She is one of those women you look at and immediately know
you are better for simply having met her. That something about her will change
you and the way you look at the world forever.
I've come across only a handful of these women in my life.
Most of them in Africa. And each one has left a remarkable imprint on my heart. And new wisdom in my mind.
She has a powerful mind and heart. But the most humble of
spirits. Her passion for her country, her people, her work with women and children
is overwhelmingly huge. She is the real deal. Brilliant. Strong. Confident.
Soft. You look at her and you see light and hope. She is a servant in every
sense of the word. She has given her entire life to helping Rwandan women and
children heal from the genocide and its aftermath. She lives every moment for
that purpose. To help mend her country's deep wounds and bring it hope once
again.
She is a game changer. A leader. A world changer.
She is a counselor. And after the genocide, she realized the
huge need for counselors in Rwanda. As well as the very low number of them.
There were practically no counselors here. The culture tells people to hold
their feelings in. To put on a strong face and simply...carry on. Rather than
dealing with the very real and deep pain they experience.
But after the genocide, that was no longer a healthy option.
Baraka new this and decided to act. She created a program to
train lay counselors. A program that takes ordinary people, one from each town.
Perhaps someone who works in a church, a school, or an orphanage. Someone the
town thinks has the skills a counselor would need.
She finds these normal Rwandan people and trains them in
groups of 20 to become lay counselors. She has trained 4 groups so far.
Thanks to Baraka's huge heart and hard work, there are now
80 individuals scattered throughout Rwanda, all living in their own towns. Now
equipped with skills in counseling. Who work with individuals in their
community who need to process. To heal. To come back to life once again.
Just thinking about the numbers is remarkable. Say each one
of those counselors works with 100 people after being trained. That's 8,000
Rwandans who will receive help in mental and emotional health thanks to Baraka.
But the numbers are undoubtedly more. And she continues to train more and more
Rwandans. She is now working on her fifth group of 20 people.
She has made a lasting impact on Rwanda. Brought healing to
so many. Forgiveness to so many. Health to so many. She has grown Rwanda's next
generation of leaders. And made mental health a more valued concern in Rwanda.
Upon talking to Baraka, she asked me where in the US I was
from. I told her Texas, and she said that she had been there. To San Antonio,
Austin, and Dallas. Just before this conversation, I had been telling her how
beautiful I think her country is. That I loved the never-ending mountains. The
lush green. The beautiful sky. When I told her I was from Dallas, she said,
"Oh...I see now why you think Rwanda is so pretty!" I could not stop
laughing for the life of me. She knew. She knew how ugly, flat, barren, and
brown my home was. And so she knew that I was being genuine when I said I loved
Rwanda's beauty.
As we kept talking, I told Baraka that I was a student soon
to graduate from studying psychology, and that I wanted to be a counselor
someday.
And Baraka said to me:
"Ahh! That is very good. You know, the need is so
great, but there are only so many of us. Like it says in the Bible, the harvest
is plenty, but the workers are few."
I breathed in every bit of what she said to me. I had not
thought about it that way before. Obviously the need is great. For hope and
healing and empowerment. But there are not enough counselors out there to find
and help all those in need. And right then...it hit me...
If this is something on my heart, something I feel called to
do, rather than wondering why that is or what it might look like, I owe it to
the world to do it.
There is a great need. And at least some part of me feels
called toward that need. I have to honor that. To follow that. To trust that
God has placed counseling on my heart because that is why he created me and how
he desires to use me.
If the harvest is plenty, but the workers are few. And if I
feel some part of my heart yearning to be one of those workers. I have to. I
cannot be lazy. I cannot waste time and energy doubting , questioning,
wondering. I must respond. Act. Prepare. And go.
To say that Baraka was inspiring is an understatement.
She is a reminder of the power within us to see a problem
and make a change. That we are never too small nor the problem too big. To
fight for your dreams. Follow your passions. Work tirelessly for good even in
the midst of evil. Of what it looks like to be a servant. To dedicate your life
to something bigger than yourself. To invest in your community. Your country.
Your world. Of selflessness. Kindness. Humility. Passion. Dedication. Hope.
Faith. Genuineness. Strength. Courage.
Baraka is one of those few people in the world who has
looked suffering, evil, disaster, and darkness straight in the eye and said, we
will not settle for this. We will fight it. Change it. And replace it with
hope, light, and strength.
She is a wise woman with a warm heart and humble spirit. Who
has taken the passions and skills given to her and used them to change the
world. One individual, one heart, at a time.
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