In the mid-1990s, following the Rwandan genocide, clashes between government forces and rebels, mostly Hutus, continued along the country’s border with what was then Zaire.
One day, soldiers came to a mud brick home in a small village and questioned a father while his 6-year-old son listened. The father denied helping rebels, but the boy said yes, some men had slept in the house the night before. Soldiers took the father away.
When the father returned a day later, “he said that he’s going to do something that I won’t forget,” recalled Patrick Mbarushimana, now 22.
Today, Mbarushimana is patient in Boston, where therapists are helping him learn to use artificial arms that will replace the ones his father destroyed. From the Here & Now Contributors Network, Martha Bebinger of WBUR has the story of Patrick Mbarushimana — an artist, musician and incidental ambassador for peace.
Reporter
- Martha Bebinger, reporter for WBUR in Boston. She tweets @mbebinger.
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