20 years after the Rwanda genocide, 'forgiveness is possible'

20 years after the Rwanda genocide, &#039;forgiveness is possible&#039;

(Image credit: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

last updated 8 January 2015

In the ultimate act of forgiveness, many survivors of the genocide in Rwanda are now working — and even forming friendships — with the same people who tried to kill them 20 years ago.

Beginning on April 7, 1994, ethnic Hutus killed more than one million Tutsis and moderate Hutus during a heinous, 100-day wave of ethnic violence. Since then, the government has pushed to create a single Rwandan identity, and organizations have been created to bring survivors and perpetrators together. "Forgiveness is possible. It's common here," Josephine Munyeli, a genocide survivor and director of peace and reconciliation programs for World Vision, tells The Asssociated Press. "Guilt is heavy. When one realizes how heavy it is the first thing they do to recuperate themselves is apologize."

Emmanuel Ndayisaba killed, by his own account, at least 18 people during the genocide. It was at one of these reconciliation groups that he saw Alice Mukarurinda, a Tutsi woman whose hand he chopped off after killing her baby and a niece so many years ago. He begged for her forgiveness, and after thinking it over and talking with her husband, Mukarurinda granted it. "We had attended workshops and trainings and our hearts were kind of free, and I found it easy to forgive," she told the AP. "The Bible says you should forgive and you will also be forgiven." Now, they work side by side for a program that builds houses for genocide survivors; she is the treasurer, and he is the vice president.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Explore More

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

Subscribe to The Week

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox