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Central Africa Vision History

By Mutima B. Peter, President and Founder

The 1994 genocide of Rwanda was an unimaginable horror while it took place, with the world looking on and doing nothing to intervene. The killing of innocent people left 1 million people dead in 100 days.  It not only killed physically, it killed many spiritually because many churches, synagogues and mosques participated one way or another in the killing. The entire infrastructure was destroyed. Teachers killed their students, pastors and priests led militias to finish their job in their churches and showed them where the members of their congregations were hiding. Thousand of believers asked for shelter in the churches knowing that the sacred places were traditionally not invaded. But this time they were just concentrated in the sanctuaries and easier prey for the killers.

Surprisingly, in 1997 when I took a trip to assess the damage, thousands of homeless children welcomed me on the streets of Kigali. Testimonies coming from men and women, pastors, priests and ordinary people led me to believe that the trust in the Neighborhood of Rwanda had been  completely destroyed.

While I was walking the streets of Kigali, I passed near a hospital and  saw a woman lying down crying. I asked Sebastian, now our CAV Africa executive director, what was happening. He also did not know. I asked him if I could ask her, and he said sure. We approached her and her friend. They said she had no money to pay for her medication and treatment, or even bus fare to go and die at home. I asked how much this was going to cost, and they said around ten dollars. I gave it to them. At that time, I had a plan in my mind to work only with the church. That day my heart was changed.

Since I was born in DR Congo and grew up in Africa, I had always lived in the place where a sense of community and village family fellowship was always celebrated. I grew up where people from different tribes living in the same villages and towns were like a family. But here each one cared for his or her own business, and the government was just beginning to function in many offices ruined by wars and pillage.

After this, I thought about the woman who was crying on the street. Then I said, “ Suppose she was my mother, my aunt, cousin with nothing? How would I feel to know that she had no access to healthcare, food or able to feed and send her children to school?” That is when I came back and mobilized people in Maine to join me and formed an organization called Central Africa Vision 2000, Inc.

The first meeting was held on September 13, 1997, one day after mother Theresa died. It was attended by Dr. Art Gay, Dr. Stephen Paulding, Dr.Timwah Luk, Rosmary Colston, Rev. Jim King, Dr. Doug Sholl, Dr. Karen Westerman; Rev. Steve Coleman, Barbara Appleby, Esq and Julie Criscitiello. The second meeting was in September to elect official officers and board members: Chair, Dr. Art Gay; vice-chair/Secretary; Barbara Appleby, Esq; Treasurer: Stephen Paulding, MD; board members: Rosemary Colston, Steve Coleman, Doug Sholl and Mutima Peter. Claude Rwaganje also participated in the meeting, but did not join the board until four years later. He served as a member of the volunteers. CAV 2000 at this time began with volunteers such as Kathy Larsen, Jules Fertig, Elaine Liberio who worked as the main heart of our organizing of CAV activities.

I was burdened for the people of Central Africa who had suffered and lost so much in the genocide in Rwanda and neighboring areas. With the encouragement of some pastors in Portland who served as mentors to me, we established Central Africa Vision (CAV) as a missionary organization, to help relieve the suffering and bring reconciliation between the people of different tribes through the Biblical message of reconciliation in Christ.

CAV has been conducting reconciliation seminars with pastors and leaders in Central Africa since 1997 in the three countries of Rwanda, Burundi, and DR Congo. We have taken a team from the US each summer to work in these meetings. The effectiveness of this ministry is evident in the changed attitudes of these African leaders as they begin to forgive and embrace their fellow believers from rival tribes. So much progress has been made that now some of the local leaders are the teachers at these conferences. Many of the speakers from the past three summers were national African men and women.

Another ministry started by CAV in Central Africa which has proved very successful is the micro-credit loans provided through community banks. These are established with a group of widows to loan them a small amount of capital to begin a business that will help them feed their children and then educate them. (There is no free schooling in these countries) At present CAV serves 2,100 women, and these women feed over 10,000 children. CAV has been successful in bringing local churches of various denominations and communities of different ethnic groups to work together to help these needy women in Central Africa. This is an example of the reconciliation process which CAV has promoted in these countries.

Central Africa Vision started as a result of the genocide of Tutsis and massacre of moderate Hutus. Boys from 6 years old to adult were supposed to die, and mainly from the Tutsi tribe and moderate Hutus The country of Rwanda and Neigboring Burundi and DR Congo saw their world turned into a hell.

CAV sponsored 10-12 conferences since 1997-2007 Audiences ranged from 100 leaders to a community reconciliation of 22,000 attending.From the involvement of the church leaders, community leaders and government participation, CAV’s reputation grew in the Great Lakes Region from regular people to heads of states.

We have focused on leaders because it is the only special way to reach out to many churches. Leaders came from over 50 different denominations and they take the message of reconciliation to more than 50 different churches and communities, where they live and where they work.

A CAV survey in 2005 found that our leaders or delegates attending our conferences come from churches of 200 and above. This translates to reaching over 200 churches and 200 communities in one conference.

There will never be a successful development without a successful peace and reconciliation. There will always be refugees and internally displaced unless there is a sustainable peace and reconciliation.

Central Africa Vision focused on 4 important groups: