Our most recent monthly young adults dialogue, which took place on April 21, was on the theme of healing and reconciliation. This dialogue was a great opportunity for the young adults and the facilitator to share their personal experiences on this topic.
The facilitator of this dialogue was Richard Weeks, who currently resides in Ottawa, Ontario. Richard’s first contact with Initiatives of Change was when he was 17 years old, and this encounter had a great effect on him and his family.
In more than sixty years since then, Richard has contributed to the outreach of IofC in many ways: writing and performing songs with a message, taking part in initiatives to bring healing and reconciliation, working to improve the governance and administration of IofC in Canada and internationally.
Richard spoke to us about his past, his childhood and his first introduction to the idea of reconciliation. He went on to share with us his experience about people he met throughout his life and how their stories taught him a lot about forgiveness and acceptance between people.
After this sharing of personal experiences, the young adults also shared their opinions, convictions, or personal stories on healing and reconciliation.
The topic interested us a lot, it raised a lot of questions, and we had divergent opinions on what forgiveness and reconciliation means for each of us.
Most of the young adults who participated in the dialogue are from Rwanda and Burundi, two countries which respectively experienced the genocide of the Tutsi and atrocities killings between Hutus and Tutsis. This theme particularly interested them considering their experience of healing and reconciliation in their country of origin.
Young adults are convinced that there cannot be true healing and reconciliation between people without knowing the truth about what really happened and justice for people who were offended.
Aimable Kalinijabo