Voice 1
Hello. I’m Liz Waid.
Voice 2
And I’m Mike Procter. Welcome to Spotlight. This programme uses a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand, no matter where in the world they live
Voice 1
The girl looked lovely in her long white dress. Her light brown hair looked wonderful. The African sun was shinning. Everyone looked happy. It was a perfect day to get married. A friend captured the day’s events on film.
Voice 2
Ten years later, Lesley Bilinda looks at the film. She remembers that day and tears fill her eyes. She watches her husband Charles as he looks directly into the camera. He waves and laughs. For Lesley the film brings back happy and sad thoughts. Her husband is no longer alive. He was killed during the 1994 Rwandan genocide. Lesley has recently made a film called, ‘Hunting My Husband’s Killers’. Here is her story.
Voice 1
Lesley was born in Scotland in the United Kingdom. As a young woman she trained to be a medical nurse. She wanted to help sick people. She worked in Scotland. Then she decided to travel to Africa to work. It was while she was in Rwanda that she met Charles. He was a local pastor - a Christian leader. In time they decided to marry.
Voice 2
Lesley loved her new life in Rwanda. She made some very good friends. One of these friends was a fellow nurse - Anatolie. The two young women enjoyed spending time together. Lesley often came to the school with Anatolie. She helped to teach the children about keeping healthy.
Voice 1
But Lesley’s happy life soon changed. Charles seemed increasingly worried. His happy nature had disappeared. Now he was tense, quiet and serious. Lesley asked him what was wrong. Charles told her that for many years there had been conflict between the Hutu tribe and the Tutsi tribe. Tutsis and Hutus are the two main ethnic groups in Rwanda. Charles was Tutsi. He was worried about possible violence.
Voice 2
Lesley says that she did not really understand the problems between the tribes. Some of them were very complex. But she knew that each tribe had its reasons to hate the other. In 1994 Lesley travelled to visit her family in Scotland. She did not know at the time that she would not see her husband again.
Voice 1
In April 1994 the genocide in Rwanda started. Genocide is the planned killing of a whole race of people. An estimated eight hundred thousand [800,000] Rwandans were killed in just one hundred [100] days. Most of the dead were Tutsis. And most of those who did the killing were Hutus.
Voice 2
The events in Rwanda were tragic. Rwandans killed Rwandans. Even people who had been friends and neighbours killed each other. Many people died unnecessarily. Many others became refugees. The country was torn apart.
Voice 1
Charles was one of the victims. People came one night and captured him. They took him away. No one saw him again. Friends wrote to Lesley. They told her that Charles was dead. Ten years later she travelled back to Rwanda with a film crew. She wanted to discover the truth about what had happened. She wanted to, ‘hunt her husband’s killers’.
Voice 2
Since the genocide some of the killers had chosen to admit the things that they had done. They wanted to confess their crimes. They wanted to put the past behind them. Lesley wanted to meet with them. She says,
Voice 3
‘Charles was a Christian pastor. He was not perfect. He did not always do everything right. But he tried to live his life as God wanted him too. In the Bible it asks us to forgive our enemies. I did not know if I would be able to do that. But I wanted to try’.
Voice 1
The film shows Lesley as she travels around Rwanda. She meets Pastor Kabeira. He was the manager of the guesthouse where Charles was last seen. Local people tell Lesley that this man betrayed Charles. Kabeira told the armed militants where to find Charles. Kabeira is now in prison. But he refuses to admit that he did anything wrong. The meeting with Pastor Kabeira left Lesley in tears. But the film shows her continuing her trip.
Voice 2
The film then shows Lesley visiting the Murambi Genocide Memorial site. She looks at the hundreds of bones. The bones from people killed in the genocide. They are the bodies of men, women and children. Lesley starts to understand the full terror of what Charles suffered. She falls to her knees.
Voice 1
Many women would have turned away and gone home. But not Lesley - she wanted to know more. The film then shows her travelling to Gahini. This is the small village where she lived with Charles. A local man agrees to speak to her about the killings. As they talk, it becomes clear that he was one of the men who murdered her best friend, Anatolie. Lesley looks at him in the eyes as he explains what happened,
Voice 4
‘We cut her neck. She died quickly. We then attacked her young child with a machete.’
Voice 2
Lesley tells Gasto that she forgives him. It is a difficult part of the film to watch. It was even more difficult for Lesley to do. Anatolie was a young woman - a good friend. But Lesley feels that continued anger and hate can only lead to more anger and hate. Lesley said,
Voice 3
‘Part of me felt sick at what he was telling me. But another part of me also felt, I suppose, pity for him. I felt sad for him. He has to live with what he has done for the rest of his life’.
Voice 1
In the film Gasto thanks Lesley for visiting him. Lesley is not sure if Gasto is really happy to receive her forgiveness. Lesley believes that forgiveness and peacemaking is the only way forward for the people of Rwanda.
Voice 2
Lesley never found out what actually happened to Charles. She knows that people he trusted betrayed him. She also knows that he met with a terrible death. She met people who played a part in her husband’s killing. But she cannot prove anything. So what purpose did the film serve? It did not bring about justice for Charles. No one has been punished for his death. Did Lesley just waste her time?
Voice 1
Lesley is clear about her answer to this issue.
Voice 3
‘The film is about a woman coming to terms with the death of her husband. It is about telling the story of Rwanda and its people. It is about finding hope. As a Christian I believe that this hope can be found through the love of Jesus Christ. In some small way this film helps people remember the past. But I also hope it will encourage people to build a new future. A future based on love, understanding and forgiveness’.
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