Eleneus Akanga
28 March 2006
column
Kigali — My literature teacher at high school told me one whim which I have lived to memorize; that there is no point in living when you can't enjoy your life. Discerning the true meaning of the phrase might have taken me some years, but I have since understood the notion and it has served as my orientation. For the modest era that I have existed in this world, a lot has taken place -- both awkward and great.
I may not have been a living creature to witness the bloodbaths of both WW' and WW", or the shrewdness of notable figures like Hitler and the mayhem associated with America's foreign policy in Hiroshima, but my 23 years of full life on this planet has taught me quite a lot.
You probably will concur with me that, though the Bible may inculcate more belief in one, one does not need it to become a Christian. They only need faith. The same is true with events: one does not need to be a victim of a war, an atrocity, a rebuke or a calamity of any sort to discover how disheartening the said proceedings are. A mere story will do.
The number of individuals disheartened by atrocities committed in whichever name around the world has hit fever pitch. The whole world is in chaos, and many folks have continued to live under absolute shock emanating from weird circumstances they have engaged in or been subjected to. Feelings of anger, anxiety and sadness in the minds of the many affected mothers, fathers and children has combined to form an unprecedented magnate of trauma that threatens to haunt many for a lifetime.
In Rwanda, cases of students fleeing school premises, going mad or suffering from instant madness have not been uncommon. Mature mothers and fathers have had to spend sometime in confused states of depression and despair -- all in the name of trauma.
For twelve years now, Rwandans have lived through many problems of trauma caused by the Genocide. The mere thought of the horrendous April 1994 events and the 100 days that followed has not only usurped the minds of many in agony but also served to remind the victims that the intervention of their real selves remains the only option if sanity is anything to come by.
The Trauma Stress Rehabilitation Ministry has pledged to donate medicine worth one million dollars to Rwandans for the treatment of trauma. The ministry, in conjunction with Hope for the Family -- an International NGO based in Mexico -- is ready and willing to provide Rwandans with Fuoxetine, a prescription for the treatment of depression.
The revelation will, without hesitation, receive widespread praise from those in trauma situations, as well as from friends of Rwandans. Good for us. But are these donations a viable means of ending trauma? Or can we expect tremendous outcomes from such donations?
Dr. Hugo Ayoub, the ministry co-ordinator, says the medicine will help cure the problems that have kept most of the people mentally paralyzed. To him, Fuoxetine will help victims learn to forgive from the bottom of their hearts and therefore encourage unity and reconciliation.
Touch of treatment
If there is any truth in what Dr. Hugo is asserting, it means the medicine possesses both the spiritual and scientific touch of treatment. It holds the capacity of penetrating the minds of those who have remained downhearted for twelve years, turning them into real Christians -- or believers for that matter -- ready to forgive, forget and unite. It then looks like we are about to get what we have wished for for years.
The truth in the claim is one thing I personally may not be in position to answer now: We will have to wait and see.
The 1994 genocide certainly left a multitude of problems in the Rwandan society, and trauma seems to be the most pressing one. But there are others. I would propose that much as we think of helping our dear brothers and sisters affected by the 1994 calamity, we should put more emphasis on eradicating the real causes first -- a matter of poisoning the root, not just cutting down the obnoxious tree.
Rwanda is for all Rwandans, and coexistence is the only viable and lasting solution. Trauma treatment or none, reconciliation and unity need to be given the front seat -- with utmost urgency.
Municipal Watchdog with Eleneus Akanga
Mr Akanga is Political Reporter with The New Times.
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