This past Friday was a monumental day in the Living Bricks Village. Two new families moved into their Living Bricks Homes.
The Living Bricks Campaign is a house-building partnership between Prison Fellowship Rwanda and As We Forgive, providing new homes for genocide survivors and ex-prisoners allowing them to live peacefully reconciled communities. This radical idea of a “reconciliation village” is the ingredient that will foster authentic and peaceful living in Rwandan communities that were ravaged with hatred and loss just sixteen years ago.
On Friday, Pastor Deo Gashagaza went to visit the village with friends from two PFR partner organizations. Andrea McDaniel, from the As We Forgive Rwanda Initiative, and Diana Wiley, from True Vineyard came to meet the community members and learn about the radical movement of restoring hearts, minds, and homes through practical reconciliation.
Proudly standing by their new homes waiting to welcome the visitors were Elias Nkubiri with his wife and children and Agnes Mukagatore and her children.
Elias was born in Rwanda in 1959. He was exiled to Burundi when he was young to escape ethnic conflict. As a refugee in Burundi, his life was extremely difficult. He married in Burundi, and in 1995 after the genocide he returned with his wife and four children to seek peace and prosperity. He was unable to discover where his deceased parents owned property and his family was left without stable housing. His children are in primary school and they are struggling to find means to survive. The greatest difficulty for his family is lack of a stable home.
Meeting his family for the first time and hearing the praises streaming from his lips at the joy of home ownership, the family’s relief was tangible upon entry and a tour of their new home.
Agnes has been without a husband for the past fifteen years. After the genocide, her husband was imprisoned for genocide crimes and she was left with three children, no home, and no source of income. Still, the heaviest burden weighing on her is the shame of her past, and her familial association with killers. Ever since her husband’s imprisonment, she has been living transitionally with those who offered to house her and her three children.
This past Friday was Agnes’ second day in her new home. A quiet woman, tears began to flow down her face, and she did away with her typically soft tone of voice. Waving her arms in the air thanking God and Pastor Deo, exuberant words of joy spilled out of her mouth. Because of Living Bricks, she can now rest in the knowledge that her children are able to sleep safely at night.
While a home does not erase the pain of husband sentenced to life in prison or years of discrimination and rejection Agnes faced for her tribal affiliation, the security of a home will offer her safety, comfort and a chance for economic mobility as she continues the journey to promote peace and unity in her own village.
After the Living Bricks Village is complete, PFR will work with Living Bricks families of all backgrounds to work together to establish income-generating activities such as livestock rearing projects or agricultural cooperatives. Now that the recipients have stability in a home, they have greater capacity for economic development and improved livelihood.
Living Bricks is renewing lives, rebuilding communities, and restoring homes. Will you give a brick? Click here to give.
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