Acting out (of) Conflict in Rwanda – Inheriting Conflict
We’re bringing you another story of conflict transformation through participatory theater from our international intern, Elise Webb:
The crowd watches as the actos portray scenes from their lives.
Simbi Nshimiyimana never could have imagined an afternoon of dancing and entertainment would change his life. On a hot, dry day in late August 2010, Simbi and a crowd of people in the Rubengera sector of Karongi District in Rwanda gathered in the market to watch a troupe of actors from Kigali. The music was loud and exciting, and everyone clapped and cheered as Simbi and a few of his neighbours became contestants in a dance competition.
Then the actors from Search for Common Ground’s Participatory Theatre Troupe did something different from other entertainers. They started performing scenes based on stories they had gathered from the villagers earlier that day. The scenes were strangely familiar to Simbi. He was experiencing some issues with his family in regards to inheritance and the theatre presented several scenes dealing with conflict in the family over land inheritance.
‘The theatre presented a similar situation to my own. My mother inherited some land from her parents. While my mother was very ill I took care of her, so she gave me the parcel of land as a gift. My aunts and uncles argued that this could not happen and said I did not have the right to this land,’ Simbi explained.
As the show continued on, his neighbours were invited to offer suggestions on how to solve the conflict. Someone from the crowd emerged to say that a person could give their land to whomever they liked, as long as they did it legally.
This inspired Simbi to try once more to speak with his family about this issue, on which there had only been stony silence between them before. ‘The scene in the theatre confirmed that I did have the right to the land if my mother followed the proper procedures. I spoke to my aunts and uncles about this peacefully and now my mother has created a will leaving the land to me.’
Since resolution of his family quarrel was such a success, Simbi has tried to make himself available to help others transform their conflicts peacefully. He told researchers nearly a year later, ‘From the theatre, I was shown that even if I am not personally involved in a conflict I can play an important role in providing the cell leaders and abunzi with information about the conflict in order to find the source and create lasting settlements.’
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