An Angel Sings With Birds

Posted by J on Feb 5, 2013 in Audio Postcard, J Posts | 2 comments

I tried to explain the Rwandan genocide to our boys in a few minutes this morning. They really tracked with the information — from colonial rule, to the creation of Tutsi and Hutu labels, to civil war, to mass murder … but they stopped me when I started talking about reconciliation and forgiveness.

“No way,” was the essence of the their response. “There’s no way everything has been forgiven.”

That conversation preceded a day-long tour of help projects for Rwanda’s most vulnerable people — many of them widows and orphans from the genocide. Our visit was organized by World Relief, an organization that connects churches with these kinds of projects around the world.

It turns out that the first man we met was able to speak to the boys’ doubts about reconciliation.

Nicholas Hitimana led us through a hillside of geraniums — not the kind of geraniums you plant in your yard, but the kind that smell divine … and fetch large profits from businesses that make things like perfume. He runs a farming cooperative that harvests and distills the plants. The cooperative is now breaking even, and there are plans to secure millions of dollars in funding over the next few years to expand production.

All of the hundreds of farmers in the collective are or were poor, and many of them are genocide widows. Nicholas introduced us to some of them in a village he founded for them. The village is called Hope.

On the outskirts of Hope as we said our goodbyes, I asked Nicholas about the work he does … why a man with multiple doctorates, a stellar resume, and a brilliant business plan is investing his expertise and the rest of his life in helping the poor.

I pass along what Nicholas said … because he also speaks of reconciliation.

Listen for the bird that starts singing during his last answer: