GET TO KNOW HIM BETTER
two extracts from his writings

1

OPTIMISM AND FRANCISCAN INVOLVEMENT
...one of the means we have used to bring reconciliation and peace is the building of houses, giving them to the families in need. Today, I would like to explain what we have been doing to help the prisoners. There are so many accused of having participated in the genocide. Waiting to be judged they are living in terrible conditions.

It is difficult, I might even say dangerous to talk about the situation.of the prisoners, even if we can find many articles in foreign newspapers about them. Are they accused rightly or wrongly? Do they really live in inhuman conditions? And so many other questions are being asked.

In March of 1995, 7,000 prisoners were living in the prison of Gitarama which is in our diocese of Kabgayi. That prison was built for a few hundred prisoners. It means that four people were living in one square meter! Naturally, the death toll was very hiqh; as an average, 158 persons were dying each month!

The Caritas of our Diocese, helped by the Ambrosian Caritas of Milan took up the challenge. Having obtained all the necessary permissions from the Government, it began to work on the sanitation problem. A medical team was organized with one doctor and fifteen other persons, nurses and other well qualified assistants. Having received the necessary medecine from abroad, the team was able to work with great success. The more serious cases were brought to the hospital of the Diocese while the less urgent cases were treated in the jail. The results were astonishing. For example, five months after the beginning of the operation, there was only one monthly death in the prison of Gitarama. However, the Apostolic Administrator was not yet satisfied. The hall of the Bishop's House was put to use. He was even prepared to use the Cathedral itself as an hospital ward as the hospital was too small and was unable to answer all the needs.

The jail is certainly too small. At the beginning of 1995, the Caritas of the Diocese asked the permission from the Government to expand the jail. Five thousands square meters of space was added to the existing jail. Fifty toilets and showers were also built. As with the building of houses, this project was not approved by all, far from it. Some people were saying:"If you make the jail bigger, the Government will simply bring more prisoners". But this did not happen. The number of prisoners .stayed about the same and we thank God for that.

The day of the inauguration of this new structure in the compound of the jail, the representative of the Diocese said that he was hoping that it will never get full of prisoners; on the contrary, he continued, we should hope that one day, it will be completely empty of prisoners so that we could use the place for the breeding of cows!! At the moment, we are not only helping the prisoners who are in the main jail of Gitarama but also those who are staying in the seventeen dungeons found in the territory of the Diocese. There are about 6,000 prisoners in these dungeons. There also, we provide medical help and we have built toilets and showers. Moreover, we give food to the prisoners who do not have any family as the food rations given by the Government are totally inadequate.

Prophetic act of the local Church
The Bishop of Kabgay'i was killed during the 1994 uprising. On May 26, 1996, his successor, Bishop Anastase Mutabazi took possession of the Diocese. In his opening address, Bishop Mutabazi declared that to help the poor will be the priority for all the priests and Catholic organizations present in his Dio- cese. Concretely, he wants that at all levels of each Parish, ways must be found to help the poor, especially the families who have lost everything. Sacrifices must be made to help all. Rwanda is a small country in which 90% of the population live on the farms. As an average, each family might have a land of half an hectare. The Diocese will give some fields it owns as an example. In doing this, the Church, considered by many as being rich, is making a prophetic gesture, inviting the people possessing much land or money to share with others in need. Naturally, there also we find people who react. Some say: "If you give to the poor, the Government will manage to take it away from them!". To conclude, I would like to say that these are only instances of charitable works among many others. Rwanda, this beautiful country with a thousand hills has also a thosuand problems. Our Franciscan optimism is deeply rooted in Christian hope. The Church of Rwanda, so humiliated and torn apart during the civil war is still much alive and totally dedicated to a search for a better future.

2

CHRISTMAS IN KIVUMU (RWANDA) WITH THE REFUGEES

Dear brothers,
First of all, I am happy to give you my best wishes for the Year 1997. I wish you PAX ET BONUM as our father Francis has taught us to do.

Here, during the Christmas season we saw thousands upon thousands of refugees passing through. They were coming from Tanzania. Even now, we can see some of them but the great majority are already back in their villages. The Diocese had put all the cars and trucks on the road to carry the refugees who were too tired to walk. The medical team that is working in our hospital was on the road in order to bring to the hospital the refugees who were sick. We saw some women giving birth to their babies along the roads or in the trucks carrying them to the hospital. I was amazed by the extraordinary goodwill of the ordinary people living around here. They brought food and clothing, that they themselves sorely need. Two of the nurses working on the medical team gave up some of their own clothes. Other people gave some of the money they had just received as an advance payment before Christmas or bought food with it to distribute among the refugees. I was shocked when I realised that the important organisations like the ONU, IRC and other rich groups decided to miss this encounter with misery. I suppose that they were too busy elsewhere!!! But last night, we could see them eating in hotels or restaurants.

Two of our seminarians volunteered to accompany the refugees. During many days, they left early in the morning and came back late at night, walking with different groups of refugees without eating. They themselves had been refugees and had come back in the same way not to long ago. At the moment, they are living with me. They are good company. The Bishop himself went very often on the road to talk with the people, encouraging them, trying to help them as much as possible. Naturally, the fact that the refugees are back in their villages does not settle all the problems. Most of the houses have been destroyed or have by now new occupants. However, it is a first step and there are reasons for hope.

Christmas in Kivumu
We celebrated Christmas very simply. On the 24th in the evening I had the Mass at 8.oo p.m. with the Christians who could come. On Christmas morning I celebrated three masses as I do on every Sunday. Many Christians had brought gifts for the refugees walking in front of the Church. It was Jesus walking by and the Christians realised it so they gave food, clothes, money, each one according to its possibilities. After each Mass, the leaders of the Parish brought the gifts outside to distribute them. But, as is often the case, the most meaningful gestures were done by the children. They had brought also many things: fruits, sweet potatoes, peas, some candies even. Others had gathered some wood so that the refugees could cook what they had received along the road.

And our children went to the children walking on the road, giving them what they had and wishing them a Happy Christmas. The Sunday before Christmas, I had told the children of the Parish that for Christmas, they should do two things to make Jesus happy. The first thing was to make some sacrifices as to be able to bring something to give to the refugees. The second thing was that each one of them should bring another child to celebrate Christmas in the Church. During the Mass, each child had to stand up and present "his neophyte" by name to all the congregation. It was very beautiful and I thank God for everything that happened during these painful days.

Fr. Vjeko Curic ofm
Kabgayi, January 11, 1997