Petronia lived through a nightmare

Petronia sits quietly beside her mother, her hands on her lap. While her mother is recalling the horrific times they went through, Petronia’s eyes wander restlessly around the sitting room. The twelve year old Rwandan girl "is not doing very well in school, she is frightened by any little noise and frequently wakes up screaming at night when she is faced with a nightmare", her mother Vestine tells with a petrified face. Petronia was just six years old when she experienced a real nightmare. It was a genocide the world has not faced since the Holocaust of the Jews by the Nazis. Petronias father and her four brothers and sisters were killed by her mother’s two brothers only because they were Tutsi. Vestine is a Hutu.

Like many other houses, their home was looted and destroyed by a Hutu mob. The Lutheran World Federation (LWF) assisted Vestine and 25 other widows in constructing new houses near Kibungo by providing shelter materials, transport and technical support along with assistance to resume agricultural activities. The women earn their living now from the banana plants they grow around their houses. LWF is a member of Action by Churches Together (ACT).

It was just six years ago when one of the greatest tragedies in this century unfolded in Rwanda, a small country in Central Africa, populated by only 8 million people. More than 800 000 ethnic Tutsi and moderate Hutu were murdered by Hutu extremists in the 1994 genocide. The massacre was triggered by a mysterious plane crash in April 1994 killing the then president, Juvenal Habyarimana. Militias subsequently rampaged the country till the Tutsi rebels from the Rwanda Patriotic Front (RPF) seized power in the summer of 1994 and formed a Tutsi led government.

Petronia and Vestine survived the massacre. But they are living in a shattered society. Not only relationships between families, households and neighbours have been destroyed, but also families have been divided. In extreme cases sons raped and killed their mothers, husbands killed their wives and children. It is still impossible to quantify the extent of the trauma. A study comprising interviews with 3000 children reveals that 80 % reported having experienced the death of family members during war and genocide. Some 70% have seen someone injured and killed, and almost all have seen dead bodies or parts of bodies.

There are thousands of traumatized Rwandans like Petronia. For example the 35 year old Laurent Karegeya. Every day he returns to Nyarubuye, the place were his wife and child were killed. In and around the big Catholic church thousands of Tutsi lost their lives. Laurent is lingering around with three of his friends who also lost their beloved. They show visitors around the compound which is supposed to become a national monument reminding people of the genocide. Thousands of human skulls and bones are shown in the classrooms of the former parish school. Laurent ran away during the killings.

"When I came back I found the dead in and around the church", he says. "The priest and the sisters had run away to Tanzania. Those who stayed in the church couldn’t believe that they would be murdered", Laurent continuous with a low voice.

Whenever Petronia thinks of her brothers and sisters she cries, says her mother. Although there are some lessons in school where the children can talk about the past, only a psychologist could help the severly traumatized girl. But there are other needs to meet in the country. There are still refugees returning from neighbouring countries thus shelter continues to be a major problem. 42 year old Vestine had fled with her daughter to Tanzania in May 1994. When they came back from the refugee camp they had nowhere to live.

The response to the ACT appeals has enabled the ACT members of Rwanda - LWS, Protestant Council of Rwanda, Christian Aid, United Methodist Committee on Relief and Church World Service – to meet the needs of vulnerable groups. Houses and latrines have been constructed, families assisted in constructing water collecting tanks, bridges repaired, water gravity systems installed, food and seeds distributed. ACT-LWS reconstructed and extended much-needed classrooms. After the crisis in 1994 an estimated 60% of Rwanda’s schools had been damaged or destroyed.

In the period from early 1997 till 1999 alone ACT-LWF has assisted in the construction of around 4000 houses. After the war, the first priority was dealing with the internally displaced persons. Then hundreds of thousands returning refugees had to be resettled. LWF has opened up new land. The Ndego resettlement for example provides new homes to hundreds of families.

The latest ACT appeal supported the transition from emergency programs to programs that focus on community development.

"There is a need for an integrated approach. Rehabilitation linked to development", says Anne Masterson, LWF director in Rwanda. In her view the situation is very fragile, because the division of the society is still huge. Six years after the genocide the debate on reconciliation has just begun. There are still 120,000 Rwandans in prison charged with crimes related to the genocide. Vestine’s brothers too.

"Reconciliation with the killers is not possible", she says. She wants them to be sentenced. Anne Masterston says that building up society takes a lot of time. "You cannot understand how deep the level of hatred goes".