Peoples, Populations & Parties



Kinyinya Community Centre, Kigali

Albert welcomed me into his home where he lived with his younger sister amidst 400 parentless households of which he was head.

Recollections of the Genocide encircled me and burst into time-warp photography, played-back in slow motion as he recounted his survival ~ a phoenix risen from the ashes and his cries a beautiful song.

'Shake Hands with the Devil' Lt Gen Romeo Dallaire's account of the Genocide provides the reader with such insights.

Some Genocidaires are 'WANTED' but countless live amongst the survivors wearing a uniform as part of their punishment:  Gacaca courts deliver transitional justice, designed to promote healing and a moving on from the crisis ~ 'Truth, Justice & Reconciliation'.

Mary Kayitesi Blewitt, OBE, founded the Survivors Fund 'SURF' and having lost 50 members of her own family, has now written a book 'YOU ALONE MAY LIVE'.

'Of my family, only my niece survived. Miraculously, she escaped death and managed to clamber out of the mass grave. She ran to some Hutu friends for help.

Two of the boys went to the grave, finished off any survivors, then came back to rape her.

Later, when I went to the village to put up a memorial for the 200 killed there, their mother denied they had been involved. She said she felt sorry for me and hugged me, but I didn’t think she was genuine. If you’re really sorry you say, “Yes, my sons did this”.

I stayed eight months in Rwanda and began to despair.

There was so much money for aid, but the agencies spent it all on supporting refugees – many of whom were killers. No one was supporting the widows or the orphans. I couldn’t sit around and wait for something to happen, so I started my own organisation – SURF – to make sure that survivors had support and that their voices would be heard.

What happened in Rwanda was not a tribal issue, but a humanitarian one. Any country in the world is capable of genocide. Survivors say they’ve forgiven, but many don’t understand the word. The world is obsessed with moving on, but there’s no closure for a victim of an atrocity. Without dialogue, accountability or apology you can’t move on. It’s exhausting. Genocide is beyond forgiveness.'

'Project Umubano' led by Andrew Mitchell MP and followed by a team of 104 supporters arrived in Rwanda to support five sectors where politicians meet face-to-face with people in the developing world, in an attempt to better understand their lives and the challenges they face.

Music, dancing and laughter erupted and dissolved spontaneously between sawing, digging, planting and painting at Kinyinya Community Centre, Kigali where I was based, it was such fun, truly.

Visitors would comment on the incredible team spirit and this underlined what was being achieved ~ between people, populations and Parties.

International Development has taught me that individuals can make a difference, no matter how small to the 'hard-headed but not hard-hearted' approach.  Being 'realistic but optimistic' as 'the rewards of these ambitions will be great' 'a better life for millions of people and a safer, more prosperous world for Britain'.  Prime Minister, David Cameron.

My Best Life :  Gap Yah! @StopAtHome may well include a include a return to Africa ~ God willing.