View Place of Origin- DRC, Rwanda, Burundi in a larger map

The map says it all. One does not need to know anything about the conflict in DRC in order to conclude that something is not right in its eastern portions. The red pins represent provinces in DRC, and the blue ones represent villages, places identified by JRS Congolese refugees as the locations of the homes from which they fled. A pin here and a pin there in the central portions, a vertitable wall in the east. Zoom in, zoom out, and play around with the map; if I linked it correctly you should also be able to read the names of provinces and villages as well as the estimated number of refugees from that particular area. [The green bubbles represent places that Rwandan clients come from and the yellow bubbles represent those from Burundi.] Keep all that in your mind and let me come back to this momentarily.

Today in Kitengela, a neighborhood on the outskirts of Nairobi, we conducted a needs assessment of JRS clients in the parish. This is a yearly task for JRS, an attempt to determine how the issues have changed over the past year, a snapshot of the current situation, and a way for the organization to plan its services for the coming year. We had had multiple meetings about the methods that would be used to collect the information, what the questions would be, and who would do what, when, and where.

A team of six, myself included, arrived in Kitengela and were greeted by a sizable group of JRS clients (around 30 or so men and women). Three split off to interview the men, and three of us split off to interview the women. One thing that we quickly discovered was that every single one of the women (and I believe the same was true for the men) was Congolese, and not just Congolese, but Banyamulenge, a minority tribe in DRC, but the largest tribe of Congolese refugees on the JRS caseload. Most of them come from Minembwe (there is a red pin for this area) and towns and villages within its borders. This was a problem, because JRS has clients from other tribes in DRC in Kitengela. We were only going to get one viewpoint in this particular needs assessment. Not ideal, but we moved forward with the interviews to collect what we could.

When we arrived at the questions about conflict, the women at first denied there was any conflict. We asked why there were only Banyamulenge present and this led to a wave of anger and bitterness. The tribes that hunt Banyamulenge in DRC have come here to Kenya to continue their attacks. We will never forgive them. We don't want seminars on peace. We cannot talk to them. We are afraid. These were responses that were translated to me, but judging from the length at which they spoke there were likely many more. It became clear that there most certainly was conflict in Kitengela and that its roots were in DRC.

Look at the map again. The people that fled from those villages are not all Banyamulenge, yet they are all refugees. While I cannot confirm or deny the women's claim that rival tribes have entered Kenya for the sole purpose of killing Banyamulenge, I cannot agree that a chance for peace between the various groups is impossible. Through translation I tell the women that an NGO known as TUSA has held peace seminars where those from rival tribes have sat down and productively talked about their history, their pain, and a way forward. We have never heard of that happening.

But it is true. A man named "Simon" has, over the course of the last two months, slowly told me more about himself at each food distribution. Last week he shared his experience. I came to Kenya in 2008. When I arrived I saw people from the same tribe that was fighting with mine. But even more, I saw a man in Nairobi that I had seen during the actual attack on my village. I burned. TUSA had a peace seminar and the man and I eventually spoke and with the help of TUSA we sat down. This was in 2010. [I think this was the date he said but I know it was a couple years after his 2008 arrival.] He talked about how that day he had been forced by a militia to either attack my village or lose his family. He didn't want to do it. The truth is...I have done the same thing as he did. I have participated in attacks on other villages because of threats. I don't know where my parents are, I don't know where my family is. But today that man is my best friend.

Difficult beyond measure? Absolutely. Impossible? Hard to believe, but no. It is not impossible. I am remembering what As We Forgive emphasizes in Rwanda, Forgiveness is not human.

"Come now, let us reason together," says the Lord. "Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are as red as crimson, they shall be like wool." Isaiah 1:18