How much danger does this person seem to be in?

During my two-month visit to Rwanda in 2008 I became friends with a genocide survivor who shared his story with me while I was there, and afterwards, in greater detail through emails, which he would like to revise into a book at some point. Along with losing most of his family and then being liberated by the RPF when he was in his mid teens, his emails make clear that, following their victory, he witnessed killings of by RPF officers (whom he never named) of Hutus he thought were "probably innocent." Last month my friend told me that he believes these emails were somehow intercepted and brought to the attention of one of the RPF officers to whom he had been assigned in the wake of the genocide, whom he says now holds a prominent police dept. position in Rwanda. My friends tells me he was questioned obliquely by this officer, that his job has been threatened (ostensibly for unrelated reasons), and that he fears for his safety and that of his family, to the extent that he wants to leave Rwanda at any cost.

I realize there has been tension in Rwanda in the lead-up to the August presidential election; that a general has been accused of setting off a bomb in Kigali; a prospective opponent to President Kagame jailed for what seems (from my current, considerable distance) to be a somewhat questionable application of Rwanda's laws against ethnically divisive speech; and that about 900 people who appeared to be unemployed or idle have been put into a "re-education camp." I also understand that revenge killings committed by RPF forces in 1994 remain a sensitive subject for the government, however understandable these might have been under the circumstances, and that my friend would hardly be the first person to mention these in a book or article.

I also understand that his experiences during 1994 could easily lead someone in his position to overreact to perceived threats, especially during and following Rwanda's often difficult month of memorial observances each April.

Based on the above account, can anyone more familiar than I am with the current climate in Rwanda give me some indication or hints as to how much danger, if any, my friend might actually be in?

I don't want to advise him to remain in Rwanda at the risk of his life or freedom, and I don't want to see him exchange his job and home for the life of a refugee without means and a profession, unless he really needs to.

Thanks for any relevant information or perspective.

Is he asking you to help him leave Rwanda?

Retiree (#1), Once I made it clear that I can't give or lend the amount of money in question, he apparently came up with airfare money without my help, and remains in touch with me. It of course occurred to me that there could be a financial angle or component to this, but that hasn't been the nature of this particular relationship, although I've certainly encountered no scarcity of such requests from others in Rwanda and elsewhere in Africa and Asia.

OK, it sounds like you are aware of some African's attempts to get money out of "rich" westerners with sob storys.
Can't help you determine the real need sorry.

I would advise you to contact Africa studies association and ask them if any of their member are wiling to help you find out about whether this is a genuine concern. ASA member with expertise on Rwanda may have offered such services to the association. I have written expertise (for free) for asylum seeker from Burkina Faso, which is my area of expertise, so someone with experience on Rwanda may be able to help you on this. Not sure you'll find this person on TT though. Also, check this blog,
this is a link to a blogger on the Great lakes area, who has extensive experience
maybe he can help
http://moproblems.wordpress.com/about-2/

I do not find the original story in the least bit surprising. There does feel to be a clamp down in the country on people who claim a 'double genocide' or anyone who speaks out against the government and/or the RPF soldiers who liberated the country.

I doubt very much whether Rwanda is sufficiently sophisticated to intercept emails and identify the author. Although your friend might have expressed similar thoughts in other contexts.

In any case, the really important question is whether the authorities in the country to which he plans to fly would accept him as a genuine refugee, or return him.

After a two month association his emails to you are claimed to place him at risk of persecution by his government. The shift of responsibility to you in interesting. Is this guilt trip justified?

I suspect that if the government had any type of doubts about the individual they would have taken action by now. What do they have to gain by waiting? Other than his email indiscretion to you, what else has he done to earn the disfavor of his government?

He does not seem to have participated in or led anti-government activity. We have one guy who made some negative comments in a email a coule of years ago. Have other people with this very low level of opposition been punished? I have lived in Kigali, and understand why a young man would like to leave. However, I don't think that he has made a case that his government is out to get him.

#7 (Dutch Uncle) bases his post on mistaken assumptions and a misreading of the OP. The emails my friend sent to me, which he believes may have landed him in trouble, were sent well over a year after my visit--not "a couple years ago." He never asked me for money, and never expressed a desire to leave Rwanda until last month. If this type of "guilt trip" were his main purpose, I doubt if he would have waited two years to give it a try. On the contrary, in many ways he is proud of what his country has accomplished since 1994.

His concern is not necessarily about the upper levels of the government, but the former RPF officer referred to in the OP, who currently holds an influential police position. My friend believes his emails were somehow read by someone at his work (not intercepted by the government) and then passed along to the person in question. Whether or not his concerns are well-founded, the assumption that this is all a "guilt trip" is uninformed and comes across as tainted by a type of hostility.

#6 (Voyager), I've been going over this concern with my friend, and have tried to get him to focus on the types of problems and expenses that leaving Rwanda, without first obtaining refugee status, could involve. The reason for the OP is that it would help me, in this exchange with him, if I had an objective sense of how much danger he might be in.

#5 (Sarah), Thanks for the observation. It would be really helpful if you (or anyone else currently or recently living in Rwanda) could give me a somewhat more detailed or fuller sense of the current climate there.

#4 (Liza) Thanks so much for the suggestion. I will give this a try.

In 1951, the United Nations defined a refugee as a person who "owing to well-founded fear of being-persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality and is unable to or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country."

That is the basis of the "well founded" reference I made above. Does getting crosswise with one police official meet this standard? You are right to make him aware of how slender a reed he has if the total evidendce is possible future problems with one police officer. For him to burn his bridges and leave Rwanda in hope of gaining refugee status sounds imprudent. For him to try to get a job overseas sounds like an excellent idea for his future. Won't 90-99% of applicants for refugee status have a stonger case than what has been described here?

Wise words from #9. I would just add that usually it is impossible to obtain refugee status before leaving your country of origin. Britain, for example, only allows people to make a claim for political asylum once they are already in the UK.

I agree with #9 and #10 that what my friend has shared with me so far would not make a very convincing case for refugee status. I've made clear to him that if he were to give up his job in Rwanda without establishing realistic options elsewhere, he could find himself in an extremely difficult if not permanently hopeless situation. He says there is "more to the story" that he doesn't want to put into email; I don't know exactly what to make of this claim.

Based on my impressions of Rwanda during two months in 2008, it's difficult for me to believe that what he has mentioned could put him in danger, as distinguished from an creating an uncomfortable or precarious position at his job.

Not having been in Rwanda for two years, the purpose of my OP is to try to find out if
the apparent changes in the climate there are a sufficient basis for someone in his position to be worried enough to leave the country and his job, without a realistic hope of being able to live and work elsewhere. My instinct is to advise him not to leave, and that the current tension could easily subside after the August election. But first I want to make sure I know what I'm talking about.

Aside from the simplistic indulgence in exaggeration of poster #5 (Sarah), one thing might need to be noted. If the contents of the assumed e-mail were passed to the “alleged” high-ranking officer, you would by now have received new developments from your friend - in the sense that individuals in similar circumstances are decently requested on optional basis to bring up some minimum of relevant details for eventual judicial proceedings and data recording.

Revisiting the genocide in 1994 with challenging attitude (which no body in Rwanda perceives as, “double genocide”) is quite commonly accepted in Rwanda.

Probably, your friend is teased by the western world! But not aware that the above-mentioned lady has Abandoned her poverty and unemployment driven county (Coventry, UK) for Rwanda - the future Hong kong of Africa. Off topic, tut mir sehr leid.

(#12) Africanexplorer, I'm sorry that you feel the need to use this thread (and this Web site) to make gratuitous, personal comments about one of its contributors, and then go off muttering (apparently to yourself) in German.

Andrewkauf, personally I don't think you should attempt to assess the risk faced by your friend. He knows more than you do about what is happening in his own country, and the various options open to him.

However, you could help him a great deal by letting him know what would be likely to happen if he were to arrive in your country and present himself as a refugee. Let him know something about the procedures involved in claiming Asylum, the situations that do or do not lead to a person being recognised as a refugee, and the kind of evidence that they need to present. And of course he should know about the conditions facing asylum-seekers: in the UK it can take years for a decision to be made, and during that period they are not allowed to work (not that there are any jobs anyway) and so often live in desperate poverty.

Post #15 is offensive and raving, and makes me doubt the mental health of "African Explorer" No such thing is clear to me, to put it mildly.

Voyager, Thank you in particular for your two most recent posts here. #16 sums up what seems to be going on with #15, so I won't waste more time on him.

Over the past five weeks, as per your suggestion in #14, I've sent my friend a number of emails describing the requirements and difficulties of obtaining refugee status here in the U.S. He replies to these without really acknowledging the or responding to the concerns. Somewhat similarly, he says he fears for his life and the safety of his family, but hasn't mentioned any specifics, other than the few details I've previously included on this thread.

In April 2008, a month after my departure, he wrote that he no longer felt "stable," after a grenade had been tossed in an area he'd left minutes earlier. After some erratic-sounding emails he returned to what had seemed to me was his usual self. Since it was this past April that he began sending me emails about being in danger and needing to leave Rwanda ASAP, I've been wondering about the extent to which there might be a PTSD component to his perceptions, perhaps triggered by the difficulties many survivors experience during the month-long genocide commemorations. He was 14-15 during the genocide, which he spent in hiding and on the run between hide-outs, while one member of his family after another died from disease and starvation, or else was killed. The concern about PTSD possibly distorting his perceptions, along with the scarcity of details and the tone of desperation in his emails since April, is why I'm trying to get some type of idea as to the actual dangers he might be facing.

But beyond the concerns about my friend and how I might best advise him, having spent two months in Rwanda and been amazed at the extent to which people are trying to rebuild and continue their lives after what they survived in 1994, I'm anxious to know in which ways, if any, life in Rwanda may have changed since my visit.

In the same spirit as the commnets by voyager, I feel that your, and our, contribution is not to be a navigagtor who tells the man where to go but rather a cartographer to honestly indicate the known rocks, reefs, and shoals. It is flattering to be asked to chart the life path of another, but long-distance diagnosis is a high risk activity.

Hi, Andrew,

Your compassion is to be commended. Your friend's story is not only highly plausible, but sadly, it's extremely common. Clearly, Voyager_2002 has never lived in or known anyone in Rwanda, for friends who work there constantly complain of emails intercepted and read, of their home phones being tapped--it's known to all. The Rwandan Secret Service is remarkably strong. Just FYI, they constantly screen any Rwandan political or touristic websites like this one.

Anyone who challenges Kagame's verson of history is considered anti-government, and countless numbers who protested the slaughtering of innocent people both in Rwanda AFTER the genodice and Congo by the RPF have disappeared. Considering that Rwanda is so close to elections, and that opponents are shedding light on Kagame's bloody history, it's highly likely that his life is in danger.

And I have to HIGHLY disagree with Dutch_Uncle, whom I doubt ever lived in Rwanda. Of COURSE crossing one RPF Official is considered highly anti-government, when it consists in challenging RPF versions of the genocide and post-genocide period. I would suggest that you do a little background reading on post-genocide Rwanda and the atrocities of the RPF during this period.

mariadne- I was there for one month in the 1980s, between the slaughters. It was quiet, lush, and fertile. Yes, I made the trek and saw the gorillas and enjoyed the European qualities grafted onto the country, like the restaurants and bakery products. At the Mille Colies Hotel (yes, the same one that gained future fame) I took in the disturbing black and white photos of the slaughter of the inconvenient elephant herd. Did that animal event portend future developments with humans? I was glad to see the famed photos, but I did wonder what kind of place would display them so openly.

The awareness of the past was present all the time, and there was a feeling that all the present niceness could (would?) evaporate very quickly. There was also a sense of marvel at the density of the population, the number of huts on those green hills. Foreigners with rural backgounds also marveled at the richess of the soil. All the dirt was like potting compound, with multiple crops possible. The land right up to the gorilla park was intensively farmed.

So, yes, I was there and I soaked up the German-Belgian (including Flemish)-French-Tutsi-Hutu vibrations. The nearest bright lights were in Nairobi, and Rwandans marveled at what they saw there. One comment of a Rwandan colleague in Nairobi concerned how groups of Kenyans who did not know each other all ate and drank in the same restaurant, rather in family groups at home, like Rwanda.

When it all comes apart I try to match match up what I had experienced with what is in the news.

I am cetainly aware of the intense desire of many Rwandans to find a future outside their country.

One last observation: I was struck by the number and range of missionary groups in the country. Most were from small independent churches rather than the more mainline denominations more commonly found in mission work. I have no idea how this last observation fits into the whole history of Rwanda, including the recent history.

Just to confirm that I have never visited Rwanda. In general, electronic surveillance requires a high level of technical skill, and usually there are easier ways for governments to identify their opponents.

The following articles appeared two days ago in the New York Times, on May 17, 2010. They seem consistent with what Meriadne and Sarah say on this thread.
---------------------------------------------------------------------

The New York Times
BUTARE, Rwanda — When Eva Mutoni’s boyfriend of three years broke up with her, she realized she should have seen it coming.

Ms. Mutoni, 25, whose mother is ethnic Tutsi and whose father is Hutu, and her boyfriend, a full-blooded Tutsi, were college sweethearts at the National University of Rwanda in Butare.
“A year into the relationship, we had a big talk about me being mixed,” she said. They weathered that discussion, aided by the fact that Ms. Mutoni identifies herself as Tutsi. But as they got older, she recalls, his family and some of his friends refused to accept his dating someone of mixed parentage.

“He knew he couldn’t stay with me forever in Rwanda,” she said. “To some, I’m just a Hutu girl.”

Sixteen years after the Rwandan genocide, ethnicity remains an inescapable part of growing up for the young people who will determine the nation’s future. And if the universities, where the government has focused its efforts on building a post-ethnic society, represent the great hope of coexistence, they have so far succeeded only in burying ethnic tensions just beneath the surface.

As presidential elections approach and the nation has grown more repressive, the campuses have become tense. Students say that they are being watched, and that the laws aimed at suppressing ethnic differences have made them afraid to speak openly.

Read the rest of the article here

Edited by: docbrown

When I was in Rwanda in 2008 Kagame was extremely well-liked if not revered by virtually everyone I spoke with. People seemed extremely appreciative of the safety, stability, and improved economy they felt he had brought to Rwanda since 1994, and proud to have him as their leader. I'm sure those I spoke with could have found ways to talk around the questions I was asking them, or to offer vague, non-responsive, unenthusiastic replies, or to change the subject if they were simply trying to stay out of trouble. It's therefore difficult for me to understand why the government is acting in the ways reported, in the months leading up to the August election.

Given Rwanda's recent history I can understand why limits are placed on what people can say about ethnicity and ethnic relations. What I don't understand is why the mention of RPF revenge crimes, in the wake of the 1994 genocide, is treated and prosecuted as "divisionism." Given the extent and intensity of the genocide, it would seem implausible that at least some returning soldiers and officers would not have taken matters into their own hands. I don't understand why acknowledging this reality of human nature isn't part of the government's "truth and reconciliation" policy. Statistically and otherwise, what occurred following the RPF victory in 1994 could hardly be compared, as a "second genocide," to what preceded it.

It's nice that Dutch Uncle has fond memories of the "quiet, lush, fertile" Rwanda and its "German-Belgian-Hutu-Tutsi vibe," where he visited the gorillas in the 1980's. Especially since the OP asks for the opinions of "anyone more familiar than I am with the current climate," I don't understand what might have led him to think his experiences 20-30 years ago qualify him to assume that my friend is "laying a guilt trip" on me, or that he simply wants to leave Rwanda in search of a higher living standards.

Nobody trusts anyone, so I'm not suprised that all you got was a rosy picture. However, I am extremely surprised the students are happy to be named and quoted in the NYT article. I wonder what will happen to them?

The grenade attacks on Saturday coincided with Kagame being formally elected as the RPF presidential candidate.

Andrew K- You did get some clarifications out of your effort here

-refugee: the part about "well founded fear" and "outside the country of origin" has not changed over the years, and does not hold much hope for the individual you described

-visitor: He must demonstrate to the satisfaction of the visa officer that he has a permanent home outside the US to which he will return after his temporary stay in the US. In a reverse of the normal situation, the burden of proof is on the applicant to demonstrate that he will leave the US after his visit. Applicants are presumed to be immigrants, intending a permanent stay in the USA, until they demonstrate otherwise and can be classed as non-immigrants. Yes, it is odd to describe people by what they are not, rather than what they are, but that is the ball park your man is playing in.

-employee of international organization, NGO, commercial firm and similar: That status starts with the organization, and from there to the consular officer, not the reverse.

-student: Have you checked this possibility out?

It is a bleak outlook. There is indeed a major element of guilt by associaiton, since so many young Africans, especially young African men, see a better future outside their home countries. Since you have been in Africa you are certainly aware of this condition, and can understand the assumption.

Check out the student possibility. Or perhaps the guy can teach?

I think there is a nice island resort waiting for your Rwandan buddy:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/01/world/africa/01rwanda.html?scp=3&sq=rwanda%20island&st=cse

About email surveillance, I am sure that Tutsi oligarchy is fully functional with this. They are promoting technology with every public utterance, and when you are an African dictator and free money flows daily into your land from so many aid projects, a big portion will go into control of your population: keeping them uneducated (Meles), keeping them full and wearing colors of the ruling party (Bingu), keeping them fighting (Kibaki), watching every move of the poor with spies and the educated by monitoring communications (Kagame). This is not rocket science.

The New York Times articles posted in #24 and #28, together with the observations of Sarah1968 and Mariadne on this thread, convince me that my friend's concerns can't be dismissed as post-traumatic stress-related delusions, or as a ruse to get help relocating to a wealthier country. Even if it were to turn out that he and his family aren't in actual danger, after what he survived in 1994, it's apparent that he needs to be in an environment that doesn't lead him to fear that the life he has rebuilt since the genocide might be destroyed.

I've finally managed to convince him that attempting to live and work illegally in a country such as the U.S., especially in the current economic and anti-Third-World-immigrant climate, could more easily add to his troubles than solve them.

Possibilities I need to explore for him include obtaining a student visa, and legal work opportunities in countries such as Dubai, and the question of whether he would be able to earn enough money doing unskilled labor in such a country to help pay for his education if he were to obtain a student visa for the U.S.

Many thanks to those who have contributed helpful posts to this thread.

Despite my friend's situation and the conditions described in the various articles posted or linked to this thread, after a tenth of Rwanda's population was killed in the 1994 genocide, with over a million Rwandans having taken part in the genocide (a number that would overwhelm any criminal justice system in the world), and millions of Rwandans forced into refugee camps just outside the country, and then forcibly repatriated, I think it's difficult not to credit the Kagame regime with bringing levels of stability and safety to Rwanda that no one would have imagined possible sixteen years ago. Likewise, given Rwanda's demographics, I think the possibility needs to be considered that a completely "free and fair" election, combined with the freedoms of expression supposedly guaranteed by the U.S. first amendment, could lead to renewed ethnic violence, and possibly to the election of a government committed to "finishing the job" that the RPF interrupted in 1994.

I am gald that you picked up on the student suggestion. However, the proposed course of study should be resonably releated to what he has been doing, and it is best that he demonstrate some continuing study after his graduation. My experience was that 35 year old Africans who graduated from a high school/junior college type instituiiton 15 years earlier, and had done no studies since, were turned down when they applied to be the oldest freshman at a great plains junior college in the US. Talk about earing money in Dubai to pay for US schooling might raise the question of financial resoures for him and his family.

Could your man teach French to Americans? Dependent on the subject and demand, teachers do get job visas.

Concerning the possibility of my friend teaching French to Americans--He is fluent in French and competent in English, although in the latter is grammar isn't always perfect. I find his African accent to be clearer and easier to understand than the rapid-fire, slurred French spoken in Paris. He doesn't have any post-secondary education, but if he had a job offer and a visa he'd be thrilled to work anywhere in the American or Canadian boondocks.

This of course is getting away from the subject of "Rwanda," but is Dutch_Uncle or anyone else in a position to have a sense as to whether, given the above background, he'd have a chance to get any type of job (and visa) teaching French in North America.

He is also fluent in Swahili and, of course, Kinyerwanda. Based on what he taught me concerning Rwanda, he would be a patient, compassionate, and gifted teacher.

I suspect that it will be very hard for someone who has no past credentialed teaching experience to be brought to the US to teach in a regualr public school. People with relevant life experience have been placed in school with hard to fill positions like science and math teachers, but there are probably enough French teachers. You might have a shot with private schools, such as those run by a church. Any connections with the numerous mission groups or the Catholic Church in Rwanda?

The ability in Swahili and Kinyerwanda might present a possibility with the George P. Schultz Foreign Affairs Center in Arlington, Vierginia. This is the training branch of the US Department of State, and the language training section also provides services for other agencies of the government. The class size ranges from one to six, very small. The instructors are not licensed but they do work from schedules developed by State. They don't have much flexibility in how the languages are taught. The content and the method are prescribed and supervised. At times it is more like tutoring than a conventional classroom. Since the students are under orders for duty in the country of the target language, the teacher is frequently the first person they meet from the country. The cultural experiences of the teachers are valued for the insights they provide to the students.

Dutch_Uncle, Thank you for the suggestions in #30. In answer to your question, my friend has no church connections. It's beside the point of this discussion, but given the role of the Catholic church during the genocide, and the spread-the-word-pie-in-the-sky-when-you-die orientation of the various evangelical churches drawn to Rwanda, I have a great deal of respect for his choice in this regard.

I phoned the Schultz institute, but they tell me they have never had a request from anyone wanting to learn Kinyerwanda, since the Rwandan government does not use this language to conduct any type of official business.

My friend does have experience teaching French on a secondary-school level in Rwanda, although I don't believe he has anything that would pass for teacher certification in the West. Since he'd be happy to go anywhere in the U.S. and Canada, I'm wondering whether there is some way to find out if there is a school in some remote community that is having trouble attracting a French teacher and would consider hiring him.

Any other reasonably plausible suggestions, however far-fetched, would be much appreciated.

Did you ask the Schultz people about Swahili? I know that they teach that one.

Since education in the US is not run by a centralized Ministry of Education it is hard to get one size fits all answers. However, this decentralization does present possibilites. Whatever state or school districts have the hardest time finding, or paying, French teachers would be the ones to look for. Some type of exception to credentials might be possible for a teacher willing to do classroom combat duty at a remote location. New Mexico? West Virginia? Montana?

Where to start? I would start with the state level Departments of Education at those three states, with heavy emphasis that he has taught at the secondary level in Rwanda.

Remember the phrase "Paris is worth a mass" from your French history lessons? His Protestant faith took one candidate off the list to become king of France, so he switched to the Catholic Church. Since churches seem to be major players in Rwanda, it is probably not a good career idea for your man to refuse to associate with them. Any port in a storm, right?

I really feel pity that you are still hanging on the “issue”! However, if you genuinely feel honest with yourself about your pledge, figure rather out how to constructively approach international bodies and agencies in the domain on your friend’s behalf. Nonetheless, just to position myself momentarily on your side, have you tried to get in touch with Rwandans elsewhere expressing similar pledge to substantively prepare your friend’s case!

Doesn't South Africa need French teachers? Or the anglophone countries in East Africa?

Dutch_Uncle, I didn't ask the Schultz institute about teaching Swahili--I'm sure there are enough native speakers of Swahili with U.S. citizenship or green cards that the institute couldn't claim that they need to hire my friend to do work that there is no one available in either of these categories to do.

In addition to the three states you mention, the Dakotas and parts of Kansas and Nebraska come to mind. It would certainly be convenient if state education departments maintain lists of job openings advertised by the local districts, but I'm not sure if they do. This could make locating such positions quite a time-consuming task, but it's something I will try. The idea is constructive and sound.

I would never question my friend's decision not to join a church. Apart from the roles of numerous priests and bishops in facilitating the genocide, and the overall refusal of the Vatican, even after the fact, to defrock these priests (as per the child molestation scandals), my friend lived through enough "history" to have every reason to feel that "God" is absent, dead, or on the wrong side. I think his refusal to join a church on what might be a self-serving and hypocritical basis is an example of his integrity. It's also an example of why I respect him and value his friendship as I do.

African Explorer--please save your "pity" for yourself. For reasons made clear by Voyager_2002 early on in this thread, and by the monitor's deletion of your two previous "contributions" here, you'll be needing it.

Voyager_2002, I honestly don't know a thing about South Africa in this regard. Any information you might be in a position to share with me as to how to find out about positions teaching French in South Africa or elsewhere in Africa, would be very much welcomed.

I doubt if the states have lists of vacancies, but there is hope for word of mouth information.

The Foreign Affairs Training Center language training center wants a range of accents within the target language. For example, both Latin American Spanish and Spanish from Iberia.

Your friend might have to make a faustian bargain. For the sake of his wife, children, and himself he may have to reach some type of accommodation with the organizations which have staying power in Rwanda- the church groups. Even if he finds it distasteful or even against his moral standards, if his situation is a dire as described he should seek and accept help where it is available. Is he really willing to sacrifce the future of his wife and children because of past crimes by some church groups? If he has to play with the cards he has, rather than the ones he would like to have, surely he must exhaust every opportunity, rather than picking and choosing only from the ones that do not require him to compromise.

Who is the victor if he continues to have a marginal and fearful life in Rwanda, with prospects for his children limited? Perhaps it is time for him to swallow some pride and do what is best for his family, rather than that which gives him the emotional tranquility of being superior in a moral sense.

The preceding post (#37) is one of the most uninformed and unfortunate I've encountered on the TT. It seems similarly cruel and insulting in spirit to Pat Robertson blaming the earthquake in Haiti on some bargain with the devil that Haitians made by not joining churches.

Andrew_K- This is in the spirit of getting your friend OUT of a place he feels is not safe for him`and his family. Of course church association did not protect people during the slaughter, but now, in the living present of 2010, religious organizations do have influence and just might help your man and his family. Encourage him to widen the possibile sources of assistance for what he wants, rather than restrict them. I don't think Athiests United have much pull with international organizations.

The only blame that would attach to the victim would be if he is so marked by events that he will only accept help from those he considers pure past any taint. He should be guided by the response of Polish, Jewish, and other victims of Nazi criminality who did accept help and compensation from the Federal Republic of Germany after WWII. Doubtless there must have been people at that time who refused "blood money" and help from the successor state of the Nazis, but the reconstruction and building was done by those who were able to overcome their hatred for the benefit of themselves, their families, and their communities.

I was in Sarajevo for about ten weeks over a two year period, and I suggest that your man can also learn from how Bosnia-Hercegovinia has come to terms with the very recent history in that area. By the way, my 8 1/2 years in Africa served me very well in the Balkans, because I was accustomed to dealing with tribal societies. White European tribal societies turned out to have much in common with black African tribal societies.

The path your friend wants to take is difficult, but not impossible. I suggest that your contribution can be to encourage him to think and act outside the trauma of his painful experience. Examination and acceptance of all possible sources of aid is absolutely required for him to benefit. It will be painful, but it can be done.

So, I think that this exchange has served to avoid spending energy on dead ends such as illegal immigration or refugee status, and to point out other ways, such as student or teacher, that may be possible. I encourage you to keep turning over the rocks in your search for a way to help him, but I also admonish you not to encourage any inclination he might have to rule out or decline sources of assistance because of past crimes or even a well-founded hatred, based on past events. Try to guide his focus to the present and the future, and bluntly tell him that he will have to mask his emotions to get what he wants for himself and his family. Every tribe has rules and customs, to include the bureaucratic tribes that grant visas and arrange overseas placements.

I respect you for trying to help this man, and I wish you good luck. All of this might not be the information you wanted to hear, but I am convinced that it is the information you need about this area in which you acknowledge not having much experience.

Dutch_Uncle, Leaving aside the considerations mentioned in #38 with regard to telling my friend to find a church to help him, you have not offered any information specific to the current or recent situation in Rwanda to suggest that a church might be of any help, nor indicated much familiarity with current conditions there. Your reference to "tribes" in Rwanda is especially misleading. The country has no tribal structure at all, no tribally-appointed village chiefs or localized tribal customs, and not even any religious or language differences between the Tutsi and Hutu. The use of "tribes" to refer to these ethnic groups is as misplaced as it would be to apply this term to The Walloons or Flemish-speaking people of Belgium, or to Frenchmen whose families originate in Brittany or Corsica.

Not withstanding the above, I do appreciate you concern for my friend.

While I can't indicate a specific church organization working in Rwanda, I do urge an attitude of flexibility concerning what they may have to offer.

I think that tribal is an apt term to describe the Flemish-Waloon situation, and the divisions in Northern Ireland. It fit very well in Bosnia-Herzegovinia. In Nigeria the the term was eased out in favor of "state of origin," but it was a major fact of life. In Lagos I could not understand why a bright young lad would not accept a promotion I wanted him to have until I realized that he would have been the junior man, and an Ibo, in an office of Yourbas. Bad mix, which everyone knew but me. Significantly, no Nigerian came right out and used the t-word concerning my unworkable idea.

The tribal designation can also be applied to new groups such as the army, police, immigration and customs, and other offices. There are laws, but also customs which have the force of law. I think the point is that there is no tidy roadmap of organizations to help your friend. It is more like a patchwork, with not much communication between the patches. Persistence and flexibility, OK?

The rest of the story: Was your man able to arrive at a solution of some type?