Gerson on Rwanda: “some of the most rapid progress in the history of public health”
July 23rd, 2008 at 1:19 pm | posted by Virginia SimmonsMichael Gerson talks of ONE’s Rwanda trip in an Op-Ed in today’s Post. In the piece, he repeats a truth that we as ONE members have been trying to get out about the immense progress in Rwanda since the 1994 genocide - saying that the country is making some of the most rapid progress in the history of public health.
Cindy McCain’s first visit to this country, in 1994, was during the high season of roadblocks and machetes and shallow graves.
…[Last week, Cindy] McCain joined a bipartisan delegation — including former Senate majority leaders Bill Frist and Tom Daschle — organized by the ONE Campaign, a group that advocates for the fight against global poverty and disease. (I am also involved in the efforts of ONE.)
McCain came back to a very different Rwanda — peaceful, well governed, and making, with American help, some of the most rapid progress in the history of public health. What has struck me, says McCain, is that most people are reconciling. A woman I met was gang-raped [during the genocide], her throat was slit, she lost her whole family, but was willing to forgive. The reason this will be a successful country is the women — some of the strongest, most inspiring women I have ever met.
July 23rd, 2008 at 2:27 pm
It’s an inspiring — a very inspiring — example of what forgiveness can accomplish. As Mark Twain and Ghandi said, “Anger is an acid that can do more harm to the vessel in which it is stored than to anything on which it is poured.” The fact that the people of Rwanda can forgive and move forward, given the utter insanity of what they’ve been through, should inspire all of us to take a deep breath when wronged and try and find a place of compassion and forgiveness in our hearts when hurt. It’s also a great example of how relatively quickly progress can be made on the continent, with the right tools provided and spiritual principles applied from within.
July 23rd, 2008 at 3:14 pm
Ah, yes, the balm of forgiveness, indeed. What is really going in the mind of a woman who “forgives”
the man who slit her throat, raped her, and murdered her family? Maybe we should all look a little deeper.
http://claudeadams.blogspot.com/2007/06/forgiveness-fantasy-work-in-progress.html
July 24th, 2008 at 7:55 am
I can’t help but respond to Claude Adam’s comment. I am sure that the woman that Cindy McCain described has many different feelings about what happened to her, but I am also sure that she has learned, as all of us have, that life does go on, and we either learn to live with what has happened to us, or stay rooted to the past, which ultimately destroys our future. The message of One and the people who work so hard for it is that there is always hope and together millions can become one with a powerful message and a powerful ability to help. I truly believe that the women of Rwanda, just like the one described by Cindy McCain have made the decision to move forward with life and the hope of a better future. They are remarkable people and I thank Mr. Gerson for bringing the story to us.
July 24th, 2008 at 10:28 am
Agreeing wholeheartedly with GinnyD’s response.
July 24th, 2008 at 12:15 pm
My point about complexity is this: Researchers who have dealt directly with genocide survivors in Rwanda say there are two levels of response: the external, where the survivor responds to questions, and the internal, which is subsumed. These responses may be entirely different; the external response may well be driven by what the survivor believes is expected of him or her (in this case, forgiveness and reconciliation which, as you know, is official government policy.) Inside that survivor, however, you may find an entirely different emotional landscape, including unresolved anger and despair and frustration. “Tears fall within,” is a common Rwandan expression. Rwandans will not often tell you what is in their hearts, especially if you are a stranger.
Another point: It is important psychologically for us, in the West (who did little to prevent the genocide) to believe that now Hutus and Tutsis have reached a point of reconciliation where they put everything behind them. In an indirect sense, this eases our residual feelings of communal guilt. My point is that we owe it to Rwandans today to look at a little deeper at what is going on there, and NOT to accept at face value the easy expressions of “all is forgiven.” It isn’t. It is much much more complicated than that.
Yes, Ginny, “life goes on.” But what is it that goes on? If you visit Rwanda, you will learn that people are still afraid, there are widespread feelings that justice has not been done, but many people are afraid to speak out against the orthodoxy.
July 24th, 2008 at 4:54 pm
Claude, I certainly agree with you that life in Rwanda is very different, and that people there have fears that we can’t imagine, but, nevertheless life does go on, and I think it is a tribute to the people of Rwanda and particularly the woman that Cindy McCain referred to, that they recognize that they must move forward. I am not a psychologist so I can’t debate those issues with you, but I prefer to remain focused in a positive manner on all the good things that One, and all of the volunteers do.
July 27th, 2008 at 4:51 am
Ginny D writes she is sure the woman who was raped, had her throat slit and her family murdered “has many different feelings about what happened to her” and that “she has learned, as all of us have, that life does go on…”
How do “we” know what this woman has endured? Has she told us? Has anyone asked her? Does she speak her truth out loud?
And exactly who are “all of us”?
A life is lived on two levels – the surface and the deep. On the surface, an individual is what s/he does in everyday tasks, routines and practices. In the deep, an individual is a feeling, moral, sacred, inner self. (Norman Denzin)
Generally, the deep, inner self is infrequently shown to others. It’s the sad state of the world we live in.
Claude Adams asks the discerning question: If life goes on, then what is it that goes on?
If the terms of dehumanization in this one woman’s story were internalized, then she may have been unable to speak her story. And if she is unable to speak her story, the possibility of truth telling about her suffering, even to herself, depends on the possibility of address. Without address, the experiences are secrets and incommunicable. The impossibility of emotional closure means the experience is not integrated. This becomes rage and grief yearning for a voice. In Rwanda today, there is evidence of a culture of fear colluding to silence raging and grieving voices.
What is it that goes on?
Disintegrated selves. False perceptions. Trauma embodied. Desperate desires for sense-making. A fragmented society.
And although I’m not exactly sure who “all of us” are I will suppose that most of the “all of us” just want to feel better so we are relieved to read that in Rwanda “most people are reconciling.” My question is: If most people are reconciling, then what about the people who don’t want to reconcile? Where are their voices? Does Rwanda’s official narrative leave fundamental issues unresolved? If so, what do the silences speak?
I conclude with an excerpt from Charles L. Griswold’s book “Forgiveness: A Philosophical Exploration” …
“Forgetting is the path to ignorant repetition, and remembering is a necessary condition of living both wisely and in light of the truth.”