Megan and I have just returned from two weeks in Uvira and Fizi supervising (along with four other colleagues) a survey of about 1,000 households. My next few blog posts will be about that. But first I want to post something about the massacre at Mutarule on June 6.
Mutarule is a village about 6 hours drive from Bukavu. We passed it on the way down to Uvira. Everyone in the car recognized it immediately because of the graves by the side of the road:
On the evening of June 6, 33 people were killed in Mutarule, most of them in a church that was burned down while they were inside. Here's what's left of the church:
The massacre was only the latest in a long series of violent incidents between the people in the area who have farms (the Bafuliro) and the people who raise cattle (the Barundi). If that sounds similar to the Hutu-Tutsi conflict, it's because it is. The fact that this is all still happening 20 years after the 1994 genocide is hard to believe...although when one considers what's going on in Israel and Palestine, it's clear that conflicts like this don't end quickly.
There are many people trying to figure out how can these communities reach a mutual understanding that peace will bring greater well-being to everyone involved. I'll post about that work as I learn more about it. To that end, if anyone has recommendations for people to contact or articles to read, please let me know.
