In a Rwandan reconciliation village, collaborative efforts among women give hope for unity

By RODNEY MUHUMUZA and IGNATIUS SSUUNA
Associated Press

BUGESERA, Rwanda (AP) — In a community of genocide perpetrators and survivors outside the Rwandan capital of Kigali, more than half of 382 residents are women. Their collaboration on projects such as basket weaving has united many of them in a government-run reconciliation village, one of nine across Rwanda, where women are believed to be fostering a climate of tolerance. The villages were launched in 2005 as part of wider reconciliation efforts by Prison Fellowship Rwanda, a civic group. The organization wanted to create opportunities for genocide survivors to heal in conditions where they can regularly talk to perpetrators of the 1994 genocide. Some Rwandans see the project as an example of how people can peacefully coexist after the slaughter.