BEATA
MUARUBUGA – SYMBOL OF FORGIVENESS IN RWANDA GENOCIDE!
By
Mawutodzi Kodzo Abissath
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| 20 years of Rwanda Genocide April 1994 to April 2014 |
Do
you remember the popular axiom “Forgive and forget?” It is only God Who can
forgive and forget. The closest man can reach is to forgive but not to forget. That
is the summary of the story of Madam Beata Muarubuga of Rwanda. And she can be
described as the SYMBOL OF FORGIVESS in Rwanda.
The day was a Friday,
April 4, 2014. The time was approximately 3.30 in the afternoon, and the venue
was the sanctum at the International Institute of Social Studies (ISS) of the Erasmus
University Rotterdam here in The Hague, the City of Global Peace and Justice.
The occasion was what was dubbed as “KWIBUKA20 –Commemoration Genocide against
Tutsi.” The precise Hall of the gathering is known as Large Aula ISS Building,
Kortenaerkade 12, The Hague.
When everything was
set, the Rector of the famous ISS, Professor Dr Leo de Haan was called upon to
set the ball rolling by welcoming the invited guests. But this knowledge Professor is a
man of few words. When Prof Leo de Haan moved to the lectern, he spent less
than three (3) minutes behind the microphone. But what he said was more emotional
than the entire event. In fact, he set the tone for the occasion. He just
reminded the audience somewhat to the effect that what happened in Rwanda 20
years ago was more than a human tragedy the global history of ethnic conflict. Then
he quietly and solemnly resumed his seat on the front row.
Then H.E. The
Ambassador of Rwanda in The Hague, Mr. Jean Pierre Karabaranga picked it up the
emotional tone from where Professor de Haan left off. He then opened the 'Pandora box' of emotions and as much as he tried to control his emotions, his voice
betrayed him and tears started streaming in most faces in the auditorium. The
atmosphere was tensed and emotionally charged naturally. It was pathetic when
he ended his talk prematurely and appealed not only to Rwandans but all
Africans of goodwill and the entire world to ensure that Rwanda ’94 does not
occur again in the history of humanity.
Then a candle light
ceremony was followed with a minute’s silence. This was done when Rev.Walttraut
Stroth, chaplain International Student Chaplaincy of ISS invoked the presence of the Omnipotent and the Divine Intelligence and the only Forgiver of human imperfections.
Her prayer actually brought down the Holy Spirit the Comforter to console many
disturbed hearts of relatives of many victims of the genocide in our midst.
That Rev might not be advertising herself on radio and television as some
so-called men of God in Africa and elsewhere but she is a true woman of God in
the true sense of the word.
Professor Helen
Hintjens of ISS, who happened to have been an eye-witness of what actually
unfolded in Rwanda in 1994, was called upon to chair the talking point of the
event. The Conference was under the theme UNITE. When the eloquent Professor
took the chair, she was so emotionally charged that her voice deserted her. She
even forgot to give the chairman’s open remarks. She just went ahead straight
and invited the first speaker of the evening to address the gathering. There
might be some people among the audience who perhaps did not know exactly who
the speaker was. But because the
occasion was overwhelming, the chairman could not remember to introduce him by
saying a few words about him
So, Professor Mohamed
Salih, the outgoing Deputy Rector of ISS in charge of Research also had no
choice but to drag himself to the lectern. And his emotions were even heaviour
than all the preceding activists so far. Prof Salih, put his speech on the
lectern but his two hands were groping in his pockets most of the time during
his address. He just managed to control himself till the end of his lecture
without breaking down in tears.
Speaking on the topic “What the Rwanda genocide meant for
Africa,” Professor Salih started by admitting that it was a very challenging
topic for him to handle. As an academician of many years of experience in
continental affairs, he spoke as an intellectual and Research-fellow. He quoted
and made references to what some leading magazines and newspapers in the
Western world wrote about Africa before, during and after the Rwanda
episode.
When it comes to
negativity about Africa, the Western media are the experts. How some of them
described Africa as having gone back to barbarism of colonialism as if colonization
and slavery had been tea party in human history. In fact, the good Professor
alluded to the fact that the genocides of the new world , perhaps referring to the
genocide of indigenous Americans or red Indians as well as the holocaust of the
Jewish in human history. Some of the western media capitalized on the Rwandan
genocide to portray Africa as the “ kingdom of the devil incarnate itself."
Prof Salih recalled
that in 1993, just a year before the Rwanda episode, because of one man in Somalia
holding the entire world to ransom, so, too, as he put it, 'the whole
international community including Africa was watching one country to wipe off
itself from the face of the earth.' Prof Salih lamented and bemoaned that attitude
of the international community towards Rwanda. ‘This was just unfortunate to
say the least’ the Professor rested his case.
Enter the SYMBOL OF
FORGIVENESS – Madam Beata Muarubuga. She was flown all the way from Rwanda to
The Netherlands by the organizers of the event. You remember the popular saying
that “Seeing is believing?” The brave woman of women of the world was not only
an eye-witness of the Rwanda genocide. She was not a mere victim but she is a
miraculous survival of a catastrophic tragedy!
The soft spoken
genocide survival narrated her story in French. And she started by singing a
song that nearly led the entire auditorium drenched into a sea of tears. She
typified the cultural spirit of an African. In Africa, everything is done in
accompaniment with music or song. When a child is born, that child is out-doored
with a song. When a typical African is busy working he or she would be singing simultaneously.
And when a person dies in Africa, the corpse is sure to be sent to the grave amidst music, drumming and dancing most of the time. So, it was not surprising
that the Rwandan brave victim of genocide decided to sing before telling her tale.
She started in French: “On
a tue mon mari, mes cinq enfants, mon pere et ma mere. J’ai perdu mes soeurs,
mes frères, mes oncles, mes tantes et toute ma famille” J’ai survecu seulement
avec mon dernier enfant qui avait un an en ce tempts la et etait dans mon dos.”
All that she said is
simply this: “They have killed my husband; five of my children have been
murdered; my father has been killed; and my mother has been shot dead.” Then
she went on. “My uncles have been killed; my aunties have been murdered; my
sisters have been killed and my brothers and all members of my family have all
been shot dead. I am the only one to survive with my little boy who was one
year old at the time and was fastened to my back,” she narrated with heavy heart.
And the chairman of the
conference Professor Helen Hintjens who also doubled as the French interpreter
was more traumatized than the victim herself. As a result, many people could
not hear properly what she was saying because she could barely open her lips to
interpret the mind-boggling story of the poor woman – THE SYMBOL OF
FORGIVENESS.
Madam Muarubuga
explained that her name was Beata which means blessed. But after she had lost
her husband, her children and her parents she decided to change her name. ‘How
can I be called Blessed if I have lost all my family members during a genocide?”
he asked rhetorically.
And if you listen to
how she escaped death by the skin of her teeth, then you know that God is a
mysterious God. According to her, one day, the killers arranged about 400 Tutsi
to be killed. The killers dug a deep ditch or gutter so that as you are shot,
you fall in to the ditch and die and be buried there all at ago. Among the
killers was a young boy who happened to have been her school pupil or student
because she was a teacher.
Then the boy-killer
spotted her among those to be killed, he approached and asked, “Are you a
Tutsi?” Then the boy told her that he could not kill her because one day, when
his fellow school mates were laughing at him because he did not get a pen, it
was she the mistress who gave him a pen. “Because of that the boy pushed me
away from those to be killed. Then the boy told me: ‘Run into the bush because
tomorrow we will go from house to house and any Tutsi found will be killed.’”
This brave woman
pointed out that for three months, she was in the bush with her one year child
trapped to his back and was roaming the bush day and night. She said it was
during raining season, too, life was horrifying.
To cut a long story
short, the woman’s story depicts what innocent men, women, children Tutsi and moderate
Hutus went through during the legend Rwanda Genocide. And when the dust
settled over one millions (1,000.000) souls had perished within three months in
the glare view of the international community.
Now Madam Beata
Muarubuga, after years of extreme 'traumatization,' went through counseling and
has managed to forgive the perpetrators including the very one who killed her
beloved husband. “This particular killer of my husband wrote a letter to me
from prison. And it was his mother who brought me that letter. ‘And I asked her
you, your son is alive in prison and you are caring for him and mine were dead,
not so?” she disclosed.
Why did Madam Beata
forgive her enemies? She concluded with an African proverb: “If honey bee stings
you and you leave the sting inside your body, the body will continue to swollen
until you remove the sting.” So, as she tries to remove the bitterness in her
she is now feeling better and coping with life. In fact, Madam Beata has not
only become a Counselor of Rwanda Victims to Active Citizens Women in Rwanda,
but she is also a three-year University Student pursuing further studies to better
herself to support her numerous adopted orphan
children of the genocide.
When the floor was open
for questions and contributions, the auditorium regained some life through very
interesting and lively discussions. This writer reminded the audience that when the international
community and most African countries deserted Rwanda in 1994, there was at
least one African country that stood by them. That was Ghana of West Africa.
According
to Wikipedia, “During the 1994 Rwandan genocide, a Ghanaian contingent led
by General Henry Anyidoho was deployed to serve in UNAMIR (United Nations
Assistance Mission for Rwanda) under Canadian General Romeo Dallaire. Anyidoho, who had
experience in peacekeeping missions in Lebanon, Cambodia, and Liberia served as
General Dallaire’s Deputy Commander in addition to his role as head of the
Ghanaian contingent. In Dallare’s book, "Shake Hands With the Devil", Anyidoho and his men are
frequently singled out for praise for their courage and resourcefulness, and
are given credit for sheltering thousands of Tutsis and Hutu moderates, saving
them from certain death”
The author is
MA Student at the International Institute of Social Studies ISS of Erasmus
University Rotterdam in The Hague, The Netherlands abissath@gmail.com
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| Prof. Dr Leo de Haan, Rector, ISS at the lectern set the tone for the sad and emotionally charged event |
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| Candle lights symbolising souls of millions who lost their lives in the genocide |
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| Lighting the candles in memory of departed souls |
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| Prof. Mohamed Salih managing his his emotions with his hands in his pockets |
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| Prof. Helen Hintjens (middle) in the chair for the conference session could barely open her mouth |
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| The solemn audience depicts the mood of the occasion Can humanity co-exist on this planet in peace and harmony? |
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