Sam and Vinod

I've become pretty good friends with a local Indian business man. He's put me up in his spare room for as long as I'd like. Vinod's a good man and has been very generous towards me, but I don't have any doubt he would kill a man. The Africans on his street know him as "Mafia." He got the name after beating three street thugs. They mugged one of his girlfriends, so he beat them with a rod and took her money back. Luckily for me I see his sweet side. For three hours last night he bore his heart out to me about problems with the love of his life.

This morning I got to hear more Genocide stories from a Tutsi man. For someone that has been through so much, he's got an attitude that could be admired by anyone. For the last four years, Sam has counseled the very prisoners who murdered a million of his people. "Nobody is perfect. We're all weak in nature and that is why we sin. After realizing that, I had to forgive." Sam forgot about his degree in Biology, and started over again in Social Work. "Hutu prisoners do one of two things when they get released. They hide from the people they hurt because of guilt. Or they go back to killing again. I try to help them forgive themselves."

"They tried to kill us all but they couldn't. Some of us remain and we want to help build Rwanda." In the future Sam plans to work with the youth. "If young people have a positive vision, the world is safe."