Crying Wasn't The Solution

by Kaley Kennedy

WOMEN OF RWANDA : REBUILDING A COMMUNITY

The chaos that follows a genocide is something only fathomable by those who have been unfortunate enough to experience it. Not only are people and homes left in ruins, but also governments, economies, and basic infrastructure.

The task of rebuilding and reforming communities can appear to be a near unachievable goal. This goal becomes even more difficult to attain when the genocide has resulted in 800,000 deaths, and a significant portion of the male population. These are the circumstances that the women of Rwanda found themselves situated in after the 1994 Rwandan genocide.

Rebuilding

After the death of the majority of the male population, the women of Rwanda were left to pick up the pieces of their war-ravaged nation, yet in a country that did not allow women to own land, or to be sole guardians of children - even their own - this objective reached mountainous proportions.  Even after having faced so much devastation already, a group of Rwandan woman managed to muster the strength to mobilize and begin to reconstruct their community.

This group of women began a cooperative entitled the Duhozanye Association; Duhozanye meaning “to console one another.”  The 310 widows of the community met to share their personal horror stories and to take the first step to emotional recovery. Soon after, as the founder and president of the group, Daphrose Mukarutamu explains, “Little by little we got accustomed to the situation - crying wasn't the solution. We thought of activities to do.”  They realized that the group needed to offer a lot more than emotional support if they wanted to rebuild their community.

Taking charge

Without homes, looting was taking place and the women and their children were forced to brave the elements alone. The women went to the men of the community and demanded for their things to be returned. They used what was recovered to start the reconstruction and to demonstrate their intentions and determination. They would later go to village authorities explaining the need for women to be able to own land, and be in charge of their own children. With so many of the men gone, women were now taking charge as the household heads. 

Despite having no experience in construction and with limited supplies, the women began to build houses for one another. They contacted local men, asking for their support, and foraged for the materials they were lacking. Once they had learned the techniques for construction and gathered enough materials, they began to work. The widows split into small groups, with each group building a house for a woman and her family.  After the home was complete, they would move on and build another. In this manner, about sixty homes were built in a five-month period.

The women met many challenges in their work.  First, the homes were not built well, but the women were not discouraged. They continued to build, asking for help when necessary, and the houses improved. As the houses grew in number, though, the materials dwindled.  The women went to the United Nations team that had come to the village to help in the reconstruction process and requested more materials. The UN team gave them some iron sheets for the roofs and doors for the houses; once a woman had walls built, she was given doors and roofing.  Accordingly, the women continued to build. 

Reforming tradition

Yet even though they were breaking down the traditional roles of women in their community, the women were still tied to the patriarchy of the society, working on the roofs only at night, so that no one would see under their skirts. The men of the community continued to be supportive and brought them pants to wear. These small gestures are illustrative of the differences being made in this community. Not only were the women striking down traditional roles and relationships, they are reforming the way women are perceived by all. 

Not only did the women get involved in constructing new homes, but they also worked towards creating sustainability and reviving the local economy. In the same way they contacted the local men to learn how to build, they contacted local farmers and learned farming techniques. They were given seeds and began farming right away. They gathered the harvest with some help from the local farmers, and rationed it to the widows, and then collected the extra to be stored away for harder times.

Strong force

Once food had been established for everyone, the women went one step further. A few women in the group went to the village and started small businesses. The women went beyond fulfilling their own needs and wants to taking care of one another’s futures.

Since their beginnings, the women of Duhozanye have continued to be a strong force in their community emotionally, economically, and physically.  They have set up gynecology clinics for the women who have been raped and helped the UN distribute aid for HIV/AIDS victims. They continue to support each other in many ways and have been recognized by various humanitarian organizations for their efforts. Similar groups have also begun to sprout in war-torn African countries such as Benin and the People’s Democratic Republic of the Congo. 

It can be done

The women of the Duhozanye Association can teach the western world a lot about the use of aid in war-torn developing nations. In going in and attempting to rebuild, organizations, including the UN, can often fail to notice that the needs of communities vary drastically and that it is the people of the community who should be dictating them.   While it is necessary to provide victims with the needed support and aid, it is more important to help them to mobilize themselves; to support them in the rebuilding of their community.  Just imagine that once fighting has died down in a region, that instead of a group of aid workers going in and establishing the restoration projects to be completed and recruiting locals to help, it is the locals who are taking the leadership roles and establishing the needs of their community, and it is the aid workers who are being recruited to do the work. This may be an idealistic view, however, these women have shown that it can be done.  <WM