While some look forward to winter break as a time to relax with friends and family, five Tufts students have a different conception of vacation. They are planning a trip to Rwanda.
The group will be working with the Amahoro Project, an international student initiative run between the Institute for Global Leadership and members of the League des Jeunes contre le Genocide at the National University of Butare in Rwanda.
The students are going to Rwanda to asses the status of reconciliation efforts in the country since the 1994 genocide, when 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus were killed by Hutu rebels.
They will examine the reconciliation methods of local organizations, including cleansing rituals, and the efficacy of international aid programs. They will speak to Rwandans from all walks of life - "from farmers and students to NGO representatives and government officials," said sophomore Jessica Berlin, one of the organizers.
"It's something we're not going to see on CNN," she said.
Berlin came up with the idea for the trip after traveling to South Africa this summer for a symposium by the Institute for International Mediation and Conflict Resolution.
Berlin met a half-Hutu, half-Tutsi student at the National University of Butare who helped her arrange housing for the Tuft students.
The current tension in Rwanda is rooted in Belgian colonization. Europeans designated Rwandans as members of one of two groups, Hutus and Tutsis. In the 1960s the conflict was exacerbated by the departure of the Belgians. It eventually spilled over into genocide 1994 after the plane carrying the president was shot down.
After the summer of killing, the Tutsi government in exile returned to defeat the Hutu forces, and many Hutus were killed in refugee camps. The then-leader of the Tutsi forces, Paul Kagame, is the current Rwandan President.
Berlin said reconstruction of the country depends not just on the end of violence, but on the reconciliation between the Hutu and Tutsi communities. "Reconciliation needs to happen both on a political and social level," Berlin said.
"Reconciliation has been a problem because there isn't a single person you can blame, a Hitler or Pol Pot to whom you can point to as the cause for the genocide," Berlin said. "In Rwanda, it was neighbors killing neighbors, even family members killing other family members."
The military end to the conflict did not end the tension, Berlin said. "Not everyone is ready to accept a peaceful resolution; many people were left completely destitute and they want revenge."
On the other hand, she said, "Some are working for peace, advocating forgiveness rather than retribution so that the country can heal and move forward."
Another goal of the Amahoro Project is to evaluate the role of Rwandan women in government and in non-governmental organizations. "In Rwanda, people are recognizing that it's predominately men who make war, and women who demand peace," Berlin said.
The Rwandan government has a quota system - one-third of the parliament has to be women. In the 2003 elections, 49 percent of those elected to parliament were women. "Women are a great resource for working towards peace," Berlin said. "Governance needs to be egalitarian."
Heather Barry, the assistant director of the Institute for Global Leadership, said the project could turn into a permanent relationship with the National University of Butare. "We're looking to make it a longer term project that will be an ongoing collaboration," she said.
The project may also involve groups from other countries in Africa, she said.
The Amahoro Project is modeled after the New Initiative for Middle East Peace, which has sent student research groups to Israel, the West Bank and Iran over the past two years and will send one to Turkey over winter break.
When the students return from Rwanda, they plan on hosting a forum to present and discuss their findings. They also plan to submit their research to local newspapers. The goal is to raise awareness of the Rwandan genocide and its lessons for the world.
