HABIYAKARE

Before joining the Imenye Wigire group:
Before I joined the Imenye Wigire group, I lived in constant fear. I was always suspicious and uneasy, unable to feel comfortable anywhere. I avoided gatherings and places with many people, and I had no self-confidence.

The reason was that in 1994, I participated in the genocide. Shortly afterward, I was imprisoned and spent 30 years in prison. When my sentence ended, I returned to Rwandan society, but reintegration was not easy at all. I constantly worried about how those I had wronged would see me, and how people who had not been there would judge me based on my past. I felt weak and without strength, unable to even think clearly about my future.

After I returned home, only a few days later, Peacebuilders came to visit me and invited me to join their group. I agreed.

When I arrived, I found myself together with people I had wronged. We began to talk. Although it was difficult at first, it gradually changed my feelings.

After joining the group, I experienced very significant changes. I took an important step and asked forgiveness from those I had harmed. I regained confidence and began to feel safe and at peace within myself. The sessions on hope helped me especially—I truly began to feel the transformation around the fifth and sixth weeks.

For this reason, when I meet others who are in the same situation I once was, I will approach them, speak with them about what we learned, and guide them through the healing exercises. I will not keep the benefits of the Imenye Wigire group to myself, I will share them with others like me.