Tamsin Greig visiting a community in Rwanda supported by Tearfund partner MOUCECORE.
‘I was deeply impressed with Tearfund’s emphasis on partnership and relationship.’
‘I saw it is possible to transform disaster and brutality into new hope.’ Rwandan and glad to be alive through a new era of understanding and willingness for reconciliation. And they all seem to be engaging with the profoundly difficult yet necessary process of forgiveness, a process which has brought them thus far in their transformation into a new people beyond tribal division and ancient hatred. How has this changed their faith? I’d like to turn this question on its head and say that it is their faith that has changed them. The communities who work with and continue to be supported by MOUCECORE agreed to begin a journey of reconciliation, firstly with themselves and with God, and then with their families and communities. Without this profound inner change inspired by their faith, the reconciliations would be impossible. And it would seem that their identities are now rooted in their faith-based understanding of who they are as children of God, rather than in their knowledge of their tribal heritage. teartimes autumn 2011
What did you think about church and community mobilisation after meeting the people in the villages? I feel privileged to spend time with people from Rwanda. I realise much has been accomplished governmentally in the country since the brutalities of the late 1990s, but inevitably this trickle down from the summit of control is slow. To witness an interior change occurring at grass roots level among the very people who define Rwanda, who are choosing to engage with their own personal spiritual transformation and be a part of the renewal of their communities, has been aweinspiring. Local people have shown they can identify their abilities and needs, work cooperatively within seemingly untenable social tensions, and make something new happen. Out of crisis and hopelessness, in partnership with a worldwide network of support, new life has come. How have your perceptions of poverty changed? Visiting two villages in Rwanda supported by MOUCECORE, and hearing their stories of tragedy and transformation, brought me great hope for the future of African communities seeking ways out of poverty. I saw it is possible to transform disaster and brutality into new hope from within the communities themselves, if people are able to lay aside their fears, suspicions and resentments and be transformed to experience new growth personally and corporately. Of course, societal problems of conflict still exist, and yet their readiness to commit to corporate change and cooperation does bring brightness to the struggle. 29