“No one died this year,” is how Francois described the goodness of the first full year in Matara. Every other year, the calendar is marked by deaths. Everyone cannot make the year since food is scarce, water a multi-mile walk away and money hard to make when your village is without resource and far from the crossroads of local commerce. The only uncertainty about death is who will succumb, who will be too weak to pass into the next year of life. So to declare that no one died in Matara last year is to make a revolutionary announcement that things are different here! There was enough (food, water, opportunity) for all of us to make this year. And there were so many births… almost every family celebrated the healthy birth of a child in Matara. Matara is brimming with life, which is good news, indeed.

“We are official now!” was his pronouncement to the friends gathered at the wedding celebration. Over recent generations, the Batwa had fallen out of sight. They were pushed to the margins and so began to relinquish the rights of civil society – like marriage. They stopped getting married, opting for cohabitation without any legal accountability or protection. But last week 10 Batwa couples decided to get married and enter society in the fullest way possible. The governor of the province came to Matara in all his ceremonial garb, and he brought the marriage book and ink pad. One couple at a time, they signed their names in the book, a permanent record of their marriage in this province. They rolled their thumbs in ink and pressed with pride… they are now official! Their names in this book, alongside all the other married couples of the entire region, means that they are now full members of society. They have moved from the shadows and into society with all of us as witnesses. They wanted us to celebrate with them – they have birth certificates for all children under the age of 5, all the adults have identity cards, and now they are all married and in the book. They are official. For our Batwa friends, this is a monumental statement of belonging.

“We will build it together,” the governor said. He was referring to a road that the commune (like a county) had wanted to build for years, but could never get the permissions or have ample manpower to complete. The road would have to run alongside the Matara property line to reach from the highway to the more remote country road deeper in the region. But, he told us, now they can do it because the Batwa families of Matara have agreed to allow the road to run on the edge of their property. And… the Batwa families volunteered to help build it. They volunteered to work alongside Hutu and Tutsi neighbors to build a road that will run alongside their land and create access for others. With this the governor said that ‘we will build it together.’ Stunning! Our Batwa friends are making a better life for themselves, but they are also making a better life for their neighbors. They are contributing to the community at large, because they know they are members of that commune and can now engage as such. For the first time, they will work on a road not as hired help, but as fellow volunteers helping the community. Later the local chief of the zone added that the Batwa families are ’showing us our prejudices.’ Another statement worth reflection, as these families are helping reveal and improve the character of their community.

These are astonishing statements from the Batwa families and their local leaders. Astonishing announcements just one year into this community development project.

What they said is what matters. What we say, less so. We can talk about strategies, intentions, attempts and high hopes. But they speak and witness to a new reality – their hard work bearing fruit, their efforts bringing results, their new life proving to be better than the old one. They say they are healthier this year – all births and no deaths in Matara. They say they are better fed – fresh crops and a variety of vegetation resulting in full pots on the fire at dinner time. They speak with such pride about their accomplishments, what they have achieved on their own land. They offer us words of gratitude for friendship. Their words tell the story we need to hear. Their words say that they are living better in Matara, that they are building something for their children and that they are now integrated into society in ways they never dreamed before. They are, as Francois said, walking tall.

Our words echo theirs… but their words carry the weight and show us what it looks like when hope takes root and transforms a community. Our best word in response: Amen!

Tags: Matara