Rwandan wins human-rights award Genocide prompts social worker to devote her life to helping other women

November 29, 2004 - (Globe and Mail) Tia Goldenberg After the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, Godelieve Mukasarasi returned to her village from a refugee camp with one goal in mind -- to pick up where she left off months earlier.

The social worker's house was destroyed. Some of her family members were killed. But her objective was to help others in her situation.

She was in yesterday Canada to accept the John Humphrey Freedom Award, presented by the Montreal-based human-rights group Rights and Democracy. The award is given to any person or organization, in Canada or the world, who has shown exceptional work in promoting human > rights.

Ms. Mukasarasi, 48, has been a social worker for 25 years. She said it was the genocide in Rwanda that prompted her to focus on the promotion of women's rights and the rights of women in such conflicts.

"People were traumatized. There was a lot of poverty," she said.

"It was a tough time, but I still tried to work with them because they also needed to live, and to live in peace." She arrived in Canada on Friday and begins a speaking tour of five cities over the next two weeks, starting today in Halifax.

During the genocide, Ms. Mukasarasi, a Hutu once married to a Tutsi, vowed that if she were to survive, she would open an orphanage to care for children whose parents were killed. Although she did not have the financial means to undertake this at the time, Ms. Mukasarasi created SEVOTA, a support group for women and children who survived the genocide. The group has 2,000 members. It was meant to help survivors in the town of Taba alone, but word spread and the group now caters to surrounding towns, as well.

"I wanted the widows and orphans, as well as other distressed people, to adjust. I wanted them to restart their shattered and broken lives and work toward peace and the development of our country, Rwanda," Ms. Mukasarasi said in an interview from Montreal.

Aside from providing therapy, Ms. Mukasarasi raises awareness of the rights to which the women are entitled. They are taught how to be financially independent and how to farm.

"It's very important to work with these women because they have undergone many atrocities during the genocide, and like other women and other humans, they have a right to live." Through talking about their experiences in a group setting such as SEVOTA, Ms. Mukasarasi said, the members became more comfortable sharing their stories. This lead to the creation of URUNANA, a women's peace network.

Ms. Mukasarasi used URUNANA as a forum to encourage some of its 230 female members -- Hutu and Tutsi -- to share their stories, on radio and television, and eventually at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda.

Ms. Mukasarasi and her group were instrumental in changing Rwanda's crimes-against-humanity law to give rape the highest standing.

"We were proud because we had an impact, not only nationally but on the international scale, as well." Ms. Mukasarasi will speak about the rights of women in conflict in Rwanda on her Canadian tour. She said she is looking forward to sharing her views with Canadians.

"We have a lot of support from the Canadian presence in Rwanda and also from Canadian women's rights groups and human-rights groups that come to Rwanda." With the award comes a grant of $25,000. Ms. Mukasarasi said this money will go toward the next items on her agenda -- the rights of women with AIDS and addressing the needs of children
born of rape. Also, she said, the grant will help finance the completion of SEVOTA's headquarters in Taba.

"I was very happy I got this award because it means that I've been recognized in the international community. Rights and Democracy recognized the efforts that I undertook to fight for the rights of women." Ms. Mukasarasi said she believes women's rights have improved in Rwanda. Women have a stronger presence in parliament, she said, and are learning to become independent. But she does not believe her work is nearing its end.

"My work will never be done," she said. "Even when I die, there must be others to continue this work