John Rutayisire Discusses Reconciliation and Forgiveness in Rwanda
John Rutayisire is a Rwandan educator who has
taught in Uganda , Lesotho and Botswana. Rutayisire is currently the
Director of the National Curriculum Development Centre in Rwanda, where
he leads policy development in curriculum, textbooks, language in
Education, and most recently has been appointed Chairperson of the
Teacher Development and Management Policy. In this video clip, filmed
when he attended a Facing History Summer institute in 2004, Rutayisire
talks about the complexity of reconciliation and forgiveness for
Rwandans in a post-genocide society.
Transcript:
"When we talk about reconciliation we imply
that something has gone wrong somewhere. And before we reconcile as a
group of Rwandans, I need to reconcile with myself as a survivor, as a
perpetrator. The perpetrator needs to acknowledge that they have done
something wrong before they can think of the next step of asking for
forgiveness...
To me forgiveness implies a deep level of personal analysis. And we have also to remember that the real people who are in a position to forgive are dead. Those who are remaining--and my wife is a survivor--they can only talk on the behalf of those who are dead. So sometimes you also need to ask yourself 'who am I to talk on the behalf of somebody who is dead?'"
To me forgiveness implies a deep level of personal analysis. And we have also to remember that the real people who are in a position to forgive are dead. Those who are remaining--and my wife is a survivor--they can only talk on the behalf of those who are dead. So sometimes you also need to ask yourself 'who am I to talk on the behalf of somebody who is dead?'"
Related Videos:
Related Facing History Resources:
Video length:
01 min 01 sec
Date filmed:
Jul 15 2004 
