Just six years ago one of the greatest tragedies in the twentieth century unfolded in Rwanda, a small country in Central Africa, populated by only 8 million people. More than 800,000 ethnic Tutsi and moderate Hutu were murdered by Hutu extremists in the 1994 genocide. The massacre was triggered by a mysterious plane crash in April 1994 killing the then president, Juvenal Habyarimana. Militias subsequently rampaged the country till the Tutsi rebels from the Rwanda Patriotic Front (RPF) seized power in the summer of 1994 and formed a Tutsi led government.

Petronia and Vestine survived the massacre. But they are living in a shattered society. Whenever Petronia thinks of her brothers and sisters she cries, says her mother.

Not only relationships between families, households and neighbors have been destroyed, but also families have been divided. In extreme cases sons raped and killed their mothers, husbands killed their wives and children. It is still impossible to quantify the extent of the trauma. A study comprising interviews with 3000 children reveals that 80% reported having experienced the death of family members during war and genocide. Some 70% have seen someone injured and killed, and almost all have seen dead bodies or parts of bodies.

The response to the ACT appeals has enabled the ACT members of Rwanda - LWS, Protestant Council of Rwanda, Christian Aid, United Methodist Committee on Relief and Church World Service – to meet the needs of vulnerable groups. Houses and latrines have been constructed, families assisted in constructing water collecting tanks, bridges repaired, water gravity systems installed, food and seeds distributed. In the period from early 1997 till 1999 alone, ACT has assisted in the construction of around 4000 houses. After the war, the first priority was dealing with the internally displaced persons. Then hundreds of thousands returning refugees had to be resettled.

"There is a need for an integrated approach. Rehabilitation linked to development," says Anne Masterson, LWF director in Rwanda. In her view the situation is very fragile, because the division of the society is still huge. Six years after the genocide the debate on reconciliation has just begun.

This story has been edited and adapted from the original news release from Action by Churches Together (ACT).

Rwanda: Six Years after the Genocide

By Rainer Lang, ACT International

Petronia and Vestine at home Petronia (left) sits quietly beside her mother, her hands on her lap. While her mother is recalling the horrific times they went through, Petronia’s eyes wander restlessly around the sitting room. The twelve-year-old Rwandan girl "is not doing very well in school, she is frightened by any little noise and frequently wakes up screaming at night when she is faced with a nightmare," her mother Vestine tells with a petrified face.

Petronia was just six years old when she experienced a real nightmare. It was a genocide the world has not faced since the Holocaust of the Jews by the Nazis. Petronia's father and her four brothers and sisters were killed by her mother’s two brothers only because they were Tutsi. Vestine is a Hutu.