Stories For Hope

Summary

Stories For Hope is a 2008-2009 project to record important family stories for Rwanda's next generation. These youths have lost, not just their relatives, but their positive legacies. The stories from elders, especially in a post-genocide context, may disappear entirely ("you must not ask about your grandmother") , be distorted ("your uncle was an evil person"), or in other ways become too narrowly focused on the genocide. A mobile unit will make stops around Rwanda, over the course of a year, to guide and collect stories from volunteer elders in the company of younger family members. Stories will be archived for the family, the community, and the nation. Research shows that:

• When story-telling is guided and supported, it can be therapeutic. If the stories are told and listened to respectfully, reconciliation and integration among potentially conflicting persons is enhanced.
• The re-telling of stories, especially when storytellers are guided to talk the positive memories about their ancestors' strengths and beliefs, provides another opportunity for recovery from trauma and loss.