African peacebuilders: Quaker exhibition & book mark anniversary of Rwandan genocide

Cover: This Light that Pushes Me

In the week that marks the twentieth anniversary of the Rwandan genocide, yesterday, 9 April, Quakers in Britain launched an extraordinary book and exhibition of photographs: This Light that Pushes Me. African peacebuilders relate their journey from violence to healing to activism.

Ghanaian musician, Ben Badoo, set the scene for professional actors to read some of the stories at the launch of This Light that Pushes Me in London at Friends House (opposite Euston station).

The book and exhibition feature more than 20 peacebuilders from sub-Saharan Africa, all of whom are Quakers or involved with Quaker work and all have experienced violence. Using photographs and personal testimonies, This Light that Pushes Me traces the journeys that have transformed that suffering into a force for social change. Some stories can be heard here www.quaker.org.uk/Peacebuilder-stories

Among the testimonies is this from Cécile Nyiramana from Rwanda who says: “Someone can’t forgive with a broken heart. We need first to heal our wounds...Then start the work of peace and reconciliation.”

More than 40 peacebuilders in Africa offered their stories and conducted many of the interviews with one another. The stories were gathered and edited by Laura Shipler Chico, programme manager for Peacebuilding in East Africa for Quaker Peace and Social Witness, a department of Quakers in Britain.

Speaking about the inspiration for the project, Laura Shipler Chico says: “Weaving throughout these stories is the belief that somewhere within our imperfect selves, however hidden under layers of grief, loss, tragedy, hurt, and disillusion, there is something good, something wise, something knowing. And it is this Divine kernel that pushes us to keep struggling to fix our broken world; to transform hurt and grief and the human lust for vengeance into something new, into a commitment to peace no matter the cost. This book invites us to do what the peacebuilders in this book have been striving to do for a long time: listen – with simplicity – for the truth. And when we hear it, let us walk side by side right into the heart of hurt, the deep and frightening darkness, and look for light.”

Photographer, Nigel Downes said: “I want people to look at these photographs and recognise something of themselves in them.”

Commending the book, John Paul Lederach, Professor of International Peacebuilding Kroc Institute, University of Notre Dame writes: “Enter this book with care. Turn the pages slowly. Watch and read with respect, the kind that asks you to look, and then look again. Hold the gaze of these eyes longer than normal, for they speak from deep, too often invisible and silent pools of compassion. Listen, as they have, from the ear of the heart and you will find what has long been understood and true from Quaker tradition -- there is that of God in every person. And when we notice that divine spark we feel the hope that our broken family can find the way to restitch the fabric of our common humanity. Here are the faces of our beloved community. Prepare to receive their gift and hold it close.”

The exhibition in Friends House (opposite Euston Station) runs until 8 May. A series of film nights will generate discussion around conflict resolution and the Quaker commitment to peace which leads Quakers to put their faith into action by working locally and globally to change the systems that cause violent conflict and injustice.