CARSA gave me the right skills; I’m now rich, and it helped me live in harmony with genocide victims. -Celestin, a former genocide perpetrator

Meet Mbarushimana Celestin, a father of 6 children, a model farmer, and a former genocide perpetrator from Cyeza Sector, Muhanga District, Southern Rwanda. Celestin is one example of thousands of people who benefited from CARSA’s various initiatives and tried to put them into practice and changed their entire lives in 3 aspects: Socially, psychologically, and economically.

Celestin was convicted of genocide crimes by the Gacaca court and punished with 8-year of sentence, he did community work (TIG) for only 4 years as he pleaded guilty and apologized for his wrongdoings. In 2012, he returned home, but life was dire as he was extremely poor, and impoverished, as well as his relationship with neighbors was also worse as he was carrying the shame of his role in atrocities.

In 2017, he was invited by CARSA to attend Empower Workshop to help him in terms of healing, where he met the victims face-to-face and began chatting with them for the first time. He made an apology and was forgiven. Now, they are good friends indeed.

Overall, he is president of the Resilience Cell Group in his area, where he works together with victims, supports those who are underrepresented to get what they need in their daily lives, and also gives emotional support to those who are grappling with their past toward healing and reliable resilience. His contribution to transforming agriculture and raising up vulnerable survivors in the last 30 years is really recommendable.

Celestin started agriculture on a small land of 3 acres and has now expanded to 12 hectares. He has 3.5 ha only for banana plantations and has offered his small banana tree varieties to his neighbors; he has even won many awards (cups, water tanks, bicycles, etc.).

Poverty is not God’s plan, and breaking the cycle of poverty is possible!

Click on the below link to watch how Celestin has holistically transformed his life.