In the months since returning from Rwanda, I've been asked this question a hundred times. My response? Rwanda as an experience was everything at once: hard, challenging, joyful, transforming, radical, simple, mundane, crazy, new, routine. But mostly beautiful.
But the real question is not so much what Rwanda was like in the past, but how my life has changed because of it now.
My experience in Rwanda during the months I lived there means very little if it didn't transform how I live my life in the US today. A friend reminded me of this the other day over coffee. After sharing the story of a perpetrator I had met in Rwanda who reconciled with his survivor, my friend looked at me and asked with a simple sincerity, "What does that look like in my life here?"
I think this is the question we forget to ask. We want to talk about the differences in food and lifestyle, the funny language miscommunications (of which I experienced many), and the crazy stories that inspire a fleeting moment of hope. But what do these experiences mean in light of our everyday, ordinary life? The stories Rwandans shared with me in moments of trust, vulnerability, and blessing were not unusual; they were just life. So what do I do with the weight of these stories now?
This is my main takeaway, what I answer as the thing I wish all people knew: We like to think that the stories of the genocide are so distant and far from our lives, but really the sin in the hearts of people who committed genocide is the same sin that is in our hearts everywhere. But it doesn't stop there: the power of the Holy Spirit that is at work in Rwanda and throughout the world is the same power that is active in our lives here.
My friends and family did not initially see drastic changes in me in my "reentry" culture shock. Instead, it is in the small life changes that I have tried to honor the relationships and stories of my Rwandan community. I am more wary to limit people to a single identity, and instead choose to see all as equally deserving of dignity. I have learned that there is wisdom and truth found in the experiences of others, and choosing to listen is an act of love.
Where does that leave me now? I've officially finished my last semester of college (yayyy!) and am returning to DC to live with friends and spend time with family. I can't wait to build my life around the people I love the most (currently in that exciting/terrifying job search phase of life). One day, I hope to pursue further education in peace studies, specifically looking at program development that supports the grassroots approaches I have learned to love and believe in. Mostly, I am so excited to see how God will continue to use my time in Rwanda to further teach and mold me to love others in the image of God.
