Kigali Prison Blues
- Carmen
- Jun 30
- 5 min read
After a quiet day Sunday, we were delighted when Robert, our field assistant from Byumba arrived to visit us at 7pm. Unable to get to Byumba on this occasion we were delighted to see him. The evening flew by as we put the world to rights over dinner. We had arranged for Robert to stay overnight, and as we headed to bed we were looking forward to meeting with him again at breakfast.
Whilst enjoying a leisurely breakfast and discussions with Robert about some of our children in Byumba and the work in general, the Kigali team began to arrive at the office, we had a 10.30am meeting arranged and so we headed off, Robert came to say hello and was of course invited to stay.
A very interesting discussion was had about the Prison Ministry work, which is undoubtedly a work very close to the heart of Bishop Nathan, Rev Raymond and Rev Primitive who minister to the men and women respectively. Unfortunately Rev Primitive was quite unwell and had lost her voice, but she had come along to meet us all the same.
A service is held monthly in the prison regularly attended by over 1000 people. We learned about the hardships faced by prisoners, particularly the mothers whose young children, up to the age of 3 and sometimes older, accompany them. Basic needs such as soap and sanitary items are only available if family provide them, and many of those imprisoned are abandoned by their families. It is hard to imagine the indignity of life in these ‘correctional institutions’ as they are now called. Bishop Nathan told how often beautiful women arrive in the prison but the hardships of life inside make them unrecognisable within a year. We heard again how the New Year's Day meal of rice provided by the church is such a treat for the prisoners, something so simple as a bowl of rice brings hope to those cut off from the world.
The needs are so great they can never all be met, and yet this team continues relentlessly, doing what they can with the little available to them.
We then heard about the work Mothers Union are doing with isolated women. Some are disabled, others ex-prisoners, sex workers and single mothers, they bring the women together, help them learn a skill, start savings groups and pray together.
A tour of the offices, a meeting with the accountant and we returned to our room for a quick lunch of coffee, ground nuts and biscuits, we know how to live!!!
After our meeting ended we went to visit one of the ladies groups, they danced and sang as we entered then some gave their testimonies, sadly the stories were by now so familiar to us, stories of abuse, abandonment and isolation.
We were impressed with how this group were supporting each other, empathising and bringing others in their communities to share the blessings of the group. Some who have finished their training are now acting as facilitators, training and mentoring new arrivals. Many have started small businesses and are supporting themselves, but they still value the friendship and faith they find in this safe space.
They couldn’t understand why we were taking the time to visit them and not just enjoying Rwanda, we told them they were special to God and therefore special to us too. We were also asked if women in our country ever experienced the same situations, as always, they seemed surprised that white women faced the same challenges as them. We always have to leave far too soon but joined them in dance before we went, promising to return one day.
We were due to meet Retired Archbishop Onesphore and Josephine for dinner at 6pm but Rev Raymond had managed to contact an ex-prisoner, Claire who was willing to meet with us, and apparently cried when told we would like to hear her story. This was an opportunity too good to miss, and so at 4.15pm we headed off across Kigali to visit the home of her sister who has taken her in
She told us how she had been sentenced to 10 years, reduced on appeal to 5, her crime was a little vague, but it was not our place to probe. After sentencing her husband divorced her and remarried, keeping her two young children who she has not seen since. On release she had nothing and is currently staying with her sister and her family. The home is small, the few items of furniture stacked in corners, sofas turned into beds in the living area, which it appears, also acts as a kitchen.
She told her story of imprisonment, of poor feeding which required 3 blood transfusions during her 5 years inside and the long-term health problems often suffered as a result. She told of the indignity of managing without hygiene items and clothes, and the hope that the prison ministry bought into this dark place. The emotions these memories evoked were clearly written across her face but the only time her composure threatened to fail was when she spoke about her children. The children are now on school holidays, and she is praying she will be able to meet with them.
She then went on to reiterate what life is like for those still inside, if anything this seemed to cause her more distress than her own story as she empathised with their suffering and praised God for the church and the fact that she had survived.
Rev Raymond had stopped to purchase some provisions for her which he handed over as we left, they obviously meant a great deal to her, practical assistance and kindness are obviously not commonplace in her life.
With 15,000+ prisoners across the two prisons visited by this team there is always going to be more need that can ever be met, but every visit, bar of soap, pack of sanitary towels, toy for a child, kind word and prayer brings hope to those who so often feel less than human, and many are bought to faith.
This work does not stop with prison visits; support on release, work on reconciliation with families and communities, counselling, the list, like the work, seems endless. We continue to pray we will have available funds to support this valuable mission when we evaluate all we have learned on this trip.
As we headed back at around 5.15pm on the half hour trip home, we had our doubts we would make dinner on time but the driver said he was happy to wait and drop us to the restaurant, and so with a very fast wash ( not the shower we had hoped for) and a quick change of clothes we were dropped at the restaurant with minutes to spare and enjoyed a lovely evening chatting about times past.
As we strolled back along fairly well laid pavements lit by streetlamps I couldn’t help but reminisce about the days of walking this same route by torchlight, trying not to fall down any holes on the way, looking across the black hills of Kigali trying to spot a light.
Walls now largely block the view, and the city is lit up like a Christmas tree, but the moon still shines brightly over the city.
Too late to start work again we decided the blog would have to wait until morning.
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