Part of the code has been cracked. It is now plainly obvious how associational life works here in rwanda, or at least among the survivors. survivors are the bread and butter of the governments public face. Survivors are why certain policies are chosen over other ones; survivors are why the emotional blackmail about the failure to stop the 1994 genocide lingers and is a viable option vis-à-vis the international community. Meeting the needs of survivors is said to be the sole purpose and key objective of this government. the slogan never again is uttered time and time again in the name of survivors, and in respect of the memory of those fallen Rwandese; the tutsi that died during the genocide.
But associational life is highly controlled; membership to groups is necessary to receive support from the government – payment of school fees, provision of health care, transport to and from gacaca trials. Remaining a member of these associations – like IBUKA – is even more arduous. Get on the party line of how a survivor is to behave and act, or get out.
What is the performance? The government says… and survivors respond. It is a ‘perform or else’ situation.
What does this performance mean? And what are the implications for individual peace-of-mind?
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