Friday, September 29, 2006

Murder She Wrote

I turned on my tv only to hear and see the news reporter share about the horror that happened only a few hours ago. Police tape marks the crime area, white body bags in the front yard. Lots of reporters and camera's capturing the latest unbelievable crime that shook up this little town.
Video footage shows a woman with a blank look in her eyes being placed inside a police car. The police spokesman shares; After receiving phonecalls from neighbors claiming they heard screems coming form this house earlier this evening one of our officers came to the house to check on the situation only to find the dead bodies of three children in the house. The mother still holding the murder weapon was found in the livingroom sitting in her chair staring into space...

Living in the States, news like this came to me more often than I liked. I remember sitting in amazement listening to the unbelievable acts mothers and fathers were capable of doing. The weeks of news coverage following the initial report made me believe and know more than I needed to know or believe about the particular family.

Today, our compound manager came to me asking if I heard what happened in our street. As I had not he told me that a lady down the road had been married for many years and had 3 children. While her husband was gone she got involved with another man and got pregnant. She gave birth to a child and never told her husband it was not his. This was 2 years ago. Just a few weeks ago her husband found out this 2 year old child was not his. He commanded her to bring the child to the father as the husband was not willing to take care of the child. The woman went to the father of the child who didn't want the child either. In total dispear this woman went to the school across the street, she brought her 2 year old child with her. She grabbed a big stick and made the child go into the bathroom (latrine; which is a very very deep hole covered by cement with just a small opening people squad above). She than picked up the child and trew it in the latrine. The child got stuck in the opening and with the stick she was able to get the child to fall in completely.

As by a miracle the child was able to call for the mother, though the mother had disappeard someone found the child and saved it. Another person know who the mother was and she is now in jail.

No news report, no long investigation, nobody cares about the desperation of the woman, it is a done deal and she goes to prison.
Do you know why? Why there is no publicity on this issue?
The answer is heart breaking; It happens so often...

Just last week some friends shared how their friend had gone missing. They went looking for him but had a surpise visit from the police warning them to stop searching...

Just the other day Travis counseled a man who told that him that his ex wife poisoned two of their three children. Now he has their third child with him, out of fear of the womans capability.
People disappear and get poisoned and killed all the time. Even our househelp, her husband disappeared and was found killed. No I am not sharing stories from during the genocide. This is a year ago, two weeks ago, today...

Our closest Rwandese friends keep reminding us; be careful who you say what to, you might just disappear and be found dead...

Jessica Fletcher of "Murder she wrote", would not have to spend months and months writing a book, she could just come to Rwanda, live life and listen to the unheard stories.




3 comments:

Anonymous said...

heftig zeg.

Eric & Kyla Sliger said...

We are spoiled as Americans in comparison. I'm at a loss for words... but the children... How could you not have compassion for them? Can you imagine completely, God's heart for these people? The entirety of his cry for them? I cannot, but you are there trying to display at least a piece of His love and hope to the people. Bless you guys!

jackattack said...

there is an organization out there that does some incredible work to bring justice, but (as always) resources are slim and the challenge daunting...

www.ijm.ca