Voice 1
Hello and welcome to Spotlight. I'm Marina Santee.
Voice 2
And I'm Ruby Jones. This programme uses a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand, no matter where in the world they live.
Voice 1
Rwanda, Africa. The sound of digging comes from a field full of rich, red earth. A group of boys use all their strength to break up the ground with their tools. The mid-day sun beats down. Their clothes stick to their hot, tired bodies. But they will not stop until they have finished. The boys encourage each other to keep going. And, minutes later, they complete the last long, deep hole. The work has been extremely hard. But it has been worth it. The ground is now ready for building work to start. And soon, the Kayonza Community Centre in Rwanda will be open for business!
Voice 2
Kayonza is a completely different world for these boys. And not just because it is another country! The boys are not African. They are students from Sherborne School, in England. Sherborne School is over four hundred and fifty [450] years old. It has a long and proud history. Its former students include politicians, soldiers and ambassadors. Success in the classroom is very important to both teachers and students. But the boys are encouraged to develop in all areas of life. Christian values are at the heart of Sherborne. And these values invite the boys to think about the needs of other people - people outside their school community.
Voice 1
Sherborne has links with development projects in several countries. And many of the boys raise money for these projects by working in the school holidays. From time to time, teams from the school visit the projects. The boys and their teachers offer what help they can. But often, they receive much more than they imagined possible! Their trip to Rwanda in 2008 showed this very clearly.
Voice 2
In Rwanda, Philbert Kalisa was responsible for the team from Sherborne. Philbert was born in a refugee camp in Burundi. His parents had fled there to escape conflict in Rwanda. When he was young, Philbert saw the terrible effects of hatred between ethnic groups. However, his faith in the teaching of Jesus Christ persuaded him that violence was not the answer. Philbert wanted to share that understanding with the people around him. So, he became a minister of the church in Burundi. In 1990, Philbert travelled to the United Kingdom. He went there to receive more training as a church minister. And it was during that time that Rwanda experienced its darkest period in recent history.
Voice 1
There had been unrest between the two main ethnic groups in Rwanda for a long time. But in 1994, it reached its worst point. An estimated eight hundred thousand [800,000] Rwandans were killed in just one hundred [100] days. Most of the dead were from the Tutsi tribe. And most of those who did the killings were from the Hutu tribe. These events left Rwanda in a state of crisis.
Voice 2
Philbert believed that the people of Rwanda needed to hear a message of God's love and forgiveness. And so in 1996, he travelled back to Rwanda with his family to live. There, Philbert began an organisation called REACH Rwanda. The group aims to build bridges between people who were on opposite sides of the conflict. REACH provides training for both church and government leaders. It teaches ways to build peace. It advises on methods that will help to heal deep emotional and social wounds. It encourages community leaders to provide activities in their towns and villages - sport, music, dancing, and crop trading. People who were once enemies work together on these projects. Working together gives them the chance to get to know each other. It helps build the process of understanding. And in many cases, it prepares the way for forgiveness.
Voice 1
The work of REACH greatly affected the team of schoolboys from Sherborne School. It caused them to ask some serious questions about their own attitudes. Some of the boys recorded their thoughts about their experiences. One of them wrote:
Voice 4
"We went to the house of a woman named Alphonsine. She had been badly beaten and tortured in 1994... she told how the Hutus had come and killed the whole of her extended family. Her brother had escaped and fled to Tanzania... but she had been caught before she was able to get away. After she told her story Philbert called into the house. What happened next was the hardest and most emotional part of the day for us. Two strong, large men came out of the house. We put our arms around them and shook their hands. Somebody then told us that these men had murdered at least a hundred members of Alphonsine's family. I had never knowingly met a killer! But meeting someone who had murdered many people - I found this very hard to deal with.
The men then talked about their struggle to live with what they had done. They told us how they had looked for Alphonsine and asked her again and again to forgive them... But Alphonsine had not been able to forgive them for many years. But slowly she understood that it was the right thing to do. Now, Alphonsine and the men are friends and are at ease with one another... I felt especially affected by this. If I were Alphonsine, I do not think it would be possible for me to forgive those men. Not if they had killed my whole family - cousins, brothers, sisters and parents..."
Voice 2
The boys travelled to Rwanda expecting to build a community centre. They did not expect to gain so much more. The message of hope and forgiveness even in a place of so much suffering is one that they will never forget.
There was a party at Kayonza to celebrate the end of the boys' work on the community centre project. Philbert Kalisa held up the red, painful hands of one of the boys for everyone to see. For him, they were a sign of loving service. Philbert said to the boys:
Voice 4
"I know some of you will be in high positions in England. You will be able to make decisions. I want you to remember Rwanda... Work hard, and I believe that your country will also improve because of what you have learnt."
Voice 2
The marks on the boys' hands will soon disappear. But Rwanda has left its mark on their hearts - and it will remain there for the rest of their lives.
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