Reconciliation in Rwanda A Loaf of Bread to be Sliced, an Onion to be Peeled and a Cooking Pot that has to Rest on Three Cooking Stones

Rugaragu, Innocent B. (2011) Reconciliation in Rwanda A Loaf of Bread to be Sliced, an Onion to be Peeled and a Cooking Pot that has to Rest on Three Cooking Stones. Licentiate thesis, Santa Clara University Berkeley, California.

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Abstract

In this thesis, I seek to address the question of how reconciliation can contribute to rebuilding a new Rwanda. The 1994 Genocide made us feel angry and powerless as a people. On the contrary, the reconciliation which I am arguing for makes us feel powerful and united as a nation. As Desmond Tutu writes from post-Apartheid South Africa that “there is no future without forgiveness,” I too wish to say that Rwanda’s children and children’s children will have no beautiful country to inherit without reconciliation. The call to believe and live John Mbiti’s paradigm of “I am, because we are; and since we are therefore I am” is within our reach. It is a more powerful moral foundation for reconciliation than the exclusionism that has dominated the country for almost 200 years. This thesis is comprised of six chapters that act as necessary pillars for reconciliation. The first chapter includes an introduction, explains the metaphors, and looks at the approach to and vision of reconciliation. The second chapter deals with the historical context of division and recognition of what happened in Rwanda. The third chapter discusses the present, what has been accomplished, and the description and evaluation of the current tools for reconciliation. The fourth and fifth chapters address the future, suggesting improved pillars for reconciliation, laying out what ought to be done to increase reconciliation as we avoid the abuses and mistakes that led to the Genocide. In chapters four and five, collective and correct memory, justice, human rights, spiritual transformation, and forgiveness are discussed as important guarantees for reconciliation. In additional to external factors, inner revolution and transformation will be crucial for the process. Chapter six addresses the evaluation of models for social reconciliation such as education, Gacaca courts, the integration of groups, Imihigo, folk tales and new narratives, positive roles of religions, media, and symposiums.

Item Type:	Thesis (Licentiate)
Subjects:	B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BV Practical Theology H Social Sciences > HM Sociology H Social Sciences > HN Social history and conditions. Social problems. Social reform
Divisions:	Africana Afro-Christiana Jesuitica
Depositing User:	Tim Khabala
Date Deposited:	25 Aug 2017 14:47
Last Modified:	25 Aug 2017 14:47
URI:	http://thesisbank.jhia.ac.ke/id/eprint/2140

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