

5 Information obtained for the official Gestalt International Study Center: www.gisc.org 18 connection between the self and the other. In fulfilling the contacts with others the individual becomes more aware, spontaneous and authentic.

Developing the ability to connect with the support of the Cleveland Gestalt community was vital since many of my peer group and faculty relationships within it were central to supporting my transformation and growth. I encountered human interactions that were rich, generative and life altering.

As a result of my personal experiences, I developed a strong interest in individual and social transformation issues. With the influence of programs and relationships such as the aforementioned, I began to wonder how individuals, groups, organizations, communities and nations that have experienced trauma are able to use their circumstances as a point of departure for growth and transformation. Barney Glaser (B. Glaser, 1978), one of the developers of the grounded theory research method, refers to such research interests that inform the researcher about herself as a “personal life cycle interest study”.

My exposure to grounded theory came by way of a survey course I took on qualitative analysis models. As a final assignment I chose to read Dr. Glaser and Dr. Strauss’ seminal work entitled Awareness of Dying and write about their research as my final project. While reading the book, I casually conducted an internet search on grounded theory. I discovered that Dr. Strauss had passed away but Dr. Glaser was still among the living. I also discovered Dr. Glaser had an institute devoted to the research method. Additionally, the Grounded Theory

Institute had scheduled a researcher’s seminar and combined it with Dr. Glaser’s

75th birthday celebration in Mill Valley, California. I wrote to them requesting an

19 opportunity to attend the event but informed them that I had no funds. They responded by providing me with airfare, hotel accommodations and by absorbing the fees for the seminar. I was able to attend the seminar and celebrate with Dr.

Glaser, his family and a host of friends and grounded theory researchers who were present from around the globe.

Subsequent to that event I attended several more classic grounded theory seminars (in Mill Valley, California, New York City and London, England). The seminars were conducted by the Grounded Theory Institute and facilitated by Dr.

Barney Glaser and fellows of the Institute. It was during the first seminar that I became convinced of the viability of using the method to do a PhD study on a social phenomenon. The method would offer a way to bring the most important concerns, as expressed by the participants in the social setting, to the foreground. This possibility resonated with me and generated a sense of excitement and commitment.

After identifying these aspects of interest, a sequence of serendipitous events led me to be interested in conducting a study in the central African nation of Rwanda.

You might be asking why it is necessary to bare my life in one of the beginning chapters of this dissertation. The answer can be found in the belief that researchers are part of the environment they propose to study. As such,

“understanding the relationship between the particular and the whole and between the subject and the object of analysis” is critical (Kincheloe & McLaren,

1994). Research is “an interactive process shaped by [the researcher’s]

20 personal history, biography, gender, social class, race, and ethnicity, [as well as] those of the people in the [research] setting (Denzin & Lincoln, 1994, p.3).

Knowledge of my personal history and an understanding of how I arrived at this place in my life help the reader understand the lens through which I perceive the world. My interest in this research is rooted in my own life experiences as a survivor. Like the Rwandan people, I too have lived through devastating loss.

Like many Rwandans, I too had committed myself to finding a way out. I therefore was in an excellent position to empathize with my study subjects, to engage them with caring and sensitivity, and to explore their past and present circumstances with an eye toward a more positive future. At the same time, these same life experiences make it important for me to be aware of my desire for positive change and to avoid imposing my own optimism on the data I collected.

3 Rwanda: An Historical Overview

“…when [Western discourse] has tried to explain other cultures, [it] has often redefined existing realities in such a way that the orders of words, things, and beings were displaced and transformed. For this reason, when one evokes the terms Hutu, Tutsi and Twa, one certainly gives them a meaning they did not have in precolonial Rwanda.” (Semujanga, 2003)

3.1 Introduction

In order to gain an understanding of the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, it is important to appreciate the enormously rich and complex history of the Rwandan people. For decades, scholars have utilized various methods to discover particular “truths” about the inhabitants of the country that lies in the African

Great Lakes Region. At times, those “truths” have been aligned with the

Rwandan’s beliefs about themselves. Sometimes, however, scholars have held views that have run counter to those held in the collective historical consciousness of the Rwandan people. For example, Jan Vansina (J. Vansina,

2004) states that the founding of the ancient Nyiginya kingdom can be confirmed from around 1650 C.E. Other scholars trace the kingdom back only as far as

1895. Nationally acclaimed Rwandan historian and philosopher Alexis Kagame

(1959) suggests 1091 as the historical point of departure for the kingdom’s founding.

Data from the fields of linguistics, archaeology, geology and history have enhanced scholarly understanding of the human settlement patterns of the people of Rwanda. These data have enlarged my understanding of the complexity of the Rwandan genocide. While an extensive review of the

22 contributions made by these various fields is beyond the scope of this study, it is important to acknowledge the significance of these multidisciplinary studies

(Bostoen, 2007; Chrétien, 2003; Klieman, 2003; J. A. N. Vansina, 2004) in an understanding of Rwanda’s history of genocide.

This historical review begins with an overview of the written and oral history of Rwanda focusing on some of the social structures that were prominent in shaping the Rwandan political and cultural landscape of the present day. This historical focus will utilize African authors, western literature and others. I was especially attentive to the perspectives and historical narratives of the Rwandan people. I was of the belief that the way the Rwandan people view their collective history differs from that of scholarly researchers. It is their views of this collective history that are the salient ingredients in their lives in the present day.

As a novice to the history of Rwanda and a total stranger to the land, I was essentially asking people to share some of their most personal and threatening views about their past experiences. They were being requested to share their profound pain and what they might see as being the hope for the future. I was also asking that they open their lives to a complete stranger and trust that what they shared would be valued.

In this chapter I consider a number of major topics. Among them are the origins of these groups and differing views as to the time of arrival. Also included are the myths about the founding of Rwanda and an overview of the complex social structures in place before the colonizers arrived. The chapter concludes

23 with colonization by the Germans and Belgians and the instability that developed during the years following independence.

3.2 The African Great Lakes Region

The Great Lakes of Africa include Lake Victoria which is found in the southeast, Lakes Kivu and Tangnayika which are located in the southwest and

Lakes Albert and Edward to the west. The Great Lakes Region incorporates

Burundi, Democratic Republic of the Congo, north western Kenya and Tanzania,

Uganda and Rwanda (Appendix 1). As it exists today, Rwanda is an area of land measuring approximately 10,700 square miles and is located in the heart of

Africa. Rwanda is a landlocked country bordered by Tanzania to the east, the

Democratic Republic of the Congo at the western border, Burundi to the south and Uganda on the northern border. Rwanda is dotted with lush green mountains, rolling hills and five volcanoes and is often referred to as “the land of a thousand hills”. Deforestation and erosion currently present major problems for the struggling country and it has few natural resources. The primary exports are coffee and tea. It is the most densely populated area in Africa. Approximately

90% of the population is engaged in subsistence agriculture.6 Rwanda is slightly smaller than the state of Maryland and the weather is consistently mild. The sun shines nearly every day with an average temperature of 78 Fahrenheit. The thermometer may occasionally reach a maximum of 95 Fahrenheit during the day, while the low rarely dips below 50 during the evening hours. There are four seasons. They are divided into 2 rainy seasons (October to November and mid-

6 Information obtained from the Central Intelligence Agency Library website: www.cia.gov/library 24

March to late May) and 2 dry seasons (late December to mid-March and June to the end of August). Given its breathtaking beauty and favorable climate, it is easy to understand why Rwandans in Africa, as well as those in the Diaspora, have a deep devotion and love for their country.7

3.3 Pre-Colonial Early Inhabitants

Three social groups comprise the inhabitants of modern day Rwanda.

Controversy continues to surround the Batwa, the Hutu and the Tutsi and their existence in the Great Lakes Region of Africa. Did they originate from different ancestors; different tribes; different ethnic groups? They intermarried, shared a common language, the same clans, the same culture and the same land.

Although it is impossible to know exactly how they came to exist in the region, I will construct a general description to facilitate a deeper understanding of some of the history underlying the relationships between the people of the Rwandan nation.

3.3.1 Batwa Pygmies

“Almost everything about the Pygmies of Equatorial Africa is controversial, even their name. Their biology, their archaeology, their history, their past and present linguistic status, their uses of their environment, their relationship with their neighbors, their rights as citizens of the countries in which they live, their entitlement to live as they choose in the present and to work out their own future—all these and much more evoke vigorous difference of opinion” (Woodburn 2000:78 as quoted in (Kent, 2002)).

Anthropologists, archeologists, linguists, historians and oral traditionalists have been unable to arrive at a consensus regarding the settlement history of the

7 Information obtained from the official Rwandan Government website: www.gov.rw 25 region. However, there is general agreement across the various disciplines that

Pygmies were the original inhabitants of the region and are presumed to have appeared four or five millennia ago (Turnbull, 1961). There are three main

Pygmy groups identified as having their origins on the African continent. They were to be found throughout equatorial Africa (Appendix 2) and they have different histories and vastly different experiences as inhabitants of the Central

African forests. They are the Tswa of the west, the Batwa between Lake Kivu and Lake Tanganyika and the BaMbuti of the Ituri Forest located in the eastern region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The Batwa are the Pygmies of

Rwanda, they are the autochthons (original indigenous people) of this region

(bid).

Although the term “pygmy” has devolved and become a pejorative term, these indigenous people were initially viewed as a spiritual people who were experts of the land. The forest environments were vast, daunting, dark and threatening and the prospects of human survival were uncertain. Under such conditions the Pygmies were considered to be “forest specialists…indigenous teachers and guides—individuals who led the new immigrants to favorable locations and taught them to survive in the unfamiliar rainforest environment…”[they were] people who introduced civilization to agriculturalists, imparting the very skills and practices that separate humans from the animal world” (Klieman, 2003).

The prohibition of incest, the use of fire, the cooking of food, the domestication of plants—even the techniques of weaving, potting, and

26 metallurgy—have all been attributed to Batwa populations among various agriculturalist societies (ibid). The Batwa are small in stature. It is thought that their physical size was a biological adjustment to environmental circumstances.

Walter Rodney asserts that the physical development of the Batwa might have been an adaptation to their social occupation and their diet. They had limited access to the agricultural bounty available to other groups and they tended to live in small communities, wander in small bands hunting and digging roots that had insufficient nutritional value (Rodney, 1973). They are widely believed to be the biological descendants of the Late Stone Age hunter-gathers of central Africa.

The path of the African Pygmy is complex and multidimensional and their role in the history of the human family has been, and continues to be, extensively explored (Klieman, 2003; Turnbull, 1961; Vansina, 1990, 2005). Although an extensive discussion would exceed the scope of this dissertation, a general review of their past can help facilitate a better understanding of the political and social conditions present in Rwanda in the twenty first century. This review will be limited to a discussion of the Batwa of Rwanda only.

3.3.2 Hutu-Bantu Great Lakes Migration

Evidence suggests Batwa societies were utilizing methods of subsistence living in the forest environment before Bantu agriculturalists arrived. The Bantu expansion is thought to have taken place over a period of approximately three thousand years (4000-2000 B.C.E.). Bantu is a linguistic term that means

“human being” in several African dialects. It refers to a group of languages related to a common language family and spoken by those groups who migrated

27 to equatorial Africa (Klieman, 2003). Although it is believed that the Batwa had developed a distinct culture and language of their own, their identities were likely subsumed and eventually replaced by the culture and languages of the Bantu settlers. When the Bantu arrived they began the process of integrating with the original inhabitants, pooling resources and developing familial ties. They recruited Batwa into their ranks and introduced a new social order that likely mirrored their Bantu ancestral traditions and previous social groups. Dissolution of the social, economic, cultural, religious and political prestige of the Batwa was the eventual result. Archeological evidence suggests this erosion was clearly evident between 500-1000 C.E. (ibid).

By 1000 B.C.E., Bantu settlers, possibly from the Niger basin, had entered the area in migratory waves, and their knowledge of the environment had vastly improved. Their culture became integrated with those of the native groups.

Cultural economies emerged resulting in social, economic and political complexity. The Bantu typically lived in sparsely populated villages while their

Batwa neighbors continued to adhere to a subsistence existence in the rainforests. The Batwa viewed the choice of a forest existence as an expression of their autonomy. This choice has proven to be fateful for future generations of

Batwa. They have remained confined in the forest as forest dwellers to the present day.

The Hutu were agriculturalists who were descendants of these Bantu people and they are thought to have migrated from the Lake Chad region of

Africa. They are believed to have arrived in present day Rwanda and Burundi

28 between the fifth to the eleventh centuries. Upon their arrival to the area, they socially organized themselves according to clans (ubwoko) and lineages

(umuryango, inzu). They began taking possession of the fertile areas and the

Batwa gradually lost all rights to the land. Eventual widespread deforestation by the immigrants severely diminished the Batwa’s ability as hunter-gatherers and they became significantly marginalized. The Batwa continued to scrape out a living as hunter-gathers, while adding pottery makers, guides, entertainers and executioners to their list of occupations.

There is evidence that by the seventh and sixth century B.C.E. metallurgy technology had developed and, although they existed in autonomous communities, the Batwa and the Bantu developed an interdependent trading relationship that, in effect, had a reciprocal influence on their respective cultures

(Ehret, 2002).

Through the ages there had developed an odd contradictory attitude of reverence and distain toward the Batwa people. Vansina describes it this way:

“In stories about settlement, pygmies are the guides who taught the immigrants how to cope with various habitats within the rainforest, even in the great marsh. The stories are all the more remarkable because, by the nineteenth century, all surviving bands of pygmy hunters and gatherers were serfs for the villagers, who held profoundly ambivalent views about them. They were a despised, uncivilized, subhuman race, unfit for sexual congress with any farming woman. Yet, they were the fountain of civilization: the first in the land; the inventors of fire; the teachers about habitats; the wise healers with medicinal plants; sometimes even the first metallurgists; and, on occasion, the first farmers” (Vansina, 1990).

By the 1400’s, the Hutu had began situating themselves into small kingdoms that were controlled by dominant clans. These clans had a ruling lineage with several lineage ‘offspring’. They were eventually headed by a king

(mwami) who was responsible for the land and the maintenance of important clan rituals. Evidence suggests these Hutu agriculturalists had already begun pastoralist activities by this time. It is also believed that several political states had emerged before the Tutsi ever began appearing in the region.8

The process by which the Batwa began to lose their standing as owners of the land is a study in itself. The essential point to be made here is that as the

Bantu migrated into Central Africa and became acclimated to their surroundings, the Batwa began to lose the status and significance generally awarded them as the original inhabitants of the land. In retrospect, this trend of immigration and subjugation of those in power may be seen as a precursor to future conquests by subsequent groups of “settlers” who found their way into the region in later centuries.

3.3.3 Tutsi of the Great Lakes Region

Some experts believe the Batwa, Hutu and Tutsi were coexisting in present day Rwanda by 1000 C.E (Semujanga, 2003). Others argue that the

Tutsi began arriving around 1300 C.E. and found the Batwa and the Hutu already in the region (ibid). Whether or not the Tutsi migration occurred over a period of time or occurred in a relatively short span of years continues to be a matter of conjecture (Mamdani, 2002).

No matter when the Tutsi may have arrived in the region, it is important for us to gain a sense of the inferences and allegory that are associated with the

Rwandan Tutsi existence. It is those views that have been fundamental in

8 http://www.um.dk/danida/evalueringsrapporter/1997_rwanda/book1.asp#c5 30 shaping the way Tutsi viewed themselves and have been viewed by their fellow countrymen.

3.3.3.1 Foundation Myths

Rwandan oral history is replete with historical myths (ibiteekerezo). These legends are well known in Rwandan folklore. They suggest a mythological rationale as to how the Tutsi came to reside in Rwanda and assume dominance in their social positioning within the populace. It is important to be aware of some of the folklore because they are socially pervasive and have profoundly influenced the relationships among all Rwandans.

One such myth relates to the divine power of the Rwandan kingship. The legend is of the first king of Rwanda named Nkuba (meaning lightning) (Maquet,

1961). He lived in heaven with his wife Nyagasani, sons Kigwa and Mututsi, and daughter Nyampundu. One day the three siblings fell from heaven and settled on a hill in Rwanda. Kigwa married his sister and they gave birth to a daughter.

Their brother, Mututsi, later married the daughter of Kigwa and Nyampundu. The descendants of Kigwa constituted the Abanyigina clan, while those of Mututsi comprised the Abega clan.

Another myth pertains to the social distinctions of the three groups of inhabitants in Rwanda (Mamdani, 2002). Kigwa is said to have had three sons named Gatutsi, Gahutu and Gatwa. These brothers were considered to be socially inept. Gatutsi decided the three brothers should visit Imana (God) to seek guidance about enhancing their social faculty. Imana had a few talents to bestow. Since Gatutsi went first, Imana offered him the faculty of anger. Gahutu

31 arrived next and Imana offered him disobedience and labor. Gatwa arrived last and found the only remaining faculty was gluttony, which he gratefully accepted.

An additional legend tells of how Kigwa sought to test the character of his three sons, Gatutsi, Gahutu and Gatwa (ibid). One day, Kigwa decided to entrust each of his sons with a calabash filled with milk and asked that they protect it overnight. During the night, Gatwa decided to drink all of the milk entrusted to him while Gahutu carelessly spilled his milk. Gatutsi was the only one who managed to maintain a full calabash of milk. From that test, Kigwa determined that Gatutsi was the best qualified to be appointed chief among his brothers,

Gatwa and Gahutu, from that time forward.

The Gihanga myth is an elaborate story of the founder of the kingdom. In summary, the folklore tells of Gihanga being born in northeast Rwanda to Kazi ka

Muntu (meaning the root of man).9 Gihanga’s mother was the daughter of

Nyamigezi, who was the king of the “Earth Born” or “Found on the Earth.” This made Gihanga half heavenly and half earthly being. He was handsome, charming, gifted and a very popular young man. His popularity provoked jealousy among his mother’s relatives who were seeking to acquire the throne of

Gihanga’s grandfather, King Nyamigezi. One night the village seers had a vision that faraway lands were waiting for Gihanga to come and rule them. Gihanga accepted the revelation, packed his most cherished possessions and began a long trip around the earth. Gihanga visited several kingdoms and spent time

9 This website provides information about Rwandan royal myths, royal poetry, royal rituals, royal lists etc. in English, French and Kinyarwanda: http://webspinners.com/Gakondo/en/Myths/Gihanga.php 32 among the people entertaining them and teaching them the skills of metal work.

He took a wife at each locality and those wives gave birth to his children.

Gihanga completed his travels and found a suitable location for the establishment of a royal dwelling. He taught the locals crafts, farming, pottery, hunting, and everything they needed to know to improve their lifestyles. It is said that everything Rwandan’s have today was given to them by Gihanga.

3.3.3.2 Hamite Hypothesis

Views among historians also tend to differ as to where the Tutsi originated. There are researchers who support the idea that Hutu and Tutsi have different origins (Chrétien, 2003; C. Newbury, 1978; Vansina, 2005). They suggest the Tutsi are Hamites who came to the region from Ethiopia. They rely on the ‘hamite hypothesis’ to explain what differentiates the Tutsi from the Hutu.

This hypothesis also attempts to explain who the Tutsi are and how they arrived in the African Great Lakes region.

According to early European researchers who studied Africa, the complex civilizations, elegant architecture, political organizations, and fine art could all be attributed to the migration of the ‘Hamites’ to the continent. The ‘Hamite

Hypothesis’ presumed a superior race and a superior civilization whose origins could be traced to south west Asia. This view is illustrated in the following passage:

…Two other elements in the pre-historic colonization of Africa require mention at this stage—the Semitic and the Malay. “Semitic” and “Hamitic” are useful terms which apply exactly to two distinct types of sex-denoting languages; languages which conceivably had a common origin very far back in time—12,000 years ago or more?—somewhere in southwest Asia, perhaps not far from Caucasia or

Armenia. But in a looser sense we apply Semitic and Hamitic to physical types, and speak of a Semitic profile and the dark Hamitic complexion and curly hair. “Hamite”—or more correctly, Kushite—applies without much inconsistency to the physical type which speaks the Eastern Hamitic languages—yellow or brown in skin colour, with the handsome features and straight, thin noses of the better- looking Caucasian, and bushy, black hair which betrays the ancient negro intermixture by its curliness. The Kushite are in fact descended from Libyans (Berbers) who have mingled in North-East Africa with negro races. The whiter Libyans passed on westward to colonize the southern and north-western shores of the Mediterranean, while the Hamites populated Middle and Eastern Egypt, Abyssinia, and Galaland; from which direction their nomad wanderers as hunters and herdsmen permeated all Eastern Africa in ancient times (Johnston, 1966).

The term ‘hamite’ has its origins in the Bible. It is derived from the biblical figure, Ham. Genesis 9: 21-27 (American Standard Version) recounts the story of Noah and his three sons named Shem, Japheth and Ham. The verse tells of

Ham finding his father drunk, naked and asleep on the floor of his tent. Ham, who was also the father of Canaan, lost respect for his father when he found him naked and in a drunken stupor. According to the passage, Ham told his brothers,

Shem and Japheth about the condition of their father. Shem and Japheth entered the tent to cover their father’s body, averting their gaze to keep from seeing him nude. When Noah awakened, he was aware that Ham had seen his nakedness. Outraged, Noah cursed Ham’s son, Canaan, and his descendants to be “a servant of servants…unto his brethren…he shall dwell in the tents of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant”.

This curse of Ham’s descendants later found its way into the Babylonian

Talmud. Edith Sanders (Sanders, 1969) cites rabbinical embellishments of the

Genesis story from R. Graves and R. Patai’s Hebrew Myths in her article:

'Now I cannot beget the fourth son whose children I would have ordered to serve you and your brothers! Therefore it must be Canaan, your firstborn, whom they

34 enslave. And since you have disabled me... doing ugly things in blackness of night, Canaan's children shall be borne ugly and black! Moreover, because you twisted your head around to see my nakedness, your grandchildren's hair shall be twisted into kinks, and their eyes red; again because your lips jested at my misfortune, theirs shall swell; and because you neglected my nakedness, they shall go naked, and their male members shall be shamefully elongated! Men of this race are called Negroes, their forefather Canaan commanded them to love theft and fornication, to be banded together in hatred of their masters and never to tell the truth’.

Through the centuries, the curse has been reinterpreted to mean Ham and his descendants were cursed with black skin and destined to be enslaved

(Goldenberg, 2005). The ‘Hamite Hypothesis’ became further modified to mean whites in black skin or a subgroup of Caucasians. This adaptation of the curse of

Ham became embedded in numerous western historical writings from the Middle

Ages until recently.

In summary, according to the ‘Hamite Hypothesis’, the curse that Noah set upon Ham’s descendants was generalized to mean the curse of Ham as well as his descendants. Eventually the tail of the curse morphed in meaning and evolved to suggest that those people with black skin were destined to become slaves. A later adaptation came to mean a subgroup of Caucasians and eventually a superior race of Africans who have European origins with innate intellectual superiority. These ideas became deeply engrained in the European worldview and were imported to Rwanda as well as to other African nations.

In 1930, Charles Gabriel Seligman published his seminal work in anthropology entitled Races of Africa (Seligman, 1966). In it, he presents his assumptions about the non-African influences (Hamites) on African cultures

35 through the centuries. Nigel Eltringham (2006) quotes several passages from

Seligman’s work where the later makes claims such as the following:

Apart from relatively late Semitic influences…the civilizations of Africa are the civilizations of the Hamites…who are Caucasians, i.e. belong to the same great branch of mankind as almost all Europeans (Seligman, 1939, p. 96 as quoted in (Eltringham, 2006).

[T]he incoming Hamites were pastoral ‘Europeans’—arriving wave after wave—better armed as well as quicker witted than the dark agricultural Negroes (Seligman, 1966, p. 100, ibid).

Eastern Hamites comprise the ancient and modern Egyptians…the Beja, the Berberines (Barbara and Nubians), the Galla, the Somali and Danakil, and, though mixed with Semites and Negroes, most Abyssinians (Seligman, 1939, p. 97, ibid).

[…] the barbarous tribes and people of Africa [who] sprung from the mixture of the Hamite and Negro or [who were] affected culturally by Hamitic influence (Seligman, 1913, pp. 648-649, ibid).

[…] the Nilotes show no inconsiderable admixture with that foreign (Hamitic) blood which ran pure or almost pure in the veins of the predynastic Egyptians…If the actual socio-political conditions of the Nilotes be examined we find that development has taken place upon the same lines as [in Egypt, but that] Everywhere dulled by Negro blood this progress has reached different stages among the tribes…the ‘drag’ imposed by the large amount of Negro blood in the mixed Negro-Hamitic populations (Seligman, 1913, p. 681, ibid).

Because of the tales of their “European-like” origins, the Hutu became convinced that the Tutsi were alien invaders who came to Rwanda to colonize and subjugate the Hutu for hundreds of years. Tutsi elite were favored by the

Belgian occupiers but as colonialism came to an end, the reins of power were shifted to the Hutu majority. Divisionism was propagated by the colonialist and intensified during the post-colonial Hutu regimes.

Eltringham’s review of the work of Seligman reveals the source of internal conflict that has been playing itself out in Rwandan society over

36 hundreds of years. It can be surmised that the roots of that conflict can be traced to the intergroup tensions created by the assigned superior/inferior designations.

It also illustrates an attempt by European researchers to channel the image of

Africa through a lens reflecting the European’s belief in their own superiority.

The work of Seligman and others has been a pervasive subtext that has guided western thought with regard to the continent of Africa and its inhabitants. As researchers began chronicling African history, the ‘Hamitic Hypothesis’ assumed a central role in shaping the perceptions of historians. Arguably, this premise was so ubiquitous that it seeped into the African lexicon and influenced the way

Africans began to view themselves and their own history.

3.4 Pre-Colonial Rwandan Clan System

David Newbury (1992) argues there is no agreed upon definition of the term “clan” in the anthropological literature. While this may be true, I will construct a broad description of the Rwandan clan (known as “ubwoko” in

Kinyarwanda, the native language of Rwanda) in order to better understand the complexity and significance of this institution in Rwandan history.

The clan system was a type of organic social structure in pre-colonial

Rwanda. It was a primary means of organizing society, and as may be imagined, the relationships within these clan structures tended to be exceedingly complex.

They were socio-political organizations that were established before the existence of the ancient Nyiginya Kingdom (Appendix 3).

These clan networks included traditions of their ancestors (myths, rituals, religion, language etc.) and were likely structured based on social and

37 environmental needs. Newbury (1980) hypothesized that the Rwandan clan structure was an emergent pattern that was shaped by their concept of their society. While members of the clan were living within this structure, their perceptions of their society, their roles within social situations and their identities changed. For example, Hutu and Tutsi group membership were economic designations and as such were interchangeable. If a clan member’s wealth increased he would become a Tutsi. A decrease in assets would make one a

Hutu in the social schema. In this way the structure of the clans remained flexible and was adjusted to meet new perceptions.

Clans are often thought of as groups of individuals who are biologically related (Newbury, 1992). The clans of Rwanda, however, were quite different.

Clan membership was socially constructed with no necessary biological relationship. Although ancestry was often a factor in clan composition, other features played a central role. It was more important that the clan members considered themselves as descendants from the same mythic ancestors. The primary unifying function of the clan was to cultivate and sustain an awareness of relatedness to all others in the clan. It served as a type of kinship group, which is distinct from biological relationships.

The clan composition could be rooted in ties based on a variety of factors.

Ancestry, adoption, economics, marriage, mythical ancestral ties, shared rituals, functions and totems might all be relevant. Genealogical records or myths have been known to be altered to incorporate new members who had no biological relation to the clan. Individuals at times could choose their affiliate clans or clans

38 could choose to accept an individual along with his or her extended family members. Clans could spin off “sub clans” (amashanga) or subsume other clans. Lineage groups (umuryango) would emerge and they might further divide into nuclear family groups (inzu). As a result of the above, all clans in Rwanda were comprised of all three groups. The Tutsi royal lineage, however, belonged to a specific clan called the Nyiginya clan (d’Hertefelt, 1971 as cited in

Freedman, Weinstein, Longman, 2006).

Responsibility for the Rwanda kingdom was assigned to the various clans.

The political clout (or lack thereof) of the clan was important capital that could be experienced and enjoyed by all those with a direct link to the clan. Thus, an individual’s identity was more closely tied to one’s clan identity, i.e. one’s clan and not to one’s identity as Batwa, Hutu or Tutsi. One’s clan identity enabled a member to affiliate with other clan members who resided in other parts of the region. It assured an individual of a level of hospitality and support wherever one encountered a fellow clan member (J.P Chrétien, 2003 as cited in Freedman,

Weinstein, Longman, 2006).

As a system of organizing, clans helped to unify groups by cross-cutting other forms of social organization, such as the settlement, post-marital residence patterns, etc. Allied clans generally had reciprocal relations and provided each other support in defense of their clans. They were also known to offer mutual support during times of emotional distress and financial difficulties. Some clans expressed their unity in terms of the possession of a common totem. It usually

39 represented their ancestors or some commonly agreed upon origin of the members. As such, it was often an object of reverence (ibid).

Inter-clan relationships could be tightly or loosely formed. Neighbors exchanged and bartered goods, livestock and tools. The clans in many ways were independent of and simultaneously interdependent with other clans. They were few in number but they encompassed large populations who could be found in any location in the country (Freedman, 2006). Clan membership was a mixture of Batwa, Hutu and Tutsi. Although they frequently married outside of their groups, there tended to be limited marriage of Hutu and Tutsi with the

Batwa. While the designation of Batwa, Hutu and Tutsi emerged as flexible social categories, one’s clan affiliation was fixed.

The unique nature of the Rwandan clan system enabled the Batwa, Hutu and Tutsi to shape a system of interdependence with a distinct cultural, economic and political structure. Within this complex structure, and over time, any existing distinctions between the Hutu and Tutsi were further blurred when their identities evolved to include economic categories. These categories were a measure of an individual’s economic and social standing. Historically Tutsi were considered affluent pastoralists while the Hutu were viewed as the laborers and agriculturalists of their stratified economy. This was not, however, a compulsory societal norm that located each group in a strict economic position. The boundaries at times were permeable. For example, a Tutsi could lose the wealth represented by his cattle (the monetary standard of the society) and thereafter be considered a Hutu. On the other hand, a Hutu could acquire cattle and move to

40 the prominent status of Tutsi. Marriage of a Hutu man to an affluent Tutsi woman was also a means of ascending the economic ladder. Although the kingdom was ruled by royal Tutsi clans, Hutu were able to hold many important positions of responsibility.

This was not the case with the Batwa. Such mobility within the economic ranks for the Batwa was less likely to occur. They were, and continue to be, positioned at the margins of society, mistreated by others, holding menial jobs while being reduced to subsistence living.

The agriculturalists, pastoralists and pottery makers managed an inimitable homeostatic existence before being colonized. Once colonized by the

Belgians, their roles and identities were re-conceptualized. This resulted in the introduction of the concept of ethnicity and the rigid positioning of the Tutsi

“Hamite” at the apex, the Hutu beneath them and the Batwa on the boundary of the social strata (Mamdani, 2002).

In essence, the clan structure was fundamental to social organizing in

Rwandan society before the arrival of the Europeans. The system integrated inhabitants across group differences and facilitated a sense of spiritual, emotional, economic and social continuity between and among the varied groups. It emerged as a resourceful and efficient method of organizing large groups of people who were dispersed throughout all corners of the Great Lakes

Region. Whether one was Hutu, Tutsi or Batwa, all citizens recognized the absolute authority of the Rwandan mwami.

3.4.1 A Political Snapshot

Although clan based kingdoms existed in Rwanda well before the Nyiginya

Dynasty, the Nyiginya were the Tutsi clan that was the source of the lineage of bami (plural for kings) in Rwanda. The term “Nyiginya” can be roughly translated to mean designated sons of the king and their descendants (J.

Vansina, 2004). Alexis Kagame defines the term as meaning “wealth, a connection to very ancient nobleness in the dynasty clan.” The king became the symbol and the personification of social unity of the entire kingdom. He was believed to be a supreme being who was responsible for the well-being of all the inhabitants of the state. He was the center of existence for all Rwandans. The kings were fondly called sebantu which means the father of all the people in

Rwanda. Although they were traditionally Tutsi, once enthroned, it was said that the king was no longer Tutsi any more but he was the King for the people. As an infallible ruler, he had the authority to award or rescind wealth and impart justice that he believed to be appropriate (Rwandans, 1999).

The appearance of the Nyiginya Kingdom facilitated a shift in the balance of power which resulted in neighboring communities being systematically conquered or otherwise incorporated into the central court. As smaller kingdoms were assimilated into the new social order, an elaborate political organization emerged. This resulted in a great monarchal state that continued until the end of the monarchy in 1961 (Twagilimana & Dorsey, 2007) (Appendix 4).

When writing about the Tutsi, foreigners have tended to combine the Tutsi aristocracy with all the Tutsi in Rwanda, creating a stereotype that continues to

42 be applied even today. It is important to note that although the Nyiginya clan was the source of the Tutsi political elite, not all Tutsi were members of the aristocracy. In fact, many of the characteristics associated with the monarchy, including physical traits, were universally applied to all Tutsi (D. S. a. C. N.

Newbury, 2000).

Jacques Maquet (1961) constructed a model of the complex relationships in the Rwandan socio-political system (Appendix 5). This diagram is from the perspective of an outsider and is likely to have overlooked important cultural nuances. However, it provides us with Maquet’s functionalist view of some important factors thought to contribute to the development of social life in modern day Rwanda.

Within this system, the inhabitants’ understanding of the absolute authority and divine nature of the king was central. The Tutsi mwami ruled through three categories of chiefs: cattle, land and military chiefs. The cattle and military chiefs were usually Tutsi and Hutu held high ranking positions in matters of the land.

The principle of kinship was also paramount in support of the cohesiveness and equilibrium of these systems. Kinship, you may recall, was a way of including another person and becoming related to the clan members without having to be biologically linked. It was a basic social process that served to integrate the population, regardless of affiliation, through such factors as economics, rituals or totems.

Catherine Newbury (1988) summarizes this functionalist model succinctly.

It conceptualizes Rwandan society as a caste system that establishes a clear

43 hierarchical delineation between the Hutu, Tutsi and Batwa. The Hutu comprised approximately 83 percent of the population; the Tutsi accounted for 16 percent and the Batwa a mere 1 percent. The political, economic and social domination, according to Maquet, was concentrated almost entirely among the Tutsi.

Although the privileges weighed heavily in favor of the Tutsi at the expense of the

Hutu agriculturalists, social and political cohesion was assured. Newbury goes on to cite Maquet’s assumptions pertaining to the reasons for Rwandan unity:

a type of value consensus that was manifested in a communally-accepted

“premise of inequality”;

ubuhake cattle clientship;

a complex system of administrative arrangements.

Maquet’s value consensus implies there was a fundamental belief that all

Rwandans by birth were unequal. Within this cultural agreement it was understood that Tutsi were born to rule while the Hutu and Batwa were born to obey and serve.

Maquet viewed the ubuhake client-patron institution as another factor important to their social cohesion (ibid). Tutsi controlled all matters pertaining to cattle. In the client-patron relationships, Tutsi cattle breeders granted use of their cattle to agriculturalist Hutu clients. Along with acquiring the loan of the cattle,

Hutu clients acquired the additional benefit of being protected by the Tutsi patron.

Maquet considers the ways in which he believes the clientship institution tempered the repercussions from the exploitative nature of the system.

Finally, Newbury recapped the role the administration plays in maintaining the social arrangement. The Rwandan state accomplished this by building mechanisms of competition into the system. These kept local authorities vying with one another for the favor of the royalty (ibid).

Newbury reevaluated these same Rwandan social processes from a perspective that includes pre-colonial as well as colonial influences. She believed it was a more complex model of state and local power relationships in which the roles of the individuals were much more fluid than those depicted by

Maquet. Newbury suggested Tutsi domination was not as widespread as

European historians suggested. It was a more recent social phenomenon influenced and transformed by European colonial rule. Although Hutu and Tutsi existed before German and Belgian colonizers arrived, their identities during the pre-colonial era were less rigidly defined. They afforded themselves the freedom to change the meaning of Hutu and Tutsi to fit the needs of the times and the geographic location. As opposed to viewing the characteristics of Rwandan social structures as concrete features, Newbury suggested they be revisited as

“changing elements—socially produced and shaped by the dynamic processes and interactions of state building in general” (ibid).

3.4.2 The Reign of KIGERI Rwabugiri (1860-1895)

In 1860 Kigeri IV Rwabugiri came to power and his ascendance to the throne had a significant impact upon the political and social development of the

Rwandan state. Prior to the appearance of Rwabugiri, Rwandan kings had little direct connection to the central government. The region was a conglomeration of

45 lineages that functioned autonomously or semi-autonomously (C. Newbury,

1988). Rwabugiri introduced extensive administrative changes designed to consolidate the various lineages into a centralized and stratified Rwandan state.

He established a military, waged war on border countries and allowed greater

Hutu participation in military and administrative functions within the new political structure. He reconfigured the political power dynamic by extricating incumbents who had inherited positions and replaced them with his own loyalists. Rwabugiri was thought to be ruthless and politically ambitious. He was feared and hated by some and revered as a great leader by others. His centralized state was able to exercise firm control over the Rwandan people and all the country’s resources.

The kingdom prospered and the Hutu, Tutsi and Batwa managed to live in the country united as one. Rwabugiri is often viewed as the architect of Rwandan unification.

3.5 Theories of Race

Before delving into the implications of German and Belgian colonial rule, consideration will first be given to some of the provocative views of race espoused by European and American scholars in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Those theories shaped prevailing views of the people of Africa and significantly influenced policies that were implemented by the colonizers.

Joseph Deniker (1900) coined the term “ethnic group” and promoted a human classification scheme based on physical characteristics. Using Deniker’s classifications, other researchers made assumptions about a hierarchy of human kind. This schema proposed Caucasians to be at the top of the ladder while

46 members of the black race were placed at the bottom. Other groups fell somewhere in between (Broca, 1864; Galton, 1892; Morton, 1844; Nott, 1865;

Pickering, 1854).

These ‘scientific views’ were useful in fulfilling important needs of the time period. They legitimized continued exploitation of African labor and the pillaging of the abundant natural resources found on the continent. The views also supported a religious belief system that reinforced the notion of racial inferiority, claiming that some Africans were descendants of Ham and thus afflicted by

Noah’s curse.

Belgian administrators, anthropologists and missionaries approached the

Rwandan colony with the intention of developing and modernizing the African nation. Their perception of the Tutsi as Hamites who were superior to the Hutu and the Batwa shaped policies in significant ways. Those views paved the way for a racial and ethnic classification system that deprived the Hutu and Batwa of all political, material and social power and influence. An emergent underclass of

Rwandans was subsequently exploited by the Belgians as well as by those elite

Tutsi who enjoyed limited power.

Racial theories were imbued with perceptions of racial inferiority of the

African people. They assumed Africans were incapable of developing any kind of significant social organizations and they would benefit from a civilizing process imposed by the colonizers. It was with the influence of these and other ‘scientific’ notions of the time period that the Belgians arrived to colonize Rwanda

(Semujanga, 2003).

3.6 Colonization

Unlike other nations in Africa, Rwanda managed to remain free of

European influence until the latter part of the 19th century. The Germans eventually laid claim to the territory but were soon replaced by the Belgians.

What followed was a massive reorganization of Rwanda on political, administrative, economic, religious, social and cultural levels.

3.6.1 German Colonial Rule (1897-1916): Indirect Rule

The Germans arrived in Rwanda and found an independent monarchy with a unified kingdom under Kigeri IV Rwabugiri. After the death of Rwabugiri in

1895, the country was thrust into turmoil. The Germans seized upon the opportunity to claim the region of Rwanda and Burundi for the Kaiser of

Germany, Wilhelm II. Both nations were combined into one colony called

Ruanda-Urundi. Administration of the country under the Germans was restricted to five officials. The Germans thought it to be more judicious to use the

Rwandan state as their primary means of maintaining and exercising their colonial power (Prunier, 1995b). This policy of indirect rule allowed the reigning

Rwandan monarch to exercise some political control. Following Germany’s defeat in WWI, the League of Nations dismantled Germany’s colonial empire.

The Treaty of Versailles redistributed Germany’s African conquests and gave

Belgium authority over the region of Rwanda and Burundi.

3.6.2 Belgian Colonial Rule (1916-1962): Disruption of Traditional Society

As referenced earlier, Belgian colonizers drew heavily on pseudo scientific theories of race in determining their approach to colonizing the Rwandan people.

Interpretations of this “science” were later used as implicit justification for the colonizers choice to implement institutionalized discrimination in Rwanda. Those policies were also some of the multiple factors that contributed to the decades of violence that plagued the region in the aftermath of colonialism.

The Belgian colonial system ruptured the equilibrium of the pre-colonial client/patron social system. It replaced the flexibility and reciprocity of the complex power relationships with a more rigid arrangement. The system evolved into one that was more overtly oppressive with the concentration of power in the hands of a few local chiefs. This resulted in the elimination of any possibilities for

Hutu, Tutsi and Batwa interdependence and had the effect of strengthening the socio-economic divisions among the three groups (Freedman, 2006). The king’s power was severely weakened while the power of the colonizers was enhanced significantly (Appendix 6).

The Belgians were able to successfully utilize Tutsi status to drive the colonial agenda. They aggressively pursued policies that favored protecting and strengthening the Tutsi because such policies were in their best interest. Hutu were excluded from occupying any political service occupations (Freedman,

2006).

All Hutu chiefs were removed from positions of power and, along with the

Batwa men, were relegated to positions of forced labor (ubuletwa) and their

49 women and children were used as unpaid laborers. Conversely, Tutsi from dynastic lineages were elevated to the more privileged positions. Near the end of the Belgian occupation 43 of the 45 chiefs were Tutsi and 549 of the 559 sub- chiefs were Tutsi. This becomes even more significant when we consider that the Tutsi comprised 14% of the population, the Hutu accounted for 85% and the

Batwa 1%. This process of “Tutsification” resulted in a monopoly of power in the hands of a few select Tutsi (Prunier, 1995a).

3.6.2.1 Higher Education

Higher education was offered exclusively to select Tutsi. The Catholic

Church exercised tight control over the educational system allowing select Tutsi opportunities for higher education. While there was a highly competitive selection process for entering schools, sons of Tutsi chiefs received special consideration above all others. The only prospect for a Hutu to gain access to the same quality education was for him to enter the seminary. Once educated, there were still no guarantees of equality or social mobility.

3.6.2.2 Ethnic Identity

Researcher’s note: The concept of ethnicity was introduced during the Belgian colonial occupation. During that time, Batwa, Hutu and Tutsi were “officially” designated as ethnic groups. An ethnic group is described as a group of individuals having a distinct culture - a subculture - in common; a social group that has a common cultural tradition, common history, and common sense of identity and exists as a subgroup in a larger society (Online Dictionary of Social Science http://bitbucket.icaap.org/dict.pl). When viewed through definitional lens of ethnicity, the three social groups of Rwanda exhibited no such distinctions. The Batwa, Hutu and Tutsi shared the same language (Kinyarwanda), the same culture, values and norms. They shared the same religion (imana) and recognized the divine authority of the king (umwami). If the ethnic criterion is

50 used to categorize the Batwa, Hutu and Tutsi there would be only one ethnic group in Rwanda. Rwandans continually emphasized this point during interviews throughout this study.

In the early 1930’s, the Belgians conducted a population census in

Rwanda. The result was the rigid classification of the Hutu, Tutsi and Batwa as separate “ethnic” groups. Individuals were issued national identity cards

(Appendix 7) that indicated a person’s “ethnicity”. A Rwandan’s ethnicity was determined using criteria developed from the ‘scientific’ racial theories of the time period. They used instruments that measured an individual’s features (for example: size of the nose and head, color of the eyes) to determine ethnicity

(Appendix 8). Children were thereafter categorized strictly along paternal lines.

From 1934 until post genocide Rwanda of 1994, all Rwandans were required to carry an identity card (Prunier, 1995a)

3.6.2.3 The Roman Catholic Church and “The White Fathers”

The White Fathers were a Roman Catholic society of missionaries whose conversion activities focused solely on Africa (Stenger, 2001). These Christian missionaries entered the Great Lakes Region during the German occupation. By the time the Belgians arrived, The White Fathers were experts of the culture and the people. The Catholic Church was uniquely positioned to emerge as a key player in the reorganization of Rwanda.

Christianity brought different social values and displaced Rwandan traditional religious practices. The church defined and dictated morality and the new religion required submission to colonial authority and the rejection of traditional religion as well as rejection of the authority of the king. Rwandans

51 called this increased cultural integration and the rejection of cultural identity ilicuze umwami (Freedman, 2006).

One notable Catholic official, Monsignor Leon-Paul Classe, the Vicar

Apostolic to Rwanda, came to the country in 1907 and soon grew in power and influence. He was able to influence opinion based on his observations and perceptions from the field. Tor Sellstrom (1996) cites Louis de Lacger’s reference of the following communication written by Monsignor Classe in 1927 to the Belgian Resident Commissioner, Georges Mortehan:

“If we want to be practical and look after the real interest of the country we shall find a remarkable element of progress with the Mututsi youth […] Ask the Bahutu whether they prefer to be given orders by uncouth persons or by nobles and the answer will be clear: they will prefer the Batutsi, and quite rightly so. Born chiefs, the latter have a knack of giving orders. […] Here lies the secret of how they managed to settle in this country and hold it in their grip.”

Again, as quoted in Sellstrom (1996), it is further pointed out that by 1930,

Monsignor Classe was expressing his opinions and exerting his influence even more sternly to the Belgian authorities as follows:

“The greatest harm the government could possibly inflict on itself and on the country would be to do away with Matutsi caste. Such a revolution would lead the country straight into anarchy and towards a viciously anti-European communism. Far from achieving progress, this will annihilate any action taken by the government for the latter would be deprived of auxiliaries who are born capable of comprehension and obedience. […] As a rule, we cannot possibly have chiefs who’d be better, more intelligent, more active, more capable of understanding the idea of progress and even more likely to be accepted by the population, than the Batutsi.”

While being deeply involved in the politics of the nations, The White

Fathers were also successful at enmeshing the Christian ethos into the Rwandan consciousness at every level of society. They were able to make major inroads

52 by converting the chiefs to Christianity. Villagers followed the lead of the chiefs as a way of showing reverence. Also central to the strategy of the White Fathers was the inclusion of the Tutsi as valued citizens in the new colonial organization while excluding and devaluing the Hutu and the Batwa. This approach would prove to be a devastatingly fatal calculation for future generations of Rwandans.

While the anecdotes of pre-colonial Rwandan history include numerous accounts of domestic and foreign wars between the Banyarwanda (the complex interconnected cultures and people of the Central African Great Lakes region), these wars were primarily with foreign tribes, kingdoms or chief lineages. There are no records, anecdotal or otherwise, of violence between Tutsi and Hutu prior to colonialism (Prunier, 1995a).

3.7 Some Consequences of Colonialism in Rwanda

The arrival of the Belgian authorities severely altered the Rwandans perceptions of what it meant to be a Hutu, Tutsi or a Batwa. The categories ceased to be social categories and became reified as a racial and ethnic hierarchy that further marginalized the Batwa and positioned Tutsi above the majority Hutu as the sole beneficiaries of state power. Over time, these revised social categories became stratified and identities were made more rigid.

Consequently, the “new identities” came to denote whether one was inferior or superior in the new Rwandan social order.

The introduction of the concept of ethnicity compounded the erosion of the complex ancient Rwandan social structure. In addition, the identity cards served in later years, specifically during the genocide, as a way of determining those

53 persons who were to be murdered. By this means nearly a million people were slaughtered in a hundred days.

3.8 Hutu Revolution (1959)

For decades, the colonial powers and the Catholic Church favored the Tutsi elite over the Hutu and Batwa. The culturally cohesive social relationships fostered within the ubuhake system had disintegrated. Hutu became increasingly dissatisfied with the system of forced labor and the voices of the Hutu majority were being raised in dissent. Simultaneously, the Catholic Church and the

Belgian authorities were beginning to question the wisdom of their decade’s old strategy of assigning favor to select Tutsi above all others in Rwanda. Gérard

Prunier (1995a) identified several factors that contributed to the Roman Catholic

Church reversing its stance on the discriminatory social positioning of Rwandans:

Tutsi clergy were from the elite Tutsi clans and had become well educated. They presented a serious threat for control of the Catholic Church in Rwanda. They were equal in number to The White Fathers and had been exposed to the ideas of racial equality, the devolution of colonial politics and self government.

There were massive numbers of converts to Catholicism and the majority of them were Hutu. By the 1950’s, The White Fathers who served the ministry in Rwanda, were recruited from working class Belgians. This was significant since their predecessors were from the Belgian elite. Those elite favored the more affluent of Rwandan society. The new clergy identified more readily with the working class Hutu as opposed to the Tutsi aristocracy.

The educated Tutsi elite were an increasingly serious challenge to the Belgian colonial order.

These factors were among those that contributed to a shift in the attitudes of the ruling authority. In response to these dynamics, the Hutu began to be groomed, educated and given opportunities to study abroad (Taylor, 1999). A

Hutu counter elite emerged that signaled a drastic change in the political atmosphere. In 1957, two Hutu revolutionaries named Grégoire Kayibanda and

Joseph Habyarimana Gitera founded movements aimed at advancing the Hutu cause in Rwandan society. They teamed with activist priests to challenge Tutsi administrative legitimacy and undermine their administrative power (Semujanga,

2003).

Josias Semujanga mentioned several provocative actions that were enacted by Hutu revolutionaries, The White Fathers and Belgian authorities that stoked the flames of civil unrest. The form of revolt coincided with the colonial view to lay the groundwork for later violence:

On March 24, 1957, Kayibanda, Habyarimana and seven other

Hutu intellectuals published the Bahutu Manifesto (Appendix 9),

also known as Notes on the Social Aspect of the Racial Native

Problem in Rwanda. The document forcefully stated Hutu

opposition to the Belgian administration assumption of Tutsi

superiority in existing social policies. It opposed the elimination of

identity cards in order to preserve documented distinctions

between Hutu, Tutsi and Batwa. They proclaimed the fundamental

problem of the country to be a conflict between Hutu (the original

inhabitants of the country) and Tutsi Hamites (foreigner invaders of

European descent hence, outsiders). The Party for the

Emancipation of the Hutu called the PARMEHUTU, an exclusively

Hutu political party, is organized.

In July 1957, with the encouragement of The White Fathers, Hutu

seized land belonging to Tutsi families. The Belgian administrators

remained silent.

In September 1958, the Catholic newspaper, Témoignage Chrétien

(Christian Religion Testimony) was accused of publishing an article

intent on sowing the seeds of hatred between Hutu and Tutsi.

On February 11, 1959, the Swiss Archbishop André Perraudin

gave a Lenten sermon that was political in nature. The address

was interpreted by Hutu as calling for the abolishment of the Tutsi

traditional authorities and the establishment of a new Hutu social

order (see an excerpt from the speech in Appendix 10)

On July 25th, 1959, Mwami, MUTARA III Rudahigwa died and was

succeeded on the 28th of July by his half brother, KIGERI V

Ndahindurwa. General Jean-Paul Harroy, the Belgian governor of

Rwanda, began replacing Tutsi chiefs and sub-chiefs with Hutu.

With colonialism on the decline, he reasoned that such a move

would advance democracy and be in the best interest of the

majority Hutu population (Taylor, 1999).

November 1959, the Belgian government had shifted allegiance

from the Tutsi elite to the majority Hutu. The Hutu Revolution

began with support of the Belgian colonial government. Violence

between Hutu and Tutsi political groups broke out. Supporters of

the political party of the Tutsi elite, Union Nationale Rwandaise

(UNAR), attack a group of Hutu belonging to a political party called

the Association pour la Promotion Sociale de la Masse

(APROSOMA). These confrontations soon spread to the general

population where one hundred thousand Tutsi were killed, homes

were burned and livestock was confiscated or slaughtered. Tens

of thousands of Tutsi fled the country including KIGERI V

Ndahindurwa (ibid).

Between 1959 and 1961, ethnic fractures among Rwandans were allowed, by Belgian authorities, to play themselves out in brutal ways. In the midst of this violence, in 1960, the colonial administrators organized the first Rwandan elections. The PARMEHUTU Party, led by Hutu Grégoire Kayibanda won with an overwhelming victory. Dominique Mbonyumutwa was elected president of the

Rwandan Republic and Kayibanda became the prime minister of the provisional government. On October 26, 1961, Grégoire Kayibanda became the first elected president of the Republic of Rwanda. On July 1, 1962, Rwanda gained its independence from Belgium and opened a new chapter for Rwanda as a post- colonial state (Prunier, 1995b).

During Kayibanda’s presidency institutionalized discrimination and mass murder of Tutsi citizens was common. In 1963-1964, 1967 and 1973, tens of

57 thousands of Tutsi were massacred and many thousands more became refugees who were forced to flee to neighboring countries. In addition, political rivals who were opposed to PARMEHUTU were routinely executed. In 1965, Rwanda was declared a one party state and Kayibanda held on to the presidency until July 5,

1973. On his final day he was deposed in a coup d’état brought by the chief of staff of the army, Major General Juvénal Habyarimana, another more militant

Hutu, came to power. Habyarimana assumed the presidency of the Second

Republic with a pledge to restore order to the country. He founded the

Mouvement révolutionnaire national pour la démocratie et le développement

(MRND) which functioned as Rwanda’s single political party until a majority system was instituted. The Interehamwe (“those who attack together”, “those who sing together”, “those who fight together”) was established as the youth wing of the political movement. It quickly emerged as a mechanism of terror targeting

Rwandans who did not adhere to the MRND ideology (ibid).

Habyarimana ruled for twenty-one years. During his reign there were no

Tutsi mayors or governors, one Tutsi military officer, two Tutsi members of parliament, and only one Tutsi cabinet minister (Prunier, 1995b). In addition,

Hutu in the military were prohibited from marrying Tutsi women and all citizens were required once again to carry ethnic identity cards. Habyarimana was a staunch advocate of Hutu power and he promoted a policy of internal repression against Tutsi (Magnarella, 1997).

Significant events that culminated in the 1994 genocide continued to unfold at a brisk pace. Appendix 11 continues with a chronology of some

58 significant events that contributed to the nation’s rapid descent into what can easily be viewed as the most horrific mass murder in recorded human history.

3.9 The Role of Hate Media

Leading up to the genocide, print and broadcast media played a major role in influencing the thoughts and behavior of Rwandan citizens. They were fed a steady diet of Hutu extremist propaganda and hate journalism. The bimonthly newspaper Kangura (wake up) and Radio Télévision Libre des Mille Collines

(Mille Collines (thousand hills) Free Radio and Television, also known as RTLM) were two major contributors. The first issue of Kangura, published in May 1990, routinely published articles and cartoons that focused on contempt and hatred for the Tutsi as a whole with an expressed emphasis on Tutsi women as femmes fatales. The publication paved the way for genocide by printing views and images that ignited flames of hatred for Tutsi minority (Appendix 12).

RTLM began broadcasting in July 1993. The radio broadcasts were popular throughout the entire country. Nearly everyone in the country had access to a radio and the dials were usually tuned to RTLM. As such, the medium of radio became an integral tool of a highly effective genocide strategy.

Perpetrators of the genocide were recruited and mobilized via the airwaves. The broadcast content was often the topic of conversation in villages, homes, businesses, cafes and on street corners. Tutsi were routinely dehumanized, stigmatized and characterized as “enemies” and “traitors” of the nation. Hutu political opponents were also targeted as traitors. The beginning of the genocide was communicated via radio. Once in motion, broadcasts summoned Hutu to

59 seek out and take up arms against the Tutsi “enemy”. The extremists communicated instructions and locations of targeted individuals. Many of the ancillary activities were also disseminated via radio (Appendix 13).

3.10 The Final Solution…100 Days of Genocide

On April 6, 1994, Juvénal Habyarimana and Cyrien Ntaryamira, the president of Burundi, were returning from a meeting that had taken place in Dar- se-Salaam, Tanzania. At that meeting, agreement had been reached regarding implementation and power sharing in Rwanda as per the Arusha Agreements

(see Appendix 11.2). At approximately 8:30 p.m., the control tower at Kigali airport cleared president Habyarimana’s plane for landing. As the aircraft made its final approach, it was struck by two surface-to-air missiles and exploded over

Kigali airport. Everyone on board the plane was killed.

It has never been determined who was responsible for the incident.

Several have been blamed: the Belgian government, the RPF (Rwandan Patriotic

Front), the Presidential Guard and senior officials of the Rwandese Army. The crash itself was never officially investigated (Scherrer, 2002). Immediately after the crash, however, mass murders began to occur. Road blocks were set up and the conspirators began identifying Tutsi and killing them on the spot. Death lists generated by the ministry of defense identified the Hutu opposition and they were summarily executed.

On April 7, Prime Minister Agathe Uwilingiyimana was killed along with ten

Belgian peacekeepers assigned to protect her. The Belgians responded by withdrawing all of their forces from the country.

Men, women and children armed themselves with machetes and began slaughtering their spouses, relatives, neighbors and friends by the hundreds.

As a way of supporting the perpetrators, RTLM routinely encouraged people to kill. They even went as far as to provide the location of individuals identified for execution (Strauss, 2007).

It was as if a “mass insanity” had gripped the people. Any Hutu that was given a weapon felt obligated to kill. The scene has been described as one that was well organized and orchestrated. At the same time, there was utter chaos in which people were completely out of control. Roadblocks were manned by soldiers, Interahamwe (Hutu militia) and civilians. Weapons were distributed to

Hutu at the roadblocks and they were called on to kill, loot, rape and mutilate their countrymen, women and children. Bodies were piled in ditches, stacked on the roadside or dumped in ravines. Groups by the hundreds were horded into churches and schools and slaughtered. The genocide escalated, spread and in some places it became a gruesome routine (Melvern, 2006).

What follows are quotes from interviews I conducted while in Rwanda in

2006, 2007 and 2008. The memory of the genocide is still very fresh in many of the people’s minds. The excerpts offer a small window into the mind numbing horror experienced by the Rwandan people during this catastrophic event:

“Misunderstanding through the government, they had disunity among Rwandans and they decided to kill other people…Hutu killing Tutsi…genocide killed many, many family members. My family and my husband’s family suffered much during the war. Many of my family were killed. We don’t know where they were thrown. Others, they told us they have killed them and have thrown them far. We didn’t manage to get their bodies. My husband’s family was thrown in the river. I survived in a big church where they killed many people. Many, many people

61 were killed there. Others were raped and cut with machetes. My friends were killed, there were many, many orphans left alone.” (Anonymous)

“I can say I feel honored I survived. Even where I was hiding, many were killed in front of me. I was just hiding and they were killing others. There was dead bodies and blood and nobody hiding me. I survived out of chance because so many people died where I was.” (Anonymous)

“They dehumanized people when they were killing them. They said you cockroaches, you snakes and many other things that could make people feel they deserve death. That thing is still in the heads of those poor survivors.” (Anonymous)

The RPF advanced and regained strategic parts of the country during the months of April and May. They claimed the international airport on May 22nd and on July 6th; the capital city of Kigali was taken. The RPF announced a ceasefire and declared the war to be over on July 18, 1994. A new government was immediately formed with Pasteur Bizimungu as President and Faustin

Twagiramungu as Prime Minister. Both men were Hutu (Sellstrom, 1996).

In the span of three months more than 800,000 Tutsi and 10,000-30,000 moderate Hutu had been slaughtered (Prunier, 1995a). That amounted to nearly

10,000 people per day. Thousands upon thousands more were raped, maimed and psychologically devastated.

3.11 Summary

This chapter has provided the reader with a concise overview of Rwandan history highlighting several thousand years of the region’s complex past. What follows is a detailed overview of how, with the use of grounded theory, I captured the participants’ main concerns as they relate to the social processes in which they are involved.

4 Methodology and Research Design

“…the beauty of the method lies in its everything-is-data characteristic; that is to say, everything I see, hear, smell, feel about the target as well as what I already know from my studies and my life experience are data. I act as interpreter of the scene I observe, and as such I make it come to life for the reader. I grow it.” Phyllis Stern

4.1 Introduction

In this chapter I describe the classic grounded theory research method and the rationale for using it in this study.

Conducting international research can be a daunting task. It compounds the expense of a costly PhD program and it is a process laden with complexity, obstacles and ambiguity. There are institutional, research design and cultural challenges that need to be adequately managed. I exercised due diligence in my preparation but there was no way to prepare for the unknown. I wanted to be able to respond to the environment and the participants in a way that positioned them as drivers of the study. This desire required choosing a method that was fluid and open to being influenced by the unique circumstances I would encounter in the field. It was important that the method and design be able to withstand the unexpected and inevitable disruptions in the research process.

With these as well as other issues in mind, I decided that a qualitative research study would be appropriate under the circumstances. Specifically, classic grounded theory (GT) was ideally suited for this study. It allowed the flexibility to enter the environment under study while maintaining a high degree of curiosity as to what was actually happening for the research participants.

4.2 Classic Grounded Theory

While a more exhaustive examination of classic grounded theory (B.

Glaser, 1978, 1992, 2001; B. G. Glaser, 1998; B. G. Glaser & Strauss, 1967) is constrained by the limits of space, a concise review is more manageable.

Grounded theory (GT) was first presented by Dr. Barney G. Glaser and

Dr. Anselm L. Strauss in their seminal work entitled The Discovery of Grounded

Theory (Glaser & Strauss, 1967). It is a methodology for developing theory that is grounded in the data. Although the methodology is uniquely suited to field work and a qualitative approach, all forms of data can be used; surveys, case studies, government documents, observations, experiments, etc. (B. Glaser,

1978). In fact, anything and everything can be a source of data in the service of generating ideas that fit and have relevance in the substantive area. That is to say “all is data.” Everything the researcher experiences in the process of conducting the research also becomes data for the memoing, the coding and the theory building processes.

“Grounded theory comes from the data, but does not describe the data from which it emerges” (Glaser, 1998, p.4). It is an abstraction that explains a particular behavior that is exhibited by the research participants. This behavior is their attempt to resolve their most significant concerns (ibid).

The traditional research approach is to identify a topic of study and complete an extensive review of the extant literature before entering the field to collect data. Researchers who elect to conduct a grounded theory study refrain from an extensive review of extant literature. They enter the field with a general

64 topic of interest but remain open to what might emerge. Often what emerges is different from what was of initial interest to the researcher. Dr. Glaser gives several reasons for suspending the literature review at the onset of a GT study:

“First, the researcher can get grabbed by received concepts that do not fit or are [not] relevant. Second, he/she may develop a preconceived, “professional” problem of no relevance to the substantive area the research of which yields nothing, but derailment from what is actually going on. Third, the researcher will become imbued with speculative, non-scientifically related interpretations and connections that find their way into the grounded theory, which are not relevant or [do not] work. Fourth, the researcher will likely become “awed out” by other authors, especially the pundit in the field, which detracts from one’s own self valuation as a creator of theory. Fifth, the researcher becomes rhetoricalized, thus sounding all the time like the literature and not sounding as the emergent theory would have it. Thus his theoretical sensitivity is eroded to rhetorical jargon. Sixth and lastly, which literature is relevant is unknown until the main concern of the substantive participants emerges with its continual resolving” (B. G. Glaser, 1998, p.67).

Classic grounded theory also differs from other qualitative data analysis

(QDA) methods in that the analysis of the data and the emergence of a theory simultaneously begin to occur during the data collection phase of the research event (B. Glaser, 1998). As early as the first interview, the researcher “open codes” the data and assigns preliminary codes to everything. Each line is carefully read and incidents are identified and compared. The researcher uses a thought process in which she perceives the latent patterns within the incidents in the interview data. Once identified, incidents are compared to other incidents and categorized so that concepts can be developed. Comparing similar incidents to each other also has the benefit of heightening the researcher’s conceptual acumen and further assists in generating conceptual categories that “fit” and have “grab” (ibid).

Properties, or conceptual aspects of the categories, are derived from the

data as well. It is by using this process of theoretical sampling that the

researcher can know what to sample for and where to go next for additional data

(B. G. Glaser & Strauss, 1967).

As mentioned above, details and descriptions of the author’s reading are

excluded and she begins to further generate concepts that best “fit” the incidents

(B. Glaser, 1998). The result is a substantive theory which explains the behavior

of the participants in the data from which the concepts are derived. Glaser

reiterates this point saying:

“GT transcends the time, place and people of any and all units sampled and conceptually generates the fundamental patterns yielding hypotheses which can explain the behavior of the participants as they go through the patterns” (B. Glaser, 2001, p.5).

As an aid in the generation of categories and their properties during this

process, as previously mentioned, the researcher continually asks herself the

following questions:

1. “What category does this incident indicate?”

2. “What property of what category does this incident indicate?”

3. “What is the participant’s main concern?” (B. G. Glaser, 1998,

p.140)

These questions train the researcher’s center of attention on “sniffing out” the underlying patterns embedded in the data. As categories are generated and incidents are compared, latent patterns become discernible. The overarching pattern, once identified, can be recognized as the core variable of the emerging

66 theory. The core is what implicitly influences most of the behavior observed during the study. It also influences the responses shared by the study participants during the interview process. One of the main goals of a grounded theory research study therefore, is to discover the core variable (B. Glaser,

1978).

A Note about Memos:

Memoing is an important aspect of doing a grounded theory study.

Sharing ideas and trading logic among theorists can be a useful exercise during a research project. However, talking to other theorists prematurely about what is emerging from the data, particularly during the early stages of a grounded theory study (or talking about what is emerging to anyone in general), can have an adverse affect. Foreign ideas, conjecture and logic can very easily be the source of confusion and may even reroute the theory in a way that doesn’t fit or have relevance to the actual data. Therefore, the writing of theoretical memos is one of the most important aspects of a grounded theory study. While data collection, analysis and memoing are all continuous, memoing is the exercise that allows the theorist to develop a written “stream of thoughts” about what she perceives is happening in the data on a conceptual level (Appendix 14). It is the refuge where the theorist can “get it out” on paper and begin to sharpen her theoretical sensitivity. By theoretical sensitivity it is meant the ability to “cultivate crucial insight”(B. G. Glaser & Strauss, 1967, p.252) and the flexibility to “look around” in the data. While exercising this agility, the researcher refrains from “committing

[her] self exclusively to one specific preconceived theory” (p.46). In memos

67 thoughts are free from the shackles of perfect grammar and “lead naturally to abstraction and ideation” (B. Glaser, 1978, p.83). These are the ideas about the data that generate the codes, categories and the theory. Memos can be as short as a few words or as long as several pages and the following are accomplished during the maturation process of memoing:

1. The data are raised to a conceptual level

2. Properties and categories are developed

3. Hypothesis about connections between categories and/or properties

are developed

4. Integration of connections to generate the theory

5. Positions the emergent theory with other theories (ibid, p.84)

The core variable of this study is “finding pathways out”. It is a theory of

Rwandan transition that can be seen taking place on the individual, national and community levels of society. Although the entry point of the research was by way of Hutu and Tutsi women’s business partnerships, the main concern of the participants surfaced as a desire for an improved quality of life and the challenge of coping with daily life after the genocide. This can be discerned from the interview quote highlighted in the box below:

(Note: As an aid to recognition, interview quotes will be presented in boxes without shading while any excerpt from my memos will be presented in shaded boxes)

Field Interview File #2

We could work together in groups selling bananas. Sometimes we could buy things together in a group with everyone taking part in buying and selling. One could get a profit and we could buy again and again before time to repay the

68 loan. We could be together with others. My relationship with these people is good. We live in peace and we have security. We are ok. I live with my friends. They know me and I know them now. I asked them if they could take me and accept me and we just work together here. We are happy…they say it’s ok...you are welcome. And we worked together and the micro finance came after.

One of the categories of “finding pathways out” is “managing the void”.

The category highlights a range of coping behaviors Rwandans use to assume some semblance of a normal life in the aftermath of genocide. One property of managing is “masking.” That is to say, the use of compliant behavior while in public but expressing genuine thoughts and feelings in private when among family and friends. When reading the excerpt above, one could easily imagine the possibility of negative feelings being harbored by Rwandans who experienced considerable loss. In fact, it might be difficult to fathom otherwise.

Yet, respondents rarely, if ever, shared those types of views. To develop the property of masking, I relied on trusted allies who were not research participants to help me understand from their personal perspectives, how perpetrators and survivors were able to resume working together. The allies felt comfortable voicing the full range (positive and negative) of their emotions and opinions. It was the inferences from those dialogues that led to masking as well as the properties of numbing down and mimicking. Some of those informal conversations were recorded with the permission of the collaborator. An excerpt from one of those conversations is below:

Anonymous 10.09.06 …you know how the group, the men and women [at a certain association] they say we work together, play together, sing together, eat together, that kind of thing…they just want to keep their situation. They have to live but they will not

69 forget. That’s the point. They are moving on…then they are living in this superficial life. They are putting them together to have a living, then they try to be just superficial.

Anonymous 10.09.06

…yeah, just let us not forget that we have got this [painful experience of the genocide] although the government would tell us to do so and so…and [they are] strongly angry and don't want to hear about people telling them something apart from saying we need justice. The most important thing for us is justice. And if you don't understand the meaning of justice than we are going to try to keep quiet or doing what we have to do trying to make sure we have given our self our justice.

The following memo illustrates how two of the properties called masking and numbing down began to emerge:

Field Memo #3

…Rwandans are together because of the culture but the culture doesn't mean they don't have ill feelings. It could be a choice or maybe they have no choice. In this case there is no choice because they are so poor. They have to rely on each other. They live in the mountains and have no electricity, no running water, no house, no bed, no children, no husband, and not enough food, no family to support them. All they have is to be found in the group. They must lose a part of themselves in order to be together. In essence, they must engage in a kind of self imposed denial of the genocide. They deny the part of themselves that is still traumatized. It's a kind of double trauma. They were traumatized by the genocide now they have to be traumatized living with the perpetrators and in denial of their pain… Then there is the hidden self…They are the people who play the game but in their hearts they have not forgotten, and will not forget. But they talk about whatever you want them to talk about, the way you want them to talk about it. But in their hearts they are holding onto their true feelings…

The process of generating categories and comparing incident to incident also guides the researcher in crafting new questions based on the emergent categories. Likewise, it serves to identify who should be interviewed next as sources of additional data (B. Glaser, 1998).

4.3 The Evolution of the Research Design

As mentioned previously, my initial interest in Rwanda came by way of a micro lending program called Women Investment Fund (WIF). WIF came into existence as an outgrowth of the many international NGO programs that were focused on establishing long term socio-economic stability after the genocide.

Several beneficiaries of these programs were inspired to start WIF as a mechanism in support of unity and reconciliation and as a means of furthering their economic well-being. With the support of donors, the association was able to provide small grants that enabled survivors to resume agricultural activities, purchase farm animals and initiate new business ventures. Officially registered by the Ministry of Local Government and Social Affairs in 2002, it is an autonomous entity under the National Bank of Rwanda that survives on financial contributions from donors and from its members.

The Sager Foundation was a supporter of WIF. As a result of numerous phone conversations and email correspondence I traveled to Boston to meet with representatives of the Sager Foundation. The director of the Foundation graciously shared his time and information about their global projects and specifically about their relationship with WIF. I was given the contact information of the executive director of the Women Investment Fund in Rwanda. Within days several phone conversations were had with the executive director and an invitation was extended to interview any of the 3900 women participating in the micro lending program.

4.4 Preparing for Travel to Rwanda

It is worth mentioning that prior to embarking upon this project I never had a desire to visit the continent of Africa. I grew up watching cartoons (the kind commonly referred to by my acquaintances in the 21st century as “spooktoons”) that depicted Africans with huge lips wearing grass skirts, carrying spears and wearing a bone through their noses. Equally degrading was the depiction of some African characters searching the jungle for other unsuspecting cartoon characters to toss into a huge black kettle that was perched atop a blazing fire

(Appendix 15).

At a slightly older age, Africa was further introduced through the lens of the 1960’s television characters of Tarzan, Jane and Boy. They were portrayed as the “real” African heroes. This exposure to Africa was later expanded to include periodic dark and depressing headlines that were broadcast on the nightly news whenever there were reports of extreme cases of famine, pestilence, poverty or illiteracy from this ominous part of the world. Those mental models were seared into my psyche and shaped my perceptions of the continent and African people. All things relating to Africa were destined to be filtered through those distorted images. Hence, Africa had always been a frightening and unwelcoming place for me. To embark upon travels to the “Dark Continent”, unaccompanied, was a daring feat. However, once captivated by the story of courage displayed by the Rwandan women, I felt compelled to visit the continent of Africa and Rwanda in particular.

Prior to making the trip to Rwanda, I contacted the Case Western Reserve

University’s International Student Services Center to inquire if there were any students attending the University who were from Rwanda. The center connected me with a Rwandan law student who was enrolled at the university. The student met with me and patiently addressed concerns about how this first time visitor to

Africa would manage to live alone in Rwanda for several weeks. He offered unlimited support and helped plan the basics of my day to day survival.

Also before traveling to Rwanda, I was also able to contact several researchers who lived in the United States and had made numerous post- genocide trips to Rwanda. Some revealed that it had taken them five, seven and as many as ten trips to Rwanda before they could gain the trust of people and have them open up and share their lives with them. These researchers were extremely generous with their time and shared their struggles, challenges and lessons learned during their travels. Those conversations made it possible for me to reflect in a way I had never done before. From those reflections came an understanding as to what I needed to do in order to immediately gain the trust and the acceptance of the Rwandan people. It meant looking at those beliefs and assumptions that decades earlier had been planted in my mind and had burrowed into my subconscious about Africa and the African people. It became crystal clear that those stereotypical racist portrayals from the past would block my ability to connect on a respectful human to human level with Rwandans in the present day. It also became clear that those beliefs and assumptions, by extension, were directly connected to longstanding beliefs and assumptions I

73 held about myself. It was time to be brutally honest about how the images, cruel narratives (dark skinned people are slow, unintelligent, unattractive, etc.) as well as other institutionalized racist innuendos had shaped my views of dark skinned people. Admitting the existence of this internalized racism was the first step toward letting it go. This was the most essential pre-work I undertook prior to making the trip to Africa.

Comfortable that the pre-work had been approached with sincerity and the best possible effort was continually being employed, I was ready to travel to

Rwanda, Africa.

4.5 2006—Travel to Rwanda (September 6-October 15)

The first trip to Rwanda was in September of 2006. The sensations were intense and the experience was surreal. It felt foreign yet familiar. The smell of the red dirt, the warmth of the sun, the bumpy ride on the unpaved roads, and dark skinned people were everywhere. It was truly a culture shock.

I arrived at the Kigali International Airport and was greeted by the

Rwandan graduate from the Case Western Reserve University law school and the Director of Women Investment Fund. They immediately took me to the WIF office where the Rwandan woman who would become translator, research assistant and close friend was encountered on the first day. The country hosts thoughtfully assembled an itinerary for week one. This was extremely helpful since I needed time to acclimate to being in a new time zone and in a new country. They identified a small room with a bathroom and running water in a local boarding house as the initial residence for the five week visit. The stay in

74 that lodging lasted a mere two nights before a larger dwelling on the second floor of an apartment building (costing considerably more money) was determined to be better suited for an extended stay. The new residence had two bedrooms, a modern bathroom, running water (including hot water) and a full kitchen. The new apartment paved the way for a cook and a driver to be identified and hired before the end of the first week.

There was much to do, see, learn, think and understand in addition to conducting the research. The experience was both exciting and a shock to my system. It took an emotional and physical toll that resulted in my suffering recurring outbreaks of hives that would only take place during the middle of the night. It was a combination of being in a foreign land, a change of diet, a change sleeping patterns and starting to wonder if I had bitten off more than I could chew in deciding to conduct research alone in Africa. This resulted in a lack of sleep that caused extreme fatigue during the day. It made for a very long week; however, I managed to view it as a component of the richness of the overall experience.

The director of WIF had made arrangements during the second week for visits to program participants residing in Rwamagana and Bugesera Districts located in the Eastern Province (see current administrative map Appendix 16).

These sites were in villages more than an hour away from the capital city of

Kigali.

4.5.1 Women Investment Fund

Earlier in the authorization process, the Director of WIF had provided a letter of cooperation regarding their participation in the study. The Case

Institutional Review Board (IRB) approved the proposed procedure involving

Women Investment Fund (English and Kinyarwanda consent forms in Appendix

17). The director introduced me and the research project at a community gathering. She addressed the community explaining why I was interested in meeting them. I was then provided an opportunity to introduce myself to the community and expressed appreciation for community member’s willingness to help with the study. The participants were then invited to engage their own curiosities about my life and the research study. They were allowed to ask as many questions (personal or research related) as they felt a need to ask. They questioned me about my marital status, number of children, relationships with white people in the U.S. and a host of other interesting topics. Participants were at times, amused during our informal exchange. I continued to open my life in this manner for nearly forty minutes.

Once the question and answer session had been exhausted, the director called upon them to volunteer for the study. Volunteers were given the option of talking in groups or, if they preferred, talking privately. There was group consensus to talk privately and all of the participants were ushered out of the compound and invited to return one at a time.

Although there was an initial attempt to videotape and audiotape the interview sessions, this proved to be too cumbersome for me and translator to

76 manage. I decided to eliminate the videotaping component and rely on note taking and a digital recording device as aids in capturing the participant’s responses.

The use of all types of recording devices has traditionally been discouraged when grounded theory is being conducted by a solo researcher. It is thought to consume excessive time focusing on and collecting details that may not be relevant to the emerging theory; it is thought to impede the researcher’s ability to code and analyze data immediately and hinder “skill development in note taking, immediate coding and analyzing and then theoretical sampling” (B.

G. Glaser, 1998, p.111). I decided it vital to use multiple means of data capture since this was my first visit to the continent of Africa.

In addition, the learning curve associated with day to day survival activities

(developing trusting relationships, locating comfortable and safe lodging, purchasing food and water, hiring domestic assistance, managing transportation, etc.) was relatively steep.

During the interview session, each participant met with a Kinyarwanda

(the native and national language of Rwanda) translator and me in a private area to review the informed consent document. Their participation was completely voluntary and the interviews averaged between forty minutes to an hour.

The initial research questions were as follows: Tell me the story of your business partnership. What have you learned about yourself, your business partner and life in general as a result of being in business together? The inquiries were intentionally broad in order to allow the freedom for the

77 interviewees to guide their responses in the direction in which they wanted them to go. As the interviews commenced, stories emerged that seemed to be loosely connected to their business partnerships. There was a clear narrative pattern in which each participant shared stories about their life before the genocide, during the genocide and after the genocide. They were talking at length about relationships but not always in the context of their businesses. There was a strong emphasis on the importance of being together in the group. There was also a constant effort, on my part, to encourage the participants to talk about relations as they pertained to their business partnerships. Listed below are some of the responses to this initial inquiry:

Field Interview File #5

During the war my family was all killed. I was 21 years old. During the war I got married. After the war my husband was in jail because he did bad things to others. Then I was left alone. I lost my family because they were killed and lost my husband because he was on the side of the killers. I didn’t know on which side I should go. I am Tutsi and my husband is a Hutu. On the side of my ethnic I was in problem because they reject me and in the side of husband it was the same. I was rejected by both parts. I was sad. I could not be happy. I didn’t want to talk to anyone or be friends with anyone. I got a message from God that I should go and pray with others. After being in prayers with other they start program and groups like micro finance. Now the husband is back from jail because they found he didn’t kill but he was with a group of killers who was going with them. He spent 11 years in jail. Now things are ok. I’m happy and can be doing things with others in groups. Now I can say I’m ok.

Field Interview File #9

There was a war in the country. Hutu killed Tutsi. People were taken to jail and I was one of the people taken in jail. I passed a long time in jail for 81/2 years. The government leaders tried to make a medicine of putting Rwandan people together. Between those who are survivor and those who killed. They use a healing medicine called Gacaca. For us who were in jail the leaders just taught us how to tell the truth and beg for apologizing. In the beginning we thought that

78 it was just a way of taking us in the prison forever. Fortunately, from our truth we could see it really happen that they get us out of the prison. The truthful Rwandan [those who told the truth], we came back in our homes and now we are living together in peace. The one we have killed and our self were killers. We are together with and we are fine. We are just going in their home as we killed them. We are waiting for the result of the Gacaca courts and the peace and reconciliation process. It means that if we go somewhere and speak of what has happened, we can just go and tell people the truth. The truth is the only way of healing Rwanda…Now we are together, people who are survivors and ourselves [the killers]. We are ok. We can be visiting each other in our homes. We can work in these programs of the being together work...working together...after that we can sit somewhere and talk, discuss, share. When someone has a funeral ceremony, we can go to him and comfort him. When we have wedding times we can go to enjoy with him. So we just become together.

The propensity to talk about life before the genocide (routinely referred to as the war), during the genocide and after the genocide emerged as a distinct pattern. What follows is a memo written by me that illustrates the struggle to grasp where the data might be leading the study:

Field Memo File #8 I’m asking about their business partnerships and they keep talking about the state and condition of their lives before the war. I constantly have to pull them back to the “research question” pertaining to their business ventures and what I am trying to find out about WIF. This is a struggle and it shouldn’t be. They’re talking about their lives before during and after the war. The business partnerships seem to be secondary and at time completely absent from the conversation. The only person talking about it is me.

There is so much talk about death and killing as if it’s natural and something that one has to commonly deal with. There is talk of war, love friendship, loss, gain, depression, joy, justice and injustice all packed into brief conversations. It’s like they’ve lived all the experiences of 50 years in a few short days. To lose one’s entire family or to kill your neighbor’s entire family…these are the topics being discussed.

A Tutsi replaces her loss by marrying someone who is Hutu…Ensuing rejection, being torn and divided…but needing to have a sense of stability and security. Seeking equilibrium and exposing oneself to more turmoil, rejection and instability. Extreme loss creates a severe disorientation and the instinct to grapple to find a center to hang on to…Finding the center within oneself through

79 spirituality. I might hear this again; references to going within or seeking an intervention from God to find the way forward.

The open coding and memoing of the first interviews continued later that same evening. Use of the three guiding questions mentioned previously facilitated the emergence of existing patterns. The initial interviewees talked extensively about many aspects of being together and living together after the war. These interviews yielded multiple codes that redirected the focus from inquiry about their business partnerships to curiosity about how Rwandans managed “being together” after the war.

After the genocide, it has been prohibited to overtly refer to oneself as belonging to any particular ethnic group. However, there were numerous inferences to (Hutu and Tutsi) “being together”, “working together” and “living together” in each of the initial interviews. The preliminary code “being together” emerged as the starting place at which to begin additional theoretical sampling.

I returned to the village the following day to continue the interview process with the business partners. The revised research questions were as follows:

“Tell me about being together” “What’s important about being together?” “Can you tell me more about the group?” Posing these questions and the subsequent coding and memoing of the new interview data as well as other data sources, over time, revealed a category of a process embedded in a village/community social phenomenon operating in Rwandan society. It became clear that overall; interviewees were talking about ways they had learned to resume coexisting:

Field Interview File #13

I had very serious poverty and I was lonely. Then in women's meetings we mobilized for the micro finance and the togetherness. How people be together and use microfinance…and we mobilize our friends like us. Other widows that had problems like me...we go and get a group and we assist each other and asked for a loan. The first loan was 20,000-30,000 Rwandan francs (RWF) [$33- $50] for the first loan. The projects went on expanding and then we found that they could get something to fill our kids and buy cloths and get what we want to get… Those who had problems with the neighbor had a chance to meet and even talk about the issues that separated them for reconciliation purpose. Those who were widows and joined others that had men and women because they were seeing that even though they were widows they have moved ahead. Even the husbands who were in prison when they were released they came and rejoined the group…Because they have now seen us and have chosen to correct themselves and come back to the community. Now we can solve our problems of our families because the oneness and reconciliation of Rwandan society.

Through these interviews, it was also discovered that some who were participating in the micro lending program were genuinely concerned about reconciliation. These were perpetrators and survivors who were diligent about making amends and restoring normalcy. In contrast, there were participants of the program who were willing to reap the benefits of membership in WIF while having no intention of reconciling with the “other.”

After the completion of the second day of interviews, the members of WIF suggested several other groups whose members they thought would be interested in participating in the study. The first group was called Avega-

Agahozo (translated means to comfort another). Prior to beginning this new round of interviews with the members of Avega, I submitted an addendum request to the Case Western Reserve University IRB. This was necessary in order to acquire permission to interview a new group of research participants.

The approval process took several days and in the interim, with the support of my

Rwandan translator, I made contact and developed relationships with key representatives of Avega-Agahozo. It took several days of visiting the central office, meeting with and talking to various personnel before we became comfortable with each other. The personal connections that I made during these visits were pivotal in gaining access to the members.

4.5.2 Avega-Agahozo

Avega-Agahozo is a non-profit association conceived of and created by fifty widows who themselves are genocide survivors. Avega was formed after the genocide to address the needs of widows, orphans, the elderly and child headed households. The primary objectives of the Association are to promote the wellbeing of genocide survivors; create solidarity among its membership; advocate for the advancement of survivors; collaborate with other organizations that have similar objectives; perpetuate the memory of the genocide; fight for justice for the survivors and support the national reconstruction and reconciliation process.10 The Avega-Agahozo central office is located in the Remera area of

Kigali Province.

The interviews began once the necessary approval arrived. The informed consent document was read in Kinyarwanda even though some of the personnel of the association were English speakers. A lengthy discussion about the informed consent ensued. Members expressed appreciation for having consideration of their rights discussed at the forefront of the interviews. They

10 Obtained from the official website of Avega-Agahozo: http://avega-agahozo.org 82 expressed general disappointment with foreign researchers and stated their rights had never been a part of any discussion during their participation in prior research studies.

The interview sessions were conducted with Avega members about being together after the war. Below are excerpts from those conversations:

Field Interview File #18

…But then some people were putting people together, widows together and made the association of Avega Agahozo. Widows could be together and could talk about their problems. People could feel comfortable in their hearts. After that we just understand life as it is.

…we are together because we can't do anything. We don't have an idea of revenge. We say that justice will be doing his work. Then we have to live together because there is no choice.

Field Interview File #21

…We are just going in life because we have to live. If you did not die, then you have to live. There's no choice.

…I'm not happy just begging. Being like we are was caused by the last government; the government of the killers.

Although some of the members of Avega were talking about being together, clearly there were other issues that were figural for them. Some spoke of the perils of bad government and the imperative of good governance as a deterrent to future genocide. While taking note of the various topics that were continually emerging, a few themes were becoming prominent. One of those was the absence of the voice of the individual. It was at this point it became evident that very few, if any, participants were talking about their personal

83 feelings or perspectives. Everything was always funneled through the lens of what was best for the group. Was this a cultural perspective? If so, did the trauma of seeing so many countrymen, women and children die a horrendous death cause some Rwandans to become aware of feeling differently about the experience than others felt? Racked with uncertainty as to how this may (or may not) be related in an emerging theory, I wrote about the ambiguity in the following memo:

Field Memo File #36

Almost everything I've heard thus far is about working together, being together, talking together…everything is about together. It seems as though the self is subsumed by the group…and the reconciliation process is a process, to the degree that I've been able to observe, that is focused on the group. There is not a lot of attention given to how individuals may need to deal with this reconciliation process. Do individuals have needs around healing that aren't readily available in this society and in this culture? The experience of the genocide could have shattered the individual’s perception of group life. What is an individual to do with his/her personal pain? Are people having individual needs that are apart from the group needs? The group has always been central in African societies but somehow the genocide may have altered that reality. The individual is lost and is grappling to find ways of adapting and dealing with life in the aftermath. If reconciliation continues to be addressed only on group levels, how sustainable can it be? And will this become some sort of distortion left to fester in people’s lives only to manifests itself in the group, in the communities and in society sometime in the future?

So how do people who have lost children, and husbands and wives and fathers and mothers and in some cases everyone; all of their relatives…are gone. Not only are they gone, the individual more than likely has seen them murdered in unspeakable ways… decapitated, strangled, drowned, beaten to death, raped, brutalized and mutilated. Then the survivor is asked to go into some sort of partnership with the perpetrator or be with the perpetrator in some relational way. I think a part of the answer is that one doesn't do it, not fully…especially when they don’t have access to tools for addressing their emotional needs. There may be no tools to discover what one’s personal needs around healing may be. That's not even in the conversation, I don't think. At least I haven't heard the conversation if it’s taking place. There’s a part of the self that gets lost and I

84 believe that’s how they do it. They lose the self in the group. I would even venture to say…I wonder if the self is discouraged from appearing and taking center stage and is always encouraged to go to the background and have the group be central. As I think about this, there was a woman who approached me and asked to be interviewed. She spent time talking about her personal pain. It seemed to be frowned upon by others and before long her interview was cut short and we left the village. In order to see reconciliation as sustainable they can’t do only what they know how to do. They might seek new ways of doing and new ways of being.

After spending several days with the members and staff of Avega-

Agahozo, I was then directed to another non-profit organization started by a genocide survivor.

4.5.3 Duhozanye

The Duhozanye Association was conceived of by a woman who lost her husband and all of her children during the genocide. Immediately after the war the founder, along with several other women, self organized to support each other, share their grief and mourn the loss of their loved ones. They began meeting weekly and eventually developed into a vital instrument of healing for women survivors of the genocide. They named their association Duhozanye which means “let us console one another”. This group was located in the District of Gisagara, in the Southern Province.

As was previously mentioned, university approval was needed before conducting interviews with a new group. The necessary paperwork was submitted online to the Case IRB for review. Once again while waiting for approval, I made arrangements to meet with the founders of the association. It took several days of networking by the Rwandan translator before a meeting was successfully arranged. The meeting lasted more than an hour and the founder

85 and cofounders had numerous questions they were interested in asking about me and about the study. They were interested in my motivation for conducting research in Rwanda and they wanted to know the benefits that would accrue for them as a result of their participation. When interacting one on one, in small groups or with larger community groups, what worked best for me was to speak straight from my heart. I shared with them that I was interested in Rwanda because of a connection I had with the country that still had yet to become clear to me. As to the benefits, I explained that Rwandans had something valuable to contribute to the global community and I hoped to convey that through the research. We ended our conversation with a hand shake and traditional embrace of Rwandan friends.

Within days after the meeting the Case IRB addendum was approved and a new round of interviews commenced. The inquiry remained focused on life before, during and after the war and “being together” in the aftermath of the war since these topics were the main concern of the other two groups. Likewise, the members of Duhozanye were eager to talk specifically about these topics.

During this first trip to Rwanda, additional opportunities were presented that allowed for interactions, observations and interviews with Rwandans of various walks of life. I gained IRB approval to interview individual citizens who were not affiliated with any particular association. Such individuals included laborers, a bank teller, street vendors, taxi drivers, elders and friends of friends.

These interviews offered opportunities to begin delving more pointedly into how

Rwandans in different parts of the country were “being together” since having the experience of the genocide.

While employing this snowball-type sampling coupled with the continuous process of coding, “memoing” and analyzing, very distinct patterns began to emerge that pertained to specific ways Rwandans were learning to cope with life in the aftermath of the genocide. There were preliminary coding relationships in the data that were specific to the individual’s concerns (e.g. “diminishing of the individual self” as a means of coping with the trauma and “day to day survival” as a means of being grounded in the present and not thinking about the trauma of the genocide) and coding relationships in the data that were specific to the community concerns (e.g. “being together” as a tradition and cultural norm).

These relationships seemed to be contained in an explicit and implicit process that focused on acknowledging core values of the past and redefining who

Rwandans aspire to be in the present and in the future. The narratives about these values were rooted in their past, transmitted through generations and carried in their collective consciousness.

At the end of a five week stay in which I interviewed ten participants from

Women Investment Fund, four from Avega-Agahozo, and five from Duhozanye, I returned to the United States to continue the open coding, analysis and memoing of the data.

4.6 The Next Steps

While back in the US and upon further review of memos and field notes, it became evident that voices of key social participants were missing from the data.

The Batwa were rarely, if ever, mentioned during any of the formal interviews or informal dialogues engaged in during the first five week visit to Rwanda. Their numbers are few (approximately 35,000) and everything that happens to all other

Rwandans has an exponential effect on the Batwa community. For example, it is estimated that 10,000 members of the indigenous community (roughly 29%) died during the genocide; many of the men that survived were incarcerated. An additional 10,000 (another 29%) fled the country during the carnage while the remaining 8,000-10,000 remained in Rwanda and struggled to survive.11

For this reason as well as others, my research advisor and I thought the voices of the Batwa to be as important as all others. I contacted my translator, who identified an association dedicated to the advancement of the indigenous

Batwa. The confidant made contact with an association called Coporwa that is a non-profit which focuses on the promotion and protection of the indigenous

Batwa of Rwanda. The purpose of the organization is to support the sustainable development of Batwa communities, promote equal rights for them as Rwandan citizens and increase their participation and representation.

Prison inmates, on the other hand, were frequently mentioned and interviewing them was thought by many to be important to this research. There were tens of thousands of Rwandans who were incarcerated and would be reintegrated into society in the near future. Having the opportunity to interview any incarcerated individuals would provide a perspective that had yet to be captured in the existing data. The assumption was that no matter under which

11 Information obtained from the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization website: http:/www.unpo.org/members/7861 88 category a prisoner was classified (organizer, murderer, accomplice, looter or those accused of any other crime), the prison population was likely to have developed common narrative themes. This was thought to be the case because of the homogeneity of views that had been characteristic in the broader population.

Lastly, it was suggested by several Rwandans that I contact members who belong to an association called Ibuka, a name that literally means

“remember”. This is an umbrella organization that coordinates several associations of survivors of the genocide. It represents ten associations and includes individuals in the ranks of its membership. Ibuka advocates for improved social conditions, justice and the safety of its members. The organization is also committed to safeguarding the memory of the victims of the genocide. Ibuka has branches in Belgium, France, Switzerland and Italy.12

Letters of cooperation had been obtained from Coporwa, Ibuka and the

Ministry of Internal Security prior to the return trip to Rwanda in Sept of 2007.

The Institutional Review Board, however, had not given permission for interviews to be conducted at these establishments prior to my departure. The delay was attributed to the inclusion of prison inmates in the research study. Federal guidelines have been established to protect all human research subjects from being harmed. Pregnant women, children, mentally disabled persons, the economically and educationally disadvantaged and prisoners are classified as particularly vulnerable study participants. The IRB rules require that the board give special consideration to the welfare of such participants and in so doing

12 Obtained from the Ibuka official website: www.ibuka.rw 89 conduct a full board review. The full review takes twenty to thirty business days; however, the reviewers of this study had numerous concerns about the safety of

Rwandan prisoners who might participate in the study. For instance, they wanted to know if I would be recruiting the most serious genocide offenders and the reason for wanting to include them in the study; how the prisoners would be recruited and who would identify and select individuals for participation; what would be the criteria used to identify possible study participants; how would I provide confidentiality within the prison interview setting; since the majority of prison inmates were Hutu, would I have a Hutu translator working with me; and how would I minimize coercion and threats to the study participants.

These were eye opening concerns and I accepted them as my own and began to view the prison population in a very different light. I resolved to pursue a standard that would, to the best of my ability, ensure the protection of any prisoner who participated in the study. It took approximately six months working under the strict guidance of the Case IRB to gain their approval to visit inmates in the Rwandan prison system.

4.7 2007—Things Don’t Always Go As Planned (March 30-April 21)

I did not have approval to interview prisoners, members of Coporwa or

Ibuka during this second trip to Rwanda in 2007. However, the approval to interview individuals who were not affiliated with any organization was still active.

The trip was made during the time of the13th annual genocide commemoration week. One of the purposes of this three week trip was to become immersed in the collective experience of mourning the loss of a million Rwandan lives. My

90 goal was to become more sensitized to the losses suffered and lessons learned in the aftermath of the 1994 genocide. The experience provided me with a visceral, albeit limited, understanding of the intensity of the event. It offered a lens to better appreciate what I had heard in 2006 from the research participants who live in the villages and were members of the various associations.

Although there was a planned itinerary for this trip, nothing was working according to the plan. In fact, it became extremely frustrating to have every effort end in what appeared to be failure. Appointments were constantly cancelled and finding domestic support and securing economical and reliable transportation were major challenges. To make matters worse the new translator and I were constantly at odds with each other (The translator from the 2006 trip with whom I had nurtured a very good working relationship was unavailable after being awarded a scholarship to attend an 18 month training program at the Gestalt

Institute of Cleveland in the United States). The new translator had his own ideas about what questions should be asked and the manner in which they should be posed. He wanted all of my contacts to be filtered through him and he always seemed to have an agenda of his own that took precedence over the research agenda. I later discovered that this translator had altered the tone of some documents that were written in Kinyarwanda so as to reflect a more adversarial attitude.

It was at a critical point during this trip that I realized things were going so poorly that it might be better to throw the itinerary out the window and go with the flow. Once this approach was adopted things began to open up in unexpected

ways. This new strategy eventually proved to be the better plan under the

circumstances.

By 2007, the United States had become extremely polarized on domestic

and cultural issues; the Iraq war had seen nearly nine hundred members of the

US military and nearly nineteen thousand Iraqi civilians killed in what was one of

the deadliest years of an unpopular war;13 the conflict in Afghanistan had all but

vanished from the national security discourse and the US congress seemed

unwilling to hold the president accountable for leading the nation into war under

false pretenses. Because of my disillusionment with government and politicians

in the United States, meeting and talking with government officials in Rwanda

was not a consideration for this study. The logic behind this decision was that all

data including the official party line, policies and initiatives could be accessed on

government websites. However, on several occasions, opportunities

serendipitously arose for me to be in the company of various politicians and

government officials.

For example, on one occasion I was having lunch at a restaurant with

several friends when a Rwandan senator joined our table. My friends departed

early and the senator and I were left to have an informal dialogue which lasted

nearly an hour. The conversation centered on such things as the collusion

between the European slave traders and the African leaders and how their

working in tandem paved the way for three hundred years of slave trading in

Africa. That bartering of human life siphoned off the best, the brightest, the

13 Figures obtained from PBS NewsHour online: http://www.pbs.org/newshour/updates/middle_east/july-dec07/iraq_12-31.html 92 strongest and the most talented of the continents people for three centuries; leaving behind the weak, the sick and the downtrodden. The conversation covered Rwandan history and the complex origins of the conflict between

Rwandans. The senator shared stories of her family history and her personal struggles and the sense of mission, commitment and responsibility she and others in leadership positions felt for ensuring a brighter future for the country and the Rwandan people. She emphasized their resolve to creating an atmosphere where future generations of Rwandans never experience genocide or anything remotely resembling it ever again.

The experience of spending personal time having dialogue with the senator was transformative. It touched something inside of me that I wasn’t even aware existed. I felt a deep sense of pride and belonging. Although those very same facts describing the damage inflicted on humanity as a result of the slave trade and tales of the unspeakable horrors of the Rwandan genocide are detailed in history books, reliving the past as told by the senator transcended mere words.

It opened a door for me to experience my own connection to several centuries of

African history and more deeply connect to the struggle of the Rwandan people.

I left our meeting wanting to connect more deeply to my own origins. I realized how powerful the knowledge of one’s personal history can be. In fact, upon returning to the United States, my mother and I traveled to the place of her birth and began interviewing surviving family members. I was able to begin tracing our lineage and have been able to gather information about my ancestors that extends back to the middle of the nineteenth century.

On another occasion, I was invited by the director of the Women

Investment Fund to accompany a group of senators, governors and other officials to a memorial event with the President of the country and other dignitaries from around the world. The director of WIF outfitted me in the traditional native wardrobe and transported me (since a personal matter made it impossible for her to accompany me on the trip) to the senate building where I boarded a bus filled with government officials.

The bus trip took more than an hour and was escorted by a police motorcade to the Murambi Genocide Memorial. The memorial is at the site of what was a newly built secondary school on a hill in Murambi District in the southern part of Rwanda. When the genocide began, Tutsi in the region were lured to the school by the local mayor and the bishop with the promise of being protected by French soldiers. Instead, they were left defenseless and fell prey to groups of killers wielding machetes. It is estimated some 45,000 Tutsi were murdered at the school. The school has since been converted into a memorial site and the mummified remains (Appendix 18) of many victims are on display as a reminder of the genocide.

The bus trip going to and coming from the memorial provided ample time for me to have informal dialogues and to interact with Rwandan officials on a personal level. The conversations reiterated an obvious sense of mission and commitment exemplified by the senator that I had been spoken to during lunch days earlier.

These opportunities also opened the door to an awareness and self reflection for me about deeply held biases and assumptions regarding politics and politicians. My preconceptions about politicians had been acting in ways that hindered the study. The experience and ensuing realizations yielded enormous benefits for me. As will be evident in the results chapter, it opened the way for a level of data to surface that would support and enhance the emerging theory.

Throughout the remainder of the three week trip, I attended other memorial events, public debates, viewed commemorative programs on television, met with prison officials and established relationships with people who were to be very supportive during my third trip in 2008.

4.8 Thinking About Additional Measures

To avoid the problems encountered with the translator in April 2007, friends in Rwanda agreed to identify a new translator who would be better suited to work with me during the return visit. A comfortable rapport with those friends made it possible to make a specific request for a Hutu translator. The reader will recall there was considerable sensitivity surrounding issues of ethnicity. It was unacceptable to refer to Rwandans as Hutu or Tutsi since the genocide. The

Case IRB, however, considered a Hutu interpreter to be more appropriate when interviewing prisoners. That was because there was a substantial chance those interviewed would be Hutu perpetrators of the genocide. It was thought that having a Hutu interpreter would likely provide a greater level of comfort for the prisoners.

The confidants identified two possible candidates. They set up interviews and reported back their impressions of both. We had several conversations and there was a consensus as to who was thought to be the best person for this phase of the study. Shortly thereafter Omar, a young man pursuing a bachelor’s degree in administrative science, emailed his resume and a photo of himself to me. We had several phone conversations to talk about the research and get to know a bit about each other before the trip in 2008. Once in Rwanda, I trained

(as per the Case IRB Guidebook) Omar on issues of privacy and confidentiality and reviewed the detailed safeguards included in the informed consent document.

Also, before leaving the US I contacted the Rwandese Association of

Trauma Counselors. It is a non-government organization formed on April 30,

1998 that provides support and care to the victims of the genocide.

Arrangements were made to have a trauma counselor accompany me to each prison location. The trauma counselor was also to be trained (as per the Case

IRB Guidebook) on issues of privacy and confidentiality and the detailed safeguards included in the informed consent document.

The primary interest in the prisoners was not the role they played in the genocide but in their world view of Rwandan society today and where ideally they thought it might be headed. While those who are not prisoners were talking about “being together”, their core values of the past and redefining who

Rwandans aspire to be in the present and in the future, my advisor and I felt it important to know if there was a similar conversation taking place among the

prison population. Or, were they continually subscribing to the ethnic divisions

fostered by colonialism? The experience of what appeared to be a countrywide

phenomenon needed to be captured in their words as well. The prisoner’s

perceptions of the country were a key consideration of the entire social process.

Another objective in talking to prisoners and posing very general questions

in contrast to specific issues was to find out how they were putting things back

together and to see if they were doing so in a way that paralleled or was

complementary with the larger population. If that did not turn out to be the case

then a contrasting conceptualization of post-genocide Rwanda by the prison

population would be important to understand. Their participation would help

further and more fully elucidate the internal dynamics of how this basic social

process is operating and suggest culturally defined paths that may be used to

enhance the process.14

4.9 2008—Concluding Data Collection (March 12-April 20)

With the approval of the full board review, I returned to Rwanda to

interview members of Coporwa, Ibuka and inmates within the penal system. It

was presumed that members within each group would provide data relevant to

the coding schemes identified in the previous interviews.

14 An elaborate recruitment process was outlined in order to ensure the safety and well being of prisoner participants. Although the process worked beautifully on paper, the implementation was constrained by the realities of conducting research in the field in an actual prison setting in Rwanda. It was a three day design that was cost prohibitive to employ. It would have taken several more months to revise the process and obtain approval from the IRB. For these as well as various other reasons, regrettably, interviews with Rwandan prisoners were not able to be included in the study. A detailed elaboration of the process as it was outlined can be viewed in Appendix 20. 97

Logistics of the final trip were much different than that of the previous journey. The apartment complex was equipped with a backup generator so I did not experience rolling blackouts (which resulted in unscheduled interruptions of work). An employee at the apartment complex recommended his wife as the best person to provide excellent domestic support for me during the extended stay. He was absolutely right! Coporwa worked out a very reasonable transportation arrangement for me and I also began learning how to travel throughout the capital city via the public bus and motorbike services. And finally

Omar, the new translator, and I developed an excellent working relationship and personal friendship that has continued to this day.

4.9.1 Coporwa

The members of Coporwa Association extended themselves in ways that were exceedingly supportive. They provided a village liaison and a driver who were familiar with the remote areas in which the Batwa lived. I had opportunities to have dialogue with Batwa in groups and one on one. Much like the research respondents of earlier interviews, the Batwa also reminisced about the stability of life in the past. Their main concerns, however, were more about being habitually marginalized and omitted from conversations about equality, eradicating poverty and creating a sustainable peace for the nation, as can been seen below:

Field Interview File #68

Twa lived with our ancestors. We had ancestors who had their own way of living and with relations with the other people. From our traditional culture, which was of two kinds, that is hunting and harvesting of food in forests. These two were the major work for us to live. The hunting is considered as an activity which is done and doesn't leave any other activity on the land. It means it's an activity that when it is done, it is finished and you will not have it again as property. It is an ending activity…the same to foods that are harvested. This means we are harvesting foods of which we don't have it but for food only. We call it a soft way of eating and living which is different from the other two groups…

…The Hutu who cultivate...who had an aim of cultivation and the Tutsi who had an aim of rearing…

But then these two groups had to attract the Twa so as to live, hunting and joining them. Then these two tribes, the Hutu and Tutsi, had an aim of leading and governing the Batwa…

…It means they had power on the Twa through the usage of tools. One was the property that the Hutu and Tutsi owned or they possessed. The second was to make the Twa work for them. This means it is a way of bringing us as serfs…

…they forever have treated us poorly…If it [the animal] is dead then the dead body of the cow which has been sick, they called the Twa to come and take that meat. It is just a matter of frustrating us. It's a way to make us not feel good about ourselves. So on the cultural basis, they went on saying Batwa are dirty. They don't wash they don't bathe, they don't take shower. And the end result, the other groups saw us group as animals. And we began to believe such.

For the second part, it's about our shapes or structure. The structure comes from our size which is said to be shorter. They say we are short; we have too much hair on our bodies which means we are not people like the others. This is what we have lived with forever…

…[Now after the war] the government has the program of eradicating poverty is designed and structured by the educated people which means there is no involvement of the poorest or the illiterate people. It shows the illiterate people are not considered [but] they have ideas too…Educated people are now colonizing the people who are not educated.

The above excerpt is an example of some content to be found in the interviews with members of the Batwa community. Their responses were clearly

99 a departure from those offered by the research participants of 2006 and 2007.

Although it was not immediately apparent how they would shape the emerging theory, in the latter stages of the analysis it became evident exactly where it fit.

4.9.2 Ibuka

The staff of Ibuka likewise was exceedingly generous with their time. I arrived at the offices a mere four days prior to the fourteenth annual genocide memorial week was to commence. Although they were extraordinarily busy, the staff granted an audience and spent portions of the next three days in support of my research agenda.

Several staff agreed to be interviewed. They met with me and my translator individually and in private offices. They were polite yet guarded. For example, during one interview, the translator and I spent a considerable amount of time reviewing the informed consent document in both English and

Kinyarwanda. The staff person then agreed to be interviewed but declined to sign the document until after the interview had concluded. Afterward, that same individual invited the translator and I to his home to meet his mother and his sister. The invitation was gratefully accepted and the three of us traveled to the

Ibuka staff member’s home (we were driven by a driver from Coporwa) to join him and his family for a cold Fanta soda.

The following day that same staff person escorted me and translator to a distant community to meet with local members of the association. The neighborhood of houses was a new construction that was sponsored and built by

Ibuka. The first encounter with residents was with a group of young adults (all

100 over the age of 18) who were the heads of their households. They had lost their parents and all elders during the genocide. They were willing to have an informal dialogue with us as a group but were reluctant to be interviewed individually.

Their wishes were honored and a conversation with the group proceeded and continued for approximately forty-five minutes.

Others in the vicinity agreed to be interviewed individually. They too were guarded but their demeanor softened as the interview progressed. Below is an illustration of the trend in the responses elicited from the Ibuka members:

Field Interview File #64

…Life is good but I need to be more careful about life because no one can be trusted. I can’t believe anybody…People are selfish…self interest…people help others because they are looking for something in return…they aim of having their interest met…what can you give them instead of giving because they want to give. The selfishness leads to jealousy and this leads to negative feelings toward others…Life is not straight. It has many corners. …There are those people who are good people and those who want to challenge you. Life has taught me I must always be on the side of kind people. If you are on the side of the bad you experience the consequence at the end. If you do the good action you get the good thing and you have peace in your heart. You feel free for everyone.

Field Interview File #58

...the whole idea was from the leaders and it was through the leadership training that I came to know about this reconstruction of ourselves. Then I have been saying it was during 1995 when the other people in the society where I was living, we could meet each other without talking to each other and this was not a good image for us. What happened, the leaders had to come across to us to tell us, "…look you have to know forgiveness…You have to make sure that forgiveness is constructed and you find the one who killed is asking for forgiveness to the one who is a survivor. Then it was from this that we were taught to keep unity.”

101

4.10 Summary

By the end of the final trip to Rwanda, a total of forty-five Rwandans had

been interviewed from five different associations. Five individuals who were not

affiliated with any association also participated in the study (Table 1):

Participating Associations

Table 1 Study Participants

Association Women Men Total

WIF 6 4 10

Avega-Agahozo 4 0 4

Duhozanye 5 0 5

Ibuka 1 6 7

Coporwa 6 8 14

Misc. Others 0 5 5

Totals 22 23 45

While the interviews were the primary “drivers” of theory development,

additional data sources were utilized in support of the emerging theory (Table 2).

102

Additional Data Sources

Table 2 Additional Data Sources

Used to Enhance Understanding and Identify Patterns government websites government documents journal articles Rwandan newspaper archives Rwandan History Museum film books documentaries historical documents memos, fieldnotes observations association documents personal experience pamphlets conversations with confidants Rwandan library informal conversations w/Rwandans in the informal conversations w/translators, country taxi drivers, cooks, religious leaders, street vendors, store clerks, government officials, etc. informal conversations w/Rwandans in the Diaspora Guiding question throughout: “What is the participant’s main concern?”

While conducting the interviews, I continued to use the grounded theory process to continually guide the systematic generation and analysis of the theory that was being derived from the data. There was constant writing of memos, memos and still more memos as the theory continued to emerge. What follows is one of the memos written after interviews conducted during this trip. It chronicles the evolution of theory development:

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Field Memo File #68

…There is a lot about forgiving in these conversations. Some have come to some sort of realization about wanting to do things differently in the present so as to ensure a different outcome in the future. In that sense, they are taking a measure of control over their destiny. They have gained an understanding of the possible consequences of making bad choices. And the consequences of bad choices are not something some people are willing to invite into their lives. The one respondent spoke of wanting “be on the side of kind people” in order to invite more desirable effects…

…they’ve seen horrific things happen to their families and friends yet, they have come to realize from their experiences and from observing perpetrators that they have the power of choice. They can choose how to behave with one another in the aftermath of this genocide. They can see the consequences for the perpetrators and their families and have chosen to place themselves on a different path…

…A part of the national conversation is inundating the population with examples of individuals in society/history who are exhibiting the behaviors they believe individuals should emulate. They are providing them with information that is beginning to shape their thinking in a different way…

…What’s going on in the country is very complex yet they have accepted the challenge and decided to advance in the wake of the horror. Going through this process of trying to heal the human heart and bring people together who are related on a human level…they are trying to find their identity somewhere that stretches beyond the surface distinctions. Struggling with being different but being the same…They are far beyond many other countries in conflict situations.

…Selfishness in the behavior is a tough problem. Everything turns on politics

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5 Genocide and the Way Forward

“Thus, within the limits of the scene and the moment, the free exercise of all asocial tendencies, unacceptable desires, forbidden behaviors and unhealthy feelings is allowed. On stage, all is permissible, nothing is forbidden. The demons and saints which inhabit the person of the actor are completely free to blossom, to experience the orgasm of the show, to pass from potential into act. In a mimetic and empathic fashion, the same thing happens with the analogous demons and saints which are awakened in the hearts of spectators. Always in the hope that, after it is all over, they will be tired out and will go back to sleep. In the hope that, in this holy and diabolic ball, the saints and demons of the actors and audience will return, exhausted, to the unconscious darkness of the person, restoring the health and equilibrium of the personalities, which will then be able, without fear, to reintegrate their lives into society”. (Agusto Boal, 1995)

5.1 Introduction

Since I was entering a post-conflict environment to interview participants of a micro lending program, the temptation existed to examine the extant literature on microfinance and reconciliation prior to travels to Rwanda.

When conducting grounded theory, however, the researcher is urged to forgo the literature review of the substantive area until a later stage of the study (B. Glaser,

1992). This approach supports the researcher in developing concepts, categories, properties and codes that adhere as close to the data as possible.

“Grounded theory is for the discovery of concepts and hypothesis, not for testing or replicating them” (p.32). The exclusion of the review often left me bewildered and disoriented. Yet, grappling with the interviews as the sole anchor to the study allowed the data to begin “speaking” to me in ways I could not have imagined.

This chapter provides an overview of the genocide literature discussing some conditions under which it is known to occur. It continues by identifying

105 some of the genocides that have taken place in the twentieth century adding

Rwanda to the list of infamy. It concludes with the results of a grassroots consultation that reveals what the citizens viewed as being the causes of the

1994 Rwandan genocide and the steps needed to prevent it from happening again.

5.2 Overview of Genocide

Much has been written about the topic of genocide. Unfortunately, the systematic mass murder of targeted groups is quite common. In fact, these types of crimes against humanity have regularly occurred since recorded history.

The twentieth century alone has seen the murder of more than 262 million people

(Rummel, 1994). These acts are categorized under the heading of genocide which is the term first defined by Raphael Lemkin (1944, pg. 79):

New conceptions require new terms. By "genocide" we mean the destruction of a nation or of an ethnic group. This new word, coined by the author to denote an old practice in its modern development, is made from the ancient Greek word genos (race, tribe) and the Latin cide (killing), thus corresponding in its formation to such words a tyrannicide, homicide, infanticide, etc. Generally speaking, genocide does not necessarily mean the immediate destruction of a nation, except when accomplished by mass killings of all members of a nation. It is intended rather to signify a coordinated plan of different actions aiming at the destruction of essential foundations of the life of national groups, with the aim of annihilating the groups themselves. The objectives of such a plan would be disintegration of the political and social institutions, of culture, language, national feelings, religion, and the economic existence of national groups, and the destruction of the personal security, liberty, health, dignity, and even the lives of the individuals belonging to such groups. Genocide is directed against the national group as an entity, and the actions involved are directed against the individuals, not in their individual capacity, but as members of the national group (p.79).

Consider the ambitions of the Turkish Empire to expand its territory by subsuming the land of the Armenian people. From 1915-1923, the “Young

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Turks” orchestrated the systematic annihilation of over one and a half million

Armenians (Hovannisian, 2007).

Then there was Stalin’s Famine-Genocide in 1932-1933 in which he set out to starve members of the population who were no longer interested in existing under his rule. The famine brought about the loss of life to more than seven million Ukrainian peasant farmers (Emery, 2002).

During a six week period of time (December of 1937-February of 1938) the

Japanese army overtook the Chinese capital city of Nanking. The savage rape and murder of men, women and children that occurred has become known as the

Rape of Nanking. It accounted for the death of three hundred thousand Chinese citizens (Chang, 1998).

The Nazis of Germany developed a detailed infrastructure designed to facilitate the extermination of Jews. They institutionalized policies, task forces, special mobile killing units, extermination camps and gas chambers, all for the purpose of killing. As a result, from 1941-1945, over six million Jews were exterminated at the behest of the German government. Several million Gypsies, homosexuals, Communists, the disabled and mentally ill were murdered as well

(Emery, 2002).

In 1975 the Cambodian government, under the leadership of Pol Pot envisioned the creation of an ideal state. In an effort to “purify” the nation Pol Pot forcibly evacuated cities and expelled all foreigners. He attempted to create an

“ideal” peasant farming society and by 1979 more than twenty five per cent of the population had died from starvation, overwork or execution (Kiernan, 2008).

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The Bosnia-Herzegovina genocide of 1992-1995 saw two hundred thousand

Muslims murdered at the hands of Bosnian Serbs (Cigar, 1995).

And of course, there was the Rwandan genocide between April and July of

1994 in which nearly a million Tutsi, moderate Hutu and Batwa were killed in a mere one hundred days.

These all too common events of mass murder, carnage and man’s inhumanity to man continue to be recreated in different cultures and across different time periods. Leonard Newman and Ralph Erber (2002) detail several factors associated with the incidence of genocide. They observed that history has taught us that mass killings of targeted groups usually occur when a nation is embroiled in a crisis of some kind. The chronology of genocide referenced above also suggests that the crisis is likely perceived of and facilitated by the state or is otherwise political in nature.

The authors also mention how individuals and groups project their fears, uncertainty and anger onto external figures and when left unchecked, this scapegoating causes social relationships to progressively deteriorate over time.

The authors also refer to values and norms that may encourage genocide as being culture specific. While many cultures claim to abhor violence, some cultures tolerate, promote and justify extreme aggression against targeted groups. Obedience to authority is identified as being a mechanism that supports a genocide ideology. Citizens revere power and therefore are willing to do whatever they are told, even if it entails causing fatal harm to their fellow citizens.

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Cultures, norms, projections and unbridled aggressions coupled with other complex factors, can (and do) escalate into genocide. These environments pave the way for genocide to be seen as a viable option for solving differences.

Mark Levene (2005) suggests that in order to be considered genocide, an event would possess some of the following traits:

Have a government that is resolved to eliminating a group(s) for usually

political reasons

Have no threat of intervention from the outside

Have a government that believes they are threatened by the group, with

extinction of the other being the best solution

The killing is orchestrated over an extended period of time

Men, women, children and the elderly are all targeted

The event is state sponsored and spearheaded by the military and

paramilitary with participation of disparate groups

The victims have virtually no means of defense

The government perceives the group as a “threat” regardless of whether

the “threat” was organized or whether the group presented itself as a

united entity.

Levene’s criteria differ from those set forth in the Convention on the

Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide adopted by the United

Nations General Assembly on December 9, 1948. Levene identifies the state as the primary organizer of the crime of genocide. The state, he claims, has the motivation to see the “other” as a threat (real or perceived) and the necessary

109 resources to accomplish the immense task of genocide. There is no mention of the state or regime in the Genocide Convention. It does however hold rulers, public officials and private individuals to account.

5.2.1 Conditions of Genocide

What causes individuals within a society to participate in mass murder? The seeds of genocide are sown in cultural and environmental settings that support hatred and aggression toward groups that are perceived as being different from the dominant group. Erin Staub (1989) proposes that those living in systems that provide the circumstances, objects and surroundings conducive to genocide are likely to have persistently difficult conditions associated with day to day life. He is not suggesting that every society whose members experience difficulty will end up being motivated to participate in mass killings of targeted groups. A difficult existence is just one of a multitude of complex mechanisms that push members of a society over the edge. Political violence between groups; criminal violence; rapid changes in culture and society; and social disorientation can facilitate the inclination to devalue the “other” and become hostile.

Staub further suggests that the psychological effect of a difficult existence is a significant aggravating factor. An individual’s physical and psychological well being is tied to their self worth. When these factors are consistently threatened, a powerful self-protective response is evoked; “…the motive to defend the physical self (one’s life and safety) and the motive to defend the psychological self (one’s self-concept, values and ways of life). There is a need both to protect

110 self-esteem and to protect values and traditions. There is also a need to elevate the diminished self” (p. 15).

Group membership is also been proven to encourage and accept brutal behavior which makes it easier to perform abnormal acts (Staub, 1989). Those who orchestrate mass killings empower the masses to commit murder. Those who commit the acts, in turn, expand the power of those who have initiated the plan.

Staub writes of a “continuum of destruction” that is seemingly harmless and may initially include simple rituals (scapegoating and habitual blaming), phrases

(“Heil Hitler”) and changes in thinking (the “other” deserves to suffer, the “other” is not as good as “we” are) that contributes to a deterioration of one’s mindset that makes destructive actions possible. A “cultural self-concept” which includes a high degree of “collective self-doubt” is also noted as being an aspect of the continuum. An exaggerated sense of superiority is often a cover for self-doubt.

Combined, they have been shown to exacerbate the potential for genocide.

These factors, and countless others, coupled with the social organization can figure largely in determining whether genocide becomes manifest or not.

How and why people commit mass murder cannot be fully understood by looking at traits, conditions and characteristics of genocide. However, these are doubtless some of the many complex causes that contributed to these events.

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5.3 Fundamentals of the Way Forward in Post-Genocide Rwanda

“Challenging the ruptured landscape of independent nations and autonomous cultures raises the question of understanding social change and cultural transformation as situated within interconnected spaces.” (Gupta, 1992)

Earlier I referred to colonial control by the Germans and the subsequent domination by the Belgians. The latter, it was argued, produced the splintering of the complex social cohesion under which all Rwandans had lived for hundreds of years. The Hutu-centric, post-colonial Rwandan leadership utilized ethnic radicalism and developed policies and initiatives that were heavily laden with an ideology that promoted division among the Hutu, Tutsi and Batwa. The nation became trapped in a cycle of corruption, violence and unrest that resulted in hundreds of thousands of Rwandans losing their lives.

For decades, residents of Rwanda, refugees in neighboring countries and

Rwandans in the more distant Diaspora across the globe kept the knowledge of their collective history alive and nurtured within themselves and in successive generations a shared dream; a dream of one day returning to their homeland to contribute to the reestablishment of a unified Rwanda. The transmission of this dream was eloquently conveyed to me by a refugee who had recently returned to

Rwanda soon after the 1994 genocide:

(Field Interview File #84) …the history of the Rwandan people was told to me by my grandparents and my parents and I will transmit to my kids. [For this reason] Rwandans could quickly catch back their origin. They wouldn’t let it go... they wouldn’t let them [the colonizers] take it away. But for us being refugee doesn’t mean we lost our identity. We could not agree to lose our identity…our parents could not talk in

112 any other language apart from our language…Kinyarwanda. Our mother, our grandparents, they speak only our language…then they could talk about our stories. But when we grow up we start to feel it. It becomes part of us…we have our own country, our own culture, our own words, our own this and that… [and] we need to be together like before.

April 6, 1994 marked the beginning of the swift and systematic murder of nearly one million Tutsi, moderate Hutu and Batwa at the behest of the Hutu led government of Rwanda. In the aftermath of the devastation and amidst profound hardship, Rwandans were searching for a way to create a more equitable society. One NGO observer was cited in a report issued by the Organization of

African Unity (Masire, 2000). The observer assessed the Rwandans situation in the following way:

“Rwandans have been through a national nightmare that almost defies comprehension. Theirs is a post-genocide society that has also experienced civil war, massive refuge displacement, a ruthless [post-genocide] insurgency…deep physical and psychological scars that are likely to linger for decades…and economic ruin so extensive that it is now [in 1998] one of the two least developed countries in the world.”

The horrifying reality and torment of the genocide produced a sense of urgency, desperation and the political will to move the nation beyond the divisions of the past and the chaos in which they found themselves in the present time. The leaders of the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) launched the

Government of National Unity and began the daunting task of rebuilding the nation amid the inconceivable turmoil facing the people of Rwanda. Rwandan officials from the newly formed National Unity and Reconciliation Commission

(NURC) traveled to South Africa, Northern Ireland and Sweden in search of a model and a better understanding of how nations recover after having

113 experienced massive human atrocity. They engaged in dialogue in an effort to understand other’s process of healing. After reviewing the Good Friday

Agreement of Northern Ireland (British and Irish government’s mutual agreement that Northern Ireland will continue to be part of the United Kingdom) and the

Truth and Reconciliation Commission of South Africa (public hearings of human rights violations in South Africa), members of NURC decided neither approach was appropriate for Rwandans. They considered their circumstances to be unique in that their conflicting groups shared the same ancestry, the same history; they intermarried and had the same customs and culture, the same religion, as well as many other similarities. They soon realized they had to create a model of reconciliation that took into account their shared identity, colonial impact and other variables that were pertinent to them. They determined to

“change poison into medicine” by using the atrocities of the war as a springboard for development, economic growth, reconciling and empowering communities and preparing the next generation of Rwandans to live in peace.

A nation-wide grassroots consultation was conducted over a two year period by the National Unity and Reconciliation Commission in an effort to understand the many factors that contributed to the genocide (NURC, 2000).

Stakeholders from all levels of society and all walks of life were represented and they engaged in dialogue about the following issues:

1. What in Rwanda’s past and recent history has led to disunity among

Rwandans?

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2. What can be done to solve the problems identified so as to promote

participation and involvement on the part of all Rwandans?

The grassroots discussions identified the following as contributing factors to the 1994 genocide (ibid):

o Bad governance — in discussions with all stakeholders, the role of

government was identified as the leading factor that contributed to disunity

among people in the nation.

o Colonization — Rwandans believed the colonizer were responsible for

many of the problems of disunity.

o The church — the citizens felt that the church openly supported

institutionalized divisions among Rwandans.

o Poverty and ignorance — these conditions fueled the genocide and were

further recognized as acting to hinder any reconciliation efforts.

o An unfair justice system — a justice system that favored one group over

another aggravated the condition of disunity.

o Poor management of aid given to the vulnerable — aid distribution was

often directed toward favored groups. Disadvantaged groups (such as the

Batwa) were often totally overlooked.

o Abuse of religious authority — religion evolved as a catalyst for division

instead of bringing people together for the greater good.

o Media that openly incited hatred — the primary means of communicating

messages of hatred and encouraging murder were newspapers and radio.

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o Distortions of Rwandan history being taught to children in the schools —

education policies of the former government were infused with the politics

of division.

o Divisive rhetoric — giving groups or individuals labels that have negative

implications.

o Political parties that exploited differences for political gain — political

parties emerged that were ethnocentric and created policies and initiatives

that furthered divisions.

o Genocide — from their earlier history of genocidal activity, the Rwandans

were aware of the need for unity and reconciliation. The mass killings in

1994 made it seem impossible to achieve.

One of the objectives of the discussions was to provide a platform on which the Rwandan people could have their voices heard and be actively involved in generating solutions to the problems facing the country. From those grassroots consultations would emerge the blueprints for the future of the African nation:

Identify and highlight commonalities — culture, language, shared history,

etc. These are all things that can bring Rwandans together and promote a

sense of oneness.

Good governance — establishment of a government that is concerned

with equal opportunities for all Rwandans.

Civic education — helps all Rwandans become aware of the fundamental

human rights of all people.

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Culture of hard work — Rwandans using their energy for the good of the

nation and rebuilding society.

Supporting all vulnerable citizens — expanding the perception of the

vulnerable to include orphans, widows, children and wives of prisoners,

children and widows of war victims, families of soldiers who are killed in

war, the elderly and others.

Decentralize the Unity and Reconciliation Commission — giving the power

to construct and implement URC initiatives at the grassroots level.

Promoting “Gacaca” system of justice — use of the ancestral, community

based approach to resolving many genocide related issues.

Political awareness — teaching Rwandans about politics and helping them

discern the difference between divisive politics and politics focused on

development.

As a result of this grassroots consultative effort, Rwandan authorities have made a concerted effort to actualize the recommendations of its citizens. The country has been immersed in a continuous struggle to resolve their main concerns which are the many complex and serious problems facing the nation. In the sixteen years since the genocide occurred, the government and the Rwandan people have summoned forth the courage, determination, ambition, imagination and the resilience required to endeavor a change in the destiny of their nation.

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6 Results and Related Literature

6.1 Introduction

The chapter presents a grounded theory of a basic social process that accounts for behaviors enacted by the Rwandan people in the aftermath of the genocide. The theory of finding pathways out is approached first from the individual level. This provides a perspective of how Rwandans are coping with the experience of extreme trauma. Then the presentation proceeds to the national level which addresses how the political leadership is responding to the nation by promoting reunification under a new national self concept. Lastly, the community life level illustrates the emergent, at times, organic “social technology” for implementing the new vision.

Pursuant to a discussion of the grounded theory, concepts from the extant literature will be used for comparative purposes. What we view as the theory’s unique contributions to the extant literature will be discussed in Chapter 7. As an additional point of reference in this chapter, as in the previous chapter, indicators of the emergent categories will be displayed as passages from interviews that were conducted with research participants. They are presented in boxes without shading while excerpts from my field memos will be presented in shaded boxes.

6.2 A Grounded Theory of “Finding Pathways Out”

The genocide was a human tragedy that had a devastating impact on the entire nation leaving no Rwandan unscathed. The Rwandan people are trying to find a way out of the devastation through a variety of paths that are to be found on various levels of society. They are charting a new course for themselves and

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have subscribed to the notion that they can derive “great good from great evil” or

“change poison into medicine.” The government and the citizen’s are reframing

ways of being with each other and ways of thinking about what it means to be

Rwandan in the twenty first century. A critical mass is involved and they are

determined to pull together on the national, local and individual levels toward the

goal of reconciliation and reconstruction. They are engaged, committed and

resolved to bolstering efforts aimed at revitalizing the nation and its citizens.

Open coding of the data produced dozens of preliminary codes prior to the

final development of the theory. Some of those codes are listed in the table

below:

Partial list of First Level Coding Table 3 Preliminary Codes

National Community Life Individual charting courses belonging bridging collectivizing potential bridging the divide coercing reconciliation cultivating civilizing complying cultivating change collective healing connecting deconstructing ontology comforting contacting empowering community support coping with self focusing on a frame community supporting defying leapfrog-ing confluence denying reconstructing ontology creative adapting discovering personal power re-ideologize-ing deepening experiencing self re-modeling group centering faux reconciling remolding group power following suit repairing groups to heal forgiving reshaping healing relationships habituating restoring values healing space living dead* Seeding living together losing identity servant leading living with difference managing shaping views post surviving masking sharing the vision rebuilding community numbing shifting control reducing difference numbing down socializing for renewal relational organizing recalling removing difference recycling reorienting relinquishing personal power restoring group power re-victimizing

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rich living* shifting away sharing blood* staring into the abyss sharing humanity surviving transitional space wearing the mask valuing witness to healing

being together

*in vivo code

Positive Past Present Future doubling back accepting determining to win excavating values accepting life’s terms educating finding ground altering identity envisioning loving the land among the living equalizing positive recalling awakening forward thinking revering authority circumstantial reconciling generating value sharing ancestry doubling down instilling growth sharing the past instilling hope passionate living repurposing re-visioning

Negative past colonizing community failing corrupting the process decaying dehumanizing devaluing life differentiating distorting drawing divisions excluding external controlling fracturing friendly killers* hierarchy Illiteracy impoverished poisoning Poverty relinquishing group power small god*

120 suppressing equality *in vivo code

Finding pathways out emerged as the core category of the grounded theory with additional categories and properties subsumed under the core.

Finding pathways out is a basic social process. A basic social process is defined as “…something which occurs over time and involves change over time. These changes over time ordinarily have discernable breaking points—discernable to the extent that stages can be perceived, so as to be treated as theoretical units in themselves, with conditions, consequences (which may be another stage), other properties, and so forth which are unique in form to each particular stage” (B.

Glaser, 1978 p. 97-98).

As an outcome of the genocide, Rwandans have embarked on a journey to change their collective destiny. They are transitioning from a culture of ethnic, cyclical violence that is steeped in poverty to a society with an “aspiration to become a modern, strong and united nation without discrimination between its citizens (KABERUKA 2000, p. 3).” A grounded theory of finding pathways out

(Figure 1) is a multilevel construct that presents the way in which this transition is manifest in society. The theory reveals engagement in this enormous and unprecedented task as it is evident on multiple levels of society; the individual, the national and on the level of community life.

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Figure 1 Outline of "Finding Pathways Out"

From this perspective, one can readily observe that these levels are in a perpetual state of simultaneously impacting and influencing each other.

Finding pathways out can be seen to be taking place on multiple levels of society. On the level of the individual, the data revealed the challenge of being ceaselessly confronted with the realities of day to day survival and living with the trauma of the experience of genocide. On the national level, the data emphasized the use of the global categories of past, present and future as a tool to organize and navigate massive numbers of citizens through a maze of pain, agony and hopelessness. On this level, the sub-processes are structural and cultural in nature in that they involve visions, policies, programs and initiatives of

122 the actors participating in the social scene. The methods on the national level focus primarily on creating cultural meaning making from the ruins and establishing and institutionalizing the ideals of reconciliation and sustainable peace. Community level practices specify some of the strengths and creativity of the human spirit as people interact with each other and highlight several nuances associated with the complexity of their situation. For example, many survivors lost all of their family and social support networks. They were left feeling empty, vulnerable and in dire need of finding ways of providing the basics for daily existence. Although relationships among neighbors were severely damaged, many Hutu and Tutsi were keenly aware that their survival was intimately linked.

They somehow managed to set aside their heartbreak and focus their energies in support of each other. It resulted in cases where survivors were dependent on perpetrators and perpetrators were dependent on survivors.

Finding pathways out on these three levels is organized, in turn around three sub categories. Managing the void surfaced as an individual pathway subsuming several psychological variations that individuals used as ways of coping with the permanent damage of the genocide event. An individual’s experience of the trauma is likely to be different from others in many ways.

These variations are proposed as a way of providing a window into how the individuals are dealing with their suffering even as they are striving to move their lives in a more positive direction.

Managing the void is not meant to suggest that individuals are in static states. The category and its properties are not exhaustive nor are they intended

123 in any way to reduce the subjective experience to mere compartmentalization.

The concepts are meant to highlight the personal challenges of resuming day to day living, in the aftermath of the tragedy that is faced by all Rwandans.

Reconstituting national identity emerged as a national pathway and illustrates how Rwandans are making use of the temporal dimensions of past, present and future to address such issues as conflict resolution, identity transformation, personal and economic development and envisioning a brighter future for their country. These ideals are manifest in many of their government policies and state-run initiatives. The policies and initiatives are particularly significant because their roots can be traced to the Rwandan villagers and the grassroots consultations referred to earlier. As such, they have activated a generative process or “a concern for establishing and guiding the next generation” (Erikson, 1963, p.267). They are engaged in a national renewal that, according to the interviews and other data, is successfully navigating the nation from the edge of the abyss to a place of shared purpose, shared responsibility and shared vision.

During the genocide, family, friends and neighbors turned against each other. Massive slaughter, rape and pillaging rapidly made headway as new and accepted social behaviors. In the years following the carnage, Rwandans have struggled to return to some semblance of a normal life. However, there was no blueprint to help them understand how to resume living as neighbors with the perpetrators or the guilt and the memories of the horrifying events of 1994.

Improvising civility surfaced as a community level pathway and reveals the

124 emergent methods used by the people in the village settings. While the processes of the individual pathway illustrate an ensemble of coping behaviors and those of the national pathway are concerned with reconstituting national identity via policies and initiatives; the methods of improvising civility found on the community path can be thought of as the place where the effects of the other two levels on day to day group behavior are implemented. Figure 2 provides a summary of the concepts and related properties on each level of finding pathways out.

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Figure 2 "Finding Pathways Out"

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Finally, indicators repeatedly emerged from the data on all levels that measured impediments to the restorative properties of the social processes of finding pathways out. They surfaced as activities, behaviors and initiatives that advertently and inadvertently obstruct progress or otherwise threaten the cohesiveness of the fragile social fabric. These obstructions will be discussed near the conclusion of this chapter.

Individual Pathway

Rwandans define themselves in relationship to other Rwandans through a collectivist lens rather than as individualist. Collectivist societies emphasize the interdependence of all humans, primary loyalty to the group and decision-making based on what is best for the group (Triandis, 2001). A person exists primarily in relation to the group or the community.

While I come from a society that views existence from the perspective of individualism, I have tried to honor the Rwandan collectivist spirit. I have, at the same time, engaged in my own internal struggle to make meaning of the things that I saw, heard and personally experienced while in Rwanda. I was sometimes confused and disoriented when hearing the expressions of individual feelings in contrast to the new narratives of the collective. I heard stories about the struggles of individuals who belong to a wounded collective; a collective that was once a cohesive community. I heard tell of shattered lives, violated trust and individuals becoming aware of their own unique feelings about what happened to them. I saw Rwandans shuttling back and forth between the comfort and familiarity of a collective mindset trying desperately to recreate what used to be.

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But the reality of mass murder was always lingering in the shadows constantly reminding them that things could never be the same again. The drastic, horrible event altered their lives and left them with a sense of self they didn’t have before the genocide happened.

Rwandans are struggling with their personal identity just as they are with their national identity. They don’t have the language of individualism and I struggled to understand if concepts that emerged on the individual pathway were as a result of imposing my perspective on the Rwandan people. The data suggests the Rwandans are at a loss as to how to cope with the self in the context of what has happened to them during the war. The following are the best categories I could conceive to make sense of the strategies they are using to cope with this altered sense of self. Those strategies are characterized in managing the void.

6.3 Managing the Void

(Field Interview File #13)

“…we have no choice because we are poor. We need to live well with others and support him and he supports me so we can live today. This is our life…We move on…We got to live…in such cases there’s no choice because we are poor. We only have to rely on each other…we live in these mountains…that is no choice, no lights, no water, no house, no bed, no children, no husband, not enough food, no family to help us. All we have is to be in the group. We have to be together because we don’t have a choice. “

(Field Interview File #26)

Life is not good as it could be in the past but we just thank God because we are alive. If we are alive, God will provide something but we don't know.

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(Field Interview File #28)

The president of [the association] put us together and help us to be what we are now. Everyone could say his problems and talk and cry and show sadness because everyone was really crying. We cried and talked about all problems each to others. And from that time we find that we could have someone to talk to about our sadness, our crying.

Extreme poverty played a significant role in the social, cultural and political dynamics prior to, during and after the genocide. Even though a neighbor may have murdered an individual’s spouse, children, parents, grandparents and so on, actively dwelling on the injustice was a “luxury” Rwandans did not have.

Traditional African cultures are highly communal with more of an emphasis on the “we” than on the individual or the “me” (Kwame, 1995; Mbiti,

1970; Mosley, 1995). Persons become who they will be only after a process of being included in a community (Menkiti, 1984). Yet, individuals as well as communities were severely impacted by the genocide. The majority recognized they needed to find ways of coexisting with their neighbors. They realized there was nothing that could be done to change what had happened. As such, the genocide has been acknowledged as part of the reality of their lives. Whatever the reason, be it divine intervention, fortune, chance, or destiny, they found themselves alive. They survived the onslaught and needed to learn how to carry on despite the terrible ordeal. This sentiment is aptly demonstrated in a straightforward way in the following quote from an early interview:

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(Field Interview File #27)

…and I was pregnant with my 11th child during the genocide. At that time I was beaten so much and because I was giving birth to the baby, the milk would come and passed through my nose, and passing the head and I going to the hospital every time since to add to me some blood because of that problem. You see I don’t have any breast because of that. But I make myself normal and just tried to talk to the people who killed my people or who beat me. They could say no, we didn’t kill. But we saw them together, seeing them killing and then just they come there and say we didn’t do anything. We are not the ones when I’ve seen them myself with my own eyes where I was hiding…but what to do? We have to live together.

The first rounds of interviews with the members of Women Investment

Fund, Avega and Duhozanye revealed some of the creative adaptations employed by many of the respondents. These creative adjustments emerged as a range of psychological processes used by Rwandans to cope with the challenge of survival. Participants had an array of feelings they expressed which highlighted differences in how the individual was experiencing the impact of the genocide. However, individuals would swiftly steer themselves away from any extensive identification with personal feelings. They would move beyond the personal to arrive at a similar narrative that centered on the collective. During interviews they would maintain a focus on what was in the best interest of the group, the community and the nation. That is not to say they were pretending that the genocide did not happen but the impact on each individual was not the central focus of the narratives. The following memo emphasizes my struggle to formulate a concept that articulates the phenomenon which would eventually be termed managing the void:

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(Field Memo File #31)

…What am I missing? It’s surreal to me; moving on like that and trying to seemingly forget about it. Or are they forgetting? I can’t imagine how that’s done. Reconciliation seems to be some sort of social construction for the group, for the community, for the government, for society and for the country as a whole. How does the individual manage this?

…They quickly move away from talking about their own feelings and bump it up to the level of being concerned with what’s best for the group, community and country. Once they leave the level of the self, they seem to pack the horrible experience away somewhere. Where does it go? While on the group level they deal with the experience and talk about it differently. This narrative may be wrapped in a cultural difference that I’m not seeing right now. I could also be viewing this phenomenon through my own individualistic cultural lens. Although the group identity historically has always been the primary identity, the genocide has made individuals keenly aware of their own personal feelings. How can they not have experienced an intensity of individual feelings? The question is what do they do with this expanded internal landscape now that it has been opened up?

An obvious paradox exists for Rwandans as they endeavor to reconcile an awareness of an intensely individual experience with the communal coexistence that has been the mainstay of their cultural DNA. Managing the void sheds light on some of the many ways they are handling this dilemma on a personal level.

Preliminary coding of the interviews surfaced what I initially conceptualized as fracturing identity. It was first thought to be attributed to the

Rwandans experience under colonization. This assumption was based on the fact that all participants spoke of the negative impact the colonial experience had on their cultural identity. As the analysis progressed it became clear that colonization had indeed caused a fracture in their cultural identity and was an indispensable part of the narrative being shared. Equally as important, was their talk about a depth of pain and horror that most people will never experience. The

131 narratives revealed the methods used by these individuals to deal with the stresses associated with the genocide experience.

Managing the void (Figure 3), as a concept, is comprised of six distinct and creative adaptations employed by individual Rwandans to cope with the unfathomable horror and the extreme stress of the genocide.

Figure 3 Managing the Void

It is a way of dealing with the individual’s “unfinished business” pertaining to the disturbing events. It has, within its core, unresolved emotions and trauma of people who are still extremely wounded. The expressions of this concept were not always explicitly articulated. There were instances when the data were found in what was not said as opposed to what was said. The understanding and subsequent conceptualization of this category, in large part, came by way of support from several Rwandans with whom I had developed strong relationships during the research process. They became trusted confidants. They patiently and continually engaged me in numerous dialogues that eventually laid the

132 foundation for theorizing about theirs and others subjective experiences. For instance, often after the field interviews, conversations were had with trusted friends about Rwandans and about Rwandan culture. They were able to share subtle cultural distinctions easily discernable to the native eye. These conversations and others were helpful in generating three categories of managing the void: numbing down, masking and mimicking. Additional properties of episodic recall, confronting the void and catapulting the gap emerged more thoroughly from the interviews and during later stages of the data analysis.

6.3.1 Numbing down

(Field Memo File #17 Dialogue w/Rwandan Confidant)

…They deny the part of themselves that is still traumatized. It’s kind of double trauma. They were traumatized by the genocide now they have to be traumatized in another way…by denying it and pushing it away and forgetting about it... It’s kind of like they could not recognize themselves.

(Field Interview File #76) The citizens have adopted an attitude where they have a lack of ownership for their emotional and psychological well-being.

(Field Interview File #29)

At the beginning I could not go to other people to make the group and ask something and talk to others. I felt like I was alone and could not have people to talk to and explain everything…but I keep living.

The first three concepts (numbing down, masking and mimicking) took shape as a result of reflections, inferences and conversations with friends who were survivors of the genocide. Many Rwandans interviewed for this study can

133 be described as having walled themselves off from their feelings. Numbing down is one of several defense mechanism utilized by survivors to shield themselves from the pain of the ordeal. Numbing down is the label I’ve given to specific behaviors in which individuals avoid awareness of any feelings associated with the genocide. I was told stories about loved ones the survivors were forced to murder or who were killed before their very eyes. Yet, more than a decade after the genocide, survivors were in a community setting with the perpetrators, drinking urwagwa (banana beer) and talking about the immediate concerns of working together and being together.

6.3.1.1 Literature Related to Numbing Down

The Merriam-Webster online dictionary (http://www.merriam- webster.com/dictionary/numb) defines numb as being devoid of sensation or feeling. The DSM-IV TR identifies the experience of numbing as being linked to

PTSD. Intense fear, helplessness and horror occur after the trauma and they are continually revived through the recall of thoughts, images and perceptions. The event can be recalled in dreams and in illusions, hallucinations and flashbacks.

The individual experiences intense psychological distress when confronted with internal or external triggers that evoke memories of the traumatic event.

Individuals also exert effort to avoid stimuli connected to the trauma. They turn their thoughts and feelings off, have lapses in memory, detach and lose interest in significant activities. The condition is exacerbated by difficulty establishing normal sleep patterns, irritability and difficulty concentrating (Association, 2000).

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Psychic numbing has long been identified as a common response to

traumatic events. In their research on survivors of extreme stress, Marmar and

Horowitz (1988) cite Lifton (1976) who suggested that psychic numbing was a

significant behavior of prisoners in Nazi concentration camps. He also referred

to a collaborative numbing between the victims and the perpetrators that may

even be present years after the traumatic event. The authors continue by citing

Lifton’s (1967) research on survivors of the Hiroshima nuclear explosion. He

describes a “psychic closing off” and “a cessation of feeling” in those who

experienced the event. There are also recent reports of military veterans

returning from combat in the Middle East experiencing PTSD symptoms such as

emotional numbing.15

6.3.2 Masking

(Field Memo File #15 Dialogue w/Rwandan Confidant)

…They are the people who play the game but in their hearts they have not forgotten and will not forget… and maybe will not forgive. But they talk about whatever you want them to talk about, the way you want them to talk about it. Reconciliation, justice, peace...it’s fine, I’m doing it. But in their hearts they don’t believe.

(Field Interview File #26

…When you know the truth we just go back to 94 and it's painful but it's good to know the truth. Then the trauma starts again. People isolate themselves again and some of them would come and just say to others "he's the one who killed your people." They become more and more traumatized like something is hiding in their hearts…

15 Information obtained from the Social Work Policy Institute website: http://www.socialworkers.org/research/naswResearch/0907Military/default.asp 135

Some Rwandans have decided that the best way to proceed with their lives is to say what they are expected to say. This is what I will call masking.

They have the right words, slogans and expressions and readily employ them while in the public. All the while they are hiding their authentic feelings from public scrutiny. Only when they are with family and friends do they allow their true feelings to be known. They are very aware that what they say in public is not what they truly feel. The property of masking is distinctly different from that of numbing down in that the numbing individual may not be fully aware that they are cutting off their feelings. The individuals who employ masking do so purposefully and within certain contexts

6.3.2.1 Literature Related to Masking

Aaron Hass (1995) describes a type of “mask” that is worn by survivors of the holocaust. This kind of masking is done to hide the pain of the experience and appear normal to the rest of the world in the postwar era. They accumulate all the trappings of an ordinary life; a home, a family, a social life, friends, a business, etc. in an attempt to hide “an inner emptiness, an ineradicable hurt…broken hearts” (p.70). Some survivors have learned to split themselves into various compartments. This is thought to allow them to keep the horror of the holocaust from contaminating the present.

Erving Goffman’s (1958) concept of “front stage” articulated in his seminal work on human behavior in social situations bears a resemblance to masking.

Goffman observed that individuals suppress their true feelings in an attempt to convey thoughts, feelings and behaviors assumed to be more acceptable to

136 others within a particular social setting. This “front stage” performance is often a display of one’s most positive impressions. When the presentation is over, in the

“back stage” belittling, criticizing and derogation can occur.

Early attempts at flushing out the property of masking in the Rwandan context are illustrated in the excerpt from a recorded dialogue below:

(Field Memo File #6 Dialogue w/Rwandan Confidant)

Researcher: They are in the group and these men and women…they are just like boys and girls at a summer camp. We worked together, we play together, we sing together, we eat together... that kind of thing. I don’t understand how they can feel that way. They act differently than members of the other group. What’s that about?

Confidant: No, they just want to keep their situation [in a program]. They know they have to live but they’re not saying forget about it [the genocide]. That’s the point.

Researcher: That’s the difference. So they [members of an association] are moving on but they’re moving on having cried, talked, cried, talked, worked and cried. Doing everything and getting it out. But the other group...I haven’t heard them say anything about crying together or talking together about their feelings or their pain.

Confidant: It’s because the other group…they are being put together. Then they are living in this way to get help. Then they try to have living as well. But these ones [other association members], they are sharing their problems and looking for words the solution to themselves and the solution to how do we live after having had this experience? They think just let us not forget that we have got this. Although the government would tell us to do so and so...

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6.3.3 Mimicking

(Field Interview File #15)

…are we going to forgive people who don’t beg for forgiveness? It’s another step. Is it really when people come to you and say forgive me I’ve killed your brother, your sister, your uncle, your mother, your father...Is it really coming from his heart? Or from what they’ve been taught? That’s the question.

(Field Interview File #59)

…the genocide whereby my family was killed during the war, I don't see others in a bad way. Even if there were consequences of the 1994 genocide, I don't see those who did the killings in a bad way. I don't see those people who did the killings in a bad way because we are taught to have love so as to live with all Rwandans in a good way. If I see or I looks to those people in a bad way, it doesn't give any sense because those people can't bring again those they killed.

The word mimic is derived from the Greek word mimikos meaning imitating

(Morehead, Morehead, & Morehead, 2006). Mimicry is a well-known occurrence in the natural world which serves as an anti-predatory, survival mechanism

(Keeton & Bensadoun, 1972). Species adopt the appearance and behavior of the “model” species in order to ensure survival.

A type of mimicking is employed by some Rwandans because it is assumed to be low risk behavior with advantages residing in a total blending of the individual with the dominant group. The behavior is not new but may hold some familiarity from an historical perspective. In fact, mimicking may be said to be one of the many factors that contributed to the mobilization of massive numbers of Hutu to methodically slaughter their Tutsi countrymen. It is a well documented dynamic of their enculturated respect for and deference to authority (Prunier,

1995a). Prunier refers to Jean-Jacques Maquet’s research when explaining this cultural tendency:

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The role of the ruler was a mixture of protection and paternalistic profit. …The subject was expected to fit within this form of leadership. He was supposed to adopt a dependent attitude. Inferiority is the relative situation of a person who has to submit to another in a defined field. But dependence is inferiority extended to all spheres of life. When the ruler gives an order, he must be obeyed, not because his order falls into the sphere over which he has authority, but simply because he is the ruler. (p. 57)

6.3.3.1 Literature Related to Mimicking

Groupmind and mechanical solidarity were terms used by Emile Durkheim

(1984) in referring to social behaviors in which everyone thinks and behaves in the same way in an effort to preserve a collective consciousness. Durkheim further suggested that the specific value imperatives of such a collective are upheld by threat of punishment. Deviation from the collective is considered unacceptable and outliers face repressive laws and intense public shame as a way of reinforcing the solidarity.

Even in the present day many individuals continue to embrace this extreme sense of loyalty. It engenders a lack of ownership for their behavior and an abdication of their emotional and psychological well-being. They believe, instead, that their destiny lies in the hands of those who are in positions of power.

As such, they do as they are told, say what they are expected to say and think as they are expected to think. Just as this was one of the cultural characteristics used to manipulate the masses into genocide, so too, albeit for the greater good, it is being used today to guide the Rwandans onto the road of reconciliation and reconstruction.

In discussing growth in the aftermath of trauma, Richard G. Tedeschi and

Lawrence G. Calhoun (2004) articulate a process in coping they call “vicarious

139 learning” or learning by watching others. Observing the success of others, avoiding negative outcomes, seeking social support, survivors reconciling with perpetrators, supporting and rebuilding communities and the associated vicarious reinforcements are all related to this method of learning to cope. These new behaviors are constantly being modeled on the various levels of Rwandan society and may be of great importance to the process of national recovery. In the current political climate, positive mimicking provides frameworks of behaviors that may not have been a part of the survivor’s previous orientation.

6.3.4 Episodic recall

(Field Interview File #23)

…I know whatever [ethnic group] a person is they have a right to live…and some of us…we get trauma because we spend a long time about thinking what we did. By thinking, “Oh, I did this. I did this and I put in my head that if I kill someone, the husband of the woman, I don’t need to go to stay with her. I spend the whole time thinking [about] that…

(Field Interview File #25)

…because of what happened to our lives, we just did things [that we needed to do for ourselves] but in crying. We were crying but as you can see, we could work and cry…

(Field Interview File #27)

…My daughter is now married but she got raped at the genocide. She's going to appear in court with them who raped her. For her it's helpful because she feel free when it's shown. She was raped and became sad and was traumatized every time of her life. She's traumatized for simple things when something happens because of being raped…

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Episodic recall is a state in which an individual is afflicted with intermittent or chronic recall of the genocide event. As seen in the opening quote, perpetrators are prone to episodic recall as well as survivors. While serving time in prison, inmates have had ample time to constantly reflect on their actions during the war.

In psychological terms, flashbacks would be likened to the concept of episodic recall. The literature defines flashback as: “…sudden, usually vivid, recollection of a past experience…a rush of feelings, emotions, and sensations associated with a traumatic event.”16

Many Rwandans continually relive the genocide through intrusive and repetitive memories of that fateful period. Some are traumatized to the degree that they find it difficult to sit and talk about the experience for any length of time.

In this state, these individuals are unable to take care of their basic needs and frequently lack a desire to socialize with others. Many spoke of being incapable of understanding the horrid experience and in fact, were emphatic in their aversion to wanting to understand it at all. Reconciliation is beyond their purview. It’s too difficult to handle and they possess limited skills with which to address the inherent complexities of their situation.

In one instance during my field trip in Rwanda, twelve years after the genocide, I encountered a woman who was frantic and seemingly in a state of shock. Herself a survivor, she pleaded with me to spare some time to listen to her story. She relayed the horror of having her infant child decapitated while being held in her arms. She recounted the shock of having to escort her

16 http://dictionary-psychology.com/index.php?a=term&d=Dictionary+of+psychology&t=Flashback 141 daughter to the river to be drowned. She told of seeing her home burned to the ground and she shared the difficulty of having dozens of her family and friends buried in a small area directly behind her home. As she shared these experiences, I experienced within myself a powerful sense of panic, anxiety, desperation and fear in response to this brief interaction. Such potent episodic recall was common during numerous encounters with survivors.

Gacaca, you’ll recall, was the traditional method of administering “justice in the grass” at the community level for certain crimes committed during the genocide. It was intended to help speed the process of healing but it also had the effect of triggering episodic recall. Survivors were forced to relive the horror and they felt re-victimized and slighted when hearing the perpetrators deny what they had done. This experience, especially when wrong-doing was denied, caused victims to remember their parents, children, husbands and wives and the lives they had before the war. The pain and mourning invariably resurfaced anew.

6.3.5 Confronting the void

(Field Interview File #63b)

…when it has been here sometimes people invite killers on this side and invite their victims and say this is reconciliation. I now will usually say I’m sorry this is not reconciliation. This is traumatizing people…The place of the killer is not in freedom. The place of the killer is in jail. The place of the killer is not to be killed because of the laws…Do you understand the Bible education? Somehow they tell us you do bad things to somebody you have not to receive the same thing. When [the teachings of] Jesus comes [to Rwanda], he change the things. Now some today, it’s like you do bad things, you come, you play, sometimes you enjoy. Really, I don’t think this can contribute to reconciliation even if people try to say it’s okay, it’s okay. I think and I’m sorry, there are deep wounds which stay. Because I say, how a human being really can say, “you killer of my mother, we forgive you. Let’s start as nothing has happened.” [It’s as if Americans would 142 say] Hey you, Osama bin Laden, killer of my people, it’s okay. I will forgive you and we start again as nothing has happened…

(Field Interview File #66)

…Our mission is to have survivors receive justice, education. We have many departments like justice, social affairs, trauma counseling, memory and documentation and communications…I think we again have many things to do to help the students in the University's and in the secondary schools and to mobilize the people to have the hope of life…We have to help the survivors and to help them so as to live and to keep them from feeling lonely. This is to build them on how to live and how to feel there is hope for the future…You cannot work for the survivor people if you are not accepting the consequences of the genocide…

(Field Interview File #27)

…For me, I'm struggling with going in the court with them. I'm not saying no, I'm not going or I am in fear. I just go and appear to the court with them. I have to say what I've seen and what can happen after this, I don't mind. But I have to just to say what I've seen because I've seen them doing what they were doing. The good thing for me is to talk and say it and make my heart free. When I talk my heart become free…

Confronting the void is a position that is assumed by individuals or groups who are determined to keep the horror of the genocide fresh in their minds.

Those who adopt this stance seek to think differently and teach others to think differently about their circumstances. They refuse to see themselves merely as victims. Instead of being vulnerable and looking for outside help to solve problems, the attitude is one of encouraging individuals to discover within themselves the solutions to their problems. There is intense anger and grief in this stance concerning what has happened to the people and the nation. There is a belief that true reconciliation can only be achieved with justice and there is a fierce rejection of strategies that do not perceive justice as being the key.

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Individuals and groups who maintain this perspective are the social radicals who hold the realities of the genocide in the forefront of their lives. They vocalize their opinions while continuing to live their lives seeking justice for themselves and others. They are incensed at any suggestion they should forgive and forget and continue on with their existences. They are firm in their convictions and are strongly opposed to others imposing their ideas about how reconciliation should be viewed by them. They are constantly in pursuit of answers and have vowed to keep the memory of the genocide alive.

6.3.6 Catapulting the gap

(Field Interview File #25)

…I had a strong family, warm family, together family, lovely family. Then one day I could find I’m alone. Sometimes it comes [the pain] and I would say why do I have to live? Why did I stay? If I stayed and didn’t die, so I have to live. Somehow I was going back and trying to come again myself saying, yes, I lost everybody, I lost my husband, my children, my family, my beloved people... why do I have to live also? Why do I have to run after life looking for how to be in this world? I just come back and say yes, if I didn’t die, then I have to live and live for others. That’s how I gave myself strength to work for others…

(Field Interview File #73)

…Rwandans have to learn to study. Education is the key or the tool that can help us just to widen our thinking and extend our vision and to extend our mind. So without education we can't reach anywhere and we can’t even have a vision without a mind that is extended. We can have potential in us without knowing it. So when we go to the university it will help us to widen into extend our mind. Then from there who know what we have in our potential. Then we use our potential. That can help all Rwandese from my side. That will be the biggest tools for the development of this country. After knowing our potential we can just give it back and some work…

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(Field Interview File #27)

…If you have a chance of getting someone to help you and keep your strength, then you forced to work as well. Like me, I'm not really strong to cultivate but because of people helping me in giving a whole, then I can go and try my best to cultivate and do whatever I can and the help will come but also I need to make sure I've done something by my own.

Catapulting the gap is a position in which individuals have moved beyond mere survival. They have found that, because of the genocide; they must strive like never before to find within them the will to transcend the experience in ways that benefits them as well as others. Individuals arrive at this position as a result of their spiritual practice, through the encouragement of others whom they trust, through a new found fortitude or some combination of all the above. Some catapult the gap through their affiliation with support groups. Others are encouraged by surviving family members; while a number of them are inspired by the fact that they are still alive.

In a state of catapulting the gap individuals find it within themselves to be motivated, encouraged and inspired to make changes in themselves and the society. They are always looking for ways to regenerate and increase their development. Regeneration can come from like-minded colleagues, outside encouragement and witnessing others expansion and growth.

Many who are experiencing this have decided to pursue a higher education. Only one university existed in Rwanda during the post colonial era prior to the genocide in 1994. Fewer than one thousand Rwandans graduated during that thirty year period. Catapulting the gap, in large part, has been facilitated by the twenty higher education institutes (6 public, 14 private) that

145 have been established in the sixteen years since the end of the genocide. More than ten thousand Rwandans have earned college degrees during that period of time. These individuals realized that in order to be competent to support the national recovery, it was imperative that they become educated.

The genocide generated a host of associations that provided support for survivors and met some of their basic needs as the nation struggled to recover.

These associations were also instrumental in navigating many citizens on the pathway to catapulting the gap. Some of the association members became so intimately involved that they acquired an understanding of how certain associations functioned. They were able to identify niches where particular skills were needed and they educated themselves so as to meet those needs. As a result, those individuals have experienced a sense of empowerment and have been inclined to take greater responsibility for contributing to and expanding the capacity of the association in the effort to create the changes necessary for enhanced community support and national renewal.

For example, one association member talked extensively of being driven by a need for knowledge and a strong desire to give back to society. She felt compelled to make others aware of their rights and a responsibility to awaken them to their possibilities. These elements combined with several others, inspired her to pursue a law degree.

Another member of a different association felt it was important to expand his life beyond the boundaries of his daily existence. Since other opportunities for self-expansion were limited, education became a viable option for him.

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Even my translator, Omar, could be seen as employing behavior of catapulting the gap. After the genocide he noticed there were a disproportionate number of teenagers who were aimless and turning to illicit street drugs. There were no associations (pre or post genocide) established to address the growing problem of youth addiction. Omar, along with twenty-four committed youthful friends established an association to address the problem. The Anti-Drugs

Association Path (ADAP) was formed to prevent drug abuse in Rwanda. It has a goal of helping Rwandans, especially at-risk youth, achieve a better quality of life and become more capable citizens. They are employing some of the following methods:

Mobilizing knowledge for drug prevention solutions Tracking and monitoring community health awareness related to drug abuse Increasing individual and community awareness of the negative impacts of drug abuse Raising capable people to train others in applying ADAP’s unique drug prevention train-to-train methodology Creating a knowledge base for providing drug prevention solutions

ADAP has gained local, national and regional attention for their contributions to society through youth-oriented programs and activities focused on drug prevention.

Although there were numerous stories of Rwandan citizens who were catapulting the gap, there was no indication that any members of the Batwa community were able to do likewise, at least none that I talked to indicated as such. They seem to be unable to move their lives beyond the centuries old stigma that continues to hover over them.

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6.4 Literature Related to Managing the Void: Summary Concept

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV TR)

(American Psychiatric Association, 2000) defines PTSD as the experience of witnessing or being threatened with death or serious injury to one’s self or another. Traumatic events have no geographic boundary and it is widely believed that posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) can be identified across cultures. This study cannot address the concerns about the universality of PTSD cross-culturally. However, I am cognizant of the need to understand PTSD within a collective historical, political and human rights context (Wilson & Tang, 2007).

That being the case, I came to realize direct correlations based on anecdotal evidence. Namely, trauma produces stress and extreme trauma is likely to produce extreme stress. Also, I was made aware through these narratives that the same stressful event may not have the same effect on all people.

Gestalt theory has a goal of improving an individual’s ability to connect with the self and the physical environment which includes the people in that environment. Some Gestalt literature categorizes PTSD and its associated symptoms as “unfinished business.” The term “unfinished business” was first coined by Frederick S. Perls, Ralph Hefferline and Paul Goodman in the 1950’s

(Hardie, 2004). Ervin Polster and Miriam Polster (1974) define “unfinished business” as follows:

“All experience hangs around until a person has finished with it…Nevertheless, although one can tolerate considerable unfinished experience, these uncompleted directions do seek completion and, when they get powerful enough, the individual is beset with preoccupation, compulsive behavior, wariness, oppressive energy and much self-defeating activity…Closure must come either by a return to the old business or by relating to parallel circumstances in the

148 present…Once closure has been reached and can be fully experienced in the present, the preoccupation with the old incompletion is resolved and one can move on to current possibilities” (p.36-37).

Hardie (2004) continues by referring to Perls, Hefferline and Goodman’s work with their clients regarding “unfinished business”:

“Avoidance is the means individuals use to prevent themselves from completing ‘unfinished business.’ They then become stuck, blocking their possibilities of growth. Working with these blocks is both difficult and painful. Avoidance exists for good and sufficient reason, and hence the task is to become aware of the reasons for its existence”

The category of managing the void is reminiscent of research cited by

Bloom (1996). She refers to Isabel Menzies (1975) who elaborates on the work of Elliott Jaques as it pertains to “social defense systems”. The defense mechanism Menzies describes mirror those seen by Bloom in victims of trauma.

They also resemble some of the emergent properties of managing the void.

Denial, detachment and denial of feelings bear a resemblance to numbing down and masking; redistribution of responsibility could be comparable to mimicking and idealization appears in some ways to be similar to catapulting the gap.

Bloom goes on to say that the collusion implicit in some social interactions allows for these behaviors to be unconsciously agreed upon norms for dealing with the reality of living in a specific set of post-traumatic circumstances. These behaviors become institutionalized and subsequent entrants into the system (e.g. refugees returning to Rwanda or children being born into families in Rwanda) become grounded in the trauma, adopting the “groupmind” that is being tenaciously held together by emotion, trauma and pain. For Rwandans, it is a

149 state that is resistant to change and rooted in a past that is not forgotten but is simply “the way it is”.

Managing the void is the label given to what appear to be psychological adaptations drawn on by genocide survivors as a way of coping with the event.

They are not meant to be comprehensive but merely provide insight into some of the ways in which individuals are managing their realities.

Just as the individual has found ways to cope, on the broader societal level, the government has also had to find ways of moving the nation forward.

Reconstituting national identity emerged as a national pathway process used to frame the new national narrative about which the Rwandans see themselves as being according to their own interpretation and how they hope to have others view them.

National Pathway

Craig Charney (2009) has succinctly expressed the role of politics in the present age if significant change in any endeavor is to be assumed: “Political will is the ghost in the machine of politics, the motive force that generates political action”. The genocide of one million countrymen, women and children became the groundswell that created the enormous political will to make drastic changes in Rwanda. The nationwide grassroots consultation provided a foundation on which to construct the future. The government has focused on drawing from the past and creating the best possible conditions in the present that ensures future

Rwandans will never again experience genocide. They have vowed to take responsibility for their destiny and they are accomplishing this in a variety of ways

150 on the national level. The country continues to have serious problems; however, in a relatively short period of time they have made tremendous progress in their reconciliation and reconstruction efforts.

6.5 Reconstituting National Identity

(Field Interview File #24)

…the different [ethnic] groups in Rwanda before was the main cause of the genocide. Everybody knows how the genocide was happened and how the genocide has destroyed the whole country and how the genocide was really something which is unbelievable... something that you can't believe how it happened and how the life of the people they destroyed. So, what now I am thinking about the other [ethnic] groups, I don't even take care about what [ethnic] group they are. I don't even have to take time about the [ethnic] group. I want to work until the genocide is not going to be happening again…never again genocide for me and I want to make the relationship with the other people, different people without thinking about the [ethnic] group. Without thinking the existence of the [ethnic] groups are the different groups.

(Field Interview File #62)

The only thing is that the country, the process was to put the people to have their hearts rebuilt for the unity and reconciliation.

(Field Interview File # 52)

…Rwandans are the ones living in Rwanda. We speak the same language and should be proud of our country. [Our original] social way of being, we could not see ethnicity. Instead we lived together as one…Rwandans should think of ourselves as human beings and not depend on ethnicity. Then this will be heritage to future Rwandans and then the heritage we used to have in the past.

As you may recall, during the pre-colonial period the membership of any particular clan might include Hutu, Tutsi and Batwa. These categories were flexible and an individual’s clan identity was determined by descent relationships and the individual’s relationship to the larger clan structure (D. Newbury, 1980).

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These complex social identities were held together for generations by the clan structures and the royal institutions. New concepts of ethnic differentiation were introduced after colonization and these ideas gradually supplanted the

Rwandans clan affiliations.

There is a whole hearted commitment and a passion that many Rwandans on all levels of society have about rebuilding their country in the present day.

They have been entrusted with a vision that was bequeathed to them by their parents and their grandparents. For generations many of them have dreamt of taking responsibility for bringing the country together and recasting their view of themselves from one of being compartmentalized ethnic groups, an identity they firmly believe was imposed upon them by the colonists, to a vision of themselves as all one people; Rwandans.

A positive perspective in the aftermath of chaos is often very difficult to achieve. With an eye toward the future Rwandans are determining to seize the opportunity for positive transformation inherent in adversity. They see the prospects for growth and advancement that are oftentimes, under such circumstances, difficult to see.

A crucial component of rebuilding the entire nation is a belief in the need for Rwandans to re-imagine themselves in an image of their own making. This awareness is pervasive and surfaced in many of the interviews conducted during this research. It is illustrated in an excerpt from an interview with a perpetrator that is recounted below:

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(Field Interview File # 59)

…Rwandans in the past in reality were living as one Rwanda. Sharing together, meeting and marrying each other, living and talking the same language. In fact there was no divisionism. This can be shown by saying that first no problem in general because of so-called ethnicity. This [problem] was known just recently. We wish to have the past back with no ethnicity. Today everyone should be in peace to the country with others

Reconstituting national identity is a basic social structural process that is being employed in the re-conceptualization of the mental map of national identity.

It functions in ways that unite as opposed to divide the people of Rwanda. It draws on the core values of the Rwandan past and focuses on similarities and what had previously united them. It involves the use of the present and the future as focal points that support the formation of a new national identity. The process emphasizes and continually builds upon Rwandans love of country, culture, values, language and traditions while calling constant attention to the importance of developing Rwanda’s most valuable and abundant resource; the unrealized potential inherent in the nation’s human resources. What follows is clarification of each of the elements that emerged as properties of reconstituting national identity (Figure 4).

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Figure 4 Reconstituting National Identity

Although I did not systematically sample all leaders and politicians; those with whom I had dialogues were aligned with this new agenda. There was no mention of any major differences in political views. They only talked about the need to have a united national identity and their positive vision of Rwanda in the future.

6.5.1 Invoking the ancestors — Utilizing the Past

(Field Interview File #64)

…teach a responsibility of everybody about our history; self responsibility in our history; teach our real Rwandan history and the consequence. I will help bring a peaceful system…by making peaceful culture a value. To respect each other and to detect every symbol that shows our past history

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(Field Interview File #62)

The only thing was to put together and rebuild the country so as to have the knowledge about the origin of the kings. Then, from the origin of the king's, it was shown that no one who had that choice of making the king, but still it was to teach everyone to understand what happened.

There were many aspects of pre-colonial Rwandan traditions that disproportionately favored Tutsi while stifling Hutu and Batwa advancement.

Even given the inequities of their historical context, numerous stories were relayed about Rwandans living in peace with one another before the arrival of the

Europeans. Invoking the ancestors is a property of reconstituting national identity that utilizes some concepts and traditions from their ancestral past as aids to establishing a basis of equality, reconciliation and progress for all

Rwandans in the present day (Table 4).

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Table 4 Invoking the Ancestors

Tradition Description Contemporary Version

Gacaca Pre-colonial, community Used after genocide to based dispute resolution deliver judgment upon some Rwandans accused of crimes Itorero ry’lgihugu Practiced used by Civic education w/civic ancestors to teach servant training camps leadership Ingando Retreat for leaders to Solidarity camps for ponder solutions to teachers, students, ex- problems facing the nation combatants, ex-prisoners Umuganda Contributing to the nation Once monthly national day through volunteering to clean and care for the community Ubudehe Working together across Use of the collective in groups and class on farm national poverty reduction activities strategies Imihigo Public display of bravery Results oriented, projected achievements for those in positions of responsibility Amarondo Security patrols Security patrols Umusanzu Support of those who are Support of those who are most in need most in need

Gacaca (g-cha-cha) — approximately 750,000 adults participated on

some level in genocide offenses. It was estimated that the use of

contemporary methods of justice would have taken 100 years to prosecute

such a large number of offenders. Through dialogue, Rwandan officials

decided to return to one of the ancestor’s methods for settling conflict.

Gacaca is the pre-colonial, community based, dispute resolution practice.

Loosely translated it means “justice in the grass”. The system was used

to settle civil disputes within the communities while more serious

infractions were resolved before the Mwami (king) (Tully, 2003). This

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community practice was adapted and employed after the genocide as a

way of managing the volume of citizens charged with crimes (Appendix

19).

In 2001, Organic Law No. 40/2000 established Gacaca jurisdictions

to prosecute offenses committed between October 1, 1990 and December

31, 1994 (Organic Law N° 40/2000 of 26/01/2001 Setting Up "Gacaca

Jurisdictions" and Organizing Prosecutions for Offences Constituting the

Crime of Genocide or Crimes Against Humanity Committed Between

October 1, 1990 and December 31, 1994., January 26, 2001).

Inyangamugayo (n-yn-g-moo-g-y) or respected members of the

various communities were trained, evidence was collected and pilot

Gacaca began in 2002. Gacaca jurisdictions were concluded February

2010. The use of this tradition as a post-genocide system of justice is the

subject of multiple studies (African Rights Organization, 2003; Allison &

Joireman, 2004; Rettig, 2008). A comprehensive analysis of this

community judicial process is beyond the scope of this study.

The following quotes, however, provide anecdotal support of the significance of the Gacaca process:

(Interview File #22)

As we start the Gacaca process, if I was not praying...now no Hutu would not pass near me. Sometime when coming back from the Gacaca court, I feel I’m free now. It can work. God came in my life and helped me. Now I can come and laugh like showing peace.

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(Interview File #26)

They can take someone who did go to school and the other who did not go to school and before the judgment of the Gacaca, they are all the same. And the people who are going to just be there and making this discussion are the same. So they are not fearing those who are high. That’s good for the people to see. Somehow they put these elders leading the Gacaca. They are in between the killers and the survivors and they were chosen by the people.

Itorero ry’Igihugu (e-toe-r-r ree’ -g-hoo-goo) — was used by the

ancestors to teach Rwandans how to be leaders who served the people.

In its present form it is a type of civic education that has been developed

into the National Leadership Academy. The academy conducts civic

training camps that focus on instructing Rwandans about such issues as

good governance, national unity, reconciliation, culture, justice, economic

development and eradicating the ideology of genocide. The training is

meant to “harness the collective energy of the population” as a force for

transforming the country.17 Youth, women, faith groups, local leaders,

primary and secondary teachers are taught history, philosophy, sociology,

theology, law and more. They return to their respective areas and begin

to teach others.

Ingando (n-gn-d) —The word is derived from the Rwandese term

“kugandika” (koo-gn-dee-k) which means to reflect on solving the

problems that confront the nation (Mgbako, 2005). It is a traditional value

that was used by the ancestors. Those who were in leadership positions

would gather together, and retreat to remote areas for extended periods of

17 Information obtained from the official website of the National Unity and Reconciliation Commission: http://www.nurc.rw 158 time. Their objective was to ponder problems (natural disasters, famine, wars, etc.) faced by the nation and the possible solutions to these problems. The current use of those types of problem solving retreats is commonly called solidarity camps. The practice was first restored soon after the genocide by the Minister of Youth, Culture and Sports as a way of constructing a shared experience for Rwandan refugees who were returning home to participate in rebuilding the nation. The National Unity and Reconciliation Commission adapted and further expanded the practice. They used it as a way of engaging the population in the monumental task of healing the nation. It has been implemented nationwide and most are co-facilitated with local communities. It can include anywhere from 200-300 people and can last from three weeks to two months.

o Ingando for teachers — a program for teachers where they learn

about government development programs and the importance of

their role in raising the next generation and its significance for the

future development of Rwanda.

o Ingando for students — after successful completion of secondary

school and prior to entry into a university, students participate in the

solidarity camps. They learn about Rwandan history, politics,

human rights, socioeconomic issues and leadership skills. This is

the most prevalent of all the solidarity training camps.

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o Ingando for ex-soldiers, ex-combatants — all members undergo

two months training in unity and reconciliation, HIV/AIDS prevention

and civic responsibility.

o Ingando for ex-prisoners — before prisoners are released into

society they are required to undergo extensive training in the

solidarity camps as a way of orienting them to living within the

communities after the genocide. Impressions of the solidarity

training are noted by a former inmate below:

(Field Interview File #19)

…I went back home and I made a decision of start working with other Rwandans. Before I got home after the prison, they just took young people when they come from out after the war... when they come and report themselves, they take them somewhere to give them new kind of thoughts... teaching them how to live in a new society, to help them out from the bad thoughts about people.

Umuganda (oo-moo-gn-d) — A tradition in which contributing to the

strength of the nation was supported by all Rwandans. As such, citizens

volunteered to work on public projects. In the present day, on the last

Saturday of every month, the entire nation participates in a day of cleaning

and caring for their communities. Business are closed, public

transportation ceases and people can be seem working together in the

streets. All levels of society are engaged in the activity and it offers

opportunities for people to talk and spend quality time together taking care

of the land they love.18

18 Field Interview File #72 160

Ubudehe (oo-boo-d-h) — Another tradition of working together to solve

problems. This value centered on mutual support in farm activities. It was

an activity where people worked together to ensure all were prepared for

the arrival of the planting season. The tradition included every social

group and was also designed to support and include the poorest of the

poor. The first harvest was a time of celebration. Donations were made

and all Rwandans were able to enjoy the results. The current use of

Ubudehe is meant to restore the use of the collective particularly as it

pertains to the national poverty reduction strategies (Joseph, 2008).

Imihigo (-m-hy-g) — Traditionally, this was a public display of

bravery. Today, it is a vow for results oriented, projected achievements

for those in positions of responsibility. It is a shared declaration of what is

most needed by members of the communities and a pledge to fulfil those

needs. In other words, goal setting, feedback and accountability are the

modern day tests of bravery. Each family unit sets goals. The mudugudu

(local village pronounced moo-doo-goo-doo), comprised of one hundred

families, makes goals as well. The pursuant administrative levels in which

the village is embedded include the cell, sector, district and province which

are all involved in the goal setting activity. These goals are translated into

contracts that are signed by the mayors of all the districts and the

President. Details of performance contracts of all thirty districts in the

country are available online on the website of the Ministry of Local

Government: http://www.minaloc.gov.rw/spip.php?article89.

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Amarondo (-m-rn-d) — Some villages are more secure than others.

Those villages with security issues have revived Amarondo. This is a form

of security patrol that is performed, maintained and paid for by citizens of

the mudugudu.19

Umusanzu (oo-moo-sn-zoo) — the tradition of support for the needy and

contribution to the achievement of a common goal.20

Ideally, all members of the various groups are embraced in all of these traditional activities. The above are examples of a few of the numerous valued traditions that have been retrieved from the Rwandan heritage for use in healing the nation in the present day.

6.5.2 Embodying change — Utilizing the Present

(Field Interview File #1)

The leaders we have now, they teach us how to live together and how to be together. Being together in peace and now people can’t kill each other. Everyone can do his own business without any problem. We have enough security in the country…We just try to be correct because we are together and try to show the rulers we can follow.

(Field Interview File #62)

…I have my own power …what I can only do is to teach the people that I leads...and then go ahead by changing the badness that happened. I can show the origin which means to help change the person. This is done through showing him the bad events that took place in showing the origin of that bad thing…I am to teach and remove of everything that was bad.

19 Field Interview File #72 20 Field Interview File #72 162

(Field Interview File #29)

The Rwandan country, we are the one to build and we have no one to destroy. Someone from abroad could not come and tell me "go and build there." I could not do it because he don't know how I break it. I'm the one who knows how I break my thing and I know how to rebuild my thing. So, people can't come and tell you do this and do that. Good leaders are teachers and they teach the people how to change. Reconciliation will be there just because no choice. There is no other choice. It will come from ourselves. We are the one who broke the country and we are the one to rebuild the country.

As was expressed during the grassroots consultation, inept government concerned with maintaining political power was cited as being the major factor contributing to the genocide. The citizens described the leadership philosophy as being based on self aggrandizement, nepotism and opportunism (NURC,

2000). The government seized every occasion to differentiate Rwandans according to ethnic groups, religions, regions and familial ties. They even fostered divisionism among the young using the school curriculum as a tool to divide (ibid).

Embodying change focuses on the attitudes and behaviors of those in leadership positions in Rwanda. The current leaders with whom I interacted see themselves as the champions of change; the conduit of the ancestors; the custodians of their parents’ and grandparents’ vision for the nation. As such, the vision, in large part, is their reason for living. A considerable number of them are motivated to govern in a way that leaves a positive legacy for their children, their grandchildren and beyond. They have a passion to succeed and they believe in the importance of establishing a new social pattern that embraces respect for the dignity of all Rwandans. These are not talking points for these leaders. This is

163 not good politics nor are these merely viewpoints they express when in front of a camera or at public speaking engagements. These are elements of the accepted wisdom of their ancestors. They are laying the foundation for development, growth and renewal on a social and emotional level, as well as an economic one.

Reconciliation is a life or death issue for these leaders. It is their goal to ensure that the genocide or anything that remotely resembles it never happens again.

And that is how the ancestors would have wanted it.

The concept of embodying change defines how leadership has made transformation an integral part of who they have become as leaders and their understanding of change needing to begin with each of them. They are willing to evaluate themselves and change based on the needs of the Rwandan people.

For example, as stated earlier, Imihigo is a traditional value currently utilized as a goal setting and accountability framework. All levels of society from the family level to the president are involved in the process. This means that all elected officials must set goals and be subjected to performance evaluations; even the

President of the Republic.

The citizens share some of their sentiments about the current government in the quotes that follow:

(Field Interview File #21)

…They call it the government of unity...not the government for Hutu or Tutsi...we are everyone...we are Rwandan in our Rwanda. We didn’t make revenge. If the government was not caring we would make revenge. If we were to just do like they did for us, we would revenge. Because of good leadership, we didn’t.

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(Field Interview File #30)

…The country is really in a good way for development. It could be better if the government could keep going. Keep going straight this way because as you can see…there is no one who believed before that after the genocide…who could believe we going to have a nice house like this or nice things. Our lives were completely destroyed and we didn’t know that it is going to be good again. But now it seems that a life is in a good way and development…to the different level like justice, the economy, social, political… everything is in a good way. But, also of course, we are not yet getting to the end. Of course we are still on the way… but if we could keep going…

Another aspect of the property of embodying change is the leader’s belief in the Rwandan people. They are systematically creating mechanisms that unleash the power of the people to act as their own agents of change. They believe the citizens have the answers to the problems facing the nation. Many of the programs, initiatives, and strategies that are being implemented are powered from the ground up as opposed to progressing from the top down. There are indications that the leaders have learned to take constructive feedback from their citizens, cycle the information through various channels, generate resultant programs and introduce the programs or initiatives back into the communities.

There, at least in the ideal, the constituents utilize them, recommend and make adjustments and the programs are further adapted where needed.

6.5.2.1 Literature Related to Embodying Change

Sandra Bloom (1998) posits that large scale social transformations have citizens that are morally committed and are resolved to helping their communities undergo a significant metamorphosis. Such resolve and “moral maturity” can give birth to the wide-ranging reconstruction of an entire nation. Bloom continues this reasoning by referring to Noam (Noam, 1993 as cited in Bloom, 1998) who

165 states that “moral maturity needs to be judged by the relationships between the complexity of judgments and the capacity to transform judgments into positive adaptations” (p.213). These transformations are dependent on deeply held moral positions that are shared and understood. Bloom continues by following

Colby and Damon’s (Colby and Damon, 1993 as cited in Bloom, 1998) reasoning using the term “moral exemplars” to describe individuals who embody the desired values of “respect, compassion and concern for all life and a willingness to risk one’s self-interest for the sake of these values” (p. 182).

6.5.3 Operationalizing change

(Field Interview File #23)

…because here in this association we have the Hutu…you can’t believe how the Hutu they are coming and they worked with us [Tutsi]. For us when it was founded, it was founded as an association for the [Tutsi] survivors; those who doesn’t have the husband because of the Hutu. But for now we are working with them. We agree and we feel okay when we work with them but not [for the Hutu] to have ideology of the genocide again in the future…

(Field Interview File #64)

…The process is to educate…it is a process through sensitization…training and encouragement to the people…Learn to give them the samples of people who are good. Be the examples of others…to show them the nice history of somebody who wouldn’t go into selfishness…

(Field Interview File #74)

…Unity and reconciliation was thought of before the 1994 genocide. The concept came about in 1993 in the Arusha Accord. Hutu and Tutsi living together…this was the idea. In the Arusha agreement, people who left the country in 1959 were not allowed to reclaim their property. The thought was that reclaiming property would only cause more problems. Then the 1994 genocide

166 happened. Genocide made unity and reconciliation more necessary than before. In 1999 the parliament passed a law of officially establishing the national unity and reconciliation commission. The mission is to create social cohesion between Rwandans. Re-create social cohesion, harmony, unity and remember our historical background.

It has been evident to the leadership that drastic measures were needed in order to achieve the immediate and profound changes necessary for the systemic healing of an entire nation. These changes were necessary from the highest level of government to the level of the hearts and minds of individuals.

Operationalizing change centers on behaviors, policies and initiatives used in the present to support the reconstituting process. They are designed to bring about new behaviors in the present and lay the foundation for desired views and behaviors of future generations. It fosters growth of the individual citizens as well as the collective and instills a sense of pride and ownership in the change process.

The methods employed in operationalizing change are varied. Some methods emerged in associations such as Women Investment Fund (WIF),

Avega-Agahozo and Duhozanye. Associations such as these have provided ways of bringing disparate groups together and creating spaces for survivors to meet and begin dealing with issues of recovery, coexistence and survival. WIF created opportunities for members of the different groups to interact through business partnerships while Avega-Agahozo and Duhozanye began providing opportunities for survivors to meet and share their pain and grief with each other.

Others are well-defined, complex national policies and initiatives that focus on having a well informed and engaged populace. They provide citizens with

167 training in the use of collaborative methods and they involve all groups on every level of society in the change process.

The leadership and civic training of itorero; the national problem solving of

Ingando; the restoration of the pride, strength and stability in the community of umuganda; the collective responsibility for the reduction of poverty of ubudehe; the personal accountability of imihigo; the securing of communities through amarondo; and supporting the most vulnerable through umusanzu are all reflective of a strategy that involves, galvanizes and empowers the masses as they work together toward a sustainable recovery. As all stakeholders come together to engage in the work of change, leadership is making decisions for the collective based on participation of the whole. These national processes discourage the fragmenting views of ethnicity in favor of an emphasis on a culture of shared values, interdependence and a belief in the potential of the citizens.

As an additional way of fomenting operationalizing change, in 2000, the

Rwandan government adopted the National Decentralization Policy. It provided additional opportunities to empower its people to take control of their own destiny

(MINALOC, 2007). The policy states the objectives as being:

“…to ensure political, economic, social managerial/administrative and technical empowerment of local populations to fight poverty by participating in planning and management of their development process”

Strategic objectives of the policy include the following:

i) To enable and reactivate local people to participate in initiating, making, implementing and monitoring decisions and plans that concern them taking into consideration their local needs, priorities, capacities and

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resources by transferring power, authority and resources from central to local government and lower levels.

ii) To strengthen accountability and transparency in Rwanda by making local leaders directly accountable to the communities they serve and by establishing a clear linkage between the taxes people pay and the services that are financed by these taxes.

iii) To enhance the sensitivity and responsiveness of public administration to the local environment by placing the planning, financing, management and control of service provision at the point where services are provided and by enabling local leadership [to] develop organization structures and capacities that take into consideration the local environment and needs.

iv) To develop sustainable economic planning and management capacity at local levels that will serve as the driving motor for planning mobilization and implementation of social, political and economic development to alleviate poverty.

v) To enhance effectiveness and efficiency in the planning, monitoring and delivery of services by reducing the burden from central government officials who are distanced from the point where needs are felt and services delivered.

This strategy is vastly different from the strategies of any previous political leaders. Colonial and post-colonial predecessors utilized a highly centralized form of control which excluded all levels of the population from participating in political or economic decision-making. It is clear from the current objectives that operationalizing change has the full force of the existing political leadership behind it. A more extensive review of this policy and others can be found on the website of the Ministry of Local Government (MINALOC) at www.minaloc.gov.rw.

Another way in which operationalizing change functions is through the institutionalization of the expanded role of women in society. The role of women

169 in politics and decision making had been all but absent since the elimination of the royal status of the queen mother during colonialism (Mutamba & Izabiliza,

2005). The government has gone to considerable lengths to insure there is increased participation of women in the political process. In fact, the Rwandan constitution (crafted in consultation with the citizens) has as one of its cornerstones, a commitment to gender equality.

As of 2008, women held fifty-five percent of the seats in parliament and a third of all cabinet positions were held by women (McCrummen, 2008). This accomplishment is unparalleled in any other country in the world. Understanding the socio-political gravity of these achievements for women becomes even more evident when viewed through the cultural lens of Berthe Mukamusoni, a parliamentarian quoted in an article written by Elizabeth Powley (2004):

In the history of our country and society, women could not go in public with men. Where men were, women were not supposed to talk, to show their needs. Men were to talk and think for them. So with [the women’s councils], it has been a mobilization tool, it has mobilized them, it has educated [women]…It has brought them to some [level of] self confidence, such that when the general elections are approaching, it becomes a topic in the women’s [councils]. ‘Women as citizens, you are supposed to stand, to campaign, give candidates, support other women.’ They have acquired a confidence of leadership.

Youth have also been actively recruited as principal participants in reconciliation and political processes. They too are guaranteed rights and representation in the constitution. They are the future and as such, are being trained as successors to the ideals of reconciliation and sustainable development in Rwanda.

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Article 11 of the Rwanda constitution states that “… discrimination of whatever kind based on, inter alia, ethnic origin, tribe, clan [emphasis added], colour, sex, region, social origin, religion or faith, opinion, economic status, culture, language, social status, physical or mental disability or any other form of discrimination is prohibited and punishable by law (Rwanda, 2003).”

Under these provisions Hutu males and indigenous people are also protected groups. However, Hutu men (of which men and women comprise eighty-four percent of the Rwandan population) and the Batwa (comprising one percent of the population) continually express discontent regarding the lack of opportunities available to them. During the interview process, Hutu men rarely spoke of inequities. During informal settings, however, cautious expressions of dissatisfaction would emerge. The Batwa, on the other hand, were very outspoken about the frustration they experience regarding their chronic mistreatment. Overall, how Hutu men and the Batwa are actively incorporated on the level of operationalizing change was not made evident from this research.

These are a few of the ways in which operationalizing change functions in the present to bring about desired effects in the near and distant future. They are the actions that are hoped will begin to change attitudes, behaviors and beliefs about how Rwandans view themselves and how they view each other.

6.5.4 Sharing the dream — Utilizing the Future

“It is about a commitment to help create conditions which can lead to a significant empowerment of those who at present have little control over the forces that condition their lives.” Quote from Vision 2020 Umurenge:

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An Integrated Local Development Program to Accelerate Poverty Eradication, Rural Growth, and Social Protection)

(Field Interview File #29)

…the wise person don’t see what he leaves behind…he just sees what is in front of him.

(Field Interview File #73)

…they are teaching about Vision 2020 we are seeing Rwanda very far into the future as a developed country and a rich country. We have a project in Rwanda called HIDA is a program that improves the capacity building of Rwandese. Now Rwandans are earning $250 per year. But now the HIDA program is planning to help Rwandans earn $1000 per year for each one...

(Field Interview File #72)

…When we talk about capacity building it is to increase the job opportunities. Just to teach those who don't have studies, and those who have studies they can look for jobs, seeing their projects, doing their projects. And other people who don't have maybe the studies, they can just teach them the work. How to do something how to create jobs, how to create an association so they can just do something to create money. And we are planning and teaching those people and you have different people, we have the street boys we have soldiers who have been demobilized and now they are trying to teach them some works so they can create a job and have them some money. Because we see in Rwanda we don't have any resources. We don't have gold, we don't have oil. We have nothing. We are trying to teach people that we are all Rwandans and we are the resource of Rwanda…

Sharing the dream is a property of reconstituting national identity that involves a process of guiding the collective in coalescing around a shared vision.

An essential aspect of the national aspiration to evolve into a world class knowledge economy is the emphasis on their vision for the future.

During 1998-1999, the Office of the President organized national reflections to determine the kind of nation Rwandan’s desired in the future. As with many of

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the reconstruction processes since the genocide, the consultation was

participative and involved all of the key stakeholders. The process engaged “the

capacity of the human community [in shaping] its future” (Senge, et al., 1999,

p.16). The result was the Republic of Rwanda’s Vision 2020 (KABERUKA 2000).

The vision for the future is base on five pillars and four cross cutting themes.

They are:

Pillars:

1. An effective and capable state underpinned by good governance

2. Human resource development and a knowledge based economy

3. Infrastructure development

4. A private sector-led economy based on a growing class of entrepreneurs

with a competitive and creative culture

5. Productive high-value and market oriented agriculture

Cross cutting themes:

1. Gender equality

2. Protection of the environment

3. Culture, science and technology, including ICT

4. Regional and international integration

A more in depth reading of Rwanda Vision 2020 can be accessed at

http://www.rwandainvest.com/IMG/pdf/Vision-2020.pdf.21

21 For additional information pertaining to the content and strategy involved in ensuring the success of Vision 2020 please visit the following official government websites: www.gov.rw; www.parliament.gov.rw; www.minaloc.gov.rw; www.minecofin.gov.rw; www.statistics.gov.rw and http://www.uneca.org/aisi/nici/country_profiles/rwanda/rwanpap3.htm 173

As can be concluded, Vision2020 is the national blueprint designed to propel the nation forward in unprecedented ways. At the center of these progressive ideas is the constant drumbeat of a shift; a shift from a focus on ethnic identity to one of thinking of advancing together as Rwandans with a common purpose.

Their ambitious plans have not been fail proof. The Hutu continue to complain about disproportionate Tutsi representation within the government and the Batwa are still persistently marginalized. Even so, the path they are attempting to construct has at its foundation a desire to recognize the rights and dignity of each group; to see the other as an extension of the self. For some

Rwandans, it is an ideal worth pursuing. It’s a dream the Tutsi embrace, some

Hutu mistrust and the Batwa would relish if it meant they would be viewed as human.

6.5.4.1 Literature Related to Sharing the Dream

Peter Senge and associates (1999) refer to the value of having a shared vision in the following way: “This collective discipline establishes a focus on mutual purpose. People learn to nourish a sense of commitment in a group or organization by developing shared images of the future they seek to create, and the principles and guiding practices by which they hope to get there” (p.32).

6.6 Literature Related to Reconstituting National Identity: Summary Concept

There is a field of psychology that focuses on the recovery of individuals or groups who have experienced extreme emotional trauma. Some people who have been through these experiences are able to use these “seismic events”

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(Calhoun 1996, as cited in Tedeschi, Park & Calhoun, 1998) as a springboard for development and enhanced growth. The phenomenon is termed posttraumatic growth (R. G. P. Tedeschi, Crystal L., & Calhoun, Lawrence G. , 1998).

The authors view posttraumatic growth (PTG) as a process and an outcome. It emerges from a cognitive process as an alternative method for coping with severe traumatic events. Traumas shake the foundation of the individual’s or the group’s basic assumptions about their current and future existence. The trauma is accompanied by a sense of loss and leaves those affected laden with uncertainty and anxiety that are difficult to manage. In some, these feelings can spur a desire to create an existence that is better than what was previously known. They seek out ways of creating new psychological constructs that expand the possibilities for dealing more positively with adversity.

They connect with a community of friends and neighbors who support the continued emergence of new found strengths and possibilities. Such efforts to elevate one’s life condition in the aftermath of trauma can generate a renewed sense of appreciation for life (ibid).

Holocaust survivor, Viktor Frankl (1959) asserts that a human beings greatest quest is to make meaning of even the most senseless acts of violence.

His poignant remarks serve to illustrate this perspective even further: “…Thus we see that life’s meaning includes even the meaning of suffering and of death. We have not only the potentiality of giving meaning to our lives by creative acts and by the experience of love; we have not only the possibility of making life

175 meaningful by creating and loving, but also by suffering: by the way and manner in which we face our fate, in which we take our suffering upon ourselves” (p.105).

Nations as well have increasingly realized the significance of accepting the challenge of the struggle to make meaning of suffering or risk reenacting the traumatic event. Throughout history humankind has continually sought ways to utilize adversity to bring about positive change. Large groups, in particular, have struggled to understand how to tap the transformative power inherent in traumatic experience (Sandra L. Bloom, 1998). Bloom draws upon Gamboa-

Eastman’s (1993) work when she juxtaposes individual with group adaption to trauma: “unmatabolized, untransfomed trauma interferes with healthy adaptation at an individual level. The individual adapts to a hostile environment and them proceeds to recreate a similar environment in order to make the best use of the adaptations. If groups-communities and even nations-respond in a similar way then we are dealing with a dangerous and volatile situation” (p. 208).

Tina Rosenberg (1995) asserts in her studies of traumatized European countries that “Nations, like individuals, need to face up to and understand traumatic past events before they can put them aside and move on to normal life”

(p.xviii).

Transformation of the “superordinate identity” is the linchpin of the

Rwandan reconciliation strategy. Identity transformation as a component in resolving conflict is relatively new to the field of conflict resolution (Ho-Won

Jeong, 1999). Jeong and Väyrynen propose that our identities are structured to some degree by the relationships we maintain in our social settings. As such,

176 the identity “floats” according to context. In a conflict-prone situation, the creation of alternative possibilities pertaining to how one defines the self is essential to conflict transformation. New thinking and new behaviors are required to replace old frames that have become too narrow to compete with the pace of rapid global change. From this perspective, the meaning of ethnicity is subject to change through social interaction (e.g. through the ages the three groups in Rwanda intermarried, co-created and shared religion, history and language; they lived together and all clans included members of every group). These interactions reflect changes in both the physical and socio-cultural experience.

Jeong (2010, p.74) also refers to a process he calls de-categorization and re-categorization of bridging in-group and out-group identity differences. De- categorization involves redefining the other in ways that allow one to highlight similarities and differences on the individual level. This permits one to shift from seeing the other through a lens that is only aware of the “distinctive group properties”. The person can come to know the “other” as an individual with the possibility of developing a more congenial relationship. Re-categorization is the shift in thinking of groups as being greater than or less than the other; to a

“higher level of inclusiveness without diminishing or abolishing existing social categories”. The subgroups can be subsumed within the “context of a superordinate identity”.

Although the Rwandans have not subscribed to the full concept of re- categorization (they are attempting to eradicate the notion of Hutu, Tutsi and

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Batwa ethnic identities), they have endeavored to craft a new national narrative with the use of a “superordinate identity”.

Community Pathway

To this point we have discussed the creative coping strategies assumed by some individuals as a way of dealing with the after effects of the genocide.

We have also examined some approaches applied by leadership in creating a new way of thinking about Rwandan’s relationships to each other. We will now focus our attention on what has emerged on the community level of society. In other words, what is actually happening between Rwandans as they are faced with the reality of living together in their community and village settings?

6.7 Improvising Civility

(Field Interview File #76)

…Survivors feel unity and reconciliation is just a slogan. They feel they don’t need to understand unity and reconciliation. It doesn’t mean the trust between the Tutsi and Hutu has been restored because it hasn’t. It’s not possible to restore it. For me, [learning to live together] means accepting the other and respecting the law; not seeking revenge; teaching in the same schools, eating in the same restaurants, attending some of the same functions…this is our reconciliation, integration, coexistence and so on.

(Field Interview File #16)

…others who were killed…and they just try to make me use to others. We became again friends and being together. You can find that I don’t have problems of being with others and being in relationships with those whose family we have killed.

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(Field Interview File #26)

You have to stay with a Hutu who killed Tutsi. I just felt like, it comes because we have to. We don't have anything to do apart from being together. We didn't have any choice. Because we were created to live with people and when you survive and you feel you are alone, you don't have any choice. You don't have anyone else and you have to stay with people. Then you can stay and live with these people although they have killed your people.

Improvising civility can be viewed as an important building block of reconciliation soon after the end of the carnage. Individuals began to self organize in groups around the immediate needs of those within the groups.

Associations such as Avega-Agahozo, Duhozanye and Ibuka for example, spontaneously emerged without prompts from the government or the support of

NGO’s, in response to those very needs.

It was soon discovered that the category of survivor needed to be expanded to include family members of the perpetrators. They were found to be suffering and in need of having support as well. Interacting in these groups allowed survivors to find comfort in one another and coalesce around shared needs and their shared pain. The groups also provided a place to begin feeling comfortable, safe and cared for. A semblance of a normal life began to return.

As the fog lifted and the severity of the atrocity settled in, Rwandans were searching for additional ways in which they could begin existing together again.

According to the respondents, living harmoniously within one’s village group was one of the most important features of life before the genocide. The quotes referenced above provide a snapshot of how complex the living situation facing all Rwandans had become. Lacking a blueprint for how to resume normal living,

179 they began crafting a way forward for themselves and developing multiple ways to deal with the stresses of the experience.

Extreme poverty forced villagers to depend on each other. They were aware of needing their (Hutu or Tutsi) neighbor’s tacit knowledge, wisdom and support in accomplishing almost all goals. For example, they lived without electricity or running water. Most daily tasks needed to be accomplished during daylight hours. When the sun set, everyone was forced to exist in darkness or by candlelight.

Water for bathing, cooking, cleaning, washing clothes, etc. had to be obtained from a public source. It was not uncommon for the water source to be a substantial distance from one’s home. Acquiring sufficient amounts of water for daily use was often the first chore of the day. Numerous survivors had to depend on their stronger neighbors to accomplish that goal.

Specific skills were needed to rebuild homes and cultivate and irrigate farm land. Villagers who possessed such skills were valued by those who needed them. Many of the sick and disabled in the community were left without family members to care for them. In many instances, their neighbors emerged as primary caregivers. There were also increased numbers of child headed households since the genocide. Children were left to raise brothers, sisters, cousins and even their neighbor’s children. Those households have relied heavily on the community to keep them afloat.

In many respects, the Women Investment Fund (WIF) was one of several facilitators of improvising civility on the community path. Participants of the

180 program were exceedingly poor with no hope for improvement. Before becoming members of WIF, members found it very difficult to have dialogue or to interact with members of the other groups for any reason. As a result of their business ventures they were able to meet and begin talking about their lives and their work. Through these dialogues they reawakened awareness that though they were different, they were very much the same. They began learning how to live with what happened and moved forward in a way that held hope for a better life.

Much of what they have learned has been discovered through interactions in a given moment. These interactions are an important key since when all is said and done, the reality of reconciliation will unfold in the day to day lives of Rwandans who live in the villages. Such reliance on each other also includes the need and the opportunity to have an abundance of dialogue. Over time, dialogue functioned as the catalyst in support of the properties of improvising civility. The three aspects that were most prominent in this category are encouraging oneness, reaching deep and engaged healing (Figure 5).

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Figure 5 Improvising Civility

6.7.1 Encouraging oneness

(Field Interview File #12)

…we find in solidarity groups one is committed to another...to encourage oneness...to be together...to feel somebody’s very important to another. Through that gathering, we just talk...we talk, we realize that there is nothing to separate us…

(Field Interview File #66)

…There are many values to exploit in our culture…to share the problem, to have a commitment for our country, to have patriotism...many things in our culture. Kunyuwana neza... those even who have tried to the courts have promised that they would not betray each other.

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(Field Interview File #29)

…Just to see them…when they come to us, we greet them…we sit with them. We just tell them forgive us for what we did. And then it's like they cover the page and we start being together again…talking, going to the burial ceremony together and being as family together. And somehow that's makes us feel like these people are so strong. How can they welcome us when we've killed their people?

Restoring social networks is likely to be unimaginably difficult for those who are emerging from genocide or other forms of mass murder. However, perceiving the “other” as having intrinsic value and as an extension of the self is a concept that is quite familiar to Rwandans.

Rwanda is one of the poorest countries in Africa. Over sixty percent of the population lives in poverty and forty two percent live in extreme poverty.22 It was these conditions that were identified as being one of the major contributing factors leading to the genocide. They had no money for food, clothing or education for their children and little hope for a brighter future. They were easily manipulated by a corrupt regime and enticed by the prospect of acquiring their neighbor’s resources; even if it entailed ending the neighbor’s life.

Ironically, it has been the reality of living for centuries in conditions of poverty that has served to amplify an awareness of their social interdependence.

And it is the same poverty that bonds them as they strive to salvage their communal existence.

Kunywana is a concept that means to share the blood of another in the national language of Rwanda. The term is imbued with a value that has been central to the Rwandan ethos for generations. It refers to an attitude of being

22 http://www.undp.org.rw/Poverty_Reduction.html 183 willing to help each other; to work together and cooperate; and assist one another whenever it is necessary.23

Rwandan ancestors used to literally drink the blood of selected others.

This was a practice generally between the two social classes of Tutsi and Hutu.

It was an official contract and a way of becoming blood relatives. From the moment the blood was shared between principals, the participants and their families became committed to each other. They were obligated to help each other. They were wary of the same enemies and shared the same friends.

Whatever happened to one individual impacted all others of the “blood family”.

They perceived themselves as having different bodies but in essence and in spirit they were the same. This practice was also a form of conflict prevention. The possibilities of conflict could be minimized and even eliminated when individuals or groups agreed to the sharing of blood.24

Kunywana was also practiced between the rich and the poor. The poor were seeking protection while the rich were seeking obedience from the poor. It was a mutually agreed upon relationship of dominance and subservience.

Encouraging oneness is the in vivo code that emerged as the contemporary version of kunywana. Although the act of drinking blood is no longer practiced, the fundamental spirit behind the act is still encouraged. Today, official contracts are used in lieu of drinking blood. Although contracts lack the symbolic power of physically sharing blood, parties enter into agreements with the same sense of commitment aroused by the familial act.

23 Interview File #63, April 1, 2008 24 Interview File #75, March 22, 2008 & Interview File #76, March 29, 2008 184

Central to encouraging oneness is dialogue. As perpetrators were being released from prison, reentering fragile communities and living next door to the families whose members they killed, dialogue has proven to be critical. Survivors had no choice apart from living with the killers. Although interacting was at first unbearable, their interdependence which was mandated by their poverty, facilitated the process. They worked together rebuilding homes, fetching water, cultivating the land, traveling to the market to sell their crops and assisting

Rwandans who no longer had families to rely upon. They would often end their days sharing urwagwa (banana beer) and engaging in dialogue.

These as well as many other activities presented opportunities for finding ways to shift perspectives and begin to experience their own as well as the

“others” humanity.

6.7.1.1 Literature Related to Encouraging Oneness

Jodi Halpern and Harvey Weinstein (2004) suggest that in the aftermath of intra-ethnic strife, restoration of social networks is the lifeblood of sustainable reconciliation. They propose that those involved in such conflicts should resume social and communal activities that emphasize the participant’s interdependence.

Those activities are crucial first steps in the reinstatement of relationships centered on trust. They further suggest that in order to experience true reconciliation a shift in perception needs to occur, the parties involved need to shift their views from one of dehumanization of the “other” to seeing a person with unique qualities and personality. This change in view necessitates a realization of the former adversary’s humanness, potential and spirit.

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To illustrate this process, Halpern and Weinstein refer to a paper authored by Dr. Pumla Gobodo-Madikizela, Associate Professor of Psychology at the

University of Cape Town in South Africa. Dr. Gobodo-Madikizela draws on the opportunities for healing presented through the Truth and Reconciliation

Commission of South Africa. She recounts a meeting between one of the principle architects of apartheid killings and two women whose husbands he murdered. The perpetrator sought forgiveness and the ensuing response was empathy on the part of the widows and the perpetrator. Halpern and Weinstein maintain that this type of “empathic engagement converts the stereotype, and the fear becomes subsumed by humanness; the devil becomes a human being who committed evil acts” (p.572). Gobodo-Madikizela described the perpetrator as perceiving and being moved by the women’s pain. That perception allowed him to recognize the women as human beings (ibid).

To this point, Neilsen (1984) describes a practice that is a building block of what he terms collegial relationships — “relationships that exhibit a spirit of equality and holism; equality in the sense that neither party is seen as basically more worthy than the other, holism in the sense that each party treats the other as a multifaceted human being as opposed to the enacter of a particular role”

(p.244). Although Neilsen’s observations are based on his experience of fostering collegial relationships in an organizational setting, these qualities are important aspects involved in establishing or repairing relationships damaged during civil strife. Such characteristics “discourage self-oriented behavior at the expense of the other and encourage looking outward together at whatever is of

186 concern to either party. This, in turn, lets shared concerns surface and sets the stage for mutual help in problem solving” (ibid).

Leonard Grob (2004) writes of the importance of dialogue as it pertains to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict being waged in the shadows of the holocaust. He states that groups engaged in conflict must transcend the narratives upheld for generations by each group. The warring factions have stories that claim ascension as “authorities” while demoting out group members to the status of

“other”. As a solution to this stalemate, Grob suggests the narratives be “broken” and “…each party to a conflict accepts its wounded state; each shows its wounds to the other in the dialogical endeavor to heal them. In jointly confronting the brokenness of both narratives, conflicting parties escape the seeming inevitability of violent action and reaction; they create a ‘third way’ or ‘creative middle’: the authentic ‘whole’ of dialogue” (p.201).

Although encouraging oneness plays an important role in the reconciliation process, communal health has by no means been totally restored.

Hatred, dehumanization and the ideology of genocide continues to exist.

Encouraging oneness articulates an aspect of a complex existence in the recovering Rwandan communities.

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6.7.2 Reaching deep

(Field Interview File #19)

…I felt sorry for myself for what I did. I choose to repent and to beg for forgiveness. And I said that the things were as using me at that time... it will not come again in me. The benefit in me after doing this, after repenting, I felt like I had before a burden and it’s like the burden was over. That’s why I’m very happy to be with people. When I see them, I feel like we have the same. I don’t fear again. All the problems, we can work properly together. The perfect and it is that peace heart is a full heart. I have peace I don’t fear again…

(Field Interview File #25)

…To accept such situation, it’s a kind of being brave. I can’t say how it comes. It’s something under my belief or how I can take…

(Field Interview File #65) …I’ve forgiven every killer on behalf of myself and on behalf of my God. It depends on one’s faith. Faith is individual…if you hate somebody, you become his prisoner. If I hate, my heart is in the prison. For being free, you have to eradicate that hatred…

Many Rwandans believe the killers should remain in jail. Although the prisons cannot accommodate the volume of perpetrators, some victims believe they do not deserve to be living within the communities of the people whose family members they’ve killed. They are convinced that “forgiveness” makes things too easy for the perpetrators. They fear such an act will cause the genocide to lose its significance and its power. Others feel forgiveness is the key.

The idea of forgiveness has played a pivotal role in the reconciliation process. It is a concept that finds its origins in their Christian beliefs. I heard numerous bible quotes from various research respondents during the interview process. The following pertaining to forgiveness were but a few that were

188 referenced: “For if you forgive others for their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you (Matthew 6:14 English Standard Version); “And be kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.” (Ephesians 4:32); “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they are doing” (Luke 23:34). Even though many Rwandans are burdened with incredible pain, they believe, upon death, they will be assured entry into heaven if they forgive their neighbors.

All who live know pain, sorrow and suffering. We also know what it means to forgive someone who may have caused us to feel these things. Most of us have no frame of reference nor will we ever have an understanding of what it takes to overcome the depth of pain the Rwandans have endured. It’s impossible to fathom how, under similar circumstances, we could find it in our hearts to integrate dozens of perpetrators into our lives, our families and our communities. Although the research participants refer to this act as

“forgiveness”, I am inclined to believe it is something more. To call it

“forgiveness” is to assume we understand what the Rwandans have experienced. What they have experienced is simply beyond our grasp. For this reason I chose to term this property reaching deep.

Reaching deep is an important aspect of the reconciliation process among people on the community level. They are the expressions and actions being undertaken by both perpetrators and survivors in support of their desire to coexist in a peaceful way. Specific attitudes and behaviors are exhibited by both groups when they are faced with transitioning a perpetrator into the community setting.

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Reaching deep can be likened to a type of protocol the survivors have determined will help make the transition more tolerable.

The data revealed two aspects of this property. The first pertains to accepting the perpetrators back into the community and the acceptance by the residents who allow them to reenter the group. Their acceptance is conditional.

They must acknowledge full responsibility for their behavior during the genocide.

Survivors are outraged by any attempts to assuage personal accountability. They are also deeply offended by any efforts by perpetrators to redirect responsibility to the Belgians and their colonial intrusion. They reject perpetrators efforts to blame the corrupt government officials in power during the thirty-two years following Rwandan independence. Survivors in the community expect expressions of regret, remorse and repentance by the perpetrators.

These acts are considered indispensable first steps toward healing the deep wounds afflicting both perpetrators and survivors in the wake of the massive executions. Those who accept these prerequisites are accepted into the community and allowed to integrate into the healing that is taking place within these settings.

This process was explained to me by a respondent25 as being likened to having a severe and debilitating illness. Such an illness leaves one feeling so terrible that the individual instinctively knows they must take drastic actions to eradicate the sickness or risk certain death. In the case of the Rwandan people, the sickness was the seeds of divisionism sown by the colonists for over forty years and the cultivation of an ideology of hatred employed by the Hutu-led post

25 Interview File #24 190 colonial government for over thirty years. The interviewee firmly stressed what she believed to be one of the cures for what ails Rwandan society. It is the perpetrator’s ability and willingness to see the true nature of what they did. To experience and express remorse and the survivor’s willingness to accept it is, she declares, “what we have to do unless the genocide will be happen again.”

Many of the perpetrators who return to their communities are not willing to take these steps. They deny any guilt even though their crimes may have been committed in broad daylight and in full view of those who seek their apology.

Then there are those who admit wrong doing only because they were encouraged or enticed to do so. They admit to being told what to say and how to behave upon their return to the villages. The difficulty some survivors have with this approach is the perpetrators lack of sincerity and their disregard for the survivor’s loss. Such a stance places stress on the entire community including those perpetrators who are genuinely repentant.

Survivors also have a pivotal role to play in the process of reaching deep.

In thinking about all they have experienced, it would be easy to conceive of some survivors experiencing psychotic breaks and single-mindedly seeking revenge.

Rampant and frequent acts of violence could easily spiral into retaliatory murder rampages with the role of the victims being reversed. Although this has been known to happen, generally speaking, many survivors are seeking a different path. Many simply do not trust nor do they have a desire to believe in their neighbors ever again.

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This leads us to the other aspect of the property of reaching deep. It pertains to the act of accepting the perpetrators back into the community. Many victims are able to show considerable restraint. They have exhibited wisdom, strength and support for each other (including perpetrators) in their villages while attempting to excise the wedge of hatred and heal the nation from the perspective of the community level. They are motivated by the hope of creating a situation that leaves a better nation for their children; the dream of a Rwanda that surpasses the one that was destroyed. They believe they can accomplish this by not living in the past and remaining focused on creating a better Rwanda in the present.

6.7.2.1 Literature Related to Reaching Deep

Bright, Fry & Cooperrider (2006) identified three response modes to negative offense experiences. A begrudgement response is a state in which the individual is chronically negative. She/he seeks revenge against the perceived offender and is often angry, frustrated and resentful. At times, the offended individual can find no utility in the concept of forgiveness. A pragmatic response to a negative offense involves managing and minimizing negative responses to offensive experiences. A transcendent response entails being proactively engaged in ways that intend to “create substantive change” and to “improve their social environment”. Individuals who intentionally adopt this perspective are interested in learning from the offense and influencing others to learn from it as well.

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Ervin Staub (2003) notes that perpetrators of genocide are usually members of the military or are aligned with them in some way. They are structured, obedient as well as loyal in their perception of the “other” as being less than human. Even after the genocide, they may even continue adhering to the ideology that motivated them to devalue members of the group they chose to kill.

Staub touches on what has been seen to be a common perpetrator response to atrocities they have committed. He stresses the fact that perpetrators are traumatized as well as the victims and they often wall themselves off from feelings of guilt, shame and remorse. Leigh Payne (2004) contends perpetrators have to take responsibility for the acts of violence they committed and apologize for them. Such an admission, she asserts, lays the foundation for truth about the past and holds those responsible for the crimes accountable. It supports reconciliation on the level of the individual and the society. In this regard, a perpetrator’s admission to his/her participation in the genocide is their role in rebuilding society.

6.7.3 Engaged healing

(Field Interview File #66)

…to help them, our focus is survivors…very, very vulnerable. And when we want to help them... and a collaboration of survivors, to assist survivors and we make sure that those survivors have special needs. We go together and we program the visit in the field and we help them. If they have needs...we try the best to see that the needs are met.

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(Field Interview File #27)

…They can call us for workshops when we feel alone. They just call us, find others and we are in a group and feel comfortable in a group. We can give our ideas, our thoughts and our problems of everyday…

A popular saying that is attributed to a centuries old Nigerian proverb has gained recognition in American lore. It states “it takes a community/village to raise a child.” The data from this study suggests it might also be said “it takes a community/village to heal the wounds of an individual after genocide.” Many people had difficulty finding the will to continue living after the civil war. They were in a daze of depression in which routine, daily activities were impossible to accomplish. Many had severe physical injuries (severed limbs, gaping wounds, etc.) and others were engulfed in and incapacitated by devastating psychological distress. There were limited resources for dealing with the physical needs of survivors after the genocide. Resources that addressed the psychological well- being of the people were even rarer. In fact, in 2006, there was only one trained psychiatrist in the entire country. Under these very difficult circumstances, foreign entities (NGO’s, governments, philanthropists, etc.) converged on the nation to offer support, assistance and guidance where possible. Those efforts doubtless have been instrumental in the recovery and healing processes taking place in Rwanda.

Engaged healing as it relates to improvising civility, pertains to Rwandans’ relationships with each other; specifically the ways in which they support and are engaged in the healing process along with their neighbors. They have developed ways of taking care of some of the needs surrounding their emotional well-being

194 through engaged healing. The data revealed several expressions of this property.

Associations as healers:

Many associations that arose after the genocide had a profound impact on the individual’s life and by extension an effect on community life. As mentioned previously, associations such as Women Investment Fund, Avega-Agahozo,

Duhozanye, Ibuka, Coporwa as well as hundreds of others arose to meet the economic and sustenance needs of the people. They also evolved as being central in meeting some of the complex psychological needs of many of their members.

They helped survivors return to their homes and brought Rwandans together around the common goal of survival. They provided a forum where individuals could talk about their sorrow and share their grief. The following quotes summarize the expanded role these associations played in the mental health of the citizens:

(Field Interview File #29)

…At the beginning I could not go to other people to make the group and ask something and talk to others. I felt like I was alone and could not have people to talk to and explain everything. I find people come after that, just come [to the association] and sit together, try to talk together and it becomes like I start feeling that life could become again normal…

(Field Interview File #25)

…The most big thing we did [in the association] in which helped us was to talk about what happened to us. We were just talking and talking, crying. We can speak and speak and speak and those who were far could come and join us just because of the feeling of need of talking. At that time a big part of it was just crying and talking about what happened to us.

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At the onset and without mental health training, these groups became intimately involved in supporting the healing process of individuals and their communities. They coached individuals and formed and coordinated community support groups. They eventually expanded the benefits of their services to include a wider range of the population. Over time, perpetrators and their families, the disabled, HIV- positive individuals and many others have been offered healing support by the various associations.

Community healing:

Soon after the genocide, individuals in the communities also took it upon themselves to begin checking on survivors. They would visit neighbors, talk with them, share their sorrows and encourage them in the process. The following quote aptly illustrates what, soon after the war, became a common community practice:

(Field Interview File #29)

…People would come many times...my neighbors...they try to teach me to want to live. They could move me from my bed to down near my bed and then the second day they took me from behind my bed and out in the living room. They would come and take me outside of the house and help me to get wash because I could not even bathe. They start to help me…

Spontaneous healing (adapted from my personal journal):

On one occasion during a field trip in 2006, I visited Nyarubuye Roman

Catholic Church in Kibungo Province which was 60 miles east of the Rwandan capital city of Kigali. The church was the site of the mass murder of thousands of

Tutsi and moderate Hutu and has since been converted into a memorial site.

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Two female companions and I approached what appeared to be a deserted church and were greeted by a lone woman. She was sitting at a table at the entrance of the church. As we approached, the woman stood, addressed us politely (in Kinyarwanda) and asked that we sign the guest book. She was solemn and her energy and the energy surrounding the church were very somber. I soon discovered that it was the woman’s job to safeguard the memorial. She was, in essence, the keeper of the bones; the guardian of the massive gravesite of her family and friends.

She invited us to enter as she led the way. To the left of us was a room approximately eight feet by eleven feet in size. The room was entirely filled with clothing. The garments were blood stained and piled from the floor to the ceiling.

They were the clothing worn by the thousands who were massacred at

Nyarubuye Roman Catholic Church.

As we entered the area of worship, we could see the walls had been riddled with bullet holes. The white linen cloth that covered the pulpit was completely stained with old dried blood. In fact, large quantities of dried blood were splattered all around the congregational seating area.

Our guide then led us to some stairs that accessed a lower level of the church. The female guide descended first, one of my companions followed and then I too made my way down the stairs. The second companion was hesitant to join us on the lower level and began her descent very slowly.

I was aghast at what I saw. It was a table that stretched nearly the entire length of the basement. It was filled with skulls, tibias, fibulas, and other skeletal

197 parts that had been neatly arranged. The guide, the first companion and I stood staring at the remains in complete silence. Suddenly, the silence was broken by a loud, high pitched and elongated squeal. We turned to see the second companion slumped on the stairs and howling in agony. It was an expression of immeasurable pain, the likes of which I had never heard before. The guide and the first companion immediately rushed to the place where the woman was slumped. They instantly embraced and huddled together in a small circle. The first companion began praying and crying melodically in Kinyarwanda. As I stood watching, I could feel comfort and caring fill the basement room. Language was not a barrier and understanding the words being spoken was of little importance.

The energy, the spirit and the intent were quite clear. I quietly moved toward them to join in their consoling embrace. We cried, we soothed, we comforted, we supported and we were together. After several minutes the experience felt complete and we ended our embrace. Although we were still in the basement among the mounds of skeletal remains, the energy in the room had shifted to one that was peaceful and calm. We wiped away the tears and continued through to other sections of the church to view other remains.

Having gone through the experience of genocide and emerge a survivor is an experience the people in Rwanda share. At that instance, they were able to unite together in solidarity around their shared experience and their shared pain.

Although I felt my own pain and sympathy as I joined with them, the Rwandan women were clearly together in an emotional place that I could only experience vicariously.

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6.8 Impediments to Finding Pathways Out

The bulk of this chapter has dealt primarily with the ways in which

Rwandans have been able to use the ravages of colonialism and civil war to construct a new self image and a national vision that attempts to move the country in a more positive direction. I rarely encountered alternative political positions or contrasting viewpoints. In fact, the Rwandans interviewed had extraordinarily homogeneous views. Their goals, however, continue to be fraught with obstacles; obstacles, some of which, occur as a result of doing things and thinking in ways that are habitual for them. For example, disparaging the Batwa and ostracizing them was a viewpoint and behavior that had been passed down through generations. Maintaining such a demeaning view was easier to hold onto because the views were so familiar. They simply had no other frame of reference from which to perceive the Batwa.

Data on the individual, national and community levels all revealed indications of behaviors that functioned to detract from the restorative properties of the social processes encompassed in finding pathways out. These were activities, behaviors and initiatives that advertently and inadvertently acted to impede progress or otherwise threaten the cohesiveness of the fragile social fabric. What follows are some of the concerns expressed in the data that are perceived as standing in the way of the national recovery:

6.8.1 Residual suspicion and violence

The terms genocide ideology and divisionism are often used interchangeably. They are broad terms that generally refer to an attitude of those

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who seek a return to the status quo. What genocide ideology and divisionism

mean in specific terms is often left to interpretation. Granted, elements remain in

society that continue to threaten survivors and minimize the genocide. Some

reject the shift away from viewing themselves as three distinct ethnic groups to

seeing inhabitants of the country as Rwandans who belong to one nation.

There is an effort on the part of the government to thwart such behavior by

employing drastic means. The leaders have been hyper-vigilant in their efforts to

stifle violence and opposition and have created a law that makes it a crime to

manifest behaviors or attitudes indicative of a genocide ideology. Human Rights

Watch declares that the law “…only aggravates the already-existing imprecision

and confusion surrounding the term [genocide ideology]…”26

6.8.2 Corruption

(Field Interview File #60)

…In order to build trust there is a need to have justice. The government had put on a policy to follow for the Gacaca policy. The guilty would be accused both to the court and in his heart. Through the process of trials there is corruption which is commonly mutual. They [accused] gather money and they have to put the money to those who are in Gacaca. And they [accused] no longer have the crime to pay…

Corruption was mentioned as being a deterrent to reconciliation. Although

Rwanda is doing extremely well in women’s rights, economic growth and

increased educational opportunities in comparison to other African countries,

corruption still manages to seep into the various levels of government. It

surfaces in fraudulent procurement practices, unauthorized spending and misuse

26 Human Rights Watch: Law and Reality, June 24, 2008, http://www.hrw.org/en/node/62097/section/8 200

of public funds.27

The participants of this study referred more specifically to corruption as it

had manifested in the local sphere. For instance, they talked about the Gacaca

court judges being susceptible to bribes. The judges could be paid to offer lesser

verdicts to those accused of crimes of genocide. One respondent spoke of the

disparity and corruption in medical care stating that a Rwandan who had

resources could receive expedited, quality care because they could offer health

care attendants immediate rewards. Those with meager or no resources were

not as highly regarded and could be seen receiving a different quality of patient

care.

6.8.3 Continued marginalization of the Batwa

(Field Interview File #69)

…If we could even have our children going to school we would feel better than if we are not living all that good because we don't see how the future will be when we have the children who are illiterate. So we are asking just have the rights like the others and to have access to education and this access to education... there is a program in Rwanda for all children but you find some of the schools are not responding. Where all children are requested to go to school without paying school fees... those who are still young and at the primary level but there are those schools that do not respond to us. We want to have that right of education…

Any mention of the importance of the Batwa in the historical narrative or in

the new narrative is missing. The Batwa continually expressed a desire to be

actively involved in the social mechanisms currently in place on the national and

community levels of society. Specifically, they long to have their ideas valued, to

27 Information obtained from Transparency International: The Global Coalition Against Corruption official website: www.tranparency.org 201 be included in discussions and consulted about issues that directly impact their lives.

6.8.4 Self serving mentality

(Field Interview File #68)

[individual who sees her/himself economically more disadvantaged than the poor]…I had to also consider the upper groups... that's the richer and the poor. The rich wants to make the poor stay poorer...to be a mat or a bridge for them to be richer…

It was thought by some respondents that a number of Rwandans are only concerned with their personal advancement. Those who have power, wealth and resources see those without these assets as a means to further their own cause. They felt that many of the wealthier Rwandans were only concerned with accumulating more power and more wealth. Such self centered approaches to advancement were seen as antithetical to the construction of a culture of equality in the nation.

6.8.5 “Small gods”

(Field Interview File #71)

…and then they [the local leader] asked us to dig and make a flat space where they can come and build for us. Then we responded saying, no we don't have all that power to dig the mountain [that has rugged terrain and minimal flat surfaces]. The leader responded to us saying, "if you won't do that then we won't come back to help you." So it was like small god. It depends on the place and the philosophy of the leaders who are there by that time…

Chapter three provided a political snapshot of precolonial Rwanda during the time of the Nyiginya Dynasty. Maquet’s (1961) construal of the Rwandan value consensus was thought to imply a basic belief that Rwandans by birth were

202 unequal. It was a culturally agreed upon distinction that positioned select Tutsi at the pinnacle of a hierarchy. The majority of the Tutsi, Hutu and Batwa were relegated to roles of subservience.

That principle of inequity has been embedded in the social consciousness of the people and variations of that theme are recreated in some basic human interactions that take place as the nation struggles to emerge from the ravages of genocide.

“Small god” was a term used to describe individuals who had power over others. The data revealed that often those with perceived power would use it to deny, limit or frustrate and inconvenience those with a perceived lack of power.

I had personal experiences with this theme as well. On more than one occasion and at different sites I was made to wait for extended periods or return several times for documents that were later found to be available or immediately accessible. I also heard many accounts of citizens being hindered by “small gods.” It appears in relationships between the educated and uneducated; rich and poor; those with authority and those with a lack of authority; those with perceived power and lack of perceived power.

6.9 Conclusion

As with any grounded theory research, integration with the literature is a work in progress. It depends of the work of a community of scholars the author chooses to join. As noted in the sections above, there were areas where related literature was used because those were the areas with which I was familiar.

There are other areas which were not as well known to me. The dissertation is

203 incomplete in the sense that it doesn’t connect the entire emergent grounded theory to all possible related literature.

A grounded theory of finding pathways out illustrates how some Rwandans are using their history and the experience of the genocide to recreate a present and future existence that is much more meaningful for them. Their leaders have inherited the responsibility for uniting the nation. They are guiding the country in a social transformation that they hope has positive implications for future generations.

The potential for a new positive narrative for the country has always been in their collective memory. No matter how bad colonialism was or how bad the genocide was, those experiences failed to eradicate the memories that were the nourishment for the creation of a more positive narrative. They were able to reclaim aspects of their ancestry to use as a foundation on which to build a new vision. They have a narrative they are sharing with each other that is about more than oppression and genocide. It is about pride in their past and hope for their future.

While conducting interviews on each trip, it became apparent that the participants’ knowledge of history was embedded in all the interviews. Each person was able to share their history and articulate the new narrative as if they had all read it from the same book. The data also showed evidence that the citizens have embraced the new narrative of the country. The interviews indicated a shift in perspective while government documents affirm that this has been the intent.

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The individual and community pathways reflect how the national pathway has rippled out into society. They represent how changes are taking place as a result of the new narratives, programs, initiatives, policies and suggested unifying behaviors. The individual pathway reveals ways in which the Rwandans are coping under the presence of the new narrative and in the aftermath of colonialism and genocide.

It is believed that the best way to navigate the country out of the pain of the past is to build a new grand narrative that supports them.

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7 Theoretical and Practical Implications

7.1 Review of Emergent Theory

The use of classic grounded theory as my research methodology allowed flexibility in the exploration of the emergent concerns of the participants involved in the study. Finding pathways out emerged as a cluster of multilevel social processes that account for behaviors enacted by the Rwandan people. As an outcome of the genocide, Rwandans have embarked on a journey to change their collective destiny. This journey translates in different ways on the various levels. The theory identifies the pathway on the individual level as managing the void. The categories subsumed under this label illuminate the struggles entailed in coping with the experience of genocide intra-psychically while being faced with the reality of living with the perpetrators. On this level numbing down surfaced as a defense mechanism in which the Rwandans choose to protect themselves by walling off their feelings. Masking is a behavior exhibited by both survivors and perpetrators in which they say what is expected of them. In the privacy of their homes they allow their true feelings to be known. Mimicking emerged as differing from masking in that the individual who engaged in this type of behavior was adopting the perspective of the dominant group. Episodic recall is equivalent to what one might term flashbacks; while those who assume a position of confronting the void are determined to keep the memory of the genocide in the forefront of the collective consciousness. Catapulting the gap came into view as behaviors of those who found it within themselves to utilize their circumstances as an opportunity for growth.

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The pathway on the national level was labeled reconstituting national identity. It illuminates how certain aspects of Rwandan history were being revived and used as a framework to move the country beyond divisionism and the suffering of the genocide. The processes subsumed under this label involve policies, initiatives and behaviors geared toward restarting the national dialogue in ways that focus on Rwandan unity. On this level invoking the ancestors identifies Rwandans as reaching back into their past to utilize ancestral traditions whereas embodying change highlights the role of governance in the recovery process. Operationalizing change centers on behaviors, policies and initiatives that were developed to support the new narratives and sharing the dream refers to calls to envision and work towards a shared vision of the future.

The community pathway focused on practices designed to improvise civility. They address the vigor of the human spirit and the actualization of where the “rubber meets the road”. Encouraging oneness refers to the participants understanding of their interdependence. Reaching deep emerged as the label for actions taken by both survivors and perpetrators as a result of their desire to live together in peace. Engaged healing manifested itself as the ways in which individuals, communities and associations participate in the healing process.

Finally, indicators repeatedly emerged from the data on all levels that show the process of reconciliation in Rwanda is not without its challenges. There continue to be activities, behaviors and initiatives that advertently and inadvertently interfere with the fragile recovery. They were revealed in the data as residual suspicion and violence, corruption, continued marginalization of the

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Batwa, self serving mentalities and “small gods” (one who lords power over another).

7.2 Bronfenbrenner’s Ecology of Human Development

A review of the literature has surfaced parallel conceptualizations that are

similar but not quite the same as the multilevel aspects of “finding pathways out”.

The way in which the individual, national and community levels of this grounded

theory are nested and interrelated resembles aspects of Bronfenbrenner’s

typology of the microsystem, mesosystem, exosystem and macrosystem (1979:

Ecology of Human Development) (see Figure 6). Bronfenbrenner’s theory

proposes that an environment is composed of a series of nested structures, each

being contained within the other.

macrosystem

exosystem

mesosystem

microsystem

Figure 6 Ecology of Human Development The individual level (micro) of “finding pathways out”, points to intrapsychic strategies developed by individuals as ways of coping with the

208 permanent psychological damage caused by the genocide event. The microsystem of Bronfenbrenner’s framework is the environment that is closest to the developing child. The micro level includes an individual’s home, classroom, church, neighborhood and other such settings. These settings constitute an environment in which a developing person has opportunities to experience reciprocal engagement involving one on one interface with another human being.

Bronfenbrenner believed this type of interaction is important to development in that it offers opportunities for growth (for both parties) and it “serves as the basic building block” (p.56) for more complex (triads, tetrads, etc) interactions.

Meso, a term first coined by Bronfenbrenner, could be likened to the community level of “finding pathways out”. In the context of post-genocide

Rwanda, this level focused on group behaviors that involved self organizing around fulfilling immediate needs while dealing with their complex living situation.

At this level much of what the Rwandans have learned has been discovered through interactions in a given moment. In other words, the ways in which they’ve learned to coexist as they are faced with the realities of life in their community and village settings has been learned by doing.

The mesosystem of Bronfenbrenner’s model describes the “interrelations among two or more settings in which [a] developing person becomes an active participant” (p.209). This level considers the relationships between the distinct settings as they pertain to the development of the person. For example, when the individual is an active participant at school and in the home, these two microsystems then, form the mesosystem. The mesosystem can contribute to

209 development of the individual if the two micros communicate, are proactive and are otherwise aligned with regard to the development of the child.

Bronfenbrenner argues that the degree to which the mesosystem is interconnected can have a decisive impact on the development of the person.

This principle of interconnection, in service to the well being of the child, applies to any of the overlapping micro environments in which the developing person is actively involved.

Bronfenbrenner’s exosystem is the environmental setting in which the developing person has no direct involvement. However, events that unfold in the setting have a direct impact on the developing person. An example would be a child’s parent having a difficult day at work or being fired from a job. Although the child is not an active participant in the environment, she/he would be adversely affected by what has happened in the setting. In the case of children in current day Rwanda, for example, what happens to their caretakers outside of the home can, by extension, have a direct effect on the child in the home.

Although a level equivalent to Bronfenbrenner’s exosystem was not captured from the data of this study, it is reasonable to surmise the Rwandans are continually impacted by decisions and events that unfold in settings in which they have no direct involvement.

Finally, Bronfenbrenner offers that this complex of nested systems is further situated in the broader cultures and subcultures of a particular locale.

This he calls the macrosystem. It can include ideologies, myths, fads, trends, structures, institutions and much, much more. Reconstituting national identity as

210 a national level phenomenon is dealing with changing the ideologies of the past that led to the genocide of 1994, institutionalizing inclusion and transitioning to a knowledge economy.

Although Bronfenbrenner’s ecological theory of development centered on the developing child, there is a certain utility in viewing the Rwandan recovery from a multi systems perspective. It’s useful to think of the basic social process that is taking place as being various aspects of the same phenomenon. As such, they are interconnected with no separation between the three levels. Although it was not the intent of the author to approach the emergence of the grounded theory in this way, the author’s analysis of the data suggested the utility of doing so.

7.2.1 Contributions to Extant Theory — Individual Pathway

Many scholars have wrestled with trying to understand the best way to support post-conflict nations as they strive to build peaceful societies (Ho-Won

Jeong, 2005; 1999; Montville, 1990; Nhema & Zeleza, 2008; Oberschall, 2007;

Richmond, 2010).

John Paul Lederach is a practitioner who has worked in the area of conflict transformation and has conducted extensive field work in Columbia, Nepal, the

Philippines, and countries in East and West Africa and in numerous other countries around the world. A professor at the Kroc Institute for International

Peace Studies at the University of Notre Dame, Lederach (1997) developed a thesis that outlines pragmatic and practical approaches for transitioning from conflict to sustainable peace in war torn areas. His premise hinges on the belief

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that meaningful and sustained recovery from conflict entails long-term

commitment to empowering and engaging the people on multiple levels of the

conflict society. His theory emerged as a result of ideas and strategies of

“practice-oriented learning” (p.xvi) acquired during peacebuilding and mediation

efforts carried out in the field.

Lederach developed a model he called Approaches to Building Peace

(Figure 7) in which he delineated three levels of actors involved in the leadership

base of peacebuilding. They are the top, middle range, and the grassroots

levels.

Approaches to Building Peace Few

Types of Actors

-focus on high-level negotiations Level 1: -emphasis on cease-fire Top Leadership -led by highly visible, single mediator -Political/military/religious/ Other leaders with high visibility

Level 2: -problem solving workshops Middle Range Leadership -training in conflict resolution -Leaders respected in sectors -peace commissions -Ethnic/religious leaders -insider-partial teams -Academics/intellectuals -Humanitarian leaders (NGOs) Affected Population

-local peace commissions -grassroots training Level 3 -prejudice reduction Grassroots Leadership -psycho, social work in -Local Leaders post-war trauma -Leaders in indigenous NGOs -Local health officials

Many Lederach’s Actors and Approaches to Peacebuilding Source: Lederach, 1997 p.39

Figure 7 Approaches to Building Peace

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At the apex of the pyramid are the top level leaders. They include politicians, military leaders and members of high status within the society. They are usually few in number, highly visible and have perceived or actual power and influence.

The middle-range leadership refers to individuals in the community who are respected leaders within sectors (i.e. education, business, etc.), or they may be leaders of religious groups, academic institutions or NGOs.

The grassroots level in the Lederach model refers to the leadership that is operating on the ground in the day-to-day reality of post-conflict existence. They are the local leaders, refugee camp leaders, leaders of indigenous NGOs; those who have an intimate understanding of the circumstances faced by the majority population. A view of the model in Figure 7 further suggests that these three levels are likely stratified by class.

Lederach continues by making two significant observations about the dynamics of the population involved in the pyramid model. First, the intensity of conflict has the most devastating effect on the population with the least amount of power and influence; the grassroots level. That is the level where discrimination and human rights violations are widespread. However, conflicts are often waged by adherents of differing identity groups (i.e. religious, ethnicity, etc) and the identity group allegiances slice vertically through the pyramid. As such, leaders on each level also have relations with their own identity group members on other levels of the pyramid. This is noteworthy because leaders at each level are likely to have multiple agendas.

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Second, those higher in the pyramid have greater access to information and are in a position to make decisions that will impact those on the lower levels of the pyramid. While the grassroots level will be directly affected, those in the top level leadership positions are less likely to feel the impact of their own decisions.

These are two significant design and implementation issues to be considered in the development of Lederach’s process for peace.

Lederach’s inductive process generated a model of peacebuilding that resembles the theory of finding pathways out which emerged from the data in this research. This classic grounded theory study also has confirmed important concepts for building peace in conflict prone societies; namely, meaningful and sustained recovery from conflict entails long-term commitment to empowering and engaging the people on multiple levels of the afflicted society.

The top level of Lederach’s model resembles aspects of the national pathway. However, the middle range differs from the community pathway in that participants on this level emerged not as leaders per se, but as common people who gathered in dialogue after engaging in everyday tasks together. The community level peacebuilding opportunities in my study were of an organic nature in the sense that many of the events were not orchestrated nor endorsed by leaders. While leadership on the community level was an important factor, the data revealed that peacebuilding happened as a consequence of being together and working together.

There is another significant observation the data of my study elucidates that pertains to the dynamics of the population involved in the pyramid model. While

214 top leaders, middle range leaders and grassroots leaders are significant players in the peace process, many of them enter the process, at all levels, as psychologically wounded individuals. My data suggest they are likely to be employing post-conflict coping strategies as a result of the trauma experienced during the unrest (Figure 8) in accordance with how much trauma they experienced. It might be especially important that leaders be selected who are using the catapulting the gap coping strategy. In addition, there are massive numbers of people who are impacted and have no leadership position but have, within their means, the power to influence the process both negatively or positively. Furthermore, top policy leaders who lack a personal connection to war and the ensuing emotional and physical stress may be unaware of the pain and trauma experienced by those at the bottom. There is no getting around the impact conflict has on the individual and by extension on the processes designed to bring about sustainable peace.

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Approaches to Building Peace Few

Level 1: Top Leadership -Political/military/religious/ Other leaders with high visibility Level 2: Middle Range Leaders -Leaders respected in sectors -Ethnic/religious leaders -Academics/intellectuals -Humanitarian leaders (NGOs) Level 3: Grassroots Leaders -Local Leaders -Leaders in indigenous NGOs

-Local health officials Affected Population

People on all levels with/without leadership positions are wounded Individuals who likely employ these or other coping strategies

numbing episodic masking mimicking confronting catapulting down recall the void the gap

Adapted from Lederach’s peace building model Source: Lederach, 1997 p.39 Many

Figure 8 Approaches to Building Peace through the Lens of Managing the Void

7.2.2 Contributions to Extant Theory — National Pathway

Rwandan pre-colonial history includes accounts of a strong state and

efficient administration (Reyntjens, 1996). Existing in a traditional society into the

modern era predisposed Rwandans to be much more vulnerable to the misuse of

authority than more modernized cultures might have been. They were

thoroughly socialized into obedience, and individualism was less valued.

Obedience to authority and group identification developed as an outgrowth of this

social environment. Social compliance is a way of being that is deeply ingrained

in nearly all Rwandans. These tendencies became even more pronounced

216 during and after colonial rule. Rwandans are generally speaking, social conformists; inclined to do what their neighbors do or do what authority figures tell them to do. They revere authority regardless of the authority figures “ethnic” affiliation. What matters most is the authoritative position (ibid).

Obedience to authority is arguably one of the most important aspects associated with the successful implementation of the Rwanda genocide. In- group coercion and social pressure also played a huge role in the massacre

(Straus, 2006). Gérard Prunier (1998) articulates the propensity in the following way:

“There had always been a strong tradition of unquestioning obedience to authority in the precolonial kingdom of Rwanda. This tradition was of course reinforced by both the German and Belgian colonial administrations. And since independence the country had lived under a well-organized tightly controlled state. When the highest authorities in that state told you to do something you did it, even if it included killing” (p.245).

In the 1960’s as a result of his concerns about how the holocaust managed to occur, Stanley Milgram (1963) conducted his groundbreaking research on obedience. He performed a series of psychological studies that were constructed as laboratory experiments. The research was structured to observe and measure participant’s willingness to obey perceived authority figures under conditions in which the research subjects might suffer. The research participants were instructed to administer increasing amounts of electrical current to subjects who repeatedly answered a set of questions incorrectly. Those administering the “shock” were continually urged to do so at the assistance of a perceived authority figure. Unbeknownst to the research participants, the electrical device was not real and the recipients of the shock treatment were

217 actors who were never in any pain or any danger. Participants who administered the “shock” were later informed of the truth.

Milgram discovered that sixty-five percent of the participants were willing to inflict what they thought were harmful electric shocks to their fellow study participants who had done nothing wrong (except answer a question incorrectly) and who were pleading to be spared the pain of the “electric shock”. Milgram commented on his obedience studies in the following way:

“…Obedience is the psychological mechanism that links individual action to political purpose. It is the dispositional cement that binds men to systems of authority. Facts of recent history and observation in daily life suggest that for many persons obedience may be a deeply ingrained behavior tendency, indeed, a prepotent impulse overriding training in ethics, sympathy, and moral conduct…”(p.371)

Milgram’s experiment explores the lengths to which people will go to cause harm to others when told to do so by presumed authority figures. A novel implication of this study is to suggest that obedience to authority can be used for the greater good as well, i.e. when subjects wellbeing will be enhanced instead of harmed. The Rwandan leadership has endeavored to turn the negative implications of obedience to authority into one that realizes positive results. They are attempting to use obedience to authority and their collectivist culture in ways that advance the ideals of a sustained peace. Ironically then, one of the most essential factors that contributed to the devastation of a nation is being utilized in attempts to move masses of people to a greater good.

In light of the foregoing observations, it is easy to perceive the extreme importance of good governance in African countries emerging from decades of

218 civil conflicts. Arguably, it is exemplary leadership that will begin the process of transitioning nations with traditional cultures from an existence of chronic conflict onto a path of sustainable peace and prosperity.

7.2.3 Contributions to Extant Theory — Community Pathway

Most studies on peacebuilding in the aftermath of civil conflict focus on macro level approaches to building peace; specifically, state building, rebuilding infrastructure and institutions, disarming rebels, reforming militaries, holding elections, judicial settlements, peace accords and the like (Engel & Porto, 2010;

Ho-Won Jeong, 2002, 2005; Nhema & Zeleza, 2008; Osaghae, 2007; van

Walraven, 2005). Surprisingly little research has been conducted that explores how everyday people, who have been severely impacted by the conflicts, reestablish interpersonal relationships with neighbors and friends who have destroyed their homes or killed their loved ones (Halpern & Weinstein, 2004).

Halpern and Weinstein have noted that reconciliation begins with “healthy psychological and physical functioning…overcoming the hatred that pervades the relationships between ethnic groups…(and) depends upon seeing their recent enemies in human terms…thus, reconstituting social networks is critical not only for a functioning society but also for the health and well-being of its people” (p.

562).

The authors also cite Putnam’s concept of “bridging social capital” as being a process that encourages individuals to expand beyond the barriers of group identity and open themselves to understanding ways that groups are interconnected and interrelated.

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The concept of improvising civility begins to address this gap in the literature. It offers insight into ways in which individuals have begun to repair their social relationships — a critical feature of sustainable peace. The concept and related properties characterize reconciliation as a series of opportunities to create relational spaces that provide occasions to interact and engage in discourse which then allow for reflection. In some instances, these spaces are the settings in which Rwandans have begun the process of rehumanizing the

“other”.

For example, encouraging oneness calls upon traditional ways of being that allow opportunities to view the other as an extension of oneself. Engaged healing can occur spontaneously and reveals an individual’s healing process is likely supported by friends, neighbors and even perpetrators. Reaching deep is initiated by an individual (survivor or perpetrator) who has a desire to reconcile and coexist in a peaceful way with neighbors who may have caused them harm or whom they may have harmed.

While there is arguably a need for extensive research in the area of rebuilding social relationships between groups in the wake of civil conflict, improvising civility provides a starting point for future research.

7.3 Recommendations — Rwanda

I begin this section by offering my sincere apologies for referring to the

Rwandan people using group affiliations. I have used the terms extensively merely as an expedient to assist in making my concluding points.

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I have been awestruck by the strength and resilience of the Rwandan people. The progress that has been made since the genocide of 1994 is phenomenal. One important implication of this study is that it shows how the country has done many things exceptionally well. What they are doing makes perfect sense in terms of what is known about resolving conflict, healing and creating a vibrant civil culture.

During my three visits to Rwanda I had the privilege of sitting in the hills having dialogue with the indigenous people, visiting universities and exchanging ideas with professors, spending time drinking sodas with both survivors and perpetrators, sharing meals with Rwandans in their homes, meeting and associating with political figures, attending memorial events with thousands of

Rwandans and being embraced by family members of all groups. Through these experiences and as an “outsider looking in”, I was afforded the unique opportunity to develop an “inside perspective”; to have “one foot out and one foot in” as it were. To this day, insights continue to emerge. There are several recommendations I would offer to the Rwandan people that are based on some of those insights.

The reconciliation, recovery and renewal are predicated on attrition in response to the numerous massacres that have occurred in Rwanda during the twentieth century; specifically the 1994 genocide in which well over a million

Rwandan Tutsi and moderate Hutu lost their lives. The current course correction for the country was co-created by many Rwandans and has a focus of letting go of the ideologies of colonialism and the Hutu-centric governments of the past

221 while striving to live in unity as the ancestors once did centuries ago. The present conversations about healing delve thoroughly into the trauma, pain and suffering experienced by the Tutsi. However, they fail to explore to any degree the trauma, pain and suffering experienced by the Batwa and the Hutu for hundreds of years.

“Kunena Batwa” or to deprive, neglect and not accept the Batwa is an attitude that is as much a part of accepted Rwandan culture as is respect for the value of milk. The Batwa have been treated as less than human, being given the scraps of the other two groups and expected to perform the most undesirable tasks. Even as the nation rises from the ashes of genocide, the Batwa are barely more than an afterthought or neglected altogether.

The Hutu as well are carrying unresolved hurt. I recall meeting a man who

I assumed was a Hutu. He recounted stories of how during pre-colonial times,

Tutsi kings would castrate Hutu men and use their genitalia as decoration for the royal drums. He claimed that such acts were powerful symbols designed to emasculate Hutu males and keep them subservient to Tutsi royalty. Though these torturous deeds occurred hundreds of years earlier, the imagery and impact of such powerful symbolism has been passed down through generations and was able to be recounted for me in an emotionally charged way. I do not recall the person’s name, how he looked or where we were when he recounted this memory of the Tutsi aristocracy. I can clearly recall his affect. Though the demoralizing practice had taken place centuries beforehand he was as upset and angry as if it had just recently occurred. I can only assume that the practice

222 recounted above is one of many wounds still being handed down through generations to this day.

My point in sharing all this is to suggest that the national and community conversations about reconciliation, forgiveness and healing need to be expanded to include those atrocities and indignities exacted upon the Batwa and the Hutu over the centuries. Creating spaces where Rwandans can begin engaging in heartfelt dialogue about the collective’s “unfinished business” from the remote past would offer support in the healing of old and unresolved wounds. Those wounds are equally as important as tending to the wounds inflicted by the genocide.

Reenactment of unresolved trauma by any group is a threat to the fragile stability of the entire nation. To this point, Sandra Bloom (1996) Associate

Professor at Drexel University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in the United States, says that groups become involved in reenacting traumatic events without being aware they are playing out previous traumas. Wounded individuals who are members of the community develop destructive patterns of interaction that become their new “norm”. The behaviors are destructive for the individual and for the community. They unleash these destructive tendencies into the village setting and the entire community becomes contaminated as if they were infected with a disease.

Wounded individuals are receiving support from their communities and the various associations but the need for extensive, culturally respectful psychological support looms large. Managing the void suggests that many are

223 holding their experience of trauma in ways that may breed toxicity that is capable of erupting in society in detrimental ways. It’s impossible to know the extent to which the toxicities that have been carried over from the distant past continue to contaminate the current reality. Even so, it can be assumed that the pain of old

“unfinished business…hangs around until a person has finished with it…although one can tolerate considerable unfinished experience, these uncompleted directions do seek completion and, when they get powerful enough, the individual is beset with preoccupation, compulsive behavior, wariness, oppressive energy and much self-defeating activity…Closure must come either by a return to the old business or by relating to parallel circumstances in the present” (Polster &

Polster, 1974, p.36-37).

Malvern Lumsden (1999, p.134) articulates a similar sentiment in a discussion of the “unconscious organizing principle” induced by exposure to the imagery of war and transmitted to the children of survivors: “The fact that different individuals adopt different survival strategies may explain why one cannot directly deduce individual adult behavior from childhood trauma. It would seem that only a small number of traumatized and disadvantaged children account for the majority of adult violence in a ‘normal’ peacetime urban society.

The same is likely to apply to the survivors of war and their children. Studies of the ‘transgenerational transmission’ of trauma thus suggest a variety of patterns, some people becoming psychologists and social workers, while others become psychiatric patients and criminals. Traumatized populations, in other words, contain resources for their own (and their society’s) healing. But the small

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minority that adopts a militaristic strategy of revenge may become a major factor

in precipitating a new round of violence should socio-economic and political

conditions deteriorate…”

Lumsden continues by citing Volkan stating, “One of the most challenging

problems is dealing with intercommunal issues in a post-war context (Volkan,

1997). The mid 1990s have offered plenty of examples that the individual and

collective memories of war last at least 50-80 years (i.e. at least two or three

generations). It is possible that although ‘public opinion’ changes over time this

may be due to the growth of a new generation rather than to changes in the

views of those whose opinions were formed by direct experience of war; but it

may also be due to the fact that until recently most people affected by war have

not had the knowledge and opportunity to work through the emotional aftermath”

(p.149).

It makes sense to begin finding ways to help the different groups address

some of their previously unresolved psychological issues. One of the places

where this work could begin would be in the pilot settings of the Vision 2020

Umurenge Program.28 Just as the program provides communities with increased

access to training, schools, health facilities, drinking water and financial services,

so too mental health resources could be made easily accessible on the village

level. It could offer opportunities in which to surface intrapsychic and

interpersonal dilemmas and, with the support of trained mental health

28 Vision 2020 Umurenge: An Integrated Local Development Program to Accelerate Poverty Eradication, Rural Growth and Social Protection. A complete explanation of the program can be found at: http://www.minaloc.gov.rw/IMG/pdf_VUP_final.pdf 225 professionals, assist the groups in co-creating healthier ways in which to deal with age old issues.

The other pressing insight I would like to address pertains to the indigenous Batwa. The Batwa arrived on the land several millennia ago and played a very significant role in Rwandan history. They are the original stewards of the land; the group that initially taught all other inhabitants the principles and values of respecting the land. It’s not important how they have or have not evolved since that time.

The people of Rwanda have a unique opportunity to spearhead a shift in their own thinking and impact the way in which other African countries view members of their indigenous populations. Rwandans could remind others that the indigenous people played a significant role in all of their histories and likewise can play a significant role in their reconciliation. Rwanda is leading the way in the number of women in political offices, transitioning to a knowledge economy, eradicating poverty and educating the population. The country can also be the leader in changing the destiny of the indigenous people of Africa by modeling the way and taking some very simple steps. These steps are some ways in which the Batwa could be further integrated into the mainstream and begin to have their

(self) image raised to a higher level:

Add the Batwa to the historical narrative in ways that value, appreciate

and honor their contribution to the history of the country.

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Enlist their support in writing an amended historical narrative that

acknowledges their existence and highlights their role and their

contributions to Rwandan history.

Offer them a role in teaching other groups about their contributions to

Rwandan history.

Begin teaching them about basic social skills and personal hygiene. They

have expressed feeling timid, self conscious and insecure about taking

part in mainstream activities because of the response they get from other

Rwandans. They understand that these feelings are due to their lack of

understanding about how to interact with others.

They have no material belongings but they possess an abundance of

wisdom, knowledge and creativity as a result of living in extreme poverty.

Their difficult life experiences could hold valuable learning that could

benefit all Rwandans. Begin seeking their knowledge about eradicating

poverty in the country.

These approaches and others would contribute to inclusivity for members of

Rwandan society that have historically and traditionally been marginalized. It would cause a change in the way the Batwa view themselves and the way in which others in society view them.

7.4 Future Research

Nations emerging from conflict are by nature encumbered by multiple layers of complex human behavioral issues, cultural and historical binds and the pressures that accompany social development and global change. A national

227 strategy for sustainable peace is one that maximizes the greatest amount of healing for the most people on each of the various levels of the recovering society. While specific tasks have been designed to facilitate the healing process according to top leadership, middle leadership and grassroots leadership, a common theme prevails irrespective of the level.

The data at the individual pathway of this study reveal there are various ways in which people are managing the void (numbing down, masking, mimicking, episodic recall, confronting the void, catapulting the gap) in the aftermath of extreme trauma. The use of each of these strategies has consequences for how individuals and/or groups respond to approaches designed to bring about lasting peace in countries emerging from conflict. Each style may also have implications for the effectiveness of the renewal process. For example, if it were known that the preponderance of survivors was numbing down or masking it might be determined that placing them in leadership roles is not the best approach for the recovery of the community.

This study has strategic implications for how to further support reconciliation efforts within a recovering community. It raises questions as to whether participants in peacebuilding processes might play a different role if the preponderance of participants employed coping styles that were more receptive to building cultures of peace. For example, if those who are using a coping strategy of catapulting the gap were able to be identified, they might be positioned as leaders on the various levels of the peacebuilding process.

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Future research which measures the distribution of these coping styles in a given population would be important in the further development and design of strategies for community peace building. The study would be particularly helpful for practitioners who work in the field on the grassroots level. When planning interventions intended to facilitate reconciliation, it would be useful to know how many people involved in the process are relying on which of the coping styles highlighted in managing the void. Being able to identify which individuals or groups are utilizing each of the various coping styles would make it possible to develop different approaches in support of healing and peace efforts depending upon which coping stance a person or group has adopted.

For example, if a practitioner was aware of which participants or how many in a group were numbing down they would better understand the type of peace building strategies to use in support of their coping orientation. The intervention programs for that grouping might be designed to assist them in connecting to their feelings as a facet of the reconciliation process. If participants are utilizing masking to the detriment of the peace process, practitioners might be able to determine how to create conditions (with the safety of the participant at the forefront) under which they might mask less in service to the collective.

It’s also important to take into consideration the impact any of the peacebuilding interventions has on participants who have adopted mimicking as a cope behavior. How can interventions be designed to support this particular style of dealing with the stress? Citizens who utilize confronting the void may gain from an intervention that assists them in moving from an adversarial space;

229 while those using episodic recall may benefit from focused and culture appropriate emotional healing to augment the recovery process.

Is a coping style of catapulting the gap an ideal? If so, are there ways to approach community renewal, recovery, and peacebuilding interventions with the ideal in mind? Overall, strategies for moving forward are best when the healing process addresses the various ways in which all those involved are supported in moving forward.

These are a few possibilities for additional research that have been raised by this study. There are also promising areas of possible integration with bodies of literature that have yet to be resolved. For instance, even though I was not aware of it when I was writing this dissertation, I have recently discovered extensive literature that addresses healing and peacbuildiing. The literature represents a promising area in which to integrate my findings.

For example, John Paul Lederach’s (1997) work that emphasizes empowering and engaging people on multiple levels of the conflict society. Or

Jodi Halpern and Harvey Weinstein’s (2004) research that focuses on the restoration of social networks that center on the participants interdependence.

Each of the categories developed in finding pathways out might be relevant to expanding awareness within communities of scholars who are engaged in peacebuilding work and research.

7.5 Final Thought

The use of classic grounded theory surfaced a nested multilevel construct that presents ways in which Rwandans are endeavoring to transition from a

230 nation of conflict to one of reconciliation. The theory reveals the citizens’ will to survive, their aspiration for engagement and their ability to employ creative adaptations as they chart a course toward a more prosperous future. One of my most salient lessons during this journey has been a deeper understanding of the power and potential of connecting on a human to human level; even to those with whom we do not agree. Whether one views relationships from an individualist or collectivist stance, the reality remains the same. We are part of a complex and interconnected web of relationships. Improving the quality of those relationships is one of the most important things we can do as human beings.

…It is like the case of a fishing net: though the net is composed of innumerable small meshes, when one pulls on the main cord of the net, there are no meshes that do not move. Or it is like a garment: though the garment is composed of countless tiny threads, when one pulls on a corner of the garment, there are no threads that are not drawn along… (Daishonin, 1265, p.133)

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Appendices

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Appendix 1 Great Lakes Region of Africa

Source: http://www.forcedmigration.org/browse/regional/greatlakes.htm Date Accessed: 8/03/2009

Appendix 2 Equatorial Africa

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Source: http://anthromuseum.missouri.edu/online/africaonline/africaonline.shtml Date Accessed: 8/03/2009

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Appendix 3 List of Known Clans of Rwanda

1.) Abagesera* 2.) Abega* 3.) Abanyiginya 4.) Abasinga 5.) Abacyaba 6.) Abungura 7.) Abashambo 8.) Abatsobe 9.) Abakono* 10.) Abaha* 11.) Abashingo 12.) Abanyakarama 13.) Abasita 14.) Abongera 15.) n’Abenengwe 16.) Abazigaba 17.) Abasindi 18.) Ababanda

*Ibibanda (the queen mother’s clans)

Source:

Ministry of Education, Science, Technology and Scientific Research; National Curriculum Development Center: The Teaching of History of Rwanda: A Participatory Approach

Note: Noted Rwandan historian, Alexis Kagame, identifies 15 clans while D’Hertefelt lists 18. Both indicate that Hutu, Tutsi and Batwa were members of all the clans and would always refer to themselves as such; never referencing affiliation to Hutu, Tutsi or Batwa groups.

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Appendix 4 NYIGINYA Dynasty of Rwanda

Era Approximate Date of Death Name

NDAHIRO I 1300 1386 (+/-20) Ruyange

1400 1410 (+/-18) NDOBA 1434 (+/-16) SAMEMBE NSORO 1458 (+/-14) Samukondo RUGANZU I 1482 (+/-12) Bwimba

CYIRIMA I 1500 1506 (+/-10) Rugwe KIGERI I 1528 (+/-12) Mukobanya MIBAMBWE I 1552 (+/-14) Mutabazi YUHI II 1576 (+/-16) Gahima*

NDAHIRO 1600 1600 (+/-18) Cyamatare RUGANZU II 1624 (+/-20) Ndori MUTARA I 1648 (+/-22) Semugeshi KIGERI II 1672 (+/-20) Nyamubeshera MIBAMBWE II 1696 (+/-10) Gisanura

YUHI III 1700 1720 (+/-16) Mazimpaka KAREMERA 1744 (+/-14) Rwaka CYIRIMA II 1768 (+/-12) Rujugira KIGERI III 1792 (+/-10) Ndabarasa MIBAMBWE III 1797 (+/-10) Sentabyo

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YUHI IV 1800 1830 (+/-10) Gahindiro MUTARA 1860 (+/-5) Rwogera Era Approximate Date of Death Name

KIGERI IV 1895 Rwabugiri 1896 MIBAMBWE IV Rutarindwa

YUHI V Musinga 1900 1944 (deposed in 1931) MUTARA III 1959 Rudahigwa KIGERI V Ndahindurwa (deposed in 1961 when Rwanda became a republic)

Adapted from:

(Chrétien, 2003) The great lakes of Africa: two thousand years of history. New York, Cambridge, Mass.: Zone Books ; Distributed by MIT Press.

(Twagilimana & Dorsey, 2007) Twagilimana, A. and L. Dorsey (2007). Historical dictionary of Rwanda. Lanham, Md., Scarecrow Press.

* The dynastic name Yuhi I is generally assigned to Yuhi I Musindi, one of the pre-14th century monarchs whose historical identity is not fully established.

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Appendix 5 Pre-colonial Political Structure

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Appendix 6 Colonial Political Structure

Political and Administrative Reform Structure Under Colonial Authority

The Belgian King in Brussels

Government of Belgium Parliament Supreme Court

Minister of Colonies in Brussels

Governor General of Belgian Congo and Ruanda-Urundi in Leopoldville

Vice-Governor General of Ruanda- Urundi in Bujumbura

Resident of Rwanda in Kigali King of Rwanda

Territorial Administrators

Chief of Chiefferies

Deputy Chiefs of Sub- Chiefferies

Source: Freedman, S. W., Harvey M. Weinstein, Timothy Longman. (2006). The Teaching of History of Rwanda: A Participatory Approach. In N. C. D. Center (Ed.). Kigali, Rwanda: National Curriculum Development Center.

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Appendix 7 Rwandan Identification Card

These identity cards were used throughout the years to identify and eliminate thousands of Tutsi after colonial independence. The cards were an essential tool in facilitating the speed and magnitude of the genocide of 1994.

Source: http://www.preventgenocide.org/edu/pastgenocides/240wanda/indangamuntu.ht m

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Appendix 8 Racial Classification of Rwandans

Influenced by racist ideas, the Belgians created a strict system of racial and ethnic classification for the Hutu, Tutsi and Batwa. Tutsi were thought to be a superior group because they were more “white” looking.

The size of the nose and the color of the eyes were factors that determined whether a person was classified as Hutu, Tutsi or Batwa. Source: http://www.wcl.american.edu/humright/center/rwanda/jigsaw1.pdf?rd= 1 Photos: Amnesty International Film Forgotten Cries

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Appendix 9 Hutu Ten Commandments

This extract from an article was published in Kigali in the review Kangura in its December 6, 1990 issue. It was widely distributed and is a testament to the crude state of the spirit of the extremist faction of the Presidential guards.

THE TEN COMMANDMENTS OF THE HUTU

All Hutu must know that female Tutsi, wherever they are, work in the interests of their Tutsi ethnicity. Because of this, any Hutu is a traitor who:

Marries a Tutsi woman Makes a Tutsi woman a concubine Makes a Tutsi woman his secretary or protégé.

2. All Hutu must know that our Hutu women are more dignified and more conscientious in their role as woman, wife and mother of the family. Aren’t they beautiful, good secretaries, and more honest!

3. Hutu men, be vigilant and lead your wives, your brothers and your sons toward reason.

4. All Hutu must know that all Tutsi are dishonest in business. They only consider the supremacy of their ethnic group. We speak here in the name of experience. By consequence, a Hutu is a traitor:

who makes alliance with Tutsis in business who invests his money or state money in a Tutsi enterprise who borrows or lends money to a Tutsi who gives Tutsis favors in business (granting import licenses, bank loans, construction parcels, public markets . . .)

5. Strategic political, military and security posts must be confined to Hutu.

6. The education sector (elementary students, secondary students, teaching corps) must be majority Hutu.

7. The Rwandan army forces must be exclusively Hutu. The experience of the October 1990 war teaches us. No military personnel may marry a Tutsi woman.

8. Hutu must cease to have pity on Tutsi.

9. Hutu, wherever they are, must be united, in solidarity and preoccupied with the situation of their Hutu brothers.

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The Hutu in the interior and the exterior must seek out constantly friends and allies for their Hutu cause, beginning with their Bantu brothers. They must constantly thwart Tutsi propaganda. The Hutu must be firm and vigilant against their common Tutsi enemy.

10. The social revolution of 1959, the referendum of 1961 and the Hutu ideology, must be taught to all Hutu and at all levels. All Hutu must disseminate widely the present ideology. Any Hutu is a traitor who would prosecute his brother Hutu for having read, taught and followed this ideology.

Source: http://www.stanford.edu/class/psych165/10comm.doc Retrieved: 07/25/2009

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Appendix 10 Archbishop André Perraudin’s Quote

Quoted taken from: Strizek, H. (2003). Human Rights in Rwanda: Life After Genocide, page 8.

On 11 February 1959, Bishop Perraudin published a pastoral letter for Lent that had an explosive effect within the Rwandan community. A portion of his letter is as follows:

“The divine law of justice and social charity (charité) requires that the institutions of a country be structured in such a way that they ensure for all legitimate social groups the same fundamental rights and the same opportunities for human advancement as well as participation in public affairs. Institutions approving of a regime of privileges, favouritism and protection, be it for individuals or for social groups, would be at odds with Christian morality.”

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Appendix 11 Chronology of Events Leading Up to the Rwanda

Genocide of 1994

(1972 through April 6, 1994)

1972: Tutsi dominated government of Burundi massacres tens of thousands of

Hutu. An ensuing war of words results in the expulsion of Tutsi civil servants from public administration in Rwanda.

1973: Major General Juvénal Habyarimana, a Hutu, deposes Grégoire

Kayibanda in a coup d’état. This event marked the beginning of the second republic. Tutsi are expelled from universities and other institutions. More massacres take place against the Tutsi minority. The new president institutes a policy of ethnic quotas for public service employment. Public service is second largest sector of the economy after agriculture. Tutsi are limited to 9 percent of available jobs.

1975: Habyarimana forms another political movement called the MRND

(Mouvement révolutionnaire national pour la démocratie et le développement).

Membership in the party is compulsory for all Rwandans. He begins to direct government funds to his Hutu homeland in the north. He excludes other Hutu as well as Tutsi. This practice continues for twenty years and is used as a wedge between the two disadvantaged groups.

1978: A constitutional referendum passes designating the MRND as the only political party allowed in the country. Habyarimana is elected president under the new constitution.

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1979: Rwandan refugees form the Rwandese Alliance for National Unity (RANU) in Nairobi Kenya to address the growing problem of Rwandan refugees. The

RANU later (1987) becomes the Rwandese Patriotic Front (RPF).

1982: President Milton Obote of Uganda expels thousands of Rwandan refugees. Only a few are allowed to reenter Rwanda; thousands relocate to

Tanzania while thousands of others are killed.

1988-1989: 50,000 Hutu flee Burundi seeking refuge in Rwanda. Rwandan refugees hold an international conference in Washington D.C. to discuss the implications of the forced return of the refugees living in neighboring African countries. Coffee prices collapse on the world market, severely affecting the

Rwandan economy. Tensions between Hutu and Tutsi flare, famine and corruption intensify the crisis.

1990: The RPF mounts an attack against Rwanda from Uganda on October 1st.

Ten thousand Tutsi and a number of Hutu opponents of the Habyarimana regime were arrested. Tutsi are summarily massacred in other parts of the country.

Habyarimana maintains power with the help of French, Belgian and Zairian governments. In December, “The Ten Commandments of the Hutu” are published in the Kangura (wake up) journal. In response, Tutsi published the 17

Rules of the Tutsi (Appendix 11.1).

The Rwandan army begins to equip and train militias and paramilitary organizations known as interahamwe (“those who stand together”).

September: A letter is written and signed by 33 intellectuals denouncing the one party political system.

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September: A national commission is established to begin the process of introducing a multi-party system.

October: RPF based in Uganda invade northern Rwanda. They demand rights for refugees and political reform. A conflict ensues and several RPF leaders are killed.

October: Hutu seek revenge and kill more than 300 Tutsi in Gisenyi (located in the west).

November: President Habyarimana announces the introduction of a multi-party political system and the abolition of identity cards. However, the cards were never abolished.

1991: RPF forces attack Ruhengeri prison and liberate inmates (some join the resistance), including Colonel Theoneste Lizinde, an important figure of the armed resistance. The constitution was amended to allow multiparty elections and freedom of the press.

July: Domestic opposition increases and denouncement of plans to hold elections mount.

November: Widespread ethnic violence.

November: 10,000 people demonstrate in Kigali against the government and the single party system.

1992: New political parties emerge (Mouvement Démocratique Républicain

(MDR); Parti Libéral (PL); Parti Social Démocratique (PSD)) and enter into a power sharing agreement with the MRND.

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January: 30,000 demonstrate in Kigali against the government and single party system.

March: Ethnic violence in Bugesera (south of the capital of Kigali) where approximately 300 people are killed.

March: Habyarimana gives in to the pressure from external forces. He declares a willingness to enter peace talks with the RPF. An extremist Hutu party, the

Coalition for the Defense of the Republic (CDR) is formed. The extremist and supporters mount an attack against Tutsi in Bugesera, an area south of the capital of Kigali. In a deal that is underwritten by France, Rwandan Government

Forces (RGF) sign an agreement with Egypt for $6 million in small arms, mortars, rockets, grenades, and mines.

April: Multi-party government headed by Dismas Nsengiyaremye is formed. It includes all major opposition parties (MDR, PSD, PL and PDC).

May: A major RPF attack in Byumba (approximately 40 miles north of Kigali) causes 350,000 Hutu peasants to move southward.

June: Government army forces begin looting in several towns in anticipation of losing their jobs if the government signs a peace pact with RPF.

July: First major peace accords signed between Rwandan government and the

RPF in Arusha, Tanzania (Appendix 11.2).

August: Negotiations on the Arusha protocol on the rule of law.

September & October: Second Arusha protocol on transitional institutions is discussed.

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October: The RGF signs a $5.9 million agreement with South Africa for mortars, grenades, and small-arms ammunition.

November-January: Demonstrations in favor of peace talks and against

Habyarimana’s veto to the protocol on transitional institutions. Habyarimana refuses to sign a protocol on power sharing and a transitional parliament.

1993: January: The RPF signs off on the Arusha Accords which addresses maintenance of the rule of law, an end to the massacres of Tutsi and the formation of a broad based transition government.

January: Ethnic violence in the north-west in which approximately 300 people are killed.

February: RPF initiates new offensive in response to continued attacks on Tutsi.

French intervention protects Habyarimana and his government.

March: Peace negotiations between RPF and Rwandan government resume.

May: New accords establish intentions regarding the formation of a national army that will include the Rwandan army and the RPF fighters.

June: A new transition government is established under the leadership of a new prime minister, Agathe Uwilingiyimana. RPF did not participate in it.

August: The Arusha Accords were signed by the Rwandan government and the

RPF. Anti-Tutsi radio broadcasts begin filling the airwaves. Radio Télévision

Libre des Mille Collines (RTLM) becomes the voice of Hutu extremists and openly encourages the extermination of the Tutsi and Hutu moderates who oppose Tutsi extermination.

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October: The United Nations Security Council authorizes the UN Assistance

Mission for Rwanda (UNAMIR) and deploys 2500 troops from 20 countries for the mission. They are under the command of Canadian Lieutenant-General

Roméo Dallaire.

November: Approximately 20 people are killed when RPF forces break the cease-fire and attack government troops in north-western Rwanda.

December: Dallaire receives an anonymous letter outlining a plan to exterminate Tutsi in an effort to derail the Arusha Peace Agreement.

December: 600 RPF soldiers arrive in Kigali in accordance with the Arusha agreement.

1994: January: Juvénal Habyarimana is sworn in as president and he and his supporters were successful in preventing the implementation of the Arusha

Agreement.

February: The executive secretary of the PSD, Félicien Gatabazi, and the president of the CDR, Martin Bucyana, were both assassinated.

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Appendix 11.1 The 17 Rules of the Tutsi

(The following document is considered the plan of action for the pursuit of the putsch of 21 October. It presents itself as the response to the “10 Commandments of the Hutu” disseminated by the Hutu extremists of Rwanda. Without precise origin, it has experienced a very wide dissemination. The version cited is the bilingual version distributed in Bujumbura. Another, whose translation in French is more elaborate was diffused in Bujumbura and Kigali.)

The rules which all Tutsis must respect for safeguarding Burundi; which our enemies want to snatch from us –

-- To all Tutsi, wherever you are.

At this moment, the famous political party names PALIPEHUTU wants to attack again.. But is all for nothing, because we have decapitated it. They attack in the interior of the country and in the frontier. That is why all Tutsi, wherever they are, must know what follows.

1. Beware of all Hutu known or supposed to be Hutu. Remember that they love to attach themselves to us because they seem to have neither ideas nor plans. They only have machetes.

2. Never buy anything from a Hutu: make the sacrifice to go buy something very far, in the area of the Rwandans: at least, with them, we have no problems. But if a Hutu comes to buy something from you, you must sell it to him with disdain or with mockery because, you see, their naiveté will lead them nowhere. Meanwhile, speak to them so as to pull “worms from their nose”; keep in mind the fact that Hutus never dare to address words first.

3. Always know, with precision, the habitation or residence of all Hutus, in the hills and in your quarter, so that you will know, when the time comes, whom to save and whom to liquidate.

4. You must be armed so as not to be taken by surprise. As you know, we don’t have enough rifles for all Tutsis, so you must arm yourself with spears and cutlasses to defend yourself while awaiting the arrival of soldiers to protect you. Meanwhile, avoid rushing into the Hutu area. Now, certain Hutu are sure to have procured rifles. Even if they don’t know yet how to help themselves, it is better not to throw yourself into the mouth of the wolf.

5. You must know each Tutsi who owns a telephone in order to exchange information rapidly or to alert the military to come to your aid. If you are attacked, the advice is the following: one Tutsi is worth three Hutus; do your best to kill at least three Hutus.

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6. Even if the government declines to assure its protection in your home or on the street, don’t be duped because this is addressed to those who support this government; in other words, you don’t take part in it. Know, too, that Hutu have the habit of reacting after a coup. They have never known how to anticipate. You must thus have discussions between yourselves to fix the opportune moment to surprise them before they prepare themselves.

7. Every Tutsi student, even if he is in primary school, should know the Hutu in his class. This is not difficult to identify, you know what you need to inculcate in your children, even when they are still in the cradle. Remember: an enemy is never small!

8. They still have the hope that, in the next days, in about two months, international intervention troops will come. Absolutely not! Don’t worry if we tell you that the Palipehutu has attacked; this will be a trick for inciting soldiers to exterminate the Hutus who still remain alive. In Bujumbura, you Tutsis, prepare yourselves to leave your area to take refuge in a corner where many Tutsi live, such as Rohereo, Kirri, Ngagara, Musaga, Nyakabiga, Buriza, Jabe and Buyenzi, must be evacuated within three months, so that there are no longer any Tutsi in these quarters in February 1994.

9. Never walk alone in the streets, whether this is in the country or in town and don’t disclose everywhere your ideas and your projects. In case of necessity, we will invite you, at the opportune moment, to create lies [false noises?] and spread them among the population. It is thus better to always remain together in a group. At the same time, never arm yourself with a knife at night or during the day. It’s better to have a grenade. If the military searches you or discovers a knife on you, they are going to ask you if your aren’t a Hutu. Thus, always have with you a piece of bamboo in your pocket, a distinctive sign by which the military will recognize Tutsis.

10. Inform yourself seriously to learn how those of yours have been victims of the war, but never say that you will avenge them: leave that task to our military: they will disguise themselves as civilians. You can organize yourselves by quarters, contribute money and designate those who will lead the soldiers disguised as civilians to the interior of the country. Take them into your trust; they understand their mission well.

11. If you must take refuge, never flee toward a stranger. Since Uganda is too long, Burundi is the only country we have and it is there that we will live until death.

12. There are Hutu women who look like Tutsi women, whose mission is to work openly for the Hutu. They stay near the Tutsi to learn our plans. Pay attention! Don’t be deceived by appearances. They are as dangerous as AIDS. Stay far from them or pretend not to recognize them and “pick the worm from the nose” to obtain information on the following points:

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Do the Hutus have many rifles or machetes? Where are Hutu leaders hiding? How are they thinking about defending themselves in case we attack? Until now they seem not to be prepared.

The majority of them have stayed in Bujumbura and do not protect themselves sufficiently.

13. (Number 13 was missing from document upon retrieval on 7/25/2009)

14. There exist more subtle means for exterminating Hutus: you can isolate them in nature and make them disappear, one by one, not seen or known; you can send them pretty girls or Rwandan prostitutes; you can put tuberculosis in their food or drink.

15. Hutu children are spoiled and unsuspecting: here also you can trap them and capture the kid who has lost his way, then call his father, grandfather, or his mother to come get him, then make all of them disappear.

16. The current period is very difficult: if the current government works properly, nothing further will be possible. We must therefore sabotage it by all means possible and imaginable, whether by diffusing tracts or spreading rumors that this government is incapable, as well among the old rulers as in international opinion: as we did before our valiant soldiers assassinated the so-called Ndadane.

17. All Tutsi international functionaries, great merchants who have contacts with foreign authorities, all those who rub shoulders with friends of our country or strangers who have married our girls, must explain and make understood that a government such as this, oriented toward the law of numbers, can in no case govern with our army. Therefore, those who dream of reforming it will never succeed.

These rules were conceived for the good of all Tutsis, wherever they might be. Therefore, you who are Tutsi, wherever you are, apply these rules strictly. We have dominated this country on the backs of our Hutu slaves, we have dominated over the centuries, it is not now in 1993 that we will lower our arms, telling ourselves that there is a hurricane more pleasant that we call democracy.

Let honor rest where it always has. Have the peace that the true Burundi patriots wish you.

Source: http://www.stanford.edu/class/psych165/10comm.doc Retrieved: 07/25/2009

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Appendix 11.2 The Arusha Peace Agreement

The Arusha Peace Agreement was structured around five pillars:

I. The establishment of the rule of law; II. Power-sharing III. Repatriation and resettlement of refugees and internally displaced people; IV. The integration of armed forces and V. Other miscellaneous provisions.

It was particularly the power-sharing arrangements that threatened members of the regime. The Arusha Peace Agreement threatened the basis of their power and privilege, which they had so far enjoyed without serious challenge. Given the fact that they had always relied on the army as the instrument of maintaining their grip on power at any cost, it is clear why they were very opposed to the idea of integration of the armed forces.

The Arusha Peace Agreement was signed on August 4th, 1993 and was supposed to have been implemented within 37 days, beginning with the establishment of the institutions of the presidency, cabinet and the National Assembly. A United Nations force was supposed to oversee this process. RPF honoured all its commitments when in December 1993 it sent 600 of its troops to Kigali, as well as members of the Executive who were supposed to be members of the transitional government. The mind of the regime on the other hand, was focused on the preparation for genocide.

The Arusha Peace Agreement was never implemented although its principal provisions now constitute the Fundamental Law of the Republic of Rwanda.

Source:

Rwanda Government Website: http://www.gov.rw/government/historyf.html

Entire document can be accessed at the following link: http://www.incore.ulst.ac.uk/services/cds/agreements/pdf/rwan1.pdf

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Appendix 12 Excerpts from Kangura

(First Issue May 1990-Final Issue 1995)

“Historians and sociologists tell us that Rwanda is inhabited by three ethnic groups, which are the Twas, the Hutu, and the Tutsi. They say that these ethnic groups can co-exist in harmony and work together if Tutsis do not behave themselves in a bragging manner, people who like to boast, talk a lot, tell lies and are hypocrites, people who are never satisfied and people who want to have everything, they’re thieves, they are involved in intrigues, they are wicked, they are killers. And they are people who have grudges just like serpents.” (ICTR transcript, Hassan Ngeze, 2 April 2003: 87–8; Moustapha 1991)

Source: http://www.idrc.ca/rwandagenocide/ev-108292-201-1-DO_TOPIC.html

“The enemy is still there, among us, and is biding his time to try again, at a more propitious moment, to decimate us…Therefore, Hutu, wherever you may be, wake up! Be firm and vigilant. Take all necessary measures to deter the enemy from launching a fresh attack.” (Kangura No. 6, in December 1990)

Source: http://www.ictr.org/ENGLISH/cases/Barayagwiza/judgement/Summary- Media.pdf

“What weapons shall we use to conquer the Inyenzi (cockroach) once and for all?” [picture of a machete is depicted on the cover of the newspaper]

Source: http://www.ictr.org/ENGLISH/cases/Barayagwiza/judgement/Summary- Media.pdf

“We are trying to discover the wickedness and malice of Tutsis. When you cure the eye of a Tutsi, you will be the first to be glanced at with envy. We have started with this proverb so as to warn and awaken those who are not aware of the sadism, wickedness, malice and ingratitude of Tutsis. Tutsis think they are more intelligent than whosoever is but after analysis, it is discovered that their pretentiousness conceals their wickedness. . . .” (Kangura No. 46 in July 1993)

Source: http://slomanson.tjsl.edu/RadioMachete.pdf

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“Let’s hope the Inyenzi will have the courage to understand what is going to happen and realize that if they make a small mistake, they will be exterminated; if they make the mistake of attacking again, there will be none of them left in Rwanda, not even a single accomplice. All the Hutus are united. . . .” (Kangura in January 1994, Hassan Ngeze)

Source: http://slomanson.tjsl.edu/RadioMachete.pdf

“We have indications that the RPF will soon launch other attacks in Kigali from all sides… We know where the cockroaches are. If they look for us, they had better watch out”.

“By the way, the Tutsi race could be extinguished” (Kangura, February 1994)

Source: Kirschke, L. (1996). Broadcasting Genocide: Censorship, Propaganda & State-Sponsored Violence in Rwanda 1990-1994. London: Article 19.

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Appendix 12 cont.

257

Appendix 12 cont.

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Appendix 13 Excerpts from Radio Télévision Libre des Mille Collines

(RTLM)

(First Broadcast: July 1993-Final Broadcast July 1994) Note: These excerpts are from broadcasts that took place after April 6, 1994, the onset of the genocide.

Let them [people at the roadblocks] be strong, RTLM radio is with them … it follows them the whole time while … they are at their road-blocks, night and day. … that is how RTLM radio is … it supports our own people. (RTLM, 8 April, Valérie Bemeriki)

“Citizens are asked to remain vigilant, to stand up like real men, to defend themselves. Roadblocks must be maintained. They really must be maintained during the day so that they can halt these Inkotanyi. Because there are some ([Inkotanyi] coming … dressed as civilians and unarmed … apparently seeking reinforcements. But citizens really need to stay at their roadblocks, they really must defend themselves, they must remain invincible.” (RTLM, 10 April 1994)

“If you do not want to have Rwandans exterminated, stand up ,take action … without worrying about international opinion.” (RTLM, 15 April 1994)

Whoever does not have his identity card should be arrested and maybe lose his head there … checking is necessary, one should have his identity card with him, showing that he is Rwandan and that he is a son of [a]] cultivator 17, that he is not an enemy or an accomplice, that he is not an Inkotanyi (RTLM, May 1994)

Source: Kirschke, L. (1996). Broadcasting Genocide: Censorship, Propaganda & State-Sponsored Violence in Rwanda 1990-1994. London: Article 19.

“…they say the Tutsi are being exterminated, they are being decimated by the Hutu, and other things. I would like to tell you, dear listeners of RTLM that the war we are waging is actually between these two ethnic groups, the Hutu and the Tutsi.” (15 May 1994, the Editor-in-Chief of RTLM, Gaspard Gahigi)

Source: http://slomanson.tjsl.edu/RadioMachete.pdf

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Appendix 14 Conceptual Memo

The following are samples of memos and how the properties of managing the void evolved over time:

Say, do, think, feel what is expected they should do, think and feel; “group think”; relinquishing power; parroting the party line; Jan2407 mimicking These individuals have a strong tendency to go along with whatever they are told. For some it is cultural; others are afraid that not going along will bring about more destruction. There is not much they won’t do in order to follow the course that has been charted for them. It also has a basis in an extreme measure of trust in authority figures. Trust in leadership is a type of security. How can they go wrong if they just follow the orders? They are eager to please. ______In their hearts they are still traumatized and they know it; hold on to resentment but don’t express it when with the group; hiding feelings; Jan2807 masking There is something that is not being said by some. They do not readily share true feelings about what happened. They hold their feelings close to the vest. They smile, they greet, they interact…it all seems a bit rehearsed; as if a script had been memorized and is recited for public consumption. This hiding of their true feelings allows a level of comfort under their current circumstances. They have been told that they must live together but they are left holding on to a tremendous pain. Some survivors and perpetrators have no desire to live together but they must. They can’t let their true feelings be known for fear of reprisal. Hiding these feelings can’t be healthy. It leaves the door open for revenge and can fester in ways that undermine the reconciliation process. Hiding serves a purpose though. It offers a way for people to live together. Acting in ways that are counter to what one really feels. We all do this every day but they are stuffing intense negative feelings and that can’t be good. Those feelings must eventually find ways of being expressed either internally or externally. ______

Admitting what happened but trying to act as though it didn’t happen; loss of the self; numbing of the self Mar1507 numbing down Individuals are living without feeling because it’s too painful to feel. The community which was a large part of the self identity has let them down in a big way. There is confusion, disorientation, disbelief, and a total breakdown of the life or what was known as a normal existence. It has been way too much for many to handle. They have had to disconnect in order to survive. Some even prefer to disconnect and are fine with “removing” this pain. It is one of the new “norms” of daily existence in Rwanda.

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______Stays close to their feelings about the genocide; don’t readily buy into the government party line; hanging on the memory of what happened; seeking out groups and others who need to remember; defying Jn2807 confronting the void Very spirited individuals who are passionate and not afraid to remain angry…highly sensitive to the indignities suffered by their neighbors and friends. ______Living at the edge of trauma; reliving genocide; relapsing; staring into the abyss; Jn2807 episodic recall The pain for them is still very raw…it will always be fresh. Things, people, events in the environment trigger memories. They relive the events of 94 as if they happened yesterday.

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Appendix 15 African Cannibal Cartoon

Scene from Jungle Jitters 1938 Warner Brothers/Merrie Melodies Cartoon

Visit the following website to view the cartoon in its entirety: http://www.bcdb.com/cartoon/467-Jungle_Jitters.html

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Appendix 16 Current Administrative Map of Rwanda

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Appendix 17 Informed Consent (English)

INFORMED CONSENT DOCUMENT

Changing Poison into Medicine: Transitioning from Conflict to Creative Coexistence and Cooperation

You are being asked to participate in a research study about Rwandans in business partnerships since the genocide. You were selected as a possible participant because you are one of several women who are participating in the business loan program established by the Sager Family Foundation. Please listen carefully to the information on this form as it is read to you and please ask any questions that you may have before agreeing to be in the study.

Researchers at Case Western Reserve University are conducting this study.

Background Information The purpose of this research is to discover what the most important things are for Rwandans who have experienced the genocide in 1994 and who are currently in business partnerships together. An understanding of what has happened for you in these partnerships holds value for the entire world. Approximately 60 women are being asked to participate in the study. There will be no payment for participating in this study.

Procedures If you agree to be a participant in this study, you will be asked to do the following things:

a) You will meet with a Kinyarwanda translator and me in a private area to review the informed consent form. b) You will meet with a Kinyarwanda translator and me in a private area for a conversation that will last about one hour. Your participation is voluntary. If you choose not to participate, you will not affect your future relations with the Sager Foundation in any way. If you decide to participate now, you are still free to stop at any time without affecting your relationship with the Foundation. The conversation will be videotaped and audio taped to allow me to spend my time engaging in the conversation with you. If you do not wish to be recorded, you have a right to say so and I will take notes. c) Discuss with me what you have learned about yourself, your business partner and life in general as a result of being in business together. d) There will be an additional session of conversation within two weeks (also in a private area) that will also last about an hour. Your participation in this session is also voluntary. If you choose not to participate, you will not affect your future relations with the Sager Foundation in any way. If you 264

decide to participate now, you are still free to stop at any time without affecting your relationship with the Foundation. The conversation will also be videotaped and audio taped to allow me to spend my time engaging in the conversation with you. If you do not wish to be recorded, you have a right to say so and I will take notes. .

Risks and Benefits to Being in the Study This research has minimal risks. There may however, be some discomfort. First, you might experience mental distress as you recall painful memories. You do not have to discuss those memories and you can stop the discussion at any time if you feel the conversation is too painful. There will be a counselor available if you need to discuss those painful memories once the discussion is over. Second, the time you spend with me is time away from all the other work you have to do during your work day. Being away from those tasks may cause hardship for you and your family.

There are no direct benefits for participation in this study.

Confidentiality The records of this research will be kept private. In any sort of report we might publish, we will not include any information that will make it possible to identify a participant. Your family name or anything that might identify who you are will not be used. Neither The Sager Foundation nor your business partner will be told of your participation in the study. Whatever you say in this conversation will not be shared with your business partner or the Sager Foundation. Research records will be kept in a locked file at Case Western Reserve University in the United States, and access will be limited to the researchers, the University review board responsible for protecting human participants, regulatory agencies, and sponsors and funding agencies.

Video tapes and audio tapes are necessary so I can be free to listen carefully to what you have to say without taking many notes. I will have the video tapes transcribed from Kinyarwanda to English when I return to the United States. I will transcribe the audio tapes into a written text. I will delete all names that appear in the text. Your name or any other name mentioned by you will never appear in the written transcription.

The translator will not have a copy of any video tapes or audio tapes. I will take the video tapes or audio tapes and any written translations back to the United States with me. They will be stored in a locked file at the University and at my home in the United States. While in the United States, only the translator, my advisor and I will have access to the written records while we work on this project. I will finish analyzing the conversations by May 2007. I will destroy all written text and identifying information that can be linked back to you.

Voluntary Nature of the Study

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Your participation is voluntary. If you choose not to participate, you will not affect your future relations with the Sager Foundation in any way. If you decide to participate now, you are still free to stop at any time affecting your relationship with the Foundation.

Contacts and Questions If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me, Martha (Bibi) Potts, the translator (name of Rwandan translator) or (name of Rwandan counselor). You may ask any questions you have now or if you have any additional questions later, I will be happy to answer them. If you have other questions or concerns regarding the study and would like to talk to someone other than the researcher you can contact Julie Uwamwiza, the community leader of the business partners program in Rwanda.

If the researchers cannot be reached, or if you would like to talk to someone other than the researcher(s) about; (1) questions, concerns or complaints regarding this study, (2) research participant rights, (3) research-related injuries, or (4) other human subjects issues, please contact Case Western Reserve University's Institutional Review Board at (216) 368-6925 or write: Case Western Reserve University; Institutional Review Board; 10900 Euclid Ave.; Cleveland, OH 44106-7230. You may keep a copy of this form.

Statement of Consent I have read the above information. I have received answers to the questions I have asked. I consent to participate in this research. I am at least 18 years of age.

“" YES, I CONSENT to being audio/video recorded. I also understand that I reserve the right to change my mind;”

“" NO, I DO NOT CONSENT to being audio/video recorded.”

Print Name of Participant:

Signature of Participant: Date:

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Appendix 17 cont. Informed Consent (Kinyarwanda)

Guhindura Uburozi mo Umuti: Inzibacyuho yo kuva mu Ubushyamirane ujya ku Imibanirane n’Ubufatanye

Urimo urasabwa kwinjizwa mu bushakashatsi ku banyarwanda bafatanyije business nyuma ya jenocide. Watoranijwe nk’umwe mubashobora kudufasha kuko uri umwe mu abategarugori bari muri porogaramu y’inguzanyo zo kwikorera zatewe inkunga na Sager Family Foundation. Usabwe gutega amatwi witonze, ukumva ibikubiye muri iyi nyandiko uko bagenda bayigusomera kandi ubaze ibibazo ibyo aribyo byose waba ufite mbere yuko wiyemeza kujya muri ub’ ubushakashatsi.

Abashakashatsi bo muri Kaminuza ya Case Western Reserve nibo barimo barakora ubu bushakashatsi.

Imvo n’imvano y’ub’ubushakashatsi

Impanvu y’ubu bushakashatsi ni ugushaka ibintu bya mbere bya ngombwa ku banyarwanda bahuye n’ibyago bya genocide ya 1994 kandi bakaba bari mu mirimo bikorera kugiti cyabo banafatanyije n’abandi. Twemera ko kumva neza ibyababayeho muri iyi mikoranire n’abandi bifitiye akamaro isi yose. Abategarugori hafi mirongwitandatu (60) basabwe kwitabira ub’ubushakashatsi. Nta gihembo kizahabwa abazaba bitabiriye ub’ubushakashatsi.

Uko bigenda

Niba wemeye kwitabira ub’ ubushakashatsi, uzasabwa gukora ibi bikurikira:

a) Uzahura n’umusemuzi w’ikinyarwanda nanjye ahantu hiherereye kugirango turebere hamwe ifishi y’umuntu wemeye kwitabira ub’ ubushakashatsi.

b) Uzahura n’umusemuzi w’ikinyarwanda nanjye ahantu hiherereye mu kiganiro kizamara isaha. Kwitabira icyo kiganiro bizaba kubushacye bwawe. Niba utifuza kukijyamo, ntabwo bizahungabanya na gato imibanire yawe na Sager Family Foundation mu igihe kizaza. Niba wifuza kwitabira iki kiganiro kandi, ufite uburenganzira bwo kuba wabihagarikira aho ushakiye ntibigire icyo bihungabanyaho na gato imibanire yawe na Sager Family Foundation. Ikiganiro kizafatwa amashusho n’amajwi kugirango bimfashe kongera umwanya amarana nawe mu kiganiro. Niba utifuza gufatwa amashusho n’amajwi ufite uburenganzira bwo kubivuga nkandika ibyo tuvugana kumpapuro

267 c) Uzaganira nanjye ibyo wize kuri wowe, kuwo mufatanyije ubucuruzi (business) n’ubuzima muri rusange byose biturutse ku mikoranire yanyu. d) Hazaba ikindi kiganiro mu byumweru bibiri (nacyo ahantu hiherereye), icyo kiganiro nacyo kizamara isaha imwe. Ukwitabira icyo kiganiro kwawe bizaba nabyo kubushacye bwawe. Niba utifuza kutitabira icyo kiganioro, ntabwo bizahungabanya na gato imibanire yawe na Sager Family Foundation. Niba uhisemo kukitabira, ufite uburenganzira bwo kuba wabihagarikira aho ushakiye ntibigire icyo bihungabanya ku imibanire yawe na Sager Family Foundation mu igihe kizaza. Ikiganiro tuzagirana kizafatwa amashusho n’amajwi nanone kugirango bimfashe kongera umwanya amarana nawe mu kiganiro. Niba utifuza gufatwa amajwi ufite uburenganzira bwo kubivuga nkandika ibyo tuvugana kumpapuro.

Ingaruka n’ibyiza byo kuba muri ub’ ubushakashatsi

Ub’ ubushakashatsi bushobora gutera ingaruka nke. Bushobora gutera ukutamererwa neza. Icya mbere, ushobora kugira ingaruka yo kubabara kuko bikwibutsa ibintu bibatari byiza wabayemo. Si ngombwa ko uvuga ibyo bintu bibi wibuka, ikindi ushobora guhagarika ikiganiro igihe icyo aricyo cyose niba wumva ko bikubabaje cyane. Ibiganiro byose birangiye, hazaba hari umuntu wabyize wo kukugira inama igihe uzaba wumva ushaka kuganira nawe kuri ibyo bintu byakubayeho kandi biguteye agahinda. Icya kabiri, igihe tuzaba turikumwe mukiganiro n’umwanya uzabawigomwe washoboraga gukoramo iyindi mirimo yose k’umunsi wawe w’akazi. Kwigomwa iyo mirimo bishobora kugukomerera wowe n’umuryango wawe. Ikindi kandi, nta nyungu zako kanya ziri mu kwitabira ubu bushakashatsi.

Ibanga

Ibivuye byose muri ubu bushakashatsi bizaguma mu bubiko. Muri raporo iyo ariyo yose dushobora gushyira k’umugaragaro, nta kintu na kimwe tuzashyiramo cyamenyekanisha umuntu uzaba yadufashije muri ub’ ubushakashasti. Izina ryawe cyangwa ikindi cyose cyakwerekana uwo uriwe ntikizakoreshwa. Yaba Sager Foundation cyangwa uwo mufatanije m’ubucuruzi (business) ntabwo bazabwirwa ko wadufashije muri ub’ubushakashatsi. Ibyo uzavuga byose muri iki kiganiro ntabwo tuzabibwira Sager Foundation cyangwa uwo mufatanije m’ubucuruzi (business). Ibyanditswe bivuye muri ub’ubushakashatsi bizabikwa ahantu hafunze n’ingufuri kuri kaminuza ya Case Western Reserve muri Leta z’Unze Ubumwe z’ Amerika. Abantu bonyine bazaba bemerewe kureba ibyavuye muri ub’ubushakashatsi, n’aba bakurikira: Abashakashatsi, kimwe n’abagize inama y’ubutegetsi bw’ishami rishinzwe kurengera abantu bitabira bene ubu bushakashatsi, ibigo bishinzwe ubugenzuzi bw’amategeko, kimwe n’abaterankunga.

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Gufata amakasete videwo (cassette video) n’amakasete radio (cassette radio) ni ngombwa kuko nshobora kumva nitonze ibyo uvuga ntiriwe nandika byinshi. Nzafata kasete videwo (cassettes video) z’ikinyarwanda nzihinduze mu cyongereza ninsubira muri Amerika. Nzashyira amakasete radiyo (cassette radio) mu nyandiko mvugo. Nzasiba amazina yose aboneka munyandiko. Izina ryawe kimwe n’andi mazina wazavuga ntabwo azagaragara munyandiko.

Umusemuzi nta kopi n’imwe azahabwa yaba iya kasete radiyo (cassette radio) cyangwa ya videwo (video). Nzatwara muri Leta z’Unze Ubumwe z’Amerika kasete videwo (cassette video), kasete radiyo (cassette radio) cyangwa se inyandiko izo arizo zose zizaba zakoreshejwe muri ub’ubushakashasti. Igihe nzaba ndi muri Amerika, umusemuzi, umujyanama wanjye nanjye gusa nitwe tuzabona inyandiko zose zijyanye n’ub’ubushakashasti mugihe tuzaba dukora kuri uyu mushinga. Nzarangiza gusesengura ibiganiro twagiranye muri ub’ubushakashatsi mu kwezi kwa gatanu 2007. Nzaca inyandiko zose kimwe n’ibintu byose byaba biriho bishobora kuba byatuma umenyekana.

Ubushake mu kwitabira ubu bushakashatsi

Ukwitabira iki gikorwa ni k’ ubushake bwawe ntagahato karimo. Niba uhisemo kutitabira ub’ubushakashatsi, ntabwo bizahungabanya na gato imibanire yawe na Sager Family Foundation. Niba kandi wifuza kubwitabira, ufite uburenganzira bwo kuba wabihagarikira aho ushakiye ntibigire icyo bihungabanyaho na gato imibanire yawe na Sager Family Foundation.

Aho tubarizwa n’ibibazo waba ufite

Niba ufite ikibazo icyo aricyo cyose, uzisanzure mukumbaza njye, Martha (Bibi) Potts, umusemuzi (izina ry’umusemuzi w’ikinyarwanda) cyangwa (izina ry’umujyanama w’umunyarwanda). Ushobora kubaza ibibazo byose ufite nonaha cyangwa nyuma, nzashimishwa no kubisubiza. Niba hari ibindi bibazo ufite cyangwa n’ibindi biguhangayicyishije kubyerecyeranye n’ub’ ubushakashatsi, ukaba wakwifuza kuvugana n’umuntu wundi utari umushakashatsi, ushobora gushaka Julie Uwamwiza, umuyobozi wa porogaramu y’ ubucuruzi bushyizehamwe (business partners) mu Rwanda.

Niba abashakashasti bataboneste cyangwa ukaba ushaka kuvugana n’abandi bantu batari abashakashatsi kubintu bikurikira: 1) ibibazo, impungenge cyangwa ikindi kintu utishimiye kijyanye n’ub’ubushakashasti, 2) uburenganzira bw’abitabiriye ub’ubushakashasti, 3) ibibazo bindi bijyanye n’ub’ubushakashatsi, cyangwa 4) ibindi bibazo bijyanye n’ubuzima bw’abantu, ushobora gushaka Case Western Reserve University; Institutional Review

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Board kuri numero ya telephone (216) 368-6925 cyangwa ukandika kuri adiresi (address) ikurikira: Case Western Reserve University; Institutional Review Board; 10900 Euclid Ave.; Cleveland, OH 44106-7230. Ushobora kugumana kopi y’ur’urupapuro

Inyandiko mvugo y’ubwumvikane

“ YEGO, NEMEYE ko bamfata amajwi n’amashusho kubyuma muri ub’ubushakashatsi. Nsobanukiwe kandi ko mfite uburenganziza bwo guhindura icyemezo cyanjye.”

“ NO, NTABWONEMEYE ko bamfata amajwi n’amashusho kubyuma.”

Amazina y’uwitabiriye ubushakashatsi:

Umukono w’ uwitabiriye ubushakashatsi:

Itariki:

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Appendix 18 Murambi

Accessed 12/03/2010 http://www.travelblog.org/Photos/2473040

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Appendix 19 Information About Gacaca

Gacaca courts were public tribunals based on traditional Rwandan dispute resolution interventions. They were designed to expedite the genocide trials because prosecution would literally have taken over 100 years to try the cases of those accused of crimes. Gacaca judges were trusted members of the local community who were elected by the citizens of that community. The perpetrators were classified into four categories (which was later reduced to three by combining category three and four into a single category). Category 1 perpetrators were remanded to the International Criminal Tribunal of Rwanda

1st category: • Planners, organizers, instigators, supervisors of the genocide • Leaders at the national, provincial or district level, within political parties, army, religious denominations or militia; • People who committed rape or acts of sexual torture.

2nd category: • Authors, co-authors, accomplices of deliberate homicides, or of serious attacks that caused someone’s death. • The person who - with intention of killing - caused injuries or committed other serious violence, but without actually causing death.

3rd category: • The person who committed criminal acts or became accomplice of serious attacks, without the intention of causing death.

4th category: • The person having committed offences against property.

Source: http://www.inkiko-gacaca.gov.rw/En/EnIntroduction.htm

272

Appendix 20 Prison Recruitment Process

Preparing for Prison Interviews

The way the prison system functions, the prison director and prison guards rarely enter the main prison compound. Virtually all aspects of Rwandan prison life are run by the prisoners. The social system mirrors that outside the prison walls and it is highly stratified and hierarchal with an internal

“administration” that is established by the inmates (Tertsakian, 2008). The prison

“administration” receives new inmates; ensures prisoners are allocated their own space, food and water; provides security and medical care; and provides access to legal advice, education, leisure activities and religious services (ibid).

One of the “administrative” roles within this prison society is that of capita général (CG). The man or woman in this position is considered the lead prisoner. They have deputies, a private secretary, assistants, public relations

(within the prison) personnel and protocol officers (ibid). It was thought that developing a connection with the CG at each of the selected prison locations would be the best way to ensure cooperation from the prisoners.

With the help of Professor Diane Bergeron, a member of the Case

Western Reserve University faculty, a prisoner recruitment process was designed that passed the scrutiny of the Case IRB. Listed below are the major steps of the process that were required to be taken to protect study participants within the prison population:

273

Figure 1 presents an illustration of what day 1 of the recruitment process would look like:

The researcher will be introduced to the director of the prison and present the letter of cooperation from the Ministry of Internal Security. The researcher would ask to meet and be introduced to the CG.

274

Appendix 20 cont.

The researcher will obtain written consent from each CG before any conversation takes place with him/her to ensure that the CG is aware the conversation is voluntary. Researcher will inform each CG that they can choose not to have a conversation with researcher and it will not affect their prison stay in any way. They will be made aware that if they engage

in conversation, they are free to stop the conversation at any time without penalty from anyone.

At this meeting, the researcher will establish a rapport with CG sharing a bit about researcher’s life and why there is an interest in doing research in Rwanda. The discussion will include conversation about the initial interest in Women in Finance (WIF) and how those interviews led to opportunities to talk with many Rwandans in different associations. The discussion will speak to the emergent story of how Rwandans are approaching the task of rebuilding a positive Rwandan society and that people within the various associations felt the researcher should talk to inmates. It will be shared with the CG that there is no interest in any inmate’s involvement in the genocide. Instead, it will be shared there is a desire to talk to prisoners about their ideas of how the best Rwandan society can come about from the current situation.

The researcher will request a private area in the facility in which all conversations can be conducted in seclusion. The CG will be informed that our ability to communicate without interference is essential to the success of the study. The researcher will maintain strict confidentiality and will be the only person to take notes and the translator or counselor will not have a copy of any notes. The researcher will take any notes back to the United States. Family names or anything that might identify prisoners will not be used. Neither the prison officials, inmates friends, government officials will be told of their participation or what was said during the interviews.

Researcher will request a list of prisoner’s names and randomly identify 15 inmates from the list.

Flyers written in Kinyarwanda announcing the study will be given to prison administrator and CG to be distributed to the prison population and the end of the visit on day 1.

End of day 1 recruitment process

275

Appendix 20 cont.

On day 2 the researcher, translator and trauma counselor would return to the facility to resume the process. The process used during day 2 would continue until fifteen prisoners have been met.

276

Researcher will return to facility and meet with the director and CG.

Researcher will request to meet with each of the 15 inmates who were randomly selected from the manifest the day before.

277

Appendix 20 cont.

Researcher will meet with each of the 15 individually in the predetermined private area. Each prisoner will be allowed the option to volunteer, without coercion, while in the private setting. All inmates will spend the same amount of time with the researcher and translator (30-40 minutes) however, only 7 of the 15 inmates will actually be interviewed.

Those inmates who agree to be interviewed will have an explanation of the research and the informed consent document thoroughly explained in Kinyarwanda. There will be major emphasis placed on the voluntary nature of the study, the individual’s right to choose not to participate without fear of reprisal, and the confidentiality of their responses.

Those inmates who are not interviewed will be free to engage in a casual conversation with the researcher and translator about general matters (i.e. life in America, the researcher’s family, researcher’s childhood etc.)

End of day 2 recruitment process

Day 3 would repeat the activities of the previous day until fifteen prisoners had been interviewed.

278

279

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