A love letter for you all

By Kawala Asha (Participant from Uganda)

Hello now far-flung PBI 2013/14 family,

It was a roller-coaster two weeks at PBI, wasn’t it? For me so much has changed so quickly that I surely won’t do it justice in a brief letter, but…

Anyway, I am back home and I have something REALLY special to give; thanks for the opportunity that Never Again Rwanda gave me to actually KNOW Rwanda…the wealth of knowledge from especially our facilitator Betty Mutesi…the new invaluable friendships etc!!!! I feel a new sense of passion to continue contributing to Conflict Resolution and Peace building.

The friendship connections are exciting as well – there is so much potential for positive change and I want to become more involved. I came to PBI to learn a set of skills and strategies. Not only did the training surpass my expectations in this regard but also made me leave with a deeper understanding of my passions and where I can make my contribution in this world.

Does anyone remember that tiny Peace Basket we saw at the Ethnographic Museum in Huye? I can not stop thinking about how such a small basket actually has been used to bond genocide perpetrators and victims. The story that most of the development ideas that have been successfully implemented in Rwanda were actually ideas got from Uganda (but applied better) stirred me up! The reconciliation tools; The Gacaca courts success stories, the medical insurance, the Umuganda  and other such local reconciliation tools were all so encouraging.

Ronald and I spent time (while we returned home) negotiating on how to start on the peace project. We both are busy until end of month; me with school and himself with some work at his NGO. School for me started but I chose to spend sometime with my family yesterday… I missed them a lot! So I am back to school today; I have exams next week and I am so excited that I learnt a lot about reconciliation during the training; I will be sitting for an exam on Peace and Reconciliation as well as Conflict Analysis and Transformation sometime next week and I look forward to scoring ‘A’s. Lol!

And, just before I get so busy, I have had to make sure this reaches you. Each of you has shared part of your lives with me in some way over the past two weeks at PBI, and now I reflect that I am a better person in so many ways. Getting to know you has been one of the best parts of the PBI experience. Even though we only met two weeks ago, I somehow feel as if we’ve been friends all our lives.

I’ve learned so much during the two weeks at the PBI. I’ve grown both personally and professionally, and I attribute much of this growth to you amazing people and the awesome opportunity that Never Again Rwanda and the PBI provided me. So, I thought that instead of sending out the usual obligatory “It’s been great…” email, I’d share with you a few life lessons I’ve learned from all of you during my time in Rwanda.

So to each of you, here are my personalized notes of farewell:

To Tandi, Grace, Assouman and all at Never Again Rwanda; what can I say? I get lost for words honestly. You made our time at PBI such a marvelous experience! Thank you for the awesome facilitators especially Betty!! Thank you for the beautiful opportunity you gave us to not only increase on our knowledge but also get to meet and make new like minded friends. From the bottom of my heart, I would like to say thank you!

James, thank you for always asking about how I was doing, and actually wanting to hear the answer. Hahahhahaha. You were such a friend!  I swear I am going to come to Dar-es-Salaam for that wedding when the time comes. Please send her my regards. Ooh by the way I didn’t get some of those documents (the soft copies hahahaha). Could you please email them to me?

To Merveille, I think you are the special angel sent by God, as my friend and I will keep you safe with me forever.

To Sarah, You were always great company; from the lovely tea breaks to the long hour schedules. For me, you are a beautiful Kenyan sister whose beautiful smile I would love to see again again.

To Gabriella, I had a really good time with you. It was your promptness; positive attitude and swift cooperation that always helped us finish that group work/discussions efficiently and on time. It was lovely working with you in our Group I. I am happy I am going to meet you and John again in Kampala.

To the Nyangamugayo Ronald (I hope you are by the way hahahahahha), It is rare that one finds a good friend in just two weeks. To me, you are another Ugandan brother I found in Rwanda. Thanks for being that wonderful person who was always checking on me, waking me up and finding out whether I had had breakfast, lunch etc.

To Liesse, even though we didn’t talk that much, I enjoyed your company the little times we got to interact.

Wilson and Diane, thank you for always creating time whenever Sarah, Kelvin and I wanted to move around your beautiful city. You are such darlings! God bless you

To Nyakiya, you became a friend and even an inspiration in so many ways (iish iish, so don’t brag about it) lol! I think you are so brilliant, you are a good speaker and again, I do not know what I am going to do without your jokes. You made the whole thing soooo fun!

To Francis, It is amazing how work in group 1 became fun with you, especially the times you discussed on our behalf (and out of the blue asked each of the group members to stand and clarify on the points hahahaha). I will also forever remember your dance strokes. Thank you for conversations, the smiles, inside jokes, and memories. You are such a happy guy. Can I be you sister please? hahahhahaha

To Floriane, I was serious when I always said remember me when you become president of Burundi someday. Lady, you are so focused! I admire the almost tangible love you have for your country! I so much loved listening to you passionately talking about the mischief going on there and the solutions you always thought would help save the situation. That is the spirit!!

To Kelvin, you were always so kind, humble and innocent-iiish until Alex played the evening music or suggested you go out; I admired your fun loving character that came out mostly in the evenings. heheheh

To Alex, Thanx for making our evenings less boring by playing the good music you always did by the pool side. How you always managed to mean business when it was time for that and joked when the time for jokes came struck me!! And thanks too for the PBI blog idea by the way.

To Hero, guy I think you are so cool headed. And thanks for some times chipping in with Luganda with me; you have no idea how much that made me feel at home. hahahhahahah!

Pife, thank you for your wisdom especially during the discussions. I know you will bring peace to Bukavu.

I will miss all of you a lot. Thank you for being awesome people. It is these funny little things that kept us together. Let us be in touch and keep our bond intact.

Feel free to call, IM, email, snailmail, or stop by for dinner anytime any of you is in UG. I look forward to staying in touch and helping and sharing more about our quests for Regional Peace.

I hope we’ll keep our friendship going. And oh how I’d love us to get to spend time together as a team again. Until then, let’s try to keep in touch!

God bless you, and I’ll talk to each one of you soon!